Author: vskolos

Day 62. Gravity Falls

Today I watched through Module 16, repeated every yesterdays exercise and picked the melody from Gravity Falls Opening.

1234 exercise

2341 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2413 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2431 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

D string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

G string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Strumming

Module 15 pattern

100 bpm

Ear training

Again didn’t manage to get to the level with 7 intervals… Still struggling with Major 2nd, Minor 3rd and Major 3rd intervals – they sound pretty much the same for me. It’s easier when the played notes are close but in other situations I just can’t differ them yet.

Songs

Today I figured out the opening for Gravity Falls. Here it is.

On the random riffs front there’s not so much today, I basically just repeated something I played before.

Gravity Falls Opening
Happy Birthday
Король и Шут – Лесник
The Phantom of the Opera
Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams
Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train [Intro]

Summary

I’m eager to end this week and start some new routines. Also the chord construction module is so much fun. It’s so simple yet enjoyable. I understood that one can play chords everywhere on the fretboard just by playing the correct notes right away, but now I know everything about it – inversions, positioning and so on. Maybe tomorrow I’ll start practicing something from that module routines.

Routines

2341 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2413 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2431 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 6 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Major scales – 1-12 frets – D string – Pronouncing notes – 4:50
Major scales – 1-12 frets – G string – Pronouncing notes – 6:49
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes

Strumming – Module 15 – 100 bpm

Day 61. Moving forward

Today I finally watched Module 15 and implemented something new into my practice routine.

1234 exercise

2341 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2413 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2431 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

D string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

G string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Strumming

Module 15 pattern

80 bpm. I really have no problem with my barre chords but their substitutes are something new for me. Hence my disability to play them fast. But it’s an interesting practice, so hopefully I’ll master them by the end of this week, as they are not that hard.

Ear training

I didn’t make it to the level with 7 intervals, but managed to improve my successfully guessed ones percentage. It’s fun how I’m thinking that I’m worse that the previous day, but it turns out my result is better that the previous one. This perception of progress is quite funny 🙂

Songs

I was interrupted and had to end the practice but managed to play some riffs anyway.

Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love
Europe – The Final Countdown
Green Day – ¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl) [Solo]
Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know?

Summary

I’m happy about my fretboard knowledge and will be definitely able to switch to the next iteration of fretboard knowledge for scales exercise using the random scale machine. The new barre strumming routine is not that hard so hopefully I’ll get it to 120 bpm by the end of this week.

Routines

2341 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2413 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2431 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 6 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Major scales – 1-12 frets – D string – Pronouncing notes – 6:50
Major scales – 1-12 frets – G string – Pronouncing notes – 7:00
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes

Strumming – Module 15 – 80 bpm

Day 60. My first melody

Today I repeated everything I’d played yesterday, tried a new way of practicing 34s without letting my middle go everywhere and accidentally came up with a simple melody based on the major scale.

1234 exercise

Still struggling with my thumb placement. Either I don’t move it at all or have to stop playing because of a mistake.

2341 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2413 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2431 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

34 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 120 bpm. My previous way of reducing middle finger movement didn’t work out so I tried something else – taped my index and middle fingers together and made an attempt of playing 34s like that. I think that the main issue is in the lack of stretching so I’ll try to something for improving it.

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

A string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]. Under 5 minutes!

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

A string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]. Almost under 5 minutes, but I’ll count that anyway!

Ear training

Today I finally got to the level with 7 intervals! The overall percentage of successfully guessed intervals is lower but insignificantly.

Songs

Just before recording this video I randomly played some scale parts and came up with the melody which I want to share. Also I decided to make some list of riffs to make these videos more organized.

The Melody I Came Up With
The Phantom of the Opera
The Offspring – You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid
Король и Шут – Лесник [Intro]
Black Sabbath – Paranoid

Summary

What a fun day it was. I’m kinda stuck with 1234s and really need to improve the consistency of these combinations across the neck. So maybe I’ll try to start a new module and see what routines are there. Anyway I still need to practice major scales notes pronunciation on the D and G strings, so presumably I still have things to practice for now and don’t need something else.

Routines

2341 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2413 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2431 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 6 min
34 – 5th fret – 120 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min – New approach

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 4:55
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 5:02

Day 59. The Phantom of the Opera

Today I continued working on 1234s and scales and in the end kinda went over the top with picking up the whole melody and chords for The Phantom of the Opera.

1234 exercise

It’s funny how one day you have an issue and then the next day it’s gone but you’re struggling with something you’ve never noticed and had problems with before. Some combinations were harder on the way up the neck but now they are much easier on the way down some how and the other way around.

2341 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2413 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2431 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm. Muscle memory slowly but surely appears, which I’m happy about. Still struggling with D and G strings though.

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]. During the exercise I used to though of the A string as if it was E string. So I messed up a few scales and had to start them over again. Hence it took far too long.

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm. The shape is really easy, but I need to work on the tension, especially in my pinky.

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]. Surprisingly I managed to finish in less time that before although there was some mistakes as well.

Ear Training

The progress is quite unnoticeable but it is presented 🙂

Songs

I ran out of ideas for guitar riffs, so some new ones are really necessary to implement in this section. Will chose some soon.

