Feb 28th practice

Cmaj fine.

Bmin ok. Need to practice arpeggios in reverse (moving DOWN neck, etc). Need to be able to spot downward patterns.

Started looking at moving from high-C string, up the arpeggio to E string. (11th fret C, 14 G, 16 D, 17 A, 19 E). Could be very useful if smooth!

Also look at the string-skipping exercise, especially fingerings for triplets!

Feb 25th practice

Bmin arpeggios: generally very good. Need to make efforts to start backing track work next!

C major scales: good, but slower more focused practice needed on higher frets. Be patient!

Feb 24th practice

Just a little on Bmin arpeggio and cmaj scales, generally all good.

Feb 23rd practice

Moved onto Bmin now. Work on this with learning B placements on neck.

Feb 21st practice

Dmin very good with a couple of backing tracks. Probably need to move on now, returning occasionally.

Did more string-skipping at 160bpm. 170 needs some work.

Need to start practicing 3-note string skipping, noting correct raking technique.

Feb 20th practice

Not much time today. Ran over basic cmaj patterns, Dmin loops and progressions (with backing track).

Found that with the cmaj full-neck progressions, it's good to practice different starting positions (eg C on the A-string).

Anything that seems hard or confuses the mind is worth concentrating on.

Also did string-skipping exercise and some fun playthings.

Feb 18th practice

Did cmaj in all positions. Might need more time above 12th fret, but positional knowledge is good now.

Did more 6-string position extensions. Much smoother today.

Full-neck cmaj is smooth @140bpm.

Feb 17th practice

C major scale - good in three positions. Decided to read notes out loud while playing backwards. (c,b,a,g,f,e,d,c).

Started extending-out each scale position, over all strings. Helps with right-hand discipline when done fast.

Did whole-neck cmaj @140bpm. Must practice this more, as not yet smooth!

Dmin arpeggios, practiced all positions.

Started Working on continuous arpeggios at 140bpm. This is good.practice and allows me to see the links between positions.

Also tried playing double-notes for root-root cycles in each position. Needs more practice, as very sloppy!

When playing loops, need to look attracting these backwards, or in the opposite diagonal (high string to low string), as this is a very weak area!

Noted I've lost ground with the fun bitnof 6:00. Need more practice on this and Donna lee!

Feb 13th practice.

1/2 hour on C Maj scales.  Much better and tried doing some looping ideas in the sub-12th-fret positions, with fair success.

Dmin arpeggios - ever smoother.  Need practice looping from first-finger (A string) to fourth-finger (E-string).

More practice with backing tracks required for Dmin.


Speed training - double-notes on alternate strings:  Ok at 120bpm, but a little rusty.  Definitely need to commit a little more time to this and similar dexterity and speed exercises!

Feb 12th practice

No practice yesterday, as Mum had a laptop emergency.

Today:

Cmaj Scales in three positions.  Much better than Monday, but still need more practice time on those.  Might start to loop around between two positions (a-la the arpeggio stuff).

Dmin arpeggios same as before.  Seem ever smoother with different position-swapping and with backing tracks.  Not sure where to go with them now though  - seems there's a leap to knowing them all.  I might have to try learning them on one-string, for each string.

ALSO:  With the Dmin arpeggios, found that doing loops over just two strings can be quite difficult, so do more of those!  (e.g. Start with D on the A-string, then move to F, A, C, A on D-string, then F, D, C, D on the A-String again (then loop).

10th February practice

No time at work.

Found some Dmin backing tracks and dud some slow arpeggio patterns. Used the looping pattern technique for this.

Need to continue work on second- and fourth-finger (tenth fret) positions, but much better today. Very few mistakes. :-)  feel that I tend to ignore 2nd finger positions a bit.

Scales: followed scott's first scales lesson (TN8pECkKO5Y). Need to learn focus on first finger and fourth finger positions!

Spent 10 mins on Donna lee @160bpm. Needs work.

Practice 9/2/14

C major scale up the neck @150bpm. Ok, need to work a little more and then speed up ~175bpm.

Dmin arpeggios: two-position loops and full-neck progressions. Struggling with some positions around 10th fret... Need practice here!