Ziggys Learning Log

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Had a go at the dice song writing today (Module 11 exercise) but as I don’t have an Instagram I decided to use the Bing Copilot AI to write my lyrics - with predictably dreadful results :grinning: It gives you lyrics alright, just super cheesy like it’s trying too hard.

It does however let you complete the exercise without having to spend an age writing original lyrics - it’s just nobody is EVER going to pay to hear the results. They MIGHT pay me to stop though! The question I asked it was:

“write me the lyrics for a song with 3 verses of 4 lines each plus a chorus on the subject of …”

It produced lyrics with too many syllables for an 8 bar chord progression so some editing was needed. The chord progression would need some work to remove the janky changes.

It’s an interesting exercise, and useful in beginning to understand what works in a song, mostly by figuring out what doesn’t! The final result won’t be making it into the public domain so I can’t be prosecuted for crimes against music :grinning:

Worth giving it a go, if only for the laughs

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Stuart … That’s a teaser if any :grinning:

Now I almost would like to hear that song. Have you recorded it? :slightly_smiling_face: It can’t be half as bad as the original song I improvised approx. six weeks after joining this forum (you can still find it somewhere in the depth of the forum. Didn’t dare to delete it since someone had commented almost immediately…)

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WEEK 9 - Week Ending Friday 26 July 2024
Target: 7 hours of practice per week (average 1 hour/day). Actual: 8 hours 16 minutes
Played every day except Sunday, Daily Min: 44 mins. Daily max: 120 minutes.
Injury to first fingertip on Thursday prevented much playing so concentrated on theory.

IMPORTANT: Transferred my Learning Logs to a Word document so I can keep them backed up in case the JG site ever goes down (wouldn’t want to lose all this work). Those reading this might want to do the same.

TLDR: Completed majority of Module 11 so will move on to Module 12 next week (carry over Happy Birthday exercise), songs are still problematic when trying to sing, continued working on note names with the note trainer app (significant improvements over the last month) and continued with key signatures. Continued working on 12-bar blues pattern in G but C7 and G7 chords still need work to get changes up to playing speed. Started learning Garageband. Tried the dice songwriting method.

This Weeks Practice Routine (Scheduled 90 minutes/day)
Technique (20 minutes)
05 mins - Repertoire Revision (Warmup)
02 mins – (Mod 11) F chord and changes
01 mins – (Mod 11) Exploring Sus Chords [Focus on the Asus chords]
02 mins – (Mod 11) Re-ACTIVE Improv
05 mins – (Mod 11) Fingerstyle Exercises
05 mins – (Mod 11) Happy Birthday arrangement

Theory (30 minutes)
03 mins – (PMT-3) Major Scale Pattern 1 (Alternate Picking – target 200 bpm)
09 mins – (PMT-3) Key Signature Recognition - Mr Cato’s Method
09 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Name the Note (3x cycles of 3 min each)
09 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Find the Note (3x cycles of 3 min each)

Repertoire Songs (30 minutes)
10 mins – (Mod 11) Everybody Hurts
10 mins – (Campfire) Brown Eyed Girl
10 mins – (Campfire) No Woman No Cry

Griff Hamlin’s Beginning Blues Guitar (10 minutes)
05 mins - Strumming, Example 22 in G using G7 and C7
05 mins - Strumming, Example 23 in G using G7 and C7

Passing Grades & Current Status

  • [PMT-3] Recalling Major Scale Notes (+ note names out loud) - In Progress
  • [Mod 11] Learn one fingerstyle song – DONE
  • [Mod 11] Explore using sus chords in a song or a riff – DONE
  • [Mod 11] Learn Happy Birthday where you can play it at a party – In Progress
  • [Mod 11] Do some chord exploring – DONE
  • [Mod 11] Experiment with moving the F barre chord around – DONE
  • [Mod 11] Have a go at song writing with the dice method – DONE

Detailed Progress, Thoughts and Reflection
I’ve now completed Module 11 passing grade except for being able to play Happy Birthday all the way through without fail. Move on the Module 12 next week but carry forward Happy Birthday into next weeks practice and continue to work on it. I still find singing and playing problematic, but I am going to switch out the Campfire songs I have been practicing for new ones as Brown Eyed Girl and No Woman No Cry are getting a bit “samey” and I need a refresh. I can play through both songs at tempo with the recording so will come back to these later in the year and periodically as Repertoire Revision subjects.

Tried the dice songwriting method using AI to generate lyrics with predictably lamentable results. It was enough to complete the exercise though and as a method it could prove useful as a starting point but is unlikely to result in good music being produced. Probably won’t do much more on songwriting for now as too many other things to concentrate on but will definitely come back to it later.

Started exploring Garageband and getting the audio interface to work, checking it will record my guitar, and watching a few YT videos on the basic controls and functions.

Module 11 Technique – Week 4 of Module 11.

  • Continued F chord changes with metronome set at 100 bpm (same as last week) and F barre is generally OK now.
  • Exploring sus chords – went through tutorial for Wanted (Dead or Alive) to practice sus chords in a song. Relatively simple so calling this done as far as Module 11 goal is concerned.
  • The Re-ACTIVE improv continues to go well, seem to be settling on the same licks so started to play in different positions on the neck.
  • Continued focus on fingerstyle using the chord changes for Everybody Hurts – E to A change still awkward – continued playing along with the record and can play it through – starting to concentrate on how it sounds, how hard to pluck etc but need to be careful that fingers don’t deaden adjacent strings when plucking.
  • The chord/melody arrangement for Happy Birthday is better but still needs work. I can at least play it through at approaching a decent tempo.

Practical Music Theory – Grade 3

  • Name the Note: reached 82 notes named in 3 minutes (one every 2.2 seconds. Last week: 78 notes) as my best score for the week. Try to get up to 90 notes. Over the last month I have increased from 55 notes, an improvement of 49%.
  • Find the Note: reached 35 sequences correct in 3 minutes (one every 0.9 seconds. Last week: 30 sequences). Over the last month I have increased from 15 sequences, an improvement of 130%. Probably can’t get much faster at this so may need to use errors as a secondary metric.
  • C major scale: now playing at 200 bpm with alternate picking playing 2 picks per click at 100 bpm on the metronome – still errors creeping in. Can I play error free for 1 minute?
  • Notes in Keys: continued to write out the keys with 5# and 5b without having to write out the mnemonic (keep in the routine for now and expand to full range of keys over the next few weeks).
  • Introduce the two memory tests in the app for August practice.

Song Practice: Everybody Hurts – REM

  • Chords: This is a fingerstyle song; the chords are straightforward and not a problem except for the change from G to Em then to A that still needs work. Tried forming the Em but just resting fingers on strings as they aren’t played, and it seems to make it easier to switch to the A as I have a reference point. It also mutes the open A when switching back to the Em as a bonus. Still an awkward change with the picking pattern though. I can comfortably play along with the recording (mostly).
  • Strumming: not strummed except for the bridge which is power chords.
  • Lyrics: not working on these until picking pattern is completely comfortable.
  • Overall: I’m calling this done as far as the Module 11 goal is concerned but I’ll keep this as repertoire and continue to work on it as I like the song.

Song Practice: Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison

  • Chords: working on getting the progression memorised. Chords/changes are OK.
  • Strumming: can comfortably play with the recording at tempo if I don’t try to sing. As soon as lyrics are introduced it all goes wrong.
  • Lyrics: not working on these until strumming is automated. Work on memorising the words but the melody pattern is not easy.
  • Enhancements: still need to work on the intro riff.
  • Overall: progression and strumming are mostly OK and I can play with the recording well enough.

Song Practice: No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley

  • Chords: chords/changes are OK and I can comfortably play along with the recording (which is a little out of tune) as long as I don’t try and sing.
  • Strumming: can play along with a basic pattern and am trying to learn the reggae pattern, without much success. Go back to the tutorial video and see what Justin plays.
  • Lyrics: not working on these until strumming is completely comfortable.
  • Enhancements: there’s a little climb up that I can introduce at the end of the chorus.
  • Overall: mostly playing to the song sheet with a metronome as the recording is out of tune.

