01-27-09 Practice, etc.

I put on some new string today; J74’s.  I dunno but immediately it seems that my mandolin likes these strings.  We’ll have to take a listen.

I have been getting in quick practice here and there.  Playing the slow tempos with B. Davis and playing scales.  I played Ark Trav fast last night and really killed it.  Hopefully I’ll get in some good practice this weekend.

Filed under: My Journal, Practice Session Notes

01-25-09 Practice Session

I got in plenty of practice this past weekend.  I am trying to get back in the groove of serious practice with the metronome.

Scales for improv > crosspicking – G – A – D

pattern 1 @ 60 = fun + nice tone

@ 80 = not too shabby

@ 100 = a little sloppy

I also did a lot of work with the Brad Davis videos.  I especially worked on “Whiskey Before Breakfast”…I got to the medium/fast and got frustrated.  On reflection though, I was able to play the B walkdown part at medium/fast, which I haven’t been able to do before, so there’s some improvement.

Before the Brad Davis DVD’s came along, I did a lot of work with the Steve Kaufman Cd’s.  I was curious to see if my abilities had changed much in the couple of months that I have put them down.  I played Arkansas Traveler and I found that I was a little better at the fast version, but I definately needed to improve there.

Next I went back to the B. Davis videos and put in some good work on Black Berry Blossom.  I need to get this one under the fingers.

In another practice session I spent a good hour just on the Patter #4 of “Scales for Improv”.  I did each pattern in G, A, C and D at the following metronome speeds: 60>80>100>120>160>180….I finally started to fall apart at 180.

I need to get to the 200 mark.

Filed under: Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal, Practice Session Notes

Action Plan for 2009 and Charley’s Jam

I was able to attend the slow jam at Charley’s this past Monday.  Well over 20 people showed up and it was a great jam.  I think I played the best that I really ever have before.  I was just tearing it up, and I got many complements.  What was I doing?  Simple stuff, really.  Playing a lot of blues notes, Monroe style.  Letting go on the double stops.  Trying to play tastefully, and trying to stay raw.  There were many highlights to the night.  I brought my H2 recorder, but alas, I was again foiled by dead batteries and so I didn’t get a good recording.  That was a real disappointment.

But for all of the great playing that night at Charley’s, I did leave with some concern.  I noticed that when we started to play a little bit faster, the wheels came off my playing.  In particular we played an Old Joe Clark at a brisk pace, and I just couldn’t reach a couple of notes, and more importantly, I wasn’t as creative.

Now, we were not playing that fast.  It is possible that I was just “out of shape” for playing up to speed, since I didn’t have any legit practice sessions for basically the month of December.  But, unfortunately, I think that it is more the case that I am still not up to bluegrass speed.

So, that brings me to my goals and action plan for 2009.

I want to focus on two things this year; 1) improving my playing speed; and 2) learning Monroe-style licks.

You know, I started this blog in October of 2007.  So, it has been a little over a year since I started playing and practicing the mandolin seriously.  I can honestly say that the progress I have made is astounding.  The great thing about keeping a journal is that you can look back and really see how far you have come.  Conversely, it can hold you accountable for not putting the work in.  But I can say that I have put a good amount of work into the mandolin, and it has duly paid off.

So, I really think that if I put another good year into this, I have the potential of really being a capable mandolin player a year from know.

What is a capable mandolin player?  The goal for me is to able to approach any jam, any playing situation, and be capable of playing tastefully, rightly, and play according to my intuition/soul.  That means being able to play fast bluegrass.  So I want to be able to play fast bluegrass with taste.

To get there I need to work on speed and I need to study a style.

On the speed front, I am convinced that I can drastically improve my picking speed by working on my left hand movement economy.  I think that I move my fingers too much.  I need to work on economy of movement, and first of all work on keeping my fingers low to the fretboard.

