Tag: CAGED

Day 110. Improving CAGED speed

Today I improved my major and minor chords placement for CAGED system and added major 7th chords to it. Also I started the perfect pitch practice at tonedear.com.

Scales

I’m not happy with today’s scales… Maybe I’m not awake enough or this speed is just too much for me, but I just can’t…

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

Major 7th chords added today. Major and minor are much better now.

Major chords

60 bpm

Minor chords

60 bpm

Major 7th chords

60 bpm

Ear training

Intervals

10 intervals. Pretty good, but not the best result.

Perfect pitch

4 notes. I decided to practice not only the intervals but the notes recognition as well. Started with 3 notes I now got to the level with 4 of them.

Routines

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 – 10 min
CAGED – Minor chords – 60 bpm – 11 min
CAGED – Major 7th chords – 60 bpm – 23 min

Ear training – Intervals – 10 intervals – 10 min
Ear training – Perfect pitch – 4 notes – 10 min

Total – 78 min

Day 109. CAGED progress

Today I played some scales slightly faster than yesterday and added minor chords in CAGED practice.

Scales

Major scales

E string

16th notes @ 88 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 88 bpm

D string

16th notes @ 88 bpm

G string

16th notes @ 88 bpm

Minor scales

E string

16th notes @ 88 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 88 bpm

CAGED system

Today I added minor chords to the practice. These shapes are so hard to transition to… If took forever to play all that stuff semi-decently. Today I’ll continue with these shaped and also maybe add major 7th chords as well.

Major chords

60 bpm

Minor chords

60 bpm

Ear training

9 intervals

Routines

Major scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 88 bpm – 16th notes – 4 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 88 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – D string – 88 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – G string – 88 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 88 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 88 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min

CAGED – Major chords – 60 bpm – 21 min
CAGED – Minor chords – 60 bpm – 30 min

Ear training – Intervals – 9 intervals – 10 min

Total – 75 min

Day 107. New approach

Today I’ve practiced scales and started practicing CAGED system with the metronome.

Scales

Major scales

E string

16th notes @ 87 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 87 bpm

D string

16th notes @ 87 bpm

G string

16th notes @ 87 bpm

Minor scales

E string

16th notes @ 87 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 87 bpm

CAGED system

The metronome was set to 60 bpm and the trickiest transitions were from the E shape to the D shape. I tried playing them a lot hence the duration of the video and only major chords covered today.

Major chords

60 bpm

Ear training

8 intervals. My minimum at this point. Not happy with the results but it’s still ok.

Routines

Major scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 87 bpm – 16th notes – 4 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 87 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – D string – 87 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – G string – 87 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 87 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 87 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min

CAGED – Major chords – 60 bpm – 21 min

Ear training – Intervals – 8 intervals – 10 min

Total – 45 min

Day 106. No 1234s? ?

Today I finally haven’t been practicing 1234s 😀 I focused on scales instead, trying to play them more consistently. Also I’ve returned to CAGED practice.

Scales

I practiced scales for a longer periods of time in order to work more on the precision. Hopefully this approach will get me to the desirable result sooner.

Major scales

E string

16th notes @ 85 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 85 bpm

D string

16th notes @ 85 bpm

G string

16th notes @ 85 bpm

Minor scales

E string

16th notes @ 85 bpm

A string

16th notes @ 85 bpm

CAGED system

Major chords

Minor chords

Major 7th chords

7th chords

Minor 7th chords

Ear training

Got to the level with 9 intervals again. Still struggling with Minor 3rd and Major 2nd.

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo]

8th notes @ 160 bpm. It was not great, need to focus on it more in the coming days.