Beginning Blues Guitar – continued PFCs for C7 and G7 fingerings. Got better toward the end of the week and am up to around 60 per minute so start playing along with the slow tempo examples – spending the full 10 minutes on the straight feel example for now until chords are better. Probably need a couple of weeks more on this before moving on.

Garageband – Just started the basic setup with the audio interface (Audient iD4 and headphones) and making sure I can get sound into the computer. Initial aim is to record my repertoire songs as “markers” for my progress. Start with just a basic guitar track but perhaps then look to expand over the next few weeks with bass and drums for my own “cover” versions. I won’t include as part of practice routine.

Songwriting – Had a go at the dice song writing (Module 11 exercise) using the Bing Copilot AI to write my lyrics (see post above for results)

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@JokuMuu Hi Nicole. I didn’t record it, no. Trust me you’re better off not hearing it - seems randomness does not always end up with great results! I don’t think song writers are going to be replaced by AI any time soon :grinning: Here is what it gave me for Verse 1 (it got worse from here!)

Caught in the neon glow, chasing highs that fade
A dance with the devil. a price we’ve all paid
Pills like candy wrappers, promises they sell
Addictions sweet illusion, leading straight to hell

This was what it gave me for an 8-bar pattern of F, Dm, Em, C, Em, Am, G, Am

As Charlie Brown used to say “Good grief!!”

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Tip my hat on the depth of your reflection and approach to learning, Stuart.

Interested in the AI output. I think I may have heard worse :rofl: Just that phrase ‘Pills like candy wrappers’ was something I’d change. The rest . . . . not so bad . . . . or maybe that is a reflection of my own limited powers of discernment :rofl:

I also struggle a little . . . . a lot . . . . with lyrics for my originals, plus harmony and melody :rofl:

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Interesting… :grinning: Like @DavidP I also stumbled over the “pills like candy wrappers”… No, this picture simply does not work :nerd_face:

Interesting also that this specific AI except perhaps counting syllables does not care for the sound of the words. Rhyme scheme A, A, B, B … sure. I recognise the general theme of the lyrics, but it all seems rather random and cold.

Hmm … Seems that at least this specific AI is not able to evoke emotions by storytelling yet :slightly_smiling_face:

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WEEK 10 - Week Ending Friday 2 August 2024
Target: 7 hours of practice per week (average 1 hour/day). Actual: 7 hours 26 minutes
Played every day except Sunday, Daily Min: 15 mins. Daily max: 100 minutes.

TLDR: Started Module 12, working on power chord songs, continued working on note names with the note trainer app and key signatures. Working on 12-bar blues pattern in G but C7 chord changes still need work. Switched out the 2 Campfire repertoire songs for practice in August.

THIS WEEKS PRACTICE ROUTINE (SCHEDULED 90 MINUTES/DAY)
Technique (25 minutes)
05 mins – Repertoire Revision (Warmup)
02 mins – (Mod 12) A minor Pentatonic
03 mins – (Mod 12) Power Chords
02 mins – (Mod 12) 5th Root and Sliding
03 mins – (Mod 12) String Changes and Shifting
02 mins – (Mod 12) Palm Muting
03 mins – (Mod 12) Enter Sandman Riff
02 mins – (Mod 11) Happy Birthday arrangement
01 mins – PFC: D7 to C7
01 mins – PFC: G7 to C7
01 mins – PFC: G7 to D7

Theory (15 minutes)
03 mins – (PMT-3) Major Scale Pattern 1 (Alternate Picking – target 200 bpm)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Name the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Find the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)

Repertoire Songs (40 minutes)
10 mins – (Mod 12) Cocaine
10 mins – (Mod 12) Teenage Dirtbag
10 mins – (Campfire) Margaritaville
10 mins – (Campfire) Take Me Home Country Roads

Griff Hamlin’s Beginning Blues Guitar (10 minutes)
05 mins - Strumming, Example 22 in G using G7 and C7
05 mins - Strumming, Example 23 in G using G7 and C7

PASSING GRADES AND CURRENT STATUS

  • [PMT-3] Recalling Major Scale Notes (+ note names out loud) - In Progress
  • [PMT-3] Playing major scale pattern 1 at 200 bpm cleanly – In Progress
  • [PMT-3] Notes on the Neck (with App) – In Progress
  • [Mod 12] Memorise notes on thickest 2 strings (E and A) – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Play R6 and R5 power chords with effective muting – In Progress
  • [Mod 12] Have explored palm muting – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Memorised A minor Pentatonic – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Had a go at Enter Sandman riff – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Learned 2 songs with Power Chords – In Progress
  • [Mod 12] Close listening to some Blues (Justin’s Playlist) – In Progress

DETAILED PROGRESS, THOUGHTS, AND REFLECTION
The power chords are going quickly, I might be able to complete this module next week and move on to Module 13. With the work I’ve been doing over the past month with the note trainer app I can name the notes on 6th and 5th strings so have called this done. I play with palm mute a lot already so am familiar with the technique and have called this done. I’ve transferred Justin’s blues playlist to Tidal so I can listen (listened through it a few times, some tracks I already knew) but need to do some “active” listening rather than just having it on in the background.

Module 12 Technique – Week 1 of Module 12.

  • A minor Pentatonic – pattern is memorised. Working on muting whilst playing the scale. Next week work on playing with a metronome (start at 100 bpm all down picks and increase tempo 10 bpm at a time) and perhaps alternate picking.
  • Power Chords – I found the chord fingerings easy as I first started out with these about 40 years ago. After a few days I switched the 10 minutes for power chords and muting to play the songs “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (working on strumming pattern as song is quite fast and hard to keep up) and “Fly Away” (strumming pattern is good and I can play along with the recording) as they cover muting and switching strings. I am learning “Cocaine” as one of my Module 12 songs so that covers sliding the chords. The muting is OK but I’m pressing too hard with the grip and making sliding/jumping at speed harder than it needs to be so need to relax the grip a little but still get notes clear.
  • Enter Sandman – struggled with holding 1st and 3rd fingers in place for the intro riff so now play with moving 1st finger. Can play the first 3 riffs from Justin’s video, working on the rest.
  • 7 Chords – practice D7, C7, G7 changes for Blues course. C7 still problematic in getting fingers into place, particularly the pinky on the C7. D7 and G7 are generally OK. C7 is getting there but not good enough for smooth transitions consistently but noticeably better in the last 2 sessions. Playing changes with metronome at 60bpm.
  • Happy Birthday - The chord/melody arrangement for Happy Birthday continues to improve but focus needed on quality of notes ringing out and volume, some picks are quieter than others. I can get through the tune but still get the occasional duff note. Calling this done for now and will use the time elsewhere from next week.

Practical Music Theory – Grade 3

  • Name the Note: reached 87 notes named in 3 minutes (one every 2.1 seconds. Last week: 82 notes) as my best score for the week. Try to get up to 90 notes.
  • Find the Note: stayed at 35 sequences correct in 3 minutes (one note every 0.9 seconds. Last week: 35 sequences). Probably can’t get much faster at this so may need to use number of errors as a secondary metric.
  • C major scale: now playing at 200 bpm with alternate picking playing 2 picks per click at 100 bpm on the metronome – still errors creeping in. Target to play error free for 1 minute (6 times up and down at 200 bpm) – still some way to go with this but got close a couple of times.
  • Notes in Keys: I can do this with pen and paper but still struggle just doing it my head. Continue working on this by running through relationship between numbers of sharps/flats in each key. This is just a memory test now so I’ve taken out of my formal routine.
  • Introduce the memory test 1 in the app for August practice as replacement for Happy Birthday.

