Adrian's Learning & Practice Log

Community Hub Learning Logs
41

Wednesday 29 July 2026

I started at 10am after getting back from the dentist yet again to fit a veneer, more expense.

Warmup went well, and I was pleased that my playing of my repertoire songs improved slightly. The band songs were better and I took on Richard’s advice before playing them fully through. I did not do too much on ‘No Matter What’ as it will require quite some practice and time to get right as I see it now. I decided to look at ‘Let It Be’ which I can simply strum in support of the piano, and just play the solo.

Dally Warmup 15 MINS, slowly improving with speed and accuracy, also practiced pentaonic scale position 3 & 4 with picking variation.

Songs

Song - '‘Reelin’ In the Years’ - Steely Dan 6 MINS
Song - Samba Pa Ti Santana 10 MINS
Song - Barracuda 6 mins, getting better bit by bit
Song - I’ll Play The Blues For You 6 MINS
Song - The Thrill Is Gone - BB King 10 mins

Band Songs

‘No Matter What’ - Badfinger, 15 mins, I need some focused effort on aspects of this song, the transitions from chord rhythm to arpegiated sections throws me and I need to practice the solo separately,

Proud Mary - CCR - 30 Mins, spent time revising C, A , G, F riff and I think i have it in the bag hopefully, same with the licks and the solo is sounding better but not consistent yet.

Heart of Gold - Neil Young, 30 mins, spent 15 mins first on the Intro section and getting the strum pattern right and lick sounding good, it started to sound consistent, Rang through the song twice and I am now feeling I am nearly there.

Let It Be - looked at the chords and chord sequence, and worked out where to play on the neck, mainly cut down bar chords using the strings 5 to 2 or 4 to 1 depending on the chord, trying to choose quieter voicings, I tried a bit of tremolo using a pedal, and this sounded good,. I played the verse and chorus through a few times, and had a go at the first 4 bars of the solo, it is not too difficult, I just need to decide on sensible fingering and work on timings.

42

Thursday 30 July to Monday 2 Aug 2026

Thursday was very similar to Wednesday above.

Friday I managed to repeat most, but I had to finish early due to visitor arriving in the afternoon of the weekend.

Saturday 1 August, our friends went out in the morning so I managed to run through my repertoire songs.

Sunday 2 August, a quick 1 hour practice of Band Songs whist Sue was out shopping.

Monday 2 August

A full practice day, I am slowly getting my Repertoire songs to a better level.

The band songs I have started are slowly improving.

I am having doubts about committing fully to this particular band venture at present. The song set is rather eclectic and a little confusing. It will take me a long time to learn all of them and perform them at a reasonable level, and at the cost of doing other guitar work that i enjoy. It is unclear to me how some of the songs will be performed at present as at least 10 are basically guitar driven songs, but up to now that part has been taken by the keyboards, rhythm and lead parts. I have discussed this with several people who have far more experience in bands and musically, they support my thoughts on it. I am sure playing with others would have big benefits but I am not sure of my fit in this case, I think I need to discuss it with the others.

I have missed playing ‘Purple Haze’ so dug out the GP tab for this and have started to relearn it.

Dally Warmup 15 MINS, slowly improving with speed and accuracy

Songs

Song - '‘Reelin’ In the Years’ - Steely Dan 10 MINS
Song - Samba Pa Ti Santana 10 MINS
Song - Barracuda 10 mins, getting better bit by bit
Song - I’ll Play The Blues For You 6 MINS
Song - The Thrill Is Gone - BB King 10 mins
Song - Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd 10 MINS, a slight improvement of the riff of the intro, a slow burner this one.
Song - Purple Haze - 20 mins

Band Songs

Proud Mary - CCR - 30 Mins I am feeling this is nearly there

Heart of Gold - Neil Young, 30 mins, becoming more consistent although I sometime loose the rhythm on the main riff, needs more practice.

Let It Be - 30 mins Started practicing the solo breaking it down in to 2 bar chunks.

‘No Matter What’ - Badfinger, 30 mins, I spent quite some time on the arpeggiated chord riffs, with practice and time it got better, but in song context not good enough yet, I also need to get better at the rhythm of the chords in the intro and verses

43

Tuesday 4 Aug 2026

Warm up and ran through all repertoire songs and some band songs, getting ‘Purple Haze’ under fingers again slowly.