Routines

Major scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 85 bpm – 16th notes – 4 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 85 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – D string – 85 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Major scales – 1-12 frets – G string – 85 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – E string – 85 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – 85 bpm – 16th notes – 2 min

CAGED – Major chords – 1 min
CAGED – Minor chords – 2 min
CAGED – Major 7th chords – 2 min
CAGED – 7th chords – 1 min
CAGED – Minor 7th chords – 2 min

Ear training – Intervals – 9 intervals – 10 min

MGMT – Kids [Solo] – 8th notes – 160 bpm – 16 min

Total – 48 min

Week 14. Summary

This week I started to learn and apply CAGED system. It’s really cool how many voicings of the same chords exist. I’ve been playing C A G E D chords in every position with every shape and doing it for Major, Minor, Major 7th, 7th, Minor 7th chords. In the PDFs and the lesson itself there were no 7th chords shapes for CAGED system. Is there any reason for that? Anyway I figured them out myself and have been playing them as part of this routine as well.

Above that the common routines continued. 1234s are preserved as always and I’m getting closer to my ultimate goal: next week I’ll play the 4*** combinations as 8th notes at 150 bpm across the fretboard and it will conclude my long journey of playing each of 24 combinations that way. I have some ideas how to improve this exercise even more after that, but I’ll tell about it the next week.

I’ve been practicing scales as well, but I’m not better at playing them at all, so next week I’ll decrease the speed and try to increase it bpm by bpm. This leap of 10 bpm at once (or 5 bpm if we’re talking about 16th notes) seems to be crucial and too hard, so I need a step back. No scales videos in the summary this time 🙂

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year!

The goals for this week were:

  • [Done] 4231, 4312, 4321 as 8th notes at 150 bpm on the 5th fret
  • Practice ear training at tonedear.com daily
  • Kids by MGMT solo at 170 bpm consistently
  • [Done] Implement Modules 19-20 routines

My goals for the next week:

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

1234 exercise

4231 on the 5th fret – 8th notes @ 120 bpm → 8th notes @ 150 bpm
4312 on the 5th fret – 8th notes @ 120 bpm → 8th notes @ 150 bpm
4321 on the 5th fret – 8th notes @ 120 bpm → 8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 16th notes @ 90 bpm
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 16th notes @ 90 bpm

CAGED system

CAGED – Major chords – 1:34
CAGED – Minor chords – 1:39
CAGED – Major 7th chords – 2:05
CAGED – 7th chords – 1:41
CAGED – Minor 7th chords – 1:35

Ear training

Intervals – 175 of 200 – 87.50% → 268 of 300 – 89.33%
Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Tritone, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Octave

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo] – 8th notes @ 160 bpm → 8th notes @ 150 bpm (more consistent)

Day 98. Applying new technique

Today I’ve started holding my pinky on the guitar body in order to get better in picking. The precision have become better, but the pinky stays in the way from time to time so I need more time to get used to it.

1234 exercise

4231 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4312 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4321 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

Minor scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

CAGED system

Major chords

Minor chords

Major 7th chords

7th chords

Minor 7th chords

Ear training

Got to the level with 8 intervals again. My consistency is getting better.

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo]

8th notes @ 145 bpm. I played it pretty well yesterday but after applying new picking technique with holding my pinky on the guitar body the same things became harder. After several minutes I’ve kind of got used to this but still not completely.

8th notes @ 150 bpm. I decided to increase the speed to diverse the practice, because I got sick of playing the same solo at the same speed for ages.

Routines

4231 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4312 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4321 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes

CAGED – Major chords
CAGED – Minor chords
CAGED – Major 7th chords
CAGED – 7th chords
CAGED – Minor 7th chords

Day 97. Back on track

Today I’ve managed to work on solo more and repeat everything else.

1234 exercise

4231 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4312 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4321 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

Minor scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

CAGED system

Major chords

Minor chords

Major 7th chords

7th chords

Minor 7th chords

Ear training

It’s the first time ever I’ve got to the level with 9 intervals. My ear is getting better, and that’s a fact. Unfortunately, I failed my weekly goal to practice every day, but the results are getting better and better, which is marvelous. My best result ever!

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo]

8th notes @ 140-145 bpm. I’ve decided to work more on consistency so the idea was to play the whole solo again and again at the given speed until it sounds good for a few times in a row. The speed I got to is not that impressive – 145 bpm. But I think that this approach is what will lead me to the finite goal of playing the solo at the original speed.