Mod 12 Song Practice: Cocaine – Eric Clapton

  • Chords: all power chords, so focus is on muting the un-played strings.
  • Strumming: the rhythm comes from the power chord slides. I can do them, but accuracy needs to be worked on when sliding into positions.
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics this week.
  • Enhancements: there’s a little riff after the power chord phrase. Might be too complicated to play with the riff, at least for me at this stage. Might be one to come back to later.
  • Overall: basically, the same power chord sliding pattern throughout the song. Good song for making sure slides and muting is working correctly. I get it most of the time but have strings occasionally ringing out.

Mod 12 Song Practice: Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus

  • Chords: chords are straightforward. Needs work to get clean changes ringing out.
  • Strumming: strumming pattern is awkward to maintain with the muted hit and stay in time with the song. Getting there but more work is required to automate this.
  • Lyrics: not working on lyrics until strumming pattern is more sorted.
  • Enhancements: there’s a little riff at the end of verses and choruses based around power chords. It requires an accurate jump up the neck that needs work to hit the right strings consistently.
  • Overall: really like this song and its distinctive with the strumming pattern. More work needed on the strumming pattern to play comfortably but it’s getting there

Campfire Song Practice: Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet

  • Chords: chords and changes are not a problem. Needs work to get clean changes every time.
  • Strumming: can strum along with recording at tempo.
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics. Try to introduce from next week.
  • Enhancements: no special enhancements in this song.
  • Overall: Can play along at tempo with the recording. Need to introduce lyrics so I can keep my place in the song as it’s a long time on each of the chords in places.

Campfire Song Practice: Take Me Home Country Roads – John Denver

  • Chords: chords and changes are not a problem just needs work to memorise. Needs more work to get clean changes every time.
  • Strumming: easy strumming pattern and can play at tempo, just need to automate
  • Lyrics: not working on lyrics this week. Try to introduce in next weeks practice.
  • Enhancements: there’s an alternating bass line. Look to replicate with strumming emphasis
  • Overall: Need a capo on 2nd fret to play with recording, which I can do. Working on playing the progression from memory.

Beginning Blues Guitar – started playing along with the slow tempo examples – spending the full 10 minutes on the straight feel example for now until chords are better. Changes are much cleaner by the end of the week and C7 is achieved more often. Look to add the slow speed shuffle feel next week.

Garageband – didn’t progress with any GB stuff this week.

Songwriting – Going to pause this until perhaps the Grade 2 consolidation when I’ll explore it more.

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WEEK 11 - Week Ending Friday 9 August 2024
Target: 7 hours of practice per week (average 1 hour/day). Actual: 8 hours 2 minutes
Played every day except Sunday, Daily Min: 43 mins. Daily max: 96 minutes.

TLDR: Completed Module 12 and will start Module 13 next week, continued working on note names with the note trainer app. Continued with 12-bar blues pattern in G at full speed now. Continued with 2 Campfire repertoire songs practice.

THIS WEEKS PRACTICE ROUTINE (SCHEDULED 90 MINUTES/DAY)
Technique (20 minutes)
05 mins – Repertoire Revision (Warmup)
02 mins – (Mod 12) A minor Pentatonic
05 mins – (Mod 12) Smells Like Teen Spirit (for Power Chords)
05 mins – (Mod 12) Fly Away (for Power Chords)
03 mins – (Mod 12) Enter Sandman Riff

Theory (20 minutes)
03 mins – (PMT-3) Major Scale Pattern 1 (Alternate Picking – target 200 bpm)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Name the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Find the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)
05 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer – Memory Quiz 1

Repertoire Songs (40 minutes)
10 mins – (Mod 12) Cocaine
10 mins – (Mod 12) Teenage Dirtbag
10 mins – (Campfire) Margaritaville
10 mins – (Campfire) Take Me Home Country Roads

Griff Hamlin’s Beginning Blues Guitar (10 minutes)
05 mins - Strumming, Straight feel 12-Bar Blues in G using G7, D7 and C7
05 mins - Strumming, Shuffle feel 12-Bar Blues in G using G7, D7 and C7

PASSING GRADES AND CURRENT STATUS

  • [PMT-3] Recalling Major Scale Notes (+ note names out loud) - In Progress
  • [PMT-3] Playing major scale pattern 1 at 200 bpm cleanly – In Progress
  • [PMT-3] Notes on the Neck (with App) – In Progress
  • [Mod 12] Memorise notes on thickest 2 strings (E and A) – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Play R6 and R5 power chords with effective muting – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Have explored palm muting – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Memorised A minor Pentatonic – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Had a go at Enter Sandman riff – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Learned 2 songs with Power Chords – DONE
  • [Mod 12] Close listening to some Blues (Justin’s Playlist) – DONE

DETAILED PROGRESS, THOUGHTS, AND REFLECTION
Completed the work to pass the module so will move to Module 13 from next week. My expectation is to take the next 2 week for Module 13 as I think I have covered at least some of the content in the Griff Hamlin blues course. I’ll keep the Am pentatonic scale in my routine (move to PMT section and adjust timings to find 2 minutes for Am) and work on alternate picking the scale. String muting whilst playing scales and power chords still needs some work but it’s OK most of the time, just need to focus when moving shapes around that I don’t lose finger position and focus on tightness of grip to avoid cramp in the fingers. I’ll keep Teenage Dirtbag to work on for my repertoire as it’s a cool song I like playing and works on an acoustic. Have continued to listen to the Blues playlist. A good test would be to work out the chord progressions for some of my favourites – put on list for the consolidation period and maybe look to start transcribing after Module 14.

Started introducing the lyrics into Margaritaville and will need to separately start learning the words. Need to work out how that will work for me, maybe start just by copying them out a few times or maybe sing along with the recording? Ask in the forum and see what others do. Switch out the 2 Campfire songs for the next two in the list: Working Class Hero and The First Cut Is The Deepest.

Module 12 Technique – Week 2 of Module 12.

  • A minor Pentatonic – pattern is memorised. Muting whilst playing the scale is working OK and am playing at 200 bpm all down picks. Next week work on alternate picking.
  • Power Chords – used “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Fly Away” as substitutes for power chord exercises. Took a while to get the strumming pattern up to speed for Smells Like Teen Spirit but pretty much got there in the end. Learned “Cocaine” (same power chord progression throughout pretty much) as one of my Module 12 songs to cover sliding the chords. Muting is much improved and is more relaxed now, not so tense.
  • Enter Sandman – can play the first 3 riffs from Justin’s video. Decide if I want to complete this as a repertoire song. Difficult to pull off as an acoustic version so probably not a campfire song.
  • 7 Chords – C7 is getting better and have moved to playing the straight feel 12-bar at full speed, with counting out loud. Getting changes done in time mostly but work still required. Also need to work on the same progression but with a shuffle feel. Try this next week.

Practical Music Theory – Grade 3

  • Name the Note: reached 88 notes named in 3 minutes (one every 2.0 seconds. Last week: 87 notes) as my best score for the week. Target to get up to 90 notes.
  • Find the Note: reached 39 sequences correct in 3 minutes (one note every 0.8 seconds. Last week: 35 sequences). Target to get up to 40 sequences.
  • Memory Quiz 1: reached 15 notes named from memory
  • C major scale: continued playing at 200 bpm with alternate picking playing 2 picks per click at 100 bpm on the metronome – still errors creeping in. Target to play error free for 1 minute (6 times up and down at 200 bpm) – still some way to go with this but get close in each session.

Mod 12 Song Practice: Cocaine – Eric Clapton

  • Chords: simple power chords with sliding/muting. Muting is generally OK now.
  • Strumming: the rhythm comes from the power chord slides. Accuracy is much better this week when sliding into positions.
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics. Song isn’t for repertoire, just for technique.
  • Enhancements: not worked on these as focus was power chord slides/muting.
  • Overall: basically, the same power chord sliding pattern throughout the song. Good song for making sure slides and muting is working correctly. Strings mostly don’t ring out but I do get string noise when the muting doesn’t quite work, and the occasional harmonic.

