Week 16. Summary

So, where should I start… What a crazy week! I decided to count how much time I’ve spent practicing and the result for this week is really mind blowing – 7 h 48 min ?

It’s a great pace and hopefully I’ll be able to maintain this excitement and desire to practice in the future. I’m still not done with the Module 19 routines though, which is even more surprising. Maybe I’m overdoing these exercises, by I want to play everything I need to decent before proceeding further.

Anyway, the scales are not much better, but still better, I think. Almost the whole week I sucked at them at this speed but suddenly today I’ve just felt that it’s the day for some dexterity and managed to record some decent attempts.

The CAGED goal transformed the very first day. I started using the metronome to control how fast can I make chord transitions. I’ve started with major chords at 60 bpm and then been adding other types of chords every day. So the goal became to play all of them for C, A, G, E, D chords at 60 bpm. Unfortunately I got to Minor 7th chords just today so I switched them every other beat instead of every one. But I’ll fix this the next week.

At the beginning of the week I was really upset about my Kids solo progress. I couldn’t beat the 160 bpm wall no matter how hard I tried. So I dropped this routine and told my friend that we’re gonna improvise in this part instead or play something else. But today I felt that I could give it a second chance and managed to play in at 165 bpm quite easily. Then I switched to 170 bpm and there were quite a few successful attempt so I’ll count it as an achieved goal and will continue to increase the speed in the following weeks.

Also I returned to 1234 combination and use it as a warm-up before anything else.

Next week I really want to finish Module 19 routines and finally proceed to the next module. The fun stuff is awaiting me in the following modules so I really want to get there as soon as possible. I really haven’t played almost anything but the routines to prioritize the course, but this module appeared to be quite heavy on exercises ?

The goals for this week were:

  • [Done] Scales as 16th notes at 90 bpm consistently
  • [Done] Kids by MGMT solo at 170 bpm consistently
  • [Done] CAGED shapes for each kind of chords in less than 1:20

My goals for the next week:

  • CAGED shapes at 60 bpm with clean sound
  • All of Me in D at 120 bpm
  • Autumn Leaves in Gm at 70 bpm
  • Kids by MGMT solo at 175 bpm consistently

Practice time

Day 106 – 48 min
Day 107 – 45 min
Day 108 – 10 min
Day 109 – 75 min
Day 110 – 78 min
Day 111 – 80 min
Day 112 – 132 min
Total – 7 h 48 min

1234 exercise

1234 on the 1-12 frets – 16th notes @ 90 bpm

Scales

Major scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 16th notes @ 90 bpm
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 16th notes @ 90 bpm
Major scales – 1-12 frets – D string – 16th notes @ 90 bpm
Major scales – 1-12 frets – G string – 16th notes @ 90 bpm
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 16th notes @ 90 bpm
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 16th notes @ 90 bpm

CAGED system

CAGED – Major chords  60 bpm
CAGED – Minor chords – 60 bpm
CAGED – Major 7th chords – 60 bpm
CAGED – 7th chords – 60 bpm
CAGED – Minor 7th chords – 60 bpm (half pace)

Ear training

Intervals – 3-11 intervals – 275 of 300 – 91.67%
Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Tritone, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Major 6th, Minor 7th, Octave

Perfect pitch – 3-4 notes – 229 of 300 – 76.33%
A, C, D, E

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo] – 8th notes @ 160 bpm → 8th notes @ 170 bpm

Day 112. Phenomenal practice

In order to finalize the week I played everything I could that was connected to my goals. The total practice time is crazy today.

1234 exercise

1234 on the 1-12 frets

16th notes @ 90 bpm

Scales

Major scales

E string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

D string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

G string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

Minor scales

E string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

CAGED system

Added Minor 7th chords today.

Major chords

60 bpm

Minor chords

60 bpm

Major 7th chords

60 bpm

7th chords

60 bpm

Minor 7th chords

60 bpm

Ear training

Intervals

10 intervals

Perfect pitch

3 notes

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo]

8th notes @ 160 bpm

8th notes @ 165 bpm

8th notes @ 170 bpm

Routines

1234 – 1-12 frets – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 4 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 4 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – D string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – G string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min

CAGED – Major chords  60 bpm – 11 min
CAGED – Minor chords – 60 bpm – 10 min
CAGED – Major 7th chords – 60 bpm – 14 min
CAGED – 7th chords – 60 bpm – 9 min
CAGED – Minor 7th chords – 60 bpm – 17 min

Ear training – Intervals – 9 intervals – 10 min
Ear training – Perfect pitch – 3 notes – 10 min

MGMT – Kids [Solo] – 8th notes – 160 bpm – 8 min
MGMT – Kids [Solo] – 8th notes – 165 bpm – 7 min
MGMT – Kids [Solo] – 8th notes – 170 bpm – 18 min

Total – 132 min

Day 111. Maybe… Perfect pitch?

Today… Well, actually, yesterday I started practicing perfect pitch exercise at tonedear.com. Today I decided to do it daily from now on. We’ll see how it goes. I added 7th chords shapes into CAGED practice and also decided to do a warm-up with 1234s from now on.

1234 exercise

1234 on the 1-12 frets

16th notes @ 90 bpm

Scales

Major scales

E string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

D string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

G string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

Minor scales

E string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 90 bpm

CAGED system

Added 7th chords today.

