Practice Resolutions - Goals For The New Year

[James W]

What plans do people have in the new year for new stuff to play and practice?

I know I have mentioned about shedding hexatonic scales here before, which I got from the first chapter of Randy Vincent's Line Games book. But I didn't persevere with them.

So I've hatched up a schedule to finally get these scales under my fingers. For the first two weeks I'll just focus on the first positional scale fingering shown below which I'll do in every key - one key a day, and then for the last two days I'll repeat D flat and G flat just so it rounds it out to a full two weeks. Then the next two weeks I intend to do the same, but for the melodic minor hexatonic scales.

Then, for the next four weeks I'll do all of the aforementioned except for the next positional fingering shown on the sheet below. There are five positional fingerings for both major and melodic minor and each one will take four weeks so I should be finished by twenty weeks into 2026. Not that I'll be totally done with hexatonics after that, but it will be a solid foundation.

I intend to give myself half an hour each day doing this.

(Incidentally, I haven't just made this sheet - I made it a while ago, since it contains all the essential info from the first part of the first chapter of Randy Vincent's book, but it means I don't have to keep flicking back and forth from page to page).



What else do I want to practice? Well, I would like to get into solo jazz guitar more. Chord melody and counterpoint, but also just practising tunes more just with a metronome.

[emanresu]

I will promise myself to always try to groove, make musical sense ... what was the third? oh, never practice without full focus.
And I will promise to try to not fail that promise after 30 minutes in.
And I will fail for sure.

[Stevebol]

To actually play guitar. I'm working on Barry Harris and standards.

[AllanAllen]

Each year, this is my favorite thread.

Last years goal was to sight read well enough to play Christmas gigs without memorizing all the tunes. My reading has improved a lot, but I didn’t quite reach the goal. Next holiday season I’ll be set.

This year, again, I’ll set a goal to sing more. I think vocals help break up a jazz gig.

I’m also going to work on hearing changes by ear. Probably learning Hot 5 and 7 tunes. Real proper jazz tunes. lol.

[James W]

Each year, this is my favorite thread.

Last years goal was to sight read well enough to play Christmas gigs without memorizing all the tunes. My reading has improved a lot, but I didn’t quite reach the goal. Next holiday season I’ll be set.

This year, again, I’ll set a goal to sing more. I think vocals help break up a jazz gig.

I’m also going to work on hearing changes by ear. Probably learning Hot 5 and 7 tunes. Real proper jazz tunes. lol.

Good ideas!

Before picking up my guitar each morning I practice sight singing. I have a solfege book which goes from nothing right up to singing twelve tone rows and even aleatory and graphic score things. I skipped the aleatory and graphic scores bit so now I'm on the appendix and brushing up on my C clef reading skills. It's good practice singing twelve tone rows.

[AllanAllen]

(Incidentally, I haven't just made this sheet - I made it a while ago, since it contains all the essential info from the first part of the first chapter of Randy Vincent's book, but it means I don't have to keep flicking back and forth from page to page).

I’ll start with a disclaimer because usually when I ask a question like this people think I’m arguing against their routine, but I’m not. I’m curious about what you’re doing.



I’m not familiar with Randy Vincent’s books so I might be missing the point.

Looking at this sheet, you just cut out the 4th(F)? Why does skipping one note a scale necessitate so much practice?

I don’t see why you should spend so much time trying to avoid something you’ll want to use anyway.

[lawson-stone]

I misread the subject and thought you were going to "practice resolutions" for the year. V-I, IVm-I, Valt-Im, etc.

[James W]

I’ll start with a disclaimer because usually when I ask a question like this people think I’m arguing against their routine, but I’m not. I’m curious about what you’re doing.



I’m not familiar with Randy Vincent’s books so I might be missing the point.

Looking at this sheet, you just cut out the 4th(F)? Why does skipping one note a scale necessitate so much practice?

I don’t see why you should spend so much time trying to avoid something you’ll want to use anyway.

Good and important question.

I too once thought like you - couldn't see the point of the hexatonic. But don't you also, or haven't you also in the past at least practiced the pentatonic scale in all positions? The hexatonic is just the pentatonic with the major seventh included. So the pentatonic is like the hexatonic except with an 'avoid' note. And, to do a bit of a reductio ad absurdum, the major scale is like the chromatic scale except with five avoid notes etc.

In the book Randy gives a fair few examples of jazz guitarists using the hexatonic. And I think it sounds nice.

I still intend to practice the scale that include the fourth, mind...

[GuyBoden]

This year, I'm hoping that everyone's comping improves significantly.

[AllanAllen]

This year, I'm hoping that everyone's comping improves significantly.

And also with you

[GuyBoden]

This year, I'm hoping that everyone's comping improves significantly.

And also with you

Yes, especially my own comping, but everyone's comping too.

[AllanAllen]

Yes, especially my own comping, but everyone's comping too.

I was playing on the Catholic custom. When the preacher, or whatever, says “God be with you”, the congregation replies “And also with you”

So I was accepting your sermon and wishing growth back on you.

[GuyBoden]

I was playing on the Catholic custom. When the preacher, or whatever, says “God be with you”, the congregation replies “And also with you”

So I was accepting your sermon and wishing growth back on you.

Thankyou, and may 'Good Comping' be with us all throughout year.

