Tag: ear training

Day 70. Back in business

Today I finally practiced more that I did the previous several days. The end of the week – that’s a time to finalize things.

1234 exercise

3124 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

3142 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

3214 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

E string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

A string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

D string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

G string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

E string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

A string – Pronouncing notes [Fretboard knowledge]

Strumming

Module 15 pattern

120 bpm

Ear training

Not great again… Didn’t even get to 7 intervals this time.

Summary

Got a lot to do today, just want to conclude this week.

Routines

3124 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3142 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3214 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes

Major scales – E string – Pronouncing notes – 3:35
Major scales – A string – Pronouncing notes – 4:18
Major scales – D string – Pronouncing notes – 4:36
Major scales – G string – Pronouncing notes – 4:38

Minor scales – E string – Pronouncing notes – 4:33
Minor scales – A string – Pronouncing notes – 3:54

Strumming – Module 15 – 120 bpm

Day 69. Frozen hands

Today I’ve been walking for 1-2 hours straight and it seems that my hands were not warmed up enough when I started the practice. So every single routine was played worse than yesterday.

1234 exercise

3124 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

3142 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

3214 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Strumming

Module 15 routine

120 bpm

Ear training

Didn’t manage to break through the level with 6 intervals today… Maybe I was really tired that night when I practiced this one.

Summary

Nah… It didn’t go well but tomorrow I’ll finish this week and start the next one anew with new goals and new portion of enthusiasm.

Routines

3124 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3142 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3214 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes

Strumming – Module 15 – 120 bpm

Day 68. Nothing special

After the Black Friday I decided to relax on practicing something intensive this week. So I just repeated 1234s, scales and strumming again with some progress with ear training.

1234 exercise

I finally get to the goal speed for this week. The exercises went well, so now I just need some practice to improve consistency.

3124 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

3142 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

3214 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Strumming

Module 15 routine

120 bpm. Tried playing it on acoustic this time. Still can’t play substitutes for a long time, especially on the acoustic. My left thumb just starts to burn very intensely.

Ear training

I got to the level with 8 intervals today! The tritone is pretty easy to differ, it sounds really dissonant in comparison to other intervals. It’s really cool to see daily progress in this exercise.

Summary

Can’t wait to start chord construction module routines, but will do it next week. I lost quite a half of this one of Black Friday sale so will be able to invest much more time then.

Routines

3124 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3142 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3214 – 5th fret – 150 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes

Strumming – Module 15 – 120 bpm

Day 67. Sleepy day

Today I slept for several hours during the day and had time to practice only in the evening. Anyway, I increased the speed for 1234s and came up with a simple chord progression.

1234 exercise

3124 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 140 bpm

3142 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 140 bpm

3214 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 140 bpm. Still the hardest one for me of these three.

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm. Today it was not my best attempt.

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm. Yesterday this was played better as well.

Strumming

Module 15 pattern

120 bpm. Still having issues with pressure applied while playing substitutes.

Ear training

Got to the level with Perfect 4th again, it’s becoming consistent. But my overall score is not the best today.

Songs

My Chord Progression
Gravity Falls Opening
Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams
Cream – Sunshine of Your Love [Intro]
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Green Day – Castaway
Green Day – Welcome to Paradise
The Offspring – The Kids Aren’t Alright

Summary

Finally, tomorrow I’ll have all the time I need for usual complete practice. I’m happy with speed at which I’m increasing bpm for 1234s, but scales could be played more consistently at this point.

Routines

3124 – 5th fret – 140 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3142 – 5th fret – 140 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3214 – 5th fret – 140 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes

Strumming – Module 15 – 120 bpm

Day 66. Returning to practice

In comparison to yesterday today was a pretty relaxed day, so I had much more time to practice. I still didn’t want to do the note pronunciation exercise so skipped it but my routines list is fuller than yesterday.

1234 exercise

3124 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 130 bpm

3142 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 130 bpm

3214 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 130 bpm

Scales

Major scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Minor scales

8th notes @ 150 bpm

Strumming

Module 15 pattern

120 bpm. My substitutes are still too tense. Maybe I’m doing something wrong… Anyway, I’ll just continue practicing and hopefully this issue will be fixed itself.

Ear training

I got to the level with Perfect 4th again! Have it started happening more consistently? I hope so. And I can’t help but notice the increased percentage of correct answers, which is exciting. Will practice ear training more.

Songs

Today I finally got a chance to play some random riffs again 🙂

Green Day – Castaway
The Offspring – The Kids Aren’t Alright [Intro]
Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
Green Day – Troublemaker
Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams
Король и Шут – Лесник [Intro]
Green Day – Holiday
Gravity Falls Opening
Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams [Solo]
Green Day – When I Come Around
Green Day – Oh Love
The Phantom of the Opera

Summary

Black Friday has almost passed so hopefully tomorrow I’ll have some decent practice and work on my goals for this week.

Routines

3124 – 5th fret – 130 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3142 – 5th fret – 130 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3214 – 5th fret – 130 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 150 bpm – 8th notes

Strumming – Module 15 – 120 bpm

Day 65. Black Friday

Well… Today I was busy from 9 a.m. to basically 11 p.m. answering clients. So I decided to put at least some effort in guitar practicing. So I stayed just with 1234s. And luckily I did ear training the night before so it counts as well 🙂

Also I wasn’t plugged in and didn’t see the point of lightning setup for just a few minutes, so the quality of videos is not great as well. But there are videos today which is more important than everything else.

1234 exercise

3124 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 120 bpm

3142 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 120 bpm

3214 on the 5th fret

8th notes @ 120 bpm. The hardest one of these three. I always tend to play the wrong string with my pinky in order to get ready to play the next string with my ring finger after that.

Ear training

I got to the Perfect 4th again. Still can’t decently differ Major 2nd, Minor 3rd and Major 3rd from each other though…

Summary

Tomorrow and Sunday won’t be less busier on the client front so guess I’ll stick with 1234s for these days and see how it goes.

Routines

3124 – 5th fret – 120 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3142 – 5th fret – 120 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min
3214 – 5th fret – 120 bpm – 8th notes – 3 min

Week 9. Summary

This week I concentrated myself mostly on consistency. I played 2341, 2413, 2431 combinations across the neck the whole week and became much better at it.

The scales are much more reliable and precise right now too, which I’m also happy about.

I watched Modules 15-16 and now I’m really excited about implementing routines from them. Chord construction is so much fun! But I’ll be working on this topic the next week.

Anyway, the most major update is the video summary format. I decided to put everything in a single video so that it became more watchable and even more organized. There are time codes in order to separate the chapters and cards with links to the full routine videos as well.

UPD. There are no cards cause there’s a limit – 5 per video. I added all links in the description instead.

The goals for this week were:

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

My goals for the next week:

  • 3124, 3142, 3214 as 8th notes at 150 bpm on the 5th fret
  • Scales pronouncing notes using the random scale machine
  • Consistently get to the level with 7 intervals on ear training at tonedear.com
  • Implement Modules 15-16 routines

1234 exercise

2341 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)
2413 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)
2431 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)
12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (on the 5th fret → on the 1-12 frets)

Scales

Major scales – 1-12 frets – EADG strings – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (increasing consistency)
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – EA strings – 8th notes @ 150 bpm (increasing consistency)
Major scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 7:42 → 4:55
Major scales – 1-12 frets – D string – Pronouncing notes – 6:50 → 4:38
Major scales – 1-12 frets – G string – Pronouncing notes – 7:00 → 4:50
Minor scales – 1-12 frets – A string – Pronouncing notes – 6:54 → 5:02

Strumming

Module 15 pattern – 80 bpm → 120 bpm

Ear training

Intervals – 314 of 400 – 78.50% → 207 of 250 – 82.80%
Minor 2nd – 34 of 36 – 94.44%
Major 2nd – 21 of 28 – 67.86%
Minor 3rd – 11 of 25 – 44%
Major 3rd – 38 of 49 – 77.55%
Perfect 4th – 9 of 14 – 64.29%
Perfect 5th – 48 of 49 – 97.96%
Octave – 48 of 49 – 97.96%

Songs

The Phantom of the Opera
Gravity Falls Opening

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