Major chords

60 bpm

Minor chords

60 bpm

Major 7th chords

60 bpm

7th chords

60 bpm

Ear training

Intervals

9 intervals

Perfect pitch

3 notes. It’s not that easy… Hopefully this skill will develop after some time put into practice.

Routines

1234 – 1-12 frets – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 4 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 4 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – D string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – G string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 90 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min

CAGED – Major chords  60 bpm – 6 min
CAGED – Minor chords – 60 bpm – 10 min
CAGED – Major 7th chords – 60 bpm – 11 min
CAGED – 7th chords – 60 bpm – 15 min

Ear training – Intervals – 9 intervals – 10 min
Ear training – Perfect pitch – 3 notes – 10 min

Total80 min

Week 15. Summary

This week was kinda relaxed due to the holidays, so the main achievement is that I finally get through all the 1234 combinations and will now leave this exercise for a while 🙂

Also, one of the main things this week was to use that technique Brandon told me to use – holding the pinky on the guitar body under the strings. I’m not completely used to it and there are some questions on it in today’s video.

Anyway, have a great week everyone!

The goals for this week were:

  • [Done] 4123, 4132, 4213, 4231, 4312, 4321 as 8th notes at 150 bpm across the neck
  • [Done] Practice ear training at tonedear.com daily
  • [Done] Kids by MGMT solo at 160 bpm consistently
  • CAGED shapes for each kind of chords in less than 1:20

My goals for the next week:

  • Scales as 16th notes at 90 bpm consistently
  • Kids by MGMT solo at 170 bpm consistently
  • CAGED shapes for each kind of chords in less than 1:20

1234 exercise

4123 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)
4132 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)
4213 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)
4231 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)
4312 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)
4321 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)

Scales

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 16th notes @ 90 bpm → 16th notes @ 80 bpm (more consistent)
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 16th notes @ 90 bpm → 16th notes @ 80 bpm (more consistent)

Ear training

Intervals – 268 of 300 – 89.33% → 275 of 300 – 91.67%
Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Tritone, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Major 6th, Octave

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo] – 8th notes @ 150 bpm → 8th notes @ 160 bpm

Day 105. Wrapping up 1234s

Today I finalized 1234 exercise for a while and it’s almost everything…

1234 exercise

4123 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4132 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4213 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4231 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4312 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4321 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Ear training

8 intervals today as well. I was close to fail even this amount, but eventually was able to get to this level before 300 attempts was over.

Routines

4123 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4132 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4213 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4231 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4312 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4321 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min

Day 104. Completely overslept

Today I’ve been sleeping a lot, so I did the practice after midnight and just repeated yesterday’s routines, having slightly increased the speed of Kids solo.

1234 exercise

4123 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4132 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4213 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4231 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4312 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4321 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

16th notes @ 80 bpm

Minor scales

16th notes @ 80 bpm

Ear training

And 8 intervals once again. Not good, but today was really weird day, I’ve completely overslept it.

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo]

8th notes @ 160 bpm

8th notes @ 165 bpm

Routines

4123 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4132 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4213 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4231 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4312 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4321 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 80 bpm – 16th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 80 bpm – 16th notes

Day 103. Solid practice

Today I completely duplicated yesterday’s practice.

1234 exercise

4123 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4132 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4213 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4231 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4312 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4321 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

16th notes @ 80 bpm

Minor scales

16th notes @ 80 bpm

Ear training

Only 8 intervals today. That’s unfortunate…

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo]

8th notes @ 155 bpm

8th notes @ 160 bpm

Routines

4123 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4132 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4213 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4231 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4312 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4321 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 80 bpm – 16th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 80 bpm – 16th notes

Day 102. Feeling better

Today I felt a bit better and decided to finally return to the normal routines instead of playing just 1234s.

1234 exercise

With holding my pinky on the guitar body as the anchor point it’s still not very comfortable but I’m getting used to it.

4123 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4132 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4213 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4231 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4312 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4321 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

I don’t know how, but my scales got worse even at the lower speed… Will practice them more to get rid of this inconsistency.

Major scales

16th notes @ 80 bpm

Minor scales

16th notes @ 80 bpm

Ear training

10 intervals, baby! I’m getting really good at this.

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo]

Today I was working on consistency. As I skipped this thing for a few days I started from 140 bpm once again and then gradually got to 155 bpm.

8th notes @ 140 bpm

8th notes @ 145 bpm

8th notes @ 150 bpm

8th notes @ 155 bpm

Routines

4123 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4132 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4213 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4231 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4312 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4321 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 80 bpm – 16th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 80 bpm – 16th notes

Day 101. Got sick

I have a 37.1 temperature but I don’t want to skip any days of practice, so I just repeated 1234s and ear training.

1234 exercise

4123 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4132 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4213 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4231 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4312 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4321 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Ear training

I got to the level with 9 intervals once again! And there is my best result percentage wise. Cool!

Routines

4123 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4132 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4213 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4231 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4312 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4321 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min

Day 100. One hundred days?!

Wow. Just, wow. The time has gone so fast – it’s already the 100th day of my daily uploads! I’m not feeling well today, so I played only 1234s again and did some ear training.

1234 exercise

4123 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4132 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4213 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4231 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4312 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4321 on the 1-12 frets

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Ear training

I’m getting more consistent in getting to the level with 7 intervals. But proceeding further is still tricky.

Routines

4123 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4132 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4213 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4231 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4312 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4321 – 1-12 frets – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min