Mod 12 Song Practice: Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus

  • Chords: chords are straightforward. Need to work on consistent changes to C#, B, Asus2 as 3-finger power chords plus muting.
  • Strumming: mostly figured this out but chord changes to 5th string roots started to get messed up when adding the strumming pattern so more practice required. Can get the muted hits now.
  • Lyrics: not working on lyrics until strumming pattern is more sorted.
  • Enhancements: have incorporated the riff at the end of sections but needs work to hit the right strings consistently and cleanly at full tempo.
  • Overall: really like this song and its distinctive with the strumming pattern. More work needed on the strumming pattern to play comfortably but it’s getting there. Will keep as an addition to repertoire and use as a play-along song just for fun.

Campfire Song Practice: Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet

  • Chords: still needs work to get clean changes every time but the shapes are simple enough.
  • Strumming: can strum along with recording at tempo. Needs work to remove small, muted stop between changes and remove slightly staccato sound.
  • Lyrics: started introducing the lyrics but there are some tricky sections where the words don’t quite follow the earlier patters and starting on earlier/later beats. Need to work on these sections. It’s getting there but will just take more practice.
  • Enhancements: no special enhancements in this song other than a Dsus4 in the chorus.
  • Overall: Can play along at tempo with the recording. Starting to introduce lyrics so I can keep my place in the song as it’s a long time on each of the chords in places.

Campfire Song Practice: Take Me Home Country Roads – John Denver

  • Chords: chords and changes are not a problem just needs work to memorise. Needs more work to get clean changes every time.
  • Strumming: easy strumming pattern and can play at tempo, just need to automate
  • Lyrics: not working on lyrics this week.
  • Enhancements: there’s an alternating bass line. Focus for now on getting consistent strumming with singing. Leave more complicated elements until later.
  • Overall: Can play the progression from memory along with the recording so it may be time to introduce the metronome as well as the lyrics.

Beginning Blues Guitar – started playing along with the normal tempo example for the straight feel on repeat. Changes are mostly OK at full speed, but more practice is needed. Look to add the shuffle feel for the same chord progression next week. Need to get these patterns smooth before moving on.

Garageband – didn’t progress with any GB stuff this week.

Songwriting – Paused for now. Look at in Grade 2 consolidation.

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wow you re even longer than I am when you post
So many stuff you’re working on :smiley:

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Awesome post. Now if only was practicing and playing as long as it must take for you to write up your updates, Stuart :rofl:

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Hi Deborah @MacOneill the posts may be longer but I only do it once a week, not every day :grinning:

And David @DavidP you will see the posts basically follow the same format so it takes me about 30 minutes at the end of the week. I have a Word file where I actually write this up, then I just copy across into the forum. With the Word file, I can have it open and jot things down as they occur to me during the course of the week, which makes the end of week reflection easier too.

I do find it useful though, and having the detail helps. The important part is the 30 minutes thinking process. The log itself is just the reason for, and output from, doing the thinking.

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I work on less stuff in a week than you do
its impressive :open_mouth:

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WEEK 12 - Week Ending Friday 16 August 2024
Target: 7 hours of practice per week (average 1 hour/day). Actual: 11 hours 6 minutes
Played every day except Saturday, Daily Min: 90 mins. Daily max: 193 minutes.

TLDR: Completed Module 13 so will move to Module 14 next week, continued working on note names with the note trainer app. Continued with 12-bar blues pattern in G at full speed now. Replaced Hey Joe in the Campfire set with Teenage Dirtbag. Worked a lot on Crossroads intro.

THIS WEEKS PRACTICE ROUTINE (SCHEDULED 90 MINUTES/DAY)
Technique (20 minutes)
05 mins – Repertoire Revision (Warmup)
02 mins – (Mod 13) Seventh Chords
02 mins – (Mod 13) Blues in G
02 mins – (Mod 13) Blues in E
03 mins – (Mod 13) Beginner Blues Solo
03 mins – (Mod 13) Improv in A
03 mins – (Mod 13) Shuffle Riff in A

Theory (20 minutes)
02 mins – (PMT-3) Major Scale Pattern 1 (Alternate Picking – target 200 bpm)
02 mins – (PMT-3) Minor Pentatonic Pattern 1 (Alternate Picking – target 200 bpm)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Name the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Find the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)
04 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer – Memory Quiz 1 (4x cycles of 1 min each)

Repertoire Songs (40 minutes)
10 mins – (Mod 13) Crossroads
10 mins – (Mod 12) Teenage Dirtbag
10 mins – (Campfire) Working Class Hero
10 mins – (Campfire) The First Cut Is The Deepest

Griff Hamlin’s Beginning Blues Guitar (10 minutes)
05 mins - Strumming, Straight feel 12-Bar Blues in G using G7, D7 and C7
05 mins - Strumming, Shuffle feel 12-Bar Blues in G using G7, D7 and C7

PASSING GRADE AND CURRENT STATUS

  • [PMT-3] Recalling Major Scale Notes (+ note names out loud) - In Progress
  • [PMT-3] Playing major scale pattern 1 at 200 bpm cleanly – In Progress
  • [PMT-3] Playing minor pentatonic scale pattern 1 at 200 bpm cleanly – In Progress
  • [PMT-3] Notes on the Neck (with App) – In Progress
  • [Mod 13] Memorise 7th Chord grips – DONE
  • [Mod 13] Explored playing blues in G – DONE
  • [Mod 13] Explored playing blues in A – DONE
  • [Mod 13] Learned the set Beginner Blues solo – DONE
  • [Mod 13] Tried improvising a blues solo – DONE
  • [Mod 13] Learned the basic shuffle groove – DONE

DETAILED PROGRESS, THOUGHTS, AND REFLECTION
Experimented a bit with Quicktime and iMovie to see how best to record sessions. Not confident enough to post video of me playing yet. Made a song/lyric sheet for Teenage Dirtbag and copied out the tab for Crossroads so I can work on it without the video – spent a couple of hours on Crossroads.

A lot of the content of Module 13 I’ve already been covering in the Griff Hamlin Beginner Blues Guitar course so I’m going to move on to Module 14 next week (I’m continuing with the Beginning Blues Guitar course in parallel with the JG Module 2 items). When playing the scale patterns my concentration seems to drift after the first few cycles and usually results in an error – need to concentrate more. Will be keeping Crossroads as a ‘Developer’ song.

Module 13 Technique – Week 1 of Module 13.

  • 7th Chords: already worked on these grips with the Griff Hamlin course but B7 and C7 are still not 100% clean every time.
  • Blues in G: memorised the standard, quick, and slow change patterns and playing chunka-chunka rhythm through repeated cycles of each. It’s quite a stretch though!
  • Blues in E: memorised the patterns and cycling through the changes.
  • Beginner Blues Solo: have this under the fingers at full tempo of 95 bpm and can play it confidently with the backing track.
  • Improv in A: had a go at this by playing around with set solo and making slight changes in either notes played or the rhythm of how it’s played. Key is to listen to the chord changes and play different parts of the minor pentatonic as appropriate.
  • Shuffle Riff in A: have the pattern down at various speeds from 60 to 100 bpm. Cycling through the standard, quick, and slow change patterns.

Practical Music Theory – Grade 3

  • Name the Note: reached 96 notes named in 3 minutes (one every 1.9 seconds. Last week: 88 notes) as my best score for the week (1 occasion only). Target to get consistently above 90 notes.
  • Find the Note: reached 42 sequences correct in 3 minutes (one note every 0.7 seconds. Last week: 39 sequences). Target to get consistently above 40 sequences.
  • Memory Quiz 1: reached 17 notes named from memory (Last Week: 15 notes)
  • C major scale: continued playing Pattern 1 at 200 bpm with alternate picking playing 2 picks per click at 100 bpm on the metronome – still errors creeping in. Target to play error free for the full 2 minutes – still some way to go with this but getting closer in each session.
  • A minor Pentatonic scale: continued playing Pattern 1 at 200 bpm with alternate picking, 2 picks per click at 100 bpm on the metronome. Mostly error free until concentration drifts. Target to play error free for the full 2 minutes.

