Okay so I have seen plenty of interesting posts around RCs since January with some goals set and expectations - I think it is a nice idea to do the same and post it in here, sort of a self-appraisal type of thing
And to make things more interesting I will also update my practice routine and songs I am and have worked on so far.
I think so far so good with my practice, I feel I am making Gulliver steps since I started back which is very encouraging and keeps me well motivated. Community that appreciates your recordings - it only helps carry on with what I've been up to
I will probably split my goals to three typical sections: short, medium and long term goals.
Short term goals - Technique (for next 6 months):- To learn more songs obviously! I have decided to work on less songs at the same time so gaps between recordings can be shorter than usual. I don't want to end up with 3 months gaps and then publish 5 songs each week back to back (sort of like I ended up lately).
- Polish my G Major scale accuracy and feel more comfortable at the current speed - it's my eat your vegetables sort of exercise, to create my own music and impros will follow, for now it's all about a technique.
- Work on more licks - I am not doing many at the same time, lately it's been two licks from PJ - Garden, most recognizable lick from Sultans of Swing and... main theme from Power Rangers, something I was dreaming to play as a child
- That might be a challenge, but to finish songs I am learning now, especially my Mount Everest which is Snow by RHCP. At the moment I am at 85 bpm (song's pace is 105 bpm) and I think soon I can move the bar up to either 90 or 95.
Medium term goals - Technique + Musicianship (for next 12 months):- Again songs songs songs, I would like to try more complex ones (like Sultans of Swing, some Santana, PJ and more RHCP) to improve the technique, so once I start making my own music I have plenty aces in my sleeves to use.
- Start thinking more about what I play, so what key I am in, what notes solos consist of and why is it played that way. I sort of do it now but to a very limited scope, so that needs to improve!
- That's an ambitious one - musicianship. I need to learn how to make my own music, I feel I should improve in this aspect, so I need to start learning scales, shapes and how to use those. For the moment I only know G Major scale in E shape and A minor pentatonic in all 5 shapes and that means nothing until I can use it over different chords.
- Probably that's when I will renew my PMT subscription to remind myself of the basics and work with Justin's material to become a better musician.
Long term goals - Proficiency (for next 12+ months):- Knowing all notes on fretboard without a hesitation,
- Understanding scales, how to play and manipulate those over different chords and backing tracks,
- Start learning modes only when I feel I am able to understand those and when to use them.
- Write my first song,
- Enrol to a singing course.
I think those are very challenging goals but I am trying to be reasonable with time frames. If I don't make it - so be it, as long as I enjoy the journey I am happy to carry on as it is
Practice routine:- G maj scale mechanics for warmup - got to 140bpm 16th notes, I can pull off 150 bpm after few mins of 140 so I think I am where Justin ended up which makes me super happy, as he mentioned once you get there you can play most of the solos there are.
- Licks - as mentioned above, at the moment it's Sultans of Swing last solo so I am practicing my right hand mostly during this exercise and fingerpicking, PJ Garden 2 licks + lately I have added up Power Rangers theme solo, it's super fan legato which also uses right hand finger hammering on the fretboard, super lots of fun this one!
- Snow Hey Oh - still on it! For now it's 85 bpm out of 105 bpm, probably next week I am raising a bar to either 90 or 95, we will see how it goes. I hope to be able to record it in next 6 months.
- Song section - as I said I limited amount of songs I am practicing at once now, so it's just two right now - R U Mine by Arctic Monkeys and Life is a Rollercoaster by Ronan Keating. I couldn't obviously resist myself and when it's late in the evening I sometimes play around with Devil's tears by Angus and Julia Stone not to wake up my neighbours
I think all of those songs should easily be learned by me in my 6 months timeframe.
Songs I know and work on:
- Fast Car - on a shelf for now, comfortable playing, long term goal to sing along.
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Hey there Delilah - recorded and shared, click here to check out!- Betterman - on a shelf for now, comfortable playing, lately trying to sing along which will take some time.
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Heartbeats - (haha made me laugh to read my last update on that song ) recorded and shared, click here to check out!-
Scar Tissue - recorded and shared, click here to check out!-
Anywhere by Passenger - recorded and shared, click here to check out!-
Blackbird - recorded and shared, click here to check out!-
Slide Goo Goo Dolls - recorded and shared, click here to check out!- Gone PJ - on a shelf, I think I got it right but I don't think I will record it until I get a proper mic and interface.
- Gotten - on a shelf for now, all transcribed, know how to play all bits but got bit bored for now so will revisit once I want to again.
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Wish you a Merry Christmas - competition entry, click here to check out!- Life is a Rollercoaster - easy chord progression, getting it smooth for now plus I am trying to incorporate some small extra additions to make it more interesting.
- R U Mine - a lot of gain and fuzz on this one! Enjoying it so much, still need to work on getting solo right and some bits and pieces at the finishing line, there are some tweaks to incorporate so need some extra work.
- Devil's Tears - beautiful song, very repetitive section which once sorted out makes you able to play a whole song. For now just playing it for fun few mins a day.
- Big Me - recording ready, need to trim it and upload, probably in next few weeks.
Topic: adi_mrok's Road case (Read 2000 times)