I am going to start out working on speed by 1) playing scales to the metronome; and 2) playing along to fast jam songs.  I like working with the metronome for many reasons, but most especially because it provides objective benchmarks to progress.  I have recently found that the Brad Davis DVD’s are great practice for speed.

Next, on to the style front.  This year I want to move a good portion of my practice on to studying the different techniques, licks and styles of great players.  This means that I want to spend more time dissecting solos and transcribing them.   Right now, my favorite mandolin player is Bill Monroe, and I really want to learn his licks and approach.  I want to spend more time this year taking apart his solos and absorbing his style.

Now, I am not going to set any hard goals for myself.  I am not going to say, “I want to have transcribed 5 Monroe solos by July and 10 by the end of the year”.  Equally, I am not going to set a bpm goal on the metronome.

Through all of the hobbies and phases I have gone through I have learned something about myself; things change.  The fact that I have kept this interest going for over a year now is to me a HUGE success.  The key has been to be flexible and not burn myself out.  For example I practiced like the devil for most of October and November.  Then I didn’t practice at all for December…and that’s O.k..

So I guess that the real goal for 2009 is to just to become a better mandolin player than I am now.  If I can look back on this blog a year from now and marvel at the improvements I have made, as I did this year, than 2009 will have been a success.

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal, Practice Session Notes

The Best Christmas Present

My country music star cousin Ben was very generous and invited me to play with him at a concert the day after Christmas.  In particular, he wanted me to play on his pirate song, and even take a solo.  In fact, Ben was recording this song to put a live track on his next album! The venue was Shooters Bar and Grill.  Shooters is a very large honky tonk outside of Gainesville.

I queried my friends on the mandolin cafe about what equipment I should have for this gig. I have to say that I am a complete noobie at plugging in and playing in front of people.  After many good suggestions, I decided to go with the L.R. Baggs Para DI and the L.R. Baggs Mandolin Pickup.

Me getting the crowd worked up.

I got to the venue 5 hours before show time, as my cousin suggested, in order to sound check and rehearse with the band.  This turned out to be a lesson in show biz…the modus operandi is “hurry up and wait”….we ended up sitting around waiting for the sound guy for a good 3 hours.  We did get to rehearse the pirate song once, and my solo was awful.  I couldn’t hear myself!  Those drums are loud!

I wasn’t nervous so much about playing on stage as I was nervous about my rig.  Playing plugged in and loud is completely new for me, and in the 10 minuets of rehearsal, I felt very disconnected from my instrument.   But, it was time for the pirate song and I got up on the stage with the band and did my thing.  I think I pretty much flubbed it, because, again, I couldn’t hear myself.

The best picture of all time - I am lost in the music during a solo.

The next set, Ben wisely decided to preform the pirate song with just me and him.  This went a lot better.  I could hear everything and I think we sounded pretty good.

All in all it was the experience of a lifetime.  I had a blast.  There were probably 150 people up against the stage.  It was a thrill to look out into the crowd and see drunk guys cheering at the top of their lungs and young girls dancing pirate jigs.  Thanks cousin Ben for the awesome Christmas present!

The Pirate Song is a crowd pleaser!

Filed under: Jam Reflections, My Journal , Cousin Ben

Country Boy Rock And Roll

Author: Don Reno

(D) You can tell I’m from the country
see I’m from out of town
But I’m beginning to catch on
I’m letting my hair down

(D) I’ve been a’ rocking
I’ve been (G) a’ rollin’
(D) I guess to some folks I look foolish
just (A) let it (G)make (A)a fool out of (D) me

I have worked in fields of cotton
I have worked in fields of corn
But I’ve seen nothing like it
since the day that I was born

I walked in a crowded dance hall
and I didn’t know a soul
Some hillbillies started picking
everybody rocked and rolled

I have spent all the egg money
corn and cotton I have sold
I’ll mortgage my old homestead
stay in town to rock and roll

Filed under: Country Boy Rock 'n' Roll, My Journal