Mod 13 Song Practice: Crossroads – Cream

  • Chords: shuffle pattern blues with melody lines. The shuffle pattern is OK but the transitions in/out of the melody lines aren’t up to speed yet.
  • Strumming: quite a fast tempo, at least for me for now. The shuffle is OK
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics.
  • Enhancements: Intro and melody lines still require work. I have the individual parts worked out for the intro but need to put them all together into a coherent whole at speed. Working at a lower speed for now, actual tempo is way too fast for me when trying the turnaround. Trying to count it out slowly to build muscle memory. Introduce a metronome once I can confidently get from one end to the other of all 12 bars in lieu of playing with the recording (it’s too fast for now).
  • Overall: not up to speed yet and I don’t have all the parts fully memorised. Copied out the tab so I can work without the video and breaking it into sections. This one might take a while before it sounds anywhere decent and at tempo. Repeated listening to the track helps more than trying to count it as the memory of what it’s supposed to sound like I find is more useful. Need to remember this is blues, clinical precision is not required!

Mod 12 Song Practice: Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus

  • Chords: chords are straightforward. Need to work on consistent changes to C#, B, Asus2 as 3-finger power chords plus muting – working much better this week and more consistent.
  • Strumming: mostly figured this out but chord changes to 5th string roots still get messed up occasionally so more practice required. Can get the muted hits consistently now but still some unwanted strings ring out from time to time.
  • Lyrics: not working on lyrics until strumming pattern is more sorted.
  • Enhancements: have incorporated the riff at the end of sections and can play consistently and cleanly most times at full tempo.
  • Overall: really like this song and its distinctive with the strumming pattern. More work needed on the strumming pattern to play comfortably but it’s getting there. Added to repertoire with a full lyric/chord sheet made.

Campfire Song Practice: Working Class Hero – John Lennon

  • Chords: straightforward progression memorised, clean chords, generally OK with this.
  • Strumming: simple pattern at a relaxed tempo but 3 beats to the bar not 4
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics.
  • Enhancements: hammer on with the Am. Fancier moving bass note that I’m not up to yet.
  • Overall: can play along with the recording. Working on muting low E and A (thumb over) for the Am and D chords. Working on playing through from memory with metronome and introducing dynamics.

Campfire Song Practice: The First Cut Is The Deepest – Cat Stevens / Sheryl Crow

  • Chords: only for the chorus. Simple progression, clean chords, generally OK.
  • Strumming: need to work on transition from verse riff to the chords in the chorus as I struggle to make the change at the tempo of the song and get muted notes. Rolling the third finger from the barre to play the single note lines is tricky but improving.
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics.
  • Enhancements: Intro riff also used for verse. The slide into the riff needs practice as it messes with accurate fingering of the riff.
  • Overall: transposed for the Sheryl Crow version. The riff is still a bit tricky as is the transition into and out of the chorus from the riff. The riff picking is better this week so started to include the slide. There’s a few different things in the Sheryl Crow version and it’s ‘rockier’ than the Cat Stevens version. There seems to be a Dsus4 and A chord sequence at the start.

Beginning Blues Guitar – continued playing along with the full speed examples in both straight and shuffle feel. Changes are mostly OK at full speed, but more practice is needed. Need to get these patterns smooth before moving on. Problem is finger accuracy when moving to C7 and I’m only getting a clean chord about half the time at the moment.

Garageband – Paused for now. Look at again in Grade 2 consolidation.

Songwriting – Paused for now. Look at again in Grade 2 consolidation.

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WEEK 13 - Week Ending Friday 23 August 2024
Target: 7 hours of practice per week (average 1 hour/day). Actual: 7 hours 45 minutes
Practised every day except Sunday, Daily Min: 15 mins. Daily max: 90 minutes.

TLDR: Started Module 14, continued working on note names with the note trainer app. Continued with 12-bar blues pattern in G at full speed in both straight and shuffle feel now. Crossroads has become a “Developer” song – I can play the intro riff but only at a little over half-speed.

THIS WEEKS PRACTICE ROUTINE (SCHEDULED 90 MINUTES/DAY)
Technique (20 minutes)
05 mins – Repertoire Revision (Warmup)
03 mins – (Mod 14) Slash Chords
02 mins – (Mod 14) Playing Without Looking Ex. 1
02 mins – (Mod 14) Playing Without Looking Ex. 2
03 mins – (Mod 14) Thumb Muting
03 mins – (Mod 14) Percussion Hits on 2 & 4
02 mins – (Mod 14) Playing Standing Up

Theory (20 minutes)
02 mins – (PMT-3) Major Scale Pattern 1 (Alternate Picking – target 200 bpm)
02 mins – (PMT-3) Minor Pentatonic Pattern 1 (Alternate Picking – target 200 bpm)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Name the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Find the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)
04 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer – Memory Quiz 1 (4x cycles of 1 min each)

Repertoire Songs (40 minutes)
10 mins – (Mod 13) Crossroads
10 mins – (Mod 14) Norwegian Wood (Slash Chords)
10 mins – (Campfire) Working Class Hero
10 mins – (Campfire) The First Cut Is The Deepest

Griff Hamlin’s Beginning Blues Guitar (10 minutes)
05 mins - Strumming, Straight feel 12-Bar Blues in G using G7, D7 and C7
05 mins - Strumming, Shuffle feel 12-Bar Blues in G using G7, D7 and C7

PASSING GRADE AND CURRENT STATUS
There is no official passing grade for this module as it runs into the Grade 2 consolidation period.

DETAILED PROGRESS, THOUGHTS, AND REFLECTION
Will stick with Module 14 proper for another week before moving to Grade 2 consolidation. Plan is to start consolidation on Saturday 31st August 2024. This will give a minimum of 16 weeks for consolidation (4 months) with aim of completing Grade 2 requirements by Friday 20th December 2024, ahead of the Christmas holidays. The aim is to also complete the Beginner Blues Guitar course by Christmas. Need to work on putting a Consolidation routine together next week.

Still working on Crossroads intro riff but will take some time to get up to full speed. Need to keep this in the routine as a ‘developer’ song and continue to work it through consolidation. Speed is improving week on week. Started working on Norwegian Wood but the stretches are hard for me particularly when keeping some fingers down am getting muted strings and can’t keep pinky out of the way. Perseverance is required and it’s much better at the end of the week. Will replace Campfire songs in routine with Chocolate Jesus and You Never Can Tell.

Module 14 classifies songs differently and asks us to have 5-10 “easy” songs that we can play from memory; 2-3 “open mic” songs that we can play perfectly for strangers; and a 10 song “set” that can be played perfectly along with the recording. I will make this a Grade 2 consolidation goal.

Module 14 Technique – Week 1 of Module 14.

  • Slash Chords: working through the various chord grips in each practice session and added them to my chord dictionary. Picked out my favourites.
  • Play w/o Look 1: continue to progress with this exercise and have had some success. I can generally get my fingers in the right place on the right strings for basic open chords, but sometimes it takes a while. Easier towards the end of the week and can get reasonable changes now. Reallocate this time to Ex.2 and work on various songs.
  • Play w/o Look 2: managing to successfully play through Working Class Hero (3 chords) without looking and with the recording. Trying other songs and noting the problem areas to be worked on in Ex.1. Tried this with the BBG 12-bar progressions in G and good progress made. Seems to be easier to play C7 if I don’t look!
  • Thumb Mute: can do this relatively easily – put thumb on the top of the neck and there’s enough to lightly touch the low E without having to force it over. Can also reach over and mute the A for 4th string roots. Reallocate this time for next weeks practice.
  • Percussive Hits: just spending time trying to get the hits consistent with hand off the neck. Kept getting a ringing high E string harmonic even when touching the string but seems to be better now. Increase speed from next week and play with a metronome at 80 bpm or higher and incorporate a strumming pattern with hits on 2 and 4.
  • Play Standing: standing up for at least 1 song practice per session and will look to increase this for all songs, scales etc. Reallocate this time but remember to practice some things standing up every day.