[Skip Ellis]

Just to make myself start playing again - haven't really picked up the guitar in close to 6 months. When the gigs ended, I pretty much lost any desire to play - I'm not a 'play for my own amazement' player - gotta play for somebody and there's no place to play.

[AllanAllen]

Good and important question.

I too once thought like you - couldn't see the point of the hexatonic. But don't you also, or haven't you also in the past at least practiced the pentatonic scale in all positions? The hexatonic is just the pentatonic with the major seventh included. So the pentatonic is like the hexatonic except with an 'avoid' note. And, to do a bit of a reductio ad absurdum, the major scale is like the chromatic scale except with five avoid notes etc.

In the book Randy gives a fair few examples of jazz guitarists using the hexatonic. And I think it sounds nice.

I still intend to practice the scale that include the fourth, mind...

You know, if I thought of it as the 11th instead of the 4th it makes a lot more sense. Then you’re shedding R 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th and 13th. You take that through the diatonic chords, starting on all the degrees. You’ll always know where to land.

[Spook410]

Just to make myself start playing again - haven't really picked up the guitar in close to 6 months. When the gigs ended, I pretty much lost any desire to play - I'm not a 'play for my own amazement' player - gotta play for somebody and there's no place to play.

If I don't gig I lose interest. Thing is, the assisted living gigs I've been doing are enough and I prefer them to wine bars and restaurants. The audience wants to listen and enjoys some jazz history thrown in. They only last an hour and the pay is consistent. In the coming year I think I'll try to cover more places and include more saxophone. And one of these days I'll find a decent singer to back.

Other alternatives may be jamming with other jazz players online. Don't know how good the tools for this have gotten as Internet connections have gotten faster. Delays may still be too much. In which case exchanging recordings might be interesting. I would like to do that sort of thing but as a middling amateur I'm not playing at the same level as many of the professionals we have around here.

[pamosmusic]

I’ll start with a disclaimer because usually when I ask a question like this people think I’m arguing against their routine, but I’m not. I’m curious about what you’re doing.



I’m not familiar with Randy Vincent’s books so I might be missing the point.

Looking at this sheet, you just cut out the 4th(F)? Why does skipping one note a scale necessitate so much practice?

I don’t see why you should spend so much time trying to avoid something you’ll want to use anyway.

Good question. I’ve read that part of the book and love the sounds but never really dug in. Interested to see what James gets going with these

[jazznylon]

For Jazz I'm going to focus on 3 things, continue making arrangements for standards, transcribe solos, and go through the minor 11 arppegio shapes for soloing (garrison fewell).

For Classical just keep doing what I'm doing as I have an upcoming recital for my university. Warm-up exercises, then familar and unfamilar pieces.

[charlieparker]

Try and learn a standard melody and chords each month.

[charlieparker]

Good and important question.

I too once thought like you - couldn't see the point of the hexatonic. But don't you also, or haven't you also in the past at least practiced the pentatonic scale in all positions? The hexatonic is just the pentatonic with the major seventh included. So the pentatonic is like the hexatonic except with an 'avoid' note. And, to do a bit of a reductio ad absurdum, the major scale is like the chromatic scale except with five avoid notes etc.

In the book Randy gives a fair few examples of jazz guitarists using the hexatonic. And I think it sounds nice.

I still intend to practice the scale that include the fourth, mind...

I really liked Mikko Hilden's video on the topic.

[James W]

I really liked Mikko Hilden's video on the topic.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

[GuyBoden]

Have I mentioned that I need to improve my comping.

[AllanAllen]

Try and learn a standard melody and chords each month.

This is an excellent goal. Good comping to you.

[Navdeep_Singh]

I’ve probably got about 50-60 tunes in my regular repertoire. Stuff I know and can play, anytime. Try to double it, in the year ahead. Great American Songbook standards.

[JazzPadd]

Those hexatonic scales are so interesting! Thank you for posting them. In the past, on a hiatus from playing guitar, I got some experience with non-Western music playing the oud and other instruments, and exploring scales from Arabic-Islamic and South Asian musics, and some Japanese pentatonics. Yusef Lateef, IIRC, had a repository of such scales, too. So your post on the idea of the usual scales for jazz plus or minus 1-2 notes is intriguing!

As for practicing, I have some time off work in these two weeks and will do some playing out at regional jam sessions, which to me are a place to practice spontaneous comping, or reading lead sheets on the fly, not to mention the interactive dimension of musicking.

No gigs on the horizon into the foreseeable future, so I'll likely continue working on tunes for jam sessions. At the moment, I'm working on pairs of tunes in the same general key, such as Blue Monk with If I Had You (in Bb), or Like Someone in Love with On the Sunny Side of the Street (in C), or Have You Met Miss Jones with Makin' Whoopee (in F), and others. The challenge for me is to play the song, not just to solo over the changes, which are similar for these and other pairs of tunes. This also seems to help me, as a free time casual player, to keep tunes distinct from one another and not use the same phrases and voicings, kind of the opposite of the shorthand approach to learning a lot of tunes by way of common patterns. I'm working on retaining the character of each tune through melody.

Truth be told, I've never been very good at making--and keeping--New Year resolutions, so I'll likely take it easy and take things as they come. Wishing you a Happy New Year!