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I am going on vacation with my girlfriends family for a week, and I won't be bringing a guitar. I could maybe bring my ukulele, but probably wont. I also might be around people often so I wont want to sing. Some ideas I have had so far:
-Continue with this ear training website I've been using Interval Ear Training
-Hum scales and arpeggios
-Write the notes out for scales and arpeggios
-Bring a few real book pages of tunes I want to learn to 1. Listen through to the tune while reading the music to internalize it 2. Sight sing the melody 3. Analyse the melody and changes 4. Hum an improvisation
-Listen to a lot of music on my laptop
-Enjoy the time away from the instrument and spend a lot of time outdoors
I just thought of all this stuff while making this list, but I'll post it anyway if it helps someone else. Any other ideas?
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12-24-2015 09:39 PM
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or it's only a week could just relax and enjoy a short break.
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I wrote all that and realized that I could use a break. I've been practicing 5-7 hours a day for the last couple of months alternating between ear exercises and finger exercises. I've also had plenty of time to relax.
Last edited by Mr. Pocket; 01-04-2016 at 02:01 AM.
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Forget the guitar for a week, talk to your girlfriend!....L..
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How about visualization?
I have more or less teached myself every note on the fretboard by closing my eyes and visualized every note/fret up and down, and across. I also try to visualize triads, 4 note arpeggios (maj, dom, min, dim), chords, scales and so on
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Music is life, but so are your relationships. My problem is that I love to label myself. Erez the musician, Erez the teacher. You are just you the human being.
That being said, on the off hours, ear training. Most of my practice is singing through changes, hearing pitches against key centers and progressions, practicing my time (the invisible metronome is a quick exercise that is quite tricky at first). I'd say that my practice time is 80-90% musicianship and 20-10% on the guitar. Would that work for everyone, no! You have to find what works for you and not worry about "the right way". As long as you are always growing as a musician, always learning. That being said, learning tunes by rote is key. I tried the whole "learn the theory". I tried the whole "memorize the chord grips". You know what is working for me?
1. Sing the melody with movable do
2. Sing the root movement with movable do (keep a drone of the key of the tune to setup the macro cohesion of the tune)
3. Sing the 3rds of the harmony (drone the key of the tune)
4. Sing the 7ths of the harmony (drone)
5. Guide tone movement (drone)
6. Arpeggiate the basic triads (drone)
7. After a week of that, go back to the guitar. See what happens
I use Bruce Arnold/ Charlie Banaco's methods myself, they work great for me. I responded to your email, btw.
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My advice: don't do any music for a week. It's a challenge, especially if you get bored haha.... It's good not to play sometimes.... There's more to life than music.
When ever I stop playing for a week, picking up the guitar again feels amazing and fresh. And I play better ideas (with worse chops ;-))
Incidentally, I find nothing relaxing about being unemployed... but if you can use the time fruitfully (as you seem to have) that's wonderful...
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Well, it's a ski vacation and it's been 70* (east coast) so I need to do something while the girls go shopping.
I mean we live together too
Originally Posted by larry graves
Yeah that was a bit tongue in cheek that I've been relaxed.Incidentally, I find nothing relaxing about being unemployed...
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As HR would tell us at GIT you have the best guitar in the world in your head use it. Pat Metheny talks about when in school his grades went in the dumper and his parent took his guitar away for a semester. Pat said he probably spent even more time focused on guitar practicing in his head. Originally Posted by Mr. Pocket
Well, it's a ski vacation and it's been 70* (east coast) so I need to do something while the girls go shopping.
I know everywhere i go I make sure I have a pencil and paper to work out all sorts of scale and harmony ideas.
If you're awake you can be practicing something.
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This is just what I was going to post, so I"ll take from what others have suggested and warn you not to do this while you're with the people you're vacationing with. Originally Posted by Bambus123
How about visualization?