Practical Music Theory (PMT) – Grade 3

  • Name the Note: peaked at 95 notes named in 3 minutes (one every 1.9 seconds. Last week: 96 notes). Target: average above 90 notes. Average this week: 89 notes.
  • Find the Note: peaked at 40 sequences correct in 3 minutes (one note every 0.7 seconds. Last week: 42 sequences). Target: average above 40 sequences. Average this week: 39 sequences.
  • Memory Quiz 1: reached 16 notes named from memory (Last Week: 17 notes)
  • C major scale: continued playing Pattern 1 at 200 bpm with alternate picking playing 2 picks per click at 100 bpm on the metronome – still errors creeping in so backed off to 160 bpm the last couple of days. Much better accuracy at 160 bpm so will stay here for a while.
  • A minor Pentatonic scale: continued playing Pattern 1 at 200 bpm with alternate picking, 2 picks per click at 100 bpm on the metronome. Errors at 200 bpm so backed off to 160 bpm, much cleaner results.

Mod 14 Song Practice: Norwegian Wood – The Beatles

  • Chords: Chords aren’t difficult but the stretches for the melody parts I am finding difficult and am getting lots of muted strings and clicks. Need to review fingering as I don’t think it should be this hard. I have a short pinky so must lift it off otherwise it mutes out strings. I can at least play it now!
  • Strumming: apart from muted strings the strumming is simple enough. Need to get a good groove between chords and melody though. Too much strain in the hand, too stiff but the change of fingering has helped enormously.
  • Lyrics: not working on lyrics until strumming pattern is more sorted.
  • Enhancements: melody lines and fingerings need work. Start working with the metronome next week.
  • Overall: The stretches were proving difficult and detracted from relaxed playing. Slowed down the progression and concentrated on how to place fingers for the melody lines – revised fingering to overcome my stumpy pinky. Much improved, now need to concentrate on playing it through.

Mod 13 Song Practice: Crossroads – Cream

  • Chords: shuffle pattern blues with melody lines. The shuffle pattern is OK but the transitions in/out of the melody lines still not up to speed but much improved over last week.
  • Strumming: quite a fast tempo, at least for me for now. The shuffle is OK at full speed.
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics.
  • Enhancements: Intro and melody lines still require work. I can play the intro through at 60 bpm as a coherent whole as actual tempo is still way too fast for me when I get to the 16th notes in the turnaround. Introduced a metronome this week in lieu of playing with the recording (it’s too fast for now). Getting to the B7 arpeggio is also tricky and needs work.
  • Overall: not up to speed yet (playing at 60 bpm, about half speed, to build timing and consistency) and concentrated on the opening 12 bar riff. Noticeable improvement since last week though. This one may take a while before I can play along with the recording so it’s not a Campfire song. Good one to continue with into consolidation.

Campfire Song Practice: Working Class Hero – John Lennon

  • Chords: straightforward progression memorised, clean chords, generally OK with this.
  • Strumming: simple pattern at a relaxed tempo but 3 beats to the bar not 4. Pattern is memorised.
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics.
  • Enhancements: working on the hammer on with the Am. Fancier moving bass note that I’m not up to yet. Started using the hammer ons into the Am chord.
  • Overall: can play along with the recording. Muting low E and A (thumb over) for the Am and D chords mostly OK now. Working on introducing dynamics.

Campfire Song Practice: The First Cut Is The Deepest – Cat Stevens / Sheryl Crow

  • Chords: only for the chorus. Simple progression D, A and G, clean chords, generally OK.
  • Strumming: need to work on transition from verse riff to the chords in the chorus as I struggle to make the change at the tempo of the song and get muted notes. Rolling the third finger from the barre to play the single note lines is tricky but improving.
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics.
  • Enhancements: Dsus4 and A chords for the intro. Riff also used for verse. The slide into the riff needs practice as it messes with accurate fingering of the riff.
  • Overall: transposed for the Sheryl Crow version. The riff is still a bit tricky as is the transition into and out of the chorus from the riff. The riff picking continued to improve this week and can include the slide now (most times). Continued to practice the riff transition in/out of chorus.

Beginning Blues Guitar – continued playing along with the full speed examples in both straight and shuffle feel. Changes are mostly OK at full speed, but more practice is needed. Need to get these patterns smooth before moving on. Problem is finger accuracy when moving to C7 and I’m only getting a clean chord about 75% the time at the moment. Keep going for another week. Tried playing without looking, may be easier not looking at hands!!

Garageband – Paused for now. Look at again in Grade 2 consolidation.

Songwriting – Paused for now. Look at again in Grade 2 consolidation.

39

GRADE 2 CONSOLIDATION PLAN - FEEDBACK REQUESTED
I’m approaching the end of Module 14 and would appreciate any feedback on my proposed routine and any pointers on when you know you’re ready to move on. Is Grade 2 consolidation more just about time spent or are there specific criteria that I should be looking at? For those that have been through Grade 2, what would you do differently if you had to do it again?

There seems to be more flexibility, and the expectation seems to be that we start to ‘self-direct’ our practice from this point forward. Given the suggestions of how to structure a 60-minute routine my first shot at my specific 90-minute routine, based on Justin’s guidance, is as follows:

2 x 5 min slots for each of Chords, Scales, Strumming, and Technique
3 x 10 min slots for Repertoire (3 songs to be worked on in any given week)
2 x 10 min slots for ‘Other’, for me this will notes on the neck and starting blues guitar

For the 5 min slots I’ve listed out the various subject areas highlighted by Justin and intend to rotate through these, changing up at each practice session and just keep cycling through them. For Repertoire I will work on 3 songs for a week before changing them up. I will have at least 1x 60-minute session per week for recording my repertoire in Garageband. I may also start to look at the transcribing lessons if I have time.

My intention is to start consolidation from 1st September and continue until at least the end of the year, 4 months of work. I will assess where I am in December and extend consolidation if there are still areas not quite right.

There isn’t a formal ‘passing grade’ as such so I made my own. These are the things I think I should be competent in before moving on to Grade 3.

  • Can comfortably play Grade 1&2 chords and change quickly between them
  • Major scale pattern 1, alternate picked at 160 bpm for 2 minutes, no errors
  • Minor pentatonic scale pattern 1, alternate picked at 160 bpm for 2 minutes, no errors
  • ‘Old Faithfull’ strumming is clean and consistent, no muted strings, with accents
  • Blues shuffle strumming is clean and consistent at a good tempo in at least 3 keys, in standard, quick and slow change patterns
  • Can employ string muting during scales and strumming, as required
  • Have recorded my song repertoire into Garageband
  • Can play at least 5 ‘easy’ songs from memory and without looking at hands. Post in AVOYP.
  • Can play 2 more complex (Grade 2 level) ‘open mic’ songs from memory
  • Can play a 10 song ‘set’ along with the recordings, from memory (play with a Tidal playlist)
  • Can play comfortably standing up and sitting down
  • Complete Practical Music Theory Grade 2
  • Complete Ear Training 1 & 2
40

WEEK 14 - Week Ending Friday 30 August 2024
Target: 7 hours of practice per week (average 1 hour/day). Actual: 9 hours 0 minutes
Practised every day except Sunday, Daily Min: 90 mins. Daily max: 90 minutes.

SUMMARY PROGRESS AND OBSERVATIONS
Started to just record formal practice time rather than itrying to capture ‘extra’ time spent outside of the plan on practice items e.g. additional song work, scales, chord changes etc. to how much time is actually spent. Once the practice time is achieved, anything else is a bonus/fun.

Completed Module 14 this week and will now move into Grade 2 consolidation until at least the end of the year before moving to Grade 3 for 2025. Total of about 9 months will have been spent in Grade 2 at the end of consolidation. I’ve worked out a 90-minute routine, based on Justin’s suggested structure, for consolidation that covers the subjects in Grade 2 as well as plenty of song work. Need to record some reference point video of the various practice items so I have a reference for the starting point of consolidation.