Green Day – When I Come Around
Green Day – Welcome to Paradise
Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Green Day – Brain Stew
The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
Би-2 – Феллини
Deep Purple – Smoke on the Water

The Phantom Of the Opera

It all started when I accidentally played something remotely similar to the melody of this song.

Firstly, I picked up this part, then got interested in the song’s key and chords and noticed that playing the same melody in the shape of the scale is much easier. So I re-figured it out again on the other part of the neck.

This process repeated for a few times. Finally I got some chords and progressions between the verses. It was fun but took me literally hours. Anyway, here is the result.

Today I really wanted to make something like a cover of this song, but now I’m not that sure. Anyway, figuring out a song completely by ear and understanding how to play it more comfortable for myself was really great. Need to do it more.

Summary

The Phantom of the Opera part was a complete surprise and I liked it so much. But the new camera angle is not that good. I like the previous one better. Tomorrow I’ll experiment with the lighting and camera positioning and much likely sit down again.

Routines

2341 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2413 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2431 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 6 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 6:48
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 5:50

Day 58. Random riffs

Today I ordered a tripod for the phone, changed the lighting a bit and practiced the same routines as yesterday. Also I continued my new idea of playing some random riffs that were in my mind right then.

1234 exercise

2341 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2413 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2431 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

I was rudely interrupted in the middle of the exercise, so here is another attempt.

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Ear training

I felt like I was failing more than yesterday but the results are getting better. Unfortunately, this process is not as fast as I want.

Songs

I really like this new tradition of mine 🙂

Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Blur – Song 2
Green Day – Holiday
Green Day – Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) [Intro]
Billie Eilish – bellyache
Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train [Intro]
Three Days Grace – The Good Life [Intro]
Green Day – Troublemaker
Green Day – American Idiot

Summary

I’m so into my random riffs idea 😀 It’s fun. My only concern is that I won’t be able to learn something new as fast and these videos will have many songs in common. But maybe it’s not that bad at all and we’ll see about that.

Routines

2341 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2413 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2431 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 6 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 6:31
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 5:58

Day 57. New lighting and idea

Today I started practicing 1234s on the whole fretboard and tried to increase my playing scales skill. The second part didn’t work out…

1234 exercise

It was a rough start but considering it’s the first attempt I did pretty well.

2341 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2413 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2431 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

I don’t know what’s up with me and scales but I just constantly keep messing them up. Maybe I should decrease the speed a bit or practice on a single fret instead of the whole fretboard at once.

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Ear training

Gradually increasing my ears skills. The process takes much more time than I hoped it would take. There were a few moments when I though I could get to the next level but every time I failed just by the end of the progress bar when I needed 2-3 more correct answers to proceed. I’ll try practicing every day before I go to sleep in order to reach my goal this week.

Songs

I decided to start a tradition of playing random riffs that I know and want to play right now. It’s just for fun and in order not to get bored of other routines. I was so excited about the new light that I came up with that idea just to record something using it 😀

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit [Intro]
Король и Шут – Лесник [Intro]
The Offspring – The Kids Aren’t Alright [Intro]
Green Day – 21 Guns [Solo]
Green Day – 21 Guns [Chorus]
Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know? [Intro]
The All-American Rejects – Dirty Little Secret [Intro]
Green Day – ¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl) [Solo]
Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams [Solo]

Summary

The first half of the day was not that productive, but the thing with the new lamps got myself a second breath so I became very enthusiastic about recording something else. Need to maintain this kind of mood to proceed further easier and with more fun!

Routines

2341 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2413 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2431 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 10 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 7:42
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 6:54

Week 8. Summary

This week I practiced mostly 1234s and scales. Nothing too special, just was trying to increase the speed and consistency of them. Something went well, something didn’t, but overall I’m gradually improving, which is great.

I kinda stuck with the 1234s. The half of my entire daily routine consists of them. But I can’t just leave them as they are now when there are still some which I haven’t practiced yet 😀 It’s still a long way to go but in 7 weeks I’ll get to the point when I’m satisfied and can play all of them as 8th notes at 150 bpm across the neck consistently-ish. Then finally I’ll let this routine go and use this freed time for something else.

Module 14 gave an idea of circle of fifths but really didn’t tell anything about its application. Hopefully there will be something about this in the future modules but for now I just found one useful way of using it: I noticed that all keys (despite F# and for major scales) with sharps are just notes which open guitar strings in standard tuning have. So I used that knowledge to remember which key has sharps and which has flats for now. In minor scales there are no such simple pattern so I just counted 3 semitones up and referred to the corresponding major scale.

Scales notes pronunciation is an interesting exercise. I underrated myself and set an easy goal for this week, which I managed to achieve on the second or third try. So next week I’ll try some different approaches to improve my fretboard knowledge and scales notes knowledge even more. I’ll be starting at different strings or maybe play each scale on every possible spot of the fretboard. We’ll see.

The goals for this week were:

  • [Done] 2341, 2413, 2431 as 8th notes at 150 bpm
  • [Done] 34s without moving my middle finger at least as 8th notes at 100 bpm
  • [Done] All the scales consistently as 8th notes at 150 bpm across the fretboard
  • [Done] All the scales pronouncing notes in less than 8 min [the first attempt was in 13 min]
  • Get to the level with 7 intervals on ear training at tonedear.com

My goals for the next week:

  • 2134, 2143, 2314, 2341, 2413, 2431 as 8th notes at 150 bpm across the neck
  • 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 as 8th notes at 150 bpm across the neck
  • Improved consistency of the scales as 8th notes at 150 bpm across the neck
  • All the scales pronouncing notes in less than 5 min starting on ADG strings
  • Get to the level with 7 intervals on ear training at tonedear.com

As always, here’s the video.

1234 exercise

2341 on the 5th fret – 8th notes @ 110 bpm → 8th notes @ 150 bpm
2413 on the 5th fret – 8th notes @ 110 bpm → 8th notes @ 150 bpm
2431 on the 5th fret – 8th notes @ 110 bpm → 8th notes @ 150 bpm
34 on the 5th fret – Quarter notes @ 100 bpm → 8th notes @ 100 bpm
12-13-14-23-24-34 on the 5th fret – 8th notes at 130 bpm → 8th notes at 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 8th notes @ 130 bpm → 8th notes @ 150 bpm
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 8th notes @ 130 bpm → 8th notes @ 150 bpm
Major scales – 1-12 frets – Pronouncing notes – 8:35 → 4:00
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – Pronouncing notes – 9:27 → 4:41

Ear training

Intervals – 314 of 400 – 78.50%
Minor 2nd – 61 of 67 – 91.04%
Major 2nd – 36 of 58 – 62.07%
Minor 3rd – 27 of 50 – 54%
Major 3rd – 41 of 73 – 56.16%
Perfect 5th – 73 of 76 – 96.05%
Octave – 76 of 76 – 100%

Day 56. Repetition for the conclusion

Today I practiced everything again to record my results and messed around with some songs playing random riffs from them one after another.

1234 exercise

Unfortunately, today’s 1234s were not my best performance.

2341 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2413 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

2431 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

34 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 100 bpm. Still no effect on my issue. Will try something else next week.

12-13-14-23-24-34 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Ear training

Still trying to improve but unsuccessfully. For now I’m stuck at this level. But I think that I have a better understanding of differences between the intervals now.

Summary

Today the goal was to do my best at each exercise I practiced this week. Not everything went as good as it could go but in comparison with the beginning of the week it’s definitely a progress.

Routines

2341 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2413 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2431 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
34 – 5th fret – 100 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
12-13-14-23-24-34 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Major scales – 1-12 frets – Pronouncing notes – 4:00
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – Pronouncing notes – 4:41

Day 55. Too relaxed for practicing

Today I spend half a day in a bathhouse so after that I was too relaxed for nailing dexterity exercises so completely ruined them all. But the note pronunciation routine went really great and I’m happy about the results.

So there is gonna be no comments on the exercises at all today, because I did a lot of mistakes and all of them kinda pissed me off a bit.

1234 exercise

2341 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

2413 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

2431 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

34 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 100 bpm.

12-13-14-23-24-34 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge].

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge].

Ear training

Still have some problems with Minor 2nd, Major 2nd and Minor 3rd differentiation…

Summary

I said everything in the beginning. Very glad that I visited the bathhouse today. If it would happed tomorrow I’ll have completely failed the final day of the week which is not great.

Routines

2341 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2413 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2431 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
34 – 5th fret – 100 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
12-13-14-23-24-34 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Major scales – 1-12 frets – Pronouncing notes – 4:37
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – Pronouncing notes – 5:12

Day 54. Figuring out the patterns

Today I achieved the speed I was going towards to (8th notes at 150 bpm) for both all 1234 combinations and scales. And there is another major difference: I decided to practice while sitting down, which led to some inconvenience as I got used to play everything standing up.

1234 exercise

Nothing special here today – I just increased the speed by 10 bpm.

2341 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

2413 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

2431 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

34 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 100 bpm.

12-13-14-23-24-34 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

Scales

Dexterity exercises were as usual. I increased the speed and got to the one I wanted to get to – 150 bpm. There is something more interesting…

Today I figured out some patterns in the circle of fifths which helped me with flats / sharps decision while naming the notes for a specific key. I noticed that E A D G B which are the notes for the open strings in the standard guitar tuning have sharps in their major scales. C has no sharps or flats at all. F#/Gb is a special one with a choice. Other keys are with flats. It appeared to be very useful!

For the minor scales there is no such clean pattern, but I can still count 3 frets up and see whether in the corresponding major scale there are flats or sharps. I’m glad I noticed that. So even without looking at the circle of fifths I learned how to determine these things pretty quickly.

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge].

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm.

Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge].

Summary

Today I listened to over 200 guitar riffs on the YouTube in order to find what I might be wanted to learn. I picked up nearly 10-15 of them which I know but not sure if I really want to learn how to play them.

Routines

2341 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2413 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
2431 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
34 – 5th fret – 100 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
12-13-14-23-24-34 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Major scales – 1-12 frets – Pronouncing notes – 6:56
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – Pronouncing notes – 6:28