I have more or less teached myself every note on the fretboard by closing my eyes and visualized every note/fret up and down, and across. I also try to visualize triads, 4 note arpeggios (maj, dom, min, dim), chords, scales and so on
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Exactly what I mean. Originally Posted by docbop
I don't need to close my eyes to visualize, I just close my eyes when I talk to people to make myself appear more pompous.
Thanks for all the suggestions, since I also have 24 hours of plane travel left next week to "practice".Last edited by Mr. Pocket; 01-04-2016 at 02:01 AM.
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If you're bored:
Ear Training. Maybe Bruce Arnolds 1-note pich recognition.
Sight sing some music.
Work out the scale degrees of some Christmas songs...
Get your copy of Bellson out (you can get it on kindle.)
Learn to sing Lester Young's solo on Lady be Good. If you know that one try one of the others (Shoeshine Boy etc).
Practice singing the root notes of any standard you know. If you can do this do the 3rds, 5ths, 7ths etc.
Visualise practicing guitar in your head.
Rhythmic improvisations.
Improvising with a metronome. Scoop out the space between clicks. Have on 15 say, so it clicks every other 4 of a 120 bpm tempo. Or have the click on the straight off beat of 1 and 3 while you scat bebop heads.
Try some M-Base rhythm stuff (from the M-Base ways site)
I could go on...
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Relax, forget the guitar, and enjoy your time with your girlfriend. Once you get married you will want to worry more about bringing guitars on vacations.
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I went for several years leaving guitars at home because I felt like I "should". I'm just beyond that. I know myself. I'm not going to spend time with my smart phone on fb like every one else. Not reading a novel or doing sudoku. I don't think it's healthy to go for multiple days without EVER being alone, even if you're not an introvert. I'm really not one, but I'm comfortable with my limits.
All that said, the Audipo app is great for listening/transcribing. It's like Transcribe! for smart phone...Last edited by matt.guitarteacher; 12-28-2015 at 07:51 PM.
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Write some lyrics
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Get a Soloette.
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My girlfriend doesn't allow me to go on vacation without a guitar.... I become so grumpy without playing she begs me to please go and play guitar....
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If your bored imagine what your girlfriend feel like!....This thread's a joke right?....L... Originally Posted by christianm77
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Just work on your "rhythm" with your significant other. Perhaps emphasize beats 1 and 3, or 2 and 4. Alternate between 4/4, 3/4, or other unusual times. Try to identify the pitch of her moans and groans.
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Not a joke man I had 3 layovers both ways and 2 flights got delayed. All told, I spent about 60 Hours travelling. So I did a lot of reading. Decided to take a break from music for the week after all. Actually, I'm finding it hard to pick the guitar back up since getting back. Originally Posted by larry graves
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60hrs? It's a wonder you can do anything for a while. plenty of warm up exercises, don't think to much, you'll be back in no time!....
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Originally Posted by docbop
He said "with my girlfriend's family for a week".
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Originally Posted by Mr. Pocket
This. Some pure time off from the instrument is good for us and for our relationships with others. It's easy to spend too much time practicing and cut ourselves off from family and friends.
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Well, what a great opportunity to audition the potential in-laws. It's worth doing- for a happy marriage it's best if the in-laws like you and you like them. I won the in-law lottery when I got married and it has been such a wonderful thing (compared to a colleague who told me "if I'd known what my mother in law was going to be like, I'd have never married my husband." It's that bad). Might as well find out before things get to the "Do you, Mr. Pocket, take..." Originally Posted by MaxTwang
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i lost the in-law lottery - and my own parents - and (just sharing) it really sucks hard - especially now we've got two little ones (and i'm the primary carer)
ah me
and you can't audition them - you never really know if you get on or if you're all trying too hard
it only comes out in the long-term wash
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and by the way the best practice in the world does not require guitar
you listen to charlie parker tunes and solos until you can sing every note
that teaches you the music better than any other single thing you can do
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