Playing without looking hasn’t been as hard as I thought it might be and I can play through several songs and strumming patterns now. Beneficial to try and not to look when it goes wrong and let the fingers figure out where to go as you continue with the song. Percussive hits with strumming needs more work to get the hits consistent without having too much tension in the hand/arm.

Continued working with the note trainer app and speed of recognition appears to be plateauing out a little now – not much improvement this week anyhow. Lost the daily stats in the dashboard so had to estimate scores based on the graph, will make a table in this log to record them in future.

Continued working on Crossroads, Norwegian Wood, Chocolate Jesus, and You Never Can Tell. All songs continue to improve and Crossroads, whilst still slow, is at least at a reasonable tempo and recognisable now. Started trying to introduce singing by playing 1 strum per bar to see how the lyrics fit with the changes and just singing off the song sheets. Picking accuracy/speed needs work for Crossroads and Norwegian Wood.

Completed at least a ‘first pass’ through all 10 Campfire songs and have the progressions and basic strumming in place for all 10. Work in consolidation period will be refinement and perhaps including some of the embellishments and dynamics to make the songs more interesting. Need to work on getting lyrics included in the songs too. Need to do much more listening to the tracks to get a better ‘feel’ of each song and how the words fit the progression.

Will also move forward to the next lesson in the Beginning Blues Guitar course. The 12-Bar in G patterns aren’t fully solid yet but are mostly there and I need a new challenge after 6-7 weeks of this.

The sections below are for my own future reference rather than public consumption, but you might get something out of it. There’s a lot though, so be warned!

THIS WEEKS PRACTICE ROUTINE (SCHEDULED 90 MINUTES/DAY)
Technique (20 minutes)
05 mins – Repertoire Revision (Warmup)
05 mins – (Mod 14) Slash Chords
07 mins – (Mod 14) Playing Without Looking Ex. 2
03 mins – (Mod 14) Percussion Hits on 2 & 4

Theory (20 minutes)
02 mins – (PMT-3) Major Scale Pattern 1 (Alternate Picking – target 200 bpm)
02 mins – (PMT-3) Minor Pentatonic Pattern 1 (Alternate Picking – target 200 bpm)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Name the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)
06 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer - Find the Note (2x cycles of 3 min each)
04 mins – (PMT-3) JG Note Trainer – Memory Quiz 1 (4x cycles of 1 min each)

Repertoire Songs (40 minutes)
10 mins – (Mod 13) Crossroads
10 mins – (Mod 14) Norwegian Wood (Slash Chords)
10 mins – (Campfire) Chocolate Jesus
10 mins – (Campfire) Never Can Tell

Griff Hamlin’s Beginning Blues Guitar (10 minutes)
05 mins - Strumming, Straight feel 12-Bar Blues in G using G7, D7 and C7
05 mins - Strumming, Shuffle feel 12-Bar Blues in G using G7, D7 and C7

PASSING GRADE AND CURRENT STATUS
There is no passing grade for this module as it runs into the Grade 2 consolidation period.

DETAILED PROGRESS AND PRACTICE NOTES
Module 14 Technique – Week 2 of Module 14.

  • Slash Chords: worked through the various chord grips in each practice session.
  • Play w/o Looking: can play through several simple songs without looking and have continued with the BBG 12-bar progressions in G. Feels comfortable now and am also trying to move fingers into place without looking when I get a bum note.
  • Percussive Hits: just spending time trying to get the hits consistent with simple strumming, including the up-strum, with the metronome.

Practical Music Theory (PMT) – Grade 3

  • Name the Note: peaked at 94 notes named in 3 minutes (one every 1.9 seconds. Last week: 95 notes). Target: average above 90 notes. Average this week: 89 notes.
  • Find the Note: peaked at 41 sequences correct in 3 minutes (one note every 0.7 seconds. Last week: 40 sequences). Target: average above 40 sequences. Average this week: 39 sequences.
  • Memory Quiz 1: reached 16 notes named from memory (Last Week: 16 notes)
  • C major scale: played Pattern 1 at 160 bpm with alternate picking playing 2 picks per click at 80 bpm on the metronome. Now getting to 2 minutes with only a couple of errors at 160 bpm.
  • A minor Pentatonic scale: played Pattern 1 at 160 bpm with alternate picking, 2 picks per click at 80 bpm on the metronome. Managed a couple of 2-minute sessions with no errors at 160 bpm.

Mod 14 Song Practice: Norwegian Wood – The Beatles

  • Chords: melody parts are much smoother this week and I can play through the song at tempo (with a few duff notes).
  • Strumming: getting the strumming and the accurate picked notes is the problematic part but it’s much improved from where it was last week.
  • Lyrics: not working on lyrics until strumming pattern is more sorted.
  • Enhancements: melody lines and accurate picked notes still need work.
  • Overall: Once I stopped trying to hold down the pinky I was able to play the song well enough for it to at least be recognisable. Worked on speeding up the tempo this week and can play at approximately the full speed but quality and dynamics needs to be worked on. Need to make a chord/lyric sheet for this to flesh out to the full song structure. Put on the Developer list.

Mod 13 Song Practice: Crossroads – Cream

  • Chords: shuffle pattern blues with melody lines. The shuffle pattern is OK but the transitions in/out of the melody lines still not up to full speed but continues to improve.
  • Strumming: quite a fast tempo, at least for me for now. The shuffle is OK at full speed.
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics.
  • Enhancements: Intro and melody lines still require work. I can play the intro through at about 75-80% speed as actual tempo is still way too fast for me when I get to the 16th notes in the turnaround. Getting to the B7 arpeggio from the riff continues to be a tricky part and needs work.
  • Overall: not up to speed yet and playing at 75% speed to build timing and consistency). Now able to combine the shuffle pattern and the intro riff relatively easily now. Need to have a close listen to the recording to work out the structure and lyrics before I can attempt a full play through.

Campfire Song Practice: Chocolate Jesus – Tom Waits

  • Chords: simple chord progression with chords I already know.
  • Strumming: simple strumming pattern, down-down-down/up-down, works.
  • Lyrics: not worked on lyrics.
  • Enhancements: need to find a key that I can sing – use capo for now.
  • Overall: simple enough in theory but much work still to do in memorising the song and dynamics. Can play along with recording but not solo from memory yet.

Campfire Song Practice: You Never Can Tell – Chuck Berry

  • Chords: simple, only 2 chords
  • Strumming: trying to use accented strums. Needs more work to get it automated.
  • Lyrics: started working on lyrics by talk-singing and just strumming 4 beats to understand where the words fall in relation to the chord progression.
  • Enhancements: no real enhancement. Same pattern throughout
  • Overall: this should be a nice, easy, song except strumming goes awry when trying to sing. Maybe try singing with the recording?

Beginning Blues Guitar – continued playing along with the full speed examples in both straight and shuffle feel. Changes are mostly OK at full speed, but more practice is needed to really lock them in. Changes to/from C7 remains a little problematic but is improving. Will move forward to the next lesson and return to this periodically.

Garageband – Paused for now. Look at again in Grade 2 consolidation.

Songwriting – Paused for now. Look at again in Grade 2 consolidation.

41

GRADE 2 CONSOLIDATION ROUTINE
My Grade 2 Consolidation period is about to begin and the practice routine will be essentially unchanged for the next few months. The routine below is the framework 90-minute core routine that I’ve settled on to start. This is for reference so I don’t have to reproduce it in each weekly log and so that I have a record of what I started with.

