Matt's Guitar Problem

The Numbers 6h46m analog, 39m RockSmith 176 bpm downpicking, 252 alternate picking (didn't do this much) Signs x5, Blackbird x4, Dust in the Wind x4, Wanted Dead Or Alive x3, Stairway to Heaven (first verse) x2, World I Know x1, Heavy x1, Everlong x1, Hold On Loosely 1, Space Oddity x1 I went to open mic and performed (gasp!) on Monday the 18th, and did reasonably well.  Blackbird was a little spotty, Dust In the Wind was a little easier, and I didn't try to sing Signs.  A week later and I'm very comfortable with the song, and feel like it's performance ready.  The Martin got almost exclusive playtime during the week, partly because of the fresh strings from the 11th, partly because I'm trying to shore up the performance songs. Reviewing the "new song plan" from August 23rd, "Signs" is perform-able, "Space Oddity" is maaaybe 30%.  I didn't feel that "Don't Fear The Reaper" was something I wanted to play or perform,...

The Numbers 6h25m analog, 0m RockSmith 184 bpm downpicking, 232 alternate picking Signs x6,  Dust In The Wind x5, Wanted Dead Or Alive x4, Everlong x4, Blackbird x2, Space Oddity x1, Holy Diver x1, Communication Breakdown x1, Black Dog x1, Hold On Loosely x1 Martin and Ibanez I went and watched an open mic on Monday, over at Angel's Landing on South University.  Broncos home game, so the place was dead.  Learned that they prefered solo acoustic acts, so gotta get some songs ready on the Martin.  Which really gives a lot of options.  Blackbird, Dust In The Wind, Wanted Dead or Alive, and Signs are all ready, or close to performance-ready. As such, this week was focused on the acoustic song practice.  Did some scales warmups but didn't do much picking exercises. Put some fresh strings on the Martin -- a set of phosphor bronze light Martin strings that I have a 3-pack of.  Definitely shinier than the strings that've been on there for a mont...

The Numbers 5h56m analog, 0m RockSmith 176 bpm downpicking, 254 alternate picking Wanted Dead Or Alive x3, Blackbird x2, Dust In The Wind x3, Communication Breakdown x3, Black Dog x1, Signs x5, Space Oddity x1, Hold On Loosely x2 Alvarez and PRS all week. I bounced in a couple new songs this weeks: Signs, Hold On Loosely, and Rock & Roll Never Forgets.  Classic rock kick much?  I tried picking some modern music out instead, but both the radio and the Billboard Rock lists are heavy on the keyboards and on the sampling.  There isn't a lot of good guitar music out there right now, outside the established rockers, such as Foo Fighters, 311, etc.

The Numbers 5h52m analog, 1h48m RockSmith 160-176 bpm downpicking, 240-264 alternate picking Wanted Dead Or Alive x4, Blackbird x2, Dust In The Wind x4, Communication Breakdown x2, Black Dog x4, Stairway To Heaven x1, Signs x4, Space Oddity x3. Martin x4, Alvarez x2.  PRS x1, Ibanez x3, Stromburg x1. I had a little more down time this last week, and it shows in the extra practice time.  Sunday was essentially my rest day, with "only" half an hour on the guitar.  Still mostly song-focused, so I'm going to be mindful about getting the magazines and lesson books out more often. This week saw me singing Blackbird and Dust In The Wind, two songs that are REALLY close to shuffling off the practice list, because I can play through them pretty well.  I've added Tesla's "Signs" and David Bowie's "Space Oddity", both of which I'm fairly comfortable with a week in, at least when playing out of the book. Labor Day weekend means oodles of ...

Well, it's Labor Day weekend, and evvvveryone that sells musical instruments is trying to pitch sales to musicians.  I've taken some long hard looks at what's out there, and I've been looking at the rig that hasn't changed much since before I left Richland back in 2012.  There are a few guitars that I miss, and some specific items I could be making more use of if I'd kept them. What would I do with a million dollars, music gear wise?  Basically all of the guitarists that I'm focusing on play Les Paul's and Marshal's.  The second most common rig items are Gibson hollow (or semi-) and Vox amps.  Alex Lifeson, Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend, and Zach Blair all play Gibsons and own at least one LP. So the big gear lust this year is for one of these .  It's a spendy piece of work, but has automatic tuners, titanium hardware, high end hardware and wood, etc etc.  It's their yearly flagship standard model and the price shows.  I imagine a...

The Numbers 5h30m analog, 30m RockSmith 160-184 bpm downpicking, 208-232 alternate picking Wanted Dead Or Alive x4, Blackbird x3 [92-100 bpm], Dust In The Wind x4, Communication Breakdown x2, Black Dog x3, Stairway To Heaven x3. Martin x2, Alvarez x3.  PRS x2, Ibanez x1, Stromburg x1. Rest and game days made for slightly spotty playing, but I hit the goal of six hours of practice time.  This is going to be the overt target going forward, and I'm going to not play much more than two hours a day.  Gotta do other things, right? Across the board, I'm solid on the chorus, verse, and bridge parts.  The solos are generally 60% memorized.  Maybe one more week, since I was planning to cycle a new batch of songs in come September?  I'm definitely going to have 'review days' in the future, though. I could stand to work some magazine and book segments in, too.  I haven't regularly practiced general material in about two weeks.