Summary

I’m not sure what to write here, so this section will be optional since tomorrow.

Routines

4231 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4312 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4321 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes

CAGED – Major chords
CAGED – Minor chords
CAGED – Major 7th chords
CAGED – 7th chords
CAGED – Minor 7th chords

Day 95. Solo breakthrough

Today I’ve repeated the same routines I did yesterday and found out where my issue with the 2nd bar of the solo was originated.

1234 exercise

4231 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4312 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

4321 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

Minor scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

CAGED system

I’m getting better in remembering shapes and switching between them. Not too great though, still need to look up some of them before the recording.

Major chords

Minor chords

Major 7th chords

7th chords

Minor 7th chords

Ear training

I was on an almost perfect streak for the first 100 questions with only 5-6 mistakes. But as soon as Minor 3rd appeared all went south… Also I mixed up some buttons and increased the number of mistakes for Perfect 4th for instance. Need to be more focused to exclude things like this.

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo]

Today I made a breakthrough. The hardest bar for me was the second one and I thought that it was because of the bar itself. But it appeared that I just hadn’t used alternate picking for the whole bar and had to pick up or down multiple times in a row, which on the higher speeds is pretty much impossible. So I slowed down once again and trained myself to play everything correctly. This bar appeared quite easy so the progress will definitely follow 🙂

Summary

There was a long practice. Nearly 1.5 hours if I’m correct. And it was really fun. Although the next parts of the solo became worse, I’m still really happy with the 2nd bar. There are no more reasons for me to stop increasing the speed, and I’m looking forward to it.

Routines

4231 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4312 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min
4321 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 2 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes

CAGED – Major chords
CAGED – Minor chords
CAGED – Major 7th chords
CAGED – 7th chords
CAGED – Minor 7th chords

Day 94. Memorizing CAGED shapes

Today I repeated everything I’ve practiced yesterday and also returned to Kids by MGMT solo practice.

1234 exercise

4231 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 140 bpm

4312 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 140 bpm

4321 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 140 bpm

Scales

Major scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

Minor scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

CAGED system

Trying to remember all positions for every chord for now.

Major chords

Minor chords

Major 7th chords

7th chords

Minor 7th chords

Ear training

Got to the level with 7 intervals again!

Songs

MGMT – Kids [Solo]

Was trying to practice every bar separately. It went pretty well, but I didn’t have much time to finish the practice, so the whole thing will be played tomorrow.

Summary

The solo is really tricky. Hopefully with the new approach I’ll be able to play in consistently-ish tomorrow.

Routines

4231 – 5th fret – 140 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
4312 – 5th fret – 140 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
4321 – 5th fret – 140 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes

CAGED – Major chords
CAGED – Minor chords
CAGED – Major 7th chords
CAGED – 7th chords
CAGED – Minor 7th chords

Day 93. CAGED system

Today I practices 1234s and scales as usual but also added one more routine on the CAGED system.

1234 exercise

4231 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 130 bpm

4312 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 130 bpm

4321 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 130 bpm

Scales

Major scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

Minor scales

16th notes @ 90 bpm

CAGED system

I just started this routine, so the goal was to play all CAGED progressions throughout the neck for all basic chords.

Major chords

Minor chords

Major 7th chords

7th chords

Minor 7th chords

Ear training

It was pretty hard today, but I managed to get to the level with 7 intervals on the 200th attempt. It means that if I was gonna make a mistake, I’d stop the training there. But fortunately here is the full practice with 400 answers.

Summary

Today I finally started something brand new. I didn’t know about CAGED system at all, and it’ll definitely come in handy in understanding of the chords on the fretboard.

Routines

4231 – 5th fret – 130 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
4312 – 5th fret – 130 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
4321 – 5th fret – 130 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 90 bpm – 16th notes

CAGED – Major chords
CAGED – Minor chords
CAGED – Major 7th chords
CAGED – 7th chords
CAGED – Minor 7th chords