practice diary - post 1

What have I been practicing this week?

For this week I have been practicing Johnny B. Goode by chuck berry on guitar.

1)

In college (Technical Development; Band Skills; Stylistic Awareness):

Any new skills learnt?

i have recently just learnt this style of music and am really interested to learn more about it. i have set time out every day to eventually learn the introduction to the song which is very hard to learn especially in the time that i gave myself. However, i believe that i have achieved a good standard and i think i will be able to play it live now.

What went well?

i felt that my rhythm was in time when playing the chords as originally when i first started t learn the song i went out of time very quickly. however, after practicing it i believe that my timing has improved drastically.

What could I improve?

i believe that i could improve my tone as i hit the string fairly lightly when playing in order to maintain a constant rhythm.

What went well?

i felt that i have mastered the tone of the lead guitar throughout Johnny B. Goode as he gets a really trebly sound that is hard to replicate.

in band skills, i have been learning 'rocks' by primal scream. i found this to be fairly easy to learn however getting the right tone on the open chords is an issue as i own a single coil guitar so it doesn't have the same depth as a humbucker guitar ( which is what they used in the song )

In stylistic awareness i have been learning Johnny B. Goode. i found this song to be fairly easy as i have learnt it before so it was good to refresh my memory.

2)

Personal practice:

Any new skills learnt?

Ive focused on developing my knowledge of music theory as i have started to read theory online, right now i am focusing on developing a knowledge of the CAGED system

What went well?

i have learnt the basics of the CAGED system 

What / how could I improve?

i am going to continue to develop my knowledge on the CAGED system 

3)

What are my targets for next week?

my target for next week is to learn how to play night train by Guns N' Roses

Goals and aspirations

while studying here at ACM i am going to focus on achieving my diploma in guitar and gain understanding of all of the skills it takes to be a functioning musician, such as learning network and gain people's trust in the industry and gain an ultimate understanding of performing and how to work with other musicians.

short term goals:
for my short term goals i am going to try to train my ear in order to break down the music and listen to it from a different view, i feel that this could help me when playing guitar as it could allow me to analyse what scales could be appropriate to fit that style of music and what notes or licks i could play to accompany the band or singer. i will also be focusing on developing a better picking hand when playing the guitar, in doing so this will help me with playing at faster speeds or adding a new type of depth or feel to the music through dynamics.

long term goals:
for my long term goals i will try to learn basic theory as this is imperative for being a functioning musician. In doing so, this will help me develop a good understand of the different notes and functions within the music and it will allow me to work to work with a higher standard of musicians.

on going goals:
for my ongoing goals i am going to try to learn to read sheet music as this will help me to work with other musicians to a higher standard. however this is very hard to learn and can take a great deal of time so i feel that it will be an ongoing goal for me to aspire to.