perpetual beginners

octatonic

clare_bear said:

I have an 18 month old son, so it's not possible to sacrifice other things! I'll just have to trickle along.

Maybe not now but when your son is a bit more independent?

The compound learning stuff (doing things away from the guitar) you can do at any point.

octatonic

zoglug said:

This thread has been a great read and great motivation to put my own practice schedule in place. At the moment, i dont think my fingers could take that much so for the forseeable future im going to follow something like this:-

15 minutes - 10 minute guitar workout (David Mead) Whilst it says 10 minute workout, by the time ive recorded results, reset the timer it usually takes 15 minutes
15 minutes - Learn and Master Guitar sessions - Currently on session 2, learning the notes on the first 2 strings. Its also good as it is teaching me how to read music too.
15 minutes chords and chord changes - Using Justin's 1 minute changes exercises
15 minutes - Song Practice - This will be a combination of songs from the L&M guitar course, but also songs which use the chords i am using during the 1 minute changes
15 - 30 minutes - Ear training - I signed up to the easy ear training site which has been a fantastic read each and every day.

Once i get a little better, i will certainly factor in more elements which you mention Octatonic! Again, thank you for sharing your training log.

Very welcome.

I do my ear training on public transport- iphone app is called Tenuto.

clare_bear

ChrisMusic;16232" said:

@clare_bear, what better way to clear the cobwebs and wind down from your MSc stresses than a little time strumming...

@ChrisMusic Sounds like a good plan. Although with an MSc, work and motherhood, I may already be spreading myself a bit thin. A few minutes strumming may help me chill out if I'm careful not to expect to much.

clare_bear

octatonic;16353" said:

clare_bear said:

I have an 18 month old son, so it's not possible to sacrifice other things! I'll just have to trickle along.












Maybe not now but when your son is a bit more independent?The compound learning stuff (doing things away from the guitar) you can do at any point.

Absolutely, and I'm hoping he might like to play too when he's a bit older. I'm rubbish at the learning away from the guitar stuff. Any tips on what could do? What are good ways to learn the fretboard whilst away from it? I've never managed to do it so I can relate to the actual guitar effectively.

octatonic

clare_bear;16360" said:

Absolutely, and I'm hoping he might like to play too when he's a bit older. I'm rubbish at the learning away from the guitar stuff. Any tips on what could do? What are good ways to learn the fretboard whilst away from it? I've never managed to do it so I can relate to the actual guitar effectively. 

Definitely- there is a lot you can do.

It all depends on where you are at now- it is tricky to know what to suggest without knowing where you are at now.

A couple of ideas.

Learning the major scale is the best thing you can do.

Do you know how the major scale is constructed- specifically the arrangement of Tone or Semi-tone intervals to make up the scale?

If so then start harmonising the major scale.

Learning the fretboard- get a pen, paper and a ruler (or print out a blank fretboard- Neck Diagrams is a useful app for this).

Then get writing out the notes.

Clarky

I generally split my practice sessions into three parts

1 - technique [scales, arps or something specific I'm looking at]

2 - whatever it is I'm working on [a new piece / song / like / riff / idea / practice the live set] which is the bulk of the session

3 - fun time [put on a backing track and have a ball]

most of my studio time right now is taken up with writing, so I'm only having practice sessions twice a week [and it's just an hour or so] to keep me ticking over..

when I'm prepping for a gig / tour etc, I practice every day for 2 to 4 hours for a few months and turn up the wick on the technique side..

the intention is that I peak for the event [not unlike an athlete planning to peak for the Olympics I guess] because I find it hard to maintain my best form all the time and have time to write / record [which is the most time consuming part of my music life]

mike_l

I shall incorporate working through some books as part of my schedule too.

I'm looking forward to Glen Riley's Prog Rock book :-O