Great to see you Richard. This was helpful reminder to sing the notes not only play on guitar. Always be trying to push to learn on more thing. To really develop better understanding of intervals and deeper about triads and in different places on the fretboard. Nice guitar man I really like that color too
George Mattingly
Sammi Fujita
Andy
Linda M Tucker
Clay
+2 more...
Thank you for updating us, Richard! It's always a pleasure to hear from and learn from you. You got the AZES! Congratulations and a job well done with your C triads practice.
Kurt Schubert
Tomo Fujita
Working hard on my sight reading!
That's excellent work, Richard. It inspires me to get better. Because I was in High School Concert Band, I learned to read music, but I would need extra work to come up to your level. Let's keep going!
Sammi Fujita
Clay
Tomo Fujita
Richard John Albano
Kurt Schubert
Thank you, Richard.
I love seeing this great performance.
You do it all so well:
No noises- super clean. Accurate playing and holding notes for the duration, dynamics.
It's moving along at a good clip too. It's long with that coda section.
Really fun to read along with you!
Makes me feel like I can do it too eventually.
I like these tunes by Bill Leavitt. They get into your head
.
Thanks for this shot of inspiration!
Kurt
Day 86 of 1095 days straight sight-reading
Sammi Fujita
Clay
Tomo Fujita
Richard John Albano
That is great Rich! Looking forward to getting to where you're at. Thanks for sharing.
Sammi Fujita
Tomo Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Richard John Albano
Sounds beautiful Rich! I love what you are doing! Very clean! Keep going!
Question is what would you like to improve? In general, I always needed to work on soft fingering (fret... ) softly to press and keep better intonation and more dymamics by picking etc. You can practice this more with slower tempo and you can enjoy this more!
Tomo
Sammi Fujita
Linda M Tucker
Clay
Richard John Albano
Kurt Schubert
Yes - I would like to work on making the transitions between the different triad fingerings more smooth.
I guess I have just been working on sight reading and was happy to get through that entire etude.
I should slow down and get it even cleaner this way I’m working on 2 things at once.
Really my ultimate goal is still to learn how to improvise but I also want to be a well rounded player and be able to read music.
Sammi Fujita
Tomo Fujita
Linda M Tucker
Kurt Schubert
Clay
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Sammi Fujita
Tadashi Morita
Tomo Fujita
Andy
Clay
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Great stuff, Rich! keep going! If I am correct, it is almost entirely open-string triads, either individually played notes from them or three-string strums! Amazing to get such a beautiful melody from just open string triads! Let's keep learning!
That Chord Etude No.1 on page 62 goes into Position 2 for the first time in the book.
Position playing and reading starts on P.60.
I'm thinking I might get there before day 200 of my sight-reading challenge.
Or not.
Just hitting it every day is the goal for me.
Kurt
Sammi Fujita
Sunil
Tomo Fujita
Richard John Albano
Thank you Richard for encouragement! Your posts really inspired others! Thank you so much!
Tomo
Sammi Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Sunil
Linda M Tucker
Thank you Kurt for encouragement! I love practicing P62! Great etude for clean playing. Especially left hand (less pressure)
From P60... each 10 pages dedicated on In Position Forms (Based on chord forms)
Tomo
Sammi Fujita
Sunil
Kurt Schubert
Thanks, Tomo!
The whole book feels like a big lesson on how to play cleanly and accurately.
Looking forward to getting there.
Not expecting too fast.
Kurt
Sammi Fujita
Tomo Fujita
Sunil
Everything Kurt is saying is the truth.
Thank you my friend.
Your work is profoundly inspiring.
Sammi Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Tomo Fujita
Linda M Tucker
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Sammi Fujita
Tomo Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Richard John Albano
Thanks so much Sunil! I am so grateful!
Tomo
It’s an amