Today I practiced everything I’ve been playing before, trying to improve the speed or consistency. Also I added All of Me and Autumn Leaves in different keys. So the routines list is really HUGE.
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
Major chords
60 bpm
Minor chords
60 bpm
Major 7th chords
60 bpm
7th chords
60 bpm
Minor 7th chords
60 bpm
Strumming
Module 19 pattern
All of Me in D
Figuring out the chords
120 bpm
Autumn Leaves in Gm
Figuring out the chords
70 bpm
Ear training
Intervals
9 intervals
Perfect pitch
3 notes
Songs
MGMT – Kids [Solo]
8th notes @ 170 bpm
8th notes @ 175 bpm
8th notes @ 180 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 – 8 min CAGED – Minor chords – 60 bpm – 6 min CAGED – Major 7th chords – 60 bpm – 10 min CAGED – 7th chords – 60 bpm – 8 min CAGED – Minor 7th chords – 60 bpm – 15 min
Ear training – Intervals – 9 intervals – 13 min Ear training – Perfect pitch – 3 notes – 7 min
Strumming – All of Me in D – 4 min Strumming – All of Me in D – 120 bpm – 4 min Strumming – Autumn Leaves in Gm – 8 min Strumming – Autumn Leaves in Gm – 70 bpm – 5 min
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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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