SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound.
Today is the last day of me going through my practice routine in sheer amounts of detail, as I previously mentioned I will be mentioning my progress briefly within my daily blog posts when I am within college.
I started off with Warm Up, I went through some chords and scales today to mix it up a bit so I don’t get bored straight away, by doing this I ensure myself that I will stay engaged through out and not lose interest straight away…
Next up I went through the The Chromatic scale in two octaves for ten minutes this is something I find fairly easy but after my ten minutes were up I got the hang of it, it is all about the shape and after you understand you can play it anywhere on the fret board starting anywhere on the E string.
I then proceeded to go through The One Pentatonic Minor Scale in harmonised 8th’s, I gave myself five minutes and in this time I found this scale very easy, going up and down. Out of everything I have to learn this has been the easiest thing which is a breath of fresh air in comparison to everything else.
Today I have given myself another technical exercise, this would just so happen to be the Major 9th Arpeggios over one octave and yet again I allocated myself 5 minutes, because I believe that they’re not a desperate essential for guitar but more so bass (in which I also play). I still have to learn them anyway, but when it comes to naming them all I still struggle massively.
Last but not least for the technical part would be the Augmented 5th Chords, I can pay through this chord, but yet again these are another easy part of the exam to get the hang of as everyone uses chords. After another week or so using my practice routine I will get the hang of everything I have to remember to play and the names that go alongside them.
In my thirty minutes of free time I chose to play along to a CD laying around within my room and it just so happened to be The Division Bell by Pink Floyd.
This is yet again another one of my favourite Pink Floyd albums, this album was recorded without Waters on bass so the rest of the band had more creative freedom and you can hear that throughout the album. I went through my favourite tracks and played along with them by ear as I have done a couple times previously this week, this required me to figure out the voicings for each chord and the riffs to each song just like before.
I played through ‘What Do You Want from Me’, ‘Marooned’, ‘Coming Back to Life’ and ‘High Hopes’. I didn’t have the time to figure out the rest of the album as it heavily relies on synth parts, keys and bass parts which are all amazing in their own way.
I cooled down the same way I warmed up so I could then go on to type up some more work then get on with other adult things which I need to get on with. As I said at the beginning of my post I will be updating my progress from now on within my daily blogs so I am looking forward to seeing you all there!
I am starting to get the gist of my routine four days in and I started off with Warm Up which is a given usual, I went through some chords today some in which require me to pull out a five fret stretch which is unpleasant but rewarding as it sounds great.
Next up I went through the The One Octave Major scale in harmonised 3rds this is something I find fairly tricky but after my five minutes were up I got the hang of it, I played them staggered at first but then I played both of the notes at the same time and it pieced together well.
Anyway, I then proceeded to go through The Mixolydian Mode which is always fun, I think I am getting the hang of naming and differentiating the two which is an improvement from the other days I have went through the Mixolydian and Modian. I have now got a understanding of my roots and notes on the E and A strings as that’s something I used to struggle with.
Then I played through the Augmented 5th Arpeggios over One Octave and yet again I allocated myself 5 minutes, because they’re a breath of fresh ait in comparison to the heavier loads. I’m still to going through them anyway, I can this one but remembering all of these different arpeggios in different places, etc is very challenging.
Last but not least for the technical part would be the Diminished 7th Chords, these are another easy section of the exam to get the hang of as everyone uses chords unlike arpeggios. After a week or so using my practice routine I will be playing the name game with everything I have learned so far, because my exam takes place upon the 18th of June which isn’t too far away.
For my free time I had an allocated 35 minutes so I went through some chord charts which I have hand written for the songs I play within my band at college and then I improvised over the top of them which is always fun, today I chose ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ here it is at a brief glance.
Tomorrow I will be going through Fridays activities and after that final post that I will no longer post within such detail about my practice routine, but I will bring it up in my daily blog posts, so I shall see you all then!
Today I’ll be going through the contents that Wednesday has installed for me and a brief recap of what I did yesterday.
On Tuesday I started off by warming up again then I began going through my technical exercises, the one octave Major Scale in harmonised 8ths is incredibly easy so that took me a couple minutes to nail and go over just for fun for five mins.
Next up was The Mixolydian Mode as I said before I get my modes mixed up easily but it won’t take me long to figure out a way of differentiating them. But I enjoyed playing this one too, and it won’t take long to learn them and name the differences between Mixolydian and Dorian.
Diminished 7th Arpeggios over one octaves are interesting, there a handful of Arpeggios and trying to name them all when playing them well be hard. As I’ll remember how to play them but give it the wrong name, as I’m silly like that, playing it was easy though the remembering part will be fairly difficult with all of the Arpeggios.
Minor 9 Chords were fun just like their Major counter part, they’re relatively easy to figure out based upon their notes and playing is simple. They can be used in chord progression too which is a plus side to learning them within an exam condition.
For my free time I had an allocated 35 minutes so I went through some chord charts for the songs I play within my bands and then I improvised over the top of them which is always fun, today I chose ‘Purple Rain’ here it is at a glance.
Then I proceeded to cool down by playing through a few scales like the Minor, Major and Blues scale as I had a lot of notes to type into drafts so I can post them later.
But today’s work load is a whole different story, my routine started off with Warm Up which is the new usual, I will either play through a song or go through random scales which come to mind at the time.
Next up I went through the The Major scale one octave within five positions which is fairly tricky but after my ten minutes were up I got the hang of it, at the moment it is looking like chords and scales will be my strongest point within the exam but we will have to wait and see about my results as I tend to cease up when put on the spot.
Anyway, I then proceeded to go through The Dorian Mode which is always a blast, I think I am getting the hang of naming and differentiating the two which is an improvement. I will have to learn all of my roots and notes on the E and A strings as that’s something I struggle with and it makes me look pretty dull when I rehearse with other musicians.
Then I played through the Minor 9th Arpeggios and yet again I allocated myself 5 minutes, because they’re short and simple but there are so many we have to go through so it isn’t my highest priority. I still have to go through them anyway, I picked this one up easily within its two positions but when it comes to remembering them it will be hard!
Last but not least for the technical part would be the Dominant 9 Chords, these are relatively simple to pick up if you figure out a chord progression to go alongside them, I will need these chords somewhere down the line even if they’re an absolute pain to play in there two positions but I can play them well anyway it is now a game of remembering them.
This just so happens to be my favourite Kvelertak album and it is self titled, if you’re wondering what the hell this is, they are a a Norwegian heavy metal band from Stavanger, they formed in 2007 and I was introduced to them a couple years back.
I went through my favourite tracks of this album and then I played along with them by ear, this required me to figure out the voicings for each chord and the riffs to each song which are pretty heavy which is a guilty pleasure of mine…
The tracks I went through were the following; “Blodtørst”, “Sjøhyenar (Havets Herrer)”, “Nekroskop”, and “Mjød”. All of these tracks are relatively short and very fast paced so I went through each of them plenty of times so I could improve my accuracy each time through.
After this I then proceeded to cool down as I thought I did a good job and I don’t want my hands play up whilst I carry on doing something else. Tomorrow I will be going through Thursdays activities and letting you all know how it went, I shall see you all then!
Today is the first day of using my practice routine and I can say it has taken swift effect within comparison to my old routine, which was incredibly messy to follow and slightly outdated.
I will be these writing diaries every two days or so, over the span of a week so you get the gist of things. I am going to be updating my progress this way as it will be incredibly easier and more compact whilst scrolling through all my work it will look much neater too.
I started my hours practice by warming up because I’ve had a bad track history with early signs of carpal tunnel when I started to play bass. The signs have gone away ever since I took practising easy and warming up and cooling down which is a essential!
The Natural Minor Scale over one octave in five positions was the first task at hand, I managed all five positions but I took a couple minutes on each trying to figure out the shape and then picking up speed whilst playing through them. This is one of the easier scales as they all sound the same just in different positions on the fretboard so I’m bound to pick this one up easily.
Next up is The Dorian Mode, I’ve allocated 5 minutes for this one as it’s in one position, but in the exam it could be on any root note on the E string. This one I’m struggling with because I get my modes mixed up easily but it won’t take me long to figure out a way of differentiating them.
Then I played through the Dominant 9th Arpeggios and yet again I allocated myself 5 minutes, because I believe that they’re not an essential for guitar but more bass. I still have to learn them anyway, this is my favourite one as it sounds pretty cool and I picked this one up easily within its two positions!
Last but not least for the technical side of things would be the Major 9 Chords, these are relatively simple to pick up if you figure out a chord progression you like with the chord in question. In the future I’d like to compose a song with the chord as it would fit in nicely.
In my thirty minutes of free time I chose to play along to a CD laying around within my room and it just so happened to be The Dark Side of The Moon.
This is one of my favourite Pink Floyd albums and it will never be forgotten in my books. I went through my favourite tracks and played along with them by ear, this required me to figure out the voicings for each chord and the riffs to each song.
I played through ’Money’, ‘Time’, ‘Brain Damage’, ‘Eclipse’ and ‘Breathe’. I couldn’t quite figure out the rest of the track as it heavily relies on synth, keys and bass parts which are all amazing in their own way.
After this I then proceeded to cool down because I don’t want my hands to seize up whilst I’m doing something else, like typing out a blog entry or writing down important notes.
Tomorrow I will be going through Tuesdays activities and letting you all know how it went within Wednesdays post, because I will get a shed load of work from college and typing out a post and practising needs it’s own allocated time slot. See you all then!
When my lecturers allow me access I will link my solo performance within this blog post, this will consist of an audio file and video that will go alongside it. My performance was a brief two minute rendition of Purple Rain in which I showcased my abilities whilst playing through and keeping in time throughout.
Here I will link all four of my daily diary entries which will consist of me updating my progress whilst using my own practice routine and my progression within learning my solo piece for my upcoming guitar exam.
My Daily Practice Routine has been designed to help me improve the following.
My use of dynamics whilst playing (which links back to my S.M.A.R.T targets) this means when to play softly or loudly during specific pieces.
It also helps to expand my plethora of techniques and genres I am able to play within. It also reassures me when it comes to achieving my Grade 6 Electric Guitar LCM grade so that I am able to progress further and take Grade 8 within my second year at college.
Not only is it specific to my Grade 6 specs it can be changed easily so I can adapt to new things. I have also left the choice of CD I play to open, so I go and choose what ever is lying round the house or in my dads car!
I’ll be updating my progress every two days so keep your eyes peeled for those diaries, I’ll also link them below when a weeks work has taken place!
Ellie Thornton Music 