05 mins: Chords. -------- Rotate through the list of required skills. Change each day
05 mins: Chords. -------- Rotate through the list of required skills. Change each day
05 mins: Scales. ---------- Major Scale Pattern 1 (incl open C position), incl alt picking
05 mins: Scales. ---------- Minor Pentatonic Pattern 1 (incl open E position), incl alt picking
05 mins: Strumming. — ‘Old Faithfull’ pattern, straight with metronome at various speeds
05 mins: Strumming. — 12-Bar Blues forms – Standard, Quick Change, Slow Change
05 mins: Technique. ---- Rotate through the list of required skills. Change each day
05 mins: Technique. ---- Rotate through the list of required skills. Change each day

10 mins: Repertoire. ---- Easy Campfire song (with recording and metronome)
10 mins: Repertoire. ---- Easy Campfire song (with recording and metronome)
10 mins: Repertoire. ---- Open Mic song (with recording and metronome)

10 mins: Other. ----------- Griff Hamlin Beginning Blues Guitar
10 mins: Other. ----------- Notes on the Neck (using the App)

42

Cross post with “Just Chatting” for new Sue Foley album “One Guitar Woman”. Worth checking out if you like a stripped back acoustic blues:

43

GRADE 2 CONSOLIDATION WEEK 1
Week Ending Friday 6 September 2024
Target: 7 hours of practice per week (average 1 hour/day). Actual: 10 hours 30 minutes
Practised every day, Daily Min: 90 mins. Daily max: 90 minutes.

The format of this log has changed to reflect the move into Grade 2 consolidation. The focus for the next few months is improvement rather than learning new things so there may not be quite as much detail as previously. I have an offline Learning Log where I will keep up that detail but will likely limit the length of posts here to the key points each week.

Summary Progress and Observations
I’ve set a 90-minute daily practice routine, mapped out in a spreadsheet, with supplementary sessions for Garageband, Ear Training, Singing, and Jam Track play-along (to cover reactive listening). I have recorded the beginning states for each of the practice items in the first week, so I have a basis to refer to and hopefully see improvement as the weeks of consolidation pass. My intention is to compare progress at the end of each month, any more frequent than this probably won’t show up any meaningful progress. The aim is to upload AVOYP at the end of consolidation as part of “graduation”.

I started with the basic categories and subjects suggested by Justin but have already changed some of the items that I can already do quite easily and use the time to work more on things I find harder.

Chords: made a chord pairs chart categorised by the different types. Aim by the end of consolidation is to have 90% above 60/min and 75% above 80/min. Working through assessing my current speeds outside of regular practice as there are 495 chord pair changes to get through. The idea is to whittle the list down to the ‘problem’ children and work on those in consolidation. Progress this week is: 66% above 60/min and 32% above 80/min, so a long way to go yet.

Scales: working on the major and minor pentatonic scales, with alternate picking. Playing each pattern up and down the neck between 1st and 12th frets (1st finger in 9th fret). Tried the tempo at 120 bpm (metronome: 60 bpm) to try and get through 5 minutes error free. Continued to make errors so slowed down to 100 bpm where I can get it right most of the time. Will stick here for a while until comfortable. Minor pentatonic is easier than the major scale so I may up the tempo here first.

Strumming: just working on repetition of the patterns (Old Faithfull, Accent 2&4, Muted Hits, and 12-Bar Blues) along with a metronome at 90 bpm. Focus is on dynamics and consistency and am mostly using muted strings apart from the blues patterns where I use chunka-chunka. The blues in G is a stretch and is challenging to keep up for 5 minutes.

Technique: after initial assessment I’ve dropped some items that I find easy and have reallocated the time to additional sessions for the 4 items that remain (Hammer Ons, String Muting, Alternate Picking, and Fingerstyle Patterns). Starting with the basic fingerstyle patterns from my old JG Intermediate course book (p.158) and taking it slowly. They’re not complicated patterns so just need to practice. Based on what Justin says in his video I may drop the string muting so as not to over-focus on it, and just try to be aware of muting during other practice items. Re-visited the pick angle exercises again and will try this with a simple exercise going up/down the chromatic scale with alternate picking. For the Hammer-Ons I’m just re-visiting the exercise from lesson (Crossroads also requires hammer-ons).

Repertoire: revised these practice slots to be in line with the “10-Step” process. Working on Lay Down Sally, Teenage Dirtbag, and Crossroads (Developer) this week. Mostly tried to get the strumming automated whilst trying to distract myself during practice, and it’s not there yet for any of the songs. Played along to the recordings as fun time as it seems this is going to be a battle for me.

Note Recognition: continued with the Note Trainer app. Average speeds this week for a 3-minute test were: Name the Note: Average of 92 notes this week (Last Week: 89) and Find the Note: Average of 40 sequences of 6 notes this week (Last Week: 39). Started doing both memory quizzes but man, are they hard! I suppose it’s doing some good and reinforcing what I’m learning in the other exercises, so I’ll keep going in the hope it gets better. This is the first week where Name the Note has been above 90 every day.

Beginning Blues Guitar: moved on to learning the song “Muddy A Blues” in a chord/melody style. Working on counting out the rhythm whilst playing. Have each of the 4-bar sections playable and working on stringing the whole thing together whilst counting it.

Garageband: having connectivity issues that are not sorted yet. Can hear the guitar in the interface but can’t get GB to pick up any signal in the software. GB recognises my interface, and I have the channels correctly set, so it’s a bit of a mystery for now.

Singing: I watched the lessons on singing and have included some additional practice to improve my singing – just trying to hit pitch of the C major scale for now.

Other: I’ve downloaded the Blues Jam Tracks volume 1 and will use these outside the formal practice routine to play along to. Had to convert the mp3 files to wav files so the Ditto+ looper can read them but this severely reduces the storage available in the looper as wav files are about 5x the size of mp3’s.

44

GRADE 2 CONSOLIDATION WEEK 2
Week Ending Friday 13 September 2024

Target: 7 hours of practice per week (average 1 hour/day). Actual: 9 hours 50 minutes
Scheduled 90-Minute Daily Practice Routine
Practised every day, Daily Min: 50 mins. Daily max: 90 minutes.

Summary Progress and Observations
Chords: Total of 495 chord pairings. Target is to have 90% above 60/min and 75% above 80/min by the end of Consolidation. Progress this week is: 84% above 60/min and 33% above 80/min.

Scales: continued working on the major and minor pentatonic scales, with alternate picking, at 100 bpm. Pushed up to 110 bpm at the end of the week and was able to play still, so will try push up to 120 bpm next week but be prepared to come back down if there are too many mistakes.

Strumming: continued working on repetition of the patterns (Old Faithfull, Accent 2&4, Muted Hits, and 12-Bar Blues) along with a metronome at 90 bpm. Focus now is on dynamics and consistency and am mostly using muted strings apart from the blues patterns where I use chunka-chunka. Accuracy starts to drift towards the end of the 5 minutes due to arm getting tired. Need to review posture and relax the arm and shoulder more.

Technique: Continued with the basic fingerstyle pattern 1, can now play at a reasonable tempo so will move to pattern 2 next week. I will drop the string muting from this point so as not to over-focus on it, and just try to be aware of muting during other practice items. For alternate picking practice I continued with going up/down the chromatic scale at 60bpm. For the Hammer-Ons I’m playing the minor pentatonic scale in various places on the neck, up and down across the frets, picking then hammering on for the next note at 80bpm.

Repertoire: Rotated songs to Brown Eyed Girl, Everybody Hurts, and Crossroads (Developer) for this week (last week’s songs will re-appear a couple of times before the end of consolidation, so I’m not finished with them yet). Focus on getting the strumming automated whilst trying to distract myself during practice, and it’s not there yet for any of the songs but I can at least play them without looking. Started singing along with the recordings to get familiar with lyrics and phrasing.

Note Recognition: continued with the Note Trainer app. Average scores this week for a 3-minute test were: Name the Note: Average of 94 notes this week (Last Week: 92) and Find the Note: Average of 40 sequences of 6 notes this week (Last Week: 40). Continued doing both memory quizzes.

Beginning Blues Guitar: continued with “Muddy A Blues” in a chord/melody style. Can play it through at the slow tempo along with the video. Need at least 1 more week on this to get up to tempo before moving on to the next song. Remember to count out loud when practicing this.

Garageband: continuing connectivity issues that are not sorted yet. Research appears to indicate that my USB hub may be interfering with signal path and recommends going direct into the Mac so have ordered a cable to allow this that hopefully will resolve the issue.

Singing: didn’t do singing practice this week.