What I'm working on

8/8/2009 

So i've decided to start a practice journal where i can write about what i've been practicing each day. I think this will help me be more goal oriented when practicing. It will keep me organized and will be a good way to look how i progress over time. Basically the entries will be me writing about what i'm working on, as well as goals for the next day. I'll make one every day and put a few up here every now and then just so people can check out what i'm working on. I'll also be doing more music talk, review etc. So here's my first entry into the practice journal. 

 8/7/2009

 My goal today was to study some Allan Holdsworth. I've been trying to work out some Holdsworth style chord voicings to spice up my comping. My hands arent big enough to do some of the voicings i discovered, but i enjoyed listening to the tunes and figuring them out anyway.

I also was tinkering with my gear to see if i could get a lead tone like his. Kind of tough to do when all you have is an SRV strat. The tone i ended up with wasnt really a Holdsworth sound, but it was much different to the straight up, bluesy fender tone that i usually use. Definitely a tone that i can use now when i want something different.

 I also was trying to figure out what i could of his lead playing, taking an idea here and there. It all goes by very fast. I figured out the chord progression to the song i was working on and i played lead over it for a while, focusing on using Lydian and Melodic Minor. There’s a few patterns I noticed that he repeated quite a bit, these really fast chromatic ideas on adjacent strings

 Also played along with Freddie the Freeloader from Kind of blue trying to employ a holdsworth like style. Got to learn more about Legato playing.

 Also, i want to become more comfortable with the Melodic Minor scale, and the chords that are in the harmonized scale.

 I Found some really cool Major 7 voicings with the 5^th in the bass. Sounds really deep. Come back and check these out eventually.

 Goals for Tomorrow:

 

1. Continue to study Holdsworth. Find more Voicings. Listen to solos. Figure out whats going on a little bit. Try and experiment more with Legato playing. 
2. Learn chords to “Proto Cosmos” play over it. Experiment with Comping trying to use the voicings I learned.
3. Work with Melodic Minor more
4. Experiment with comping and soloing over standards. Play over the songs that are on “Kind of Blue”
5. Explore the possibilities of the Maj 7 voicings with the 5th in the root that i found. Possibly write a progression involving them. 
6. Study Comping and lead on “Cause we’ve ended as lovers” cover by jimmy Herring. As well as “Utensil Oceans”. 
7. Select a few Metheny songs to learn. Trio or group. continue playing over "Midwestern night's Dream". experiment with comping over that. Loop it, take a bass solo. Study Jaco Pastorius' playing on it if i can. 
8. If time allows, listen to the entire Metheny album "Bright Size Life". 

So these entries arent going to be really formal. But it really helps me to write this stuff down. 

-So if anyone reading this is working on anything, whether its musical or not, I'd love to hear. Anyone else have any goals they're working towards?

I'll be back with a more traditional entry next time. 

Thanks for reading 

-MD