Practise Diary - Grade 1 & 3

Hey Paul,

Thanks for looking at it and giving the feedback, i'm really looking forward to dissecting it with you tomorrow!

Sounding pretty good and ready to start polishing, now it's up to speed! I'm hearing a tendency to "rush" in places and though it isn't knocking you off hitting the "One beat" strongly each bar, warrants some attention. Here's a single bar snap-shotted to show something that's happening regularly throughout:

The note on the "and" (3rd part) of beat three is played pretty early here and takes the edge off the groove of things. Seeing it like this (if that makes sense?) should help visualise where we'll be aiming to nail it! It's the standard issue with offbeats as it's our old friend "KNEE and" in disguise! Shouldn't take long to tighten up!

Hey Paul,

Here's the first version of the last time at 100%!

Sounding grand Doug. Keep 'em coming!

Hey Paul,

Here's sitting on the dock of the bay a week on, it's definitely getting stronger.

The grind pays off again 😉... eminently listenable. Sounds great and nothing jumps out that won't smooth out with a little more bedding-in. How about adding in a 120% speed version next time you record it?

Hey Paul, here's the video for sittin on the dock of the bay at 100% speed. It definitely still needs some work in the middle section and towards the end but i thought it would be good to have a warts and all version.

Right on the button from start to finish. Superb stuff!!!

Hey Paul,

thanks for posting the above, i'll definitely start working through the scales later this week.

Additionally here's a version of me playing lonely boy at 100% speed now!

The tough way to learn them is to repeat them as written until they stick. It usually works but never seems to stick for long and isn't much fun to learn. The "trick" is to turn them into music. The first two on the list are "diatonic" (seven note) scales. If we shape the notes into a rhythm it can then be played as music and top speed can be measured to show progress (increased ease of playing). Here's a sheet showing that but with the C major scale (same as the G major scale on your sheet but played starting at fret 8 rather than fret 3):

Each bar has the rhythm "Egg Chicken Chicken Chicken" and begins on the root note C. Pick directions should follow the 8th note foot tap meaning a ghost pick on the "and" of beat 1. 1) Take the two bars outlined in green and get them looping. This gives the lower octave (8 notes) of the scale. 2) Do the same with the bars outlined in grey. This gives the upper octave. 3) Once each loop is familiar, playing through the full 4 bars as laid out then gives both octaves as written in your grade book. Can you see why it's referred to as the "E shape" C major scale? The following should help if not:

This idea works for any diatonic scale. The next on your list is the A minor scale which also has 7 notes so the same system will work there too. Try drawing it out as I've done with the C major scale. For each of the pentatonics we can use the same idea but applied to a 5 note scale. I cover that in this article: https://www.taplature.com/single-post/2019/09/04/better-public-speaking-on-guitar-turning-scales-into-music-1 As ever, monitoring progress with a metronome lets you see improvement as the shapes sink in and once learned this way they should stick forever!

Hey Paul,

Here are the scales that i've got to learn.

Hey Paul,

Here is The Last Time played to the backing track, it's currently at 75% speed.

So that's all 3 pieces for grade 3 that i just need to build the speed up on over the next few weeks. I've got some scales to learn too of course, but should be ready to book the next exam soon!

Great stuff and without the safety net of metronome giving the triplet count too! Sounds spot on!

That's a big chunk of the song learned, and probably the toughest bit. Is there a set solo to go with that one?

Hi Paul,

Here the practice of The Last Time at 84bpm. I think the cat was trying to doing the vocals!

Sounding good and the full speed (and higher) shouldn't be too far off! All I'd pick up on that needs a look are the grace note hammers which are starting early (on the last semiquaver of the previous beats).

Comparing these two beats should yield some insight along with this video I did on grace notes a while back in the predecessor to the Taplature forum!

Hi Paul,

Here is the latest version of me actually playing to the backing track, this is currently at 75% speed, so a little ways to go still.

Hats off to you! I know there's a lot of grind gone into that one ... warrants a better backing. Do you have Chordpulse Lite installed? Wouldn't take long to knock one up in that!

Hi Paul,

Finally got around to recording the first go at sitting on the dock of the bay (or at least 3/4's of it!).

Wow ... possibly as good an advert as could be for the power of nailing something at a slow speed before building up! Great crunchy tone and the groove is right in the pocket pretty much throughout. A joy to my ears!!!

Hi Paul,

Jumping back to lonely boy again, here is the recording of me playing the guitar to the backing track at 90% (150 bpm) of the speed needed! Definitely getting there now.