Wednesday 5 Aug

Set up, and too many interruptions/distactions to get started. Sue rang and reminded me of BLIM4 study/Buddy Zoom. I joined 3 mins late, it was a fun session, chatted quite a bit about next BLIM and who would redo or not. We did 4 Jams 2 at a time which went well, it seems we are all getting a bit better, it could be better on Zoom, we may look into Jamulus platform.

Thursday 6 Aug

Took a while to get going, the band issue and whether to continue was praying on my mind. Decide to talk to my best friend who’s been in bands and Sue. Both thought my concerns about the band material, the band dynamics and my thoughts meant I should consider doing something else if I thought it would not work well. I contacted the singer and keyboard player, simply saying I had concerns and that I was probably not a good fit for them, and was not continuing, and thanked them for the opportunity, I have heard nothing back. I am released I can now focus on Blues and improving what I enjoy playing.

In the afternoon I managed to run through all below.

**Friday 7 Aug **

Feeling more relaxed after my decision yesterday. Did warmups and practiced all songs. I felt I play a bit better today.

Whilst looking at the solo again in ‘Purple Haze’ and from some feedback in the study/Buddy group I realise I need to do some more dedicated bend practice, I seem to be bending just off pitch, I think this may be a long term need to practice.

Dally Warmup 10 MINS, slowly improving with speed and accuracy

Songs

Song - '‘Reelin’ In the Years’ - Steely Dan 10 MINS
Song - Samba Pa Ti Santana 10 MINS
Song - Barracuda 10 mins, getting better bit by bit
Song - I’ll Play The Blues For You 6 MINS
Song - The Thrill Is Gone - BB King 10 mins
Song - Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd 10 MINS, a slight improvement of the riff of the intro, a slow burner this one.
Song - Purple Haze - 30 mins
Song - Proud Mary - 10 mins
Song - Heart of Gold - Neil Young, 10 mins

‘No Matter What’ - Badfinger, 15mins, focus on quite s the arpeggiated chord riffs

1 Like
45

I’m pleased a decision has led to a sense of relief Adrian. It is a shame but overall it does seem like the right decision.
:slight_smile:

46

Hi Richard,

PM sent to give some background on it.

By chance we met a very nice chap and his partner whilst on a walk around our village with Sue last Sunday, he asked me if I played guitar due to my T-Shirt,. He plays Bass and is slightly younger than me. They moved locally a year or so ago and he wants to get to form a fun 3 or 4 piece band, when young he played drums, and then guitar but could not get on with it, at 50 he started Bass and loved it and went onto to be in a couple of cover bands, Rock, Blues and Ska, he has not played for a few years. We swapped music interests and some songs I am learning and some he knows and likes, I hope that will get together for a jam/practice soon. He also said one of the pubs in my village was taken over last year and the new owners have started an open mic every Wednesday. Sue and I popped in on the way home from the walk and chatted with the owners, they were very nice and encouraging, saying the chap that runs the Open Mic is great, and supportive to all levels of musicians, general play a mix of Blues and Rock, occasionally get acoustic/folk. :grinning_face:

i am going along next Wednesday to introduce myself and see how it is. :grinning_face:

2 Likes
47

Adrian, I’ve followed your band’s story from the beginning, and just thinking about all that repertoire to learn and all those hours spent practicing songs that might not even be our favorites made me feel dizzy. :face_with_crossed_out_eyes:

Just imagining it made me feel overwhelmed. :exploding_head: So, I can definitely understand your decision.

Similarly, even though I often see recommendations to join bands, I still hesitate because it seems pretty time-consuming and leaves no time for anything else.

48

Thanks Mathieu, much the conclusion I came to, if we were all starting out together then I think it would be easier. Also I want to focus on Blues, Blues Rock and hone my technique as much as I can, learning loads of band songs was going to greatly impact that.

1 Like
49

It’s a shame, but it’s probably the right decision. Playing guitar should stay something you enjoy, not something that feels like an obligation.

It was a very ambitious challenge. Wishing you all the best for whatever comes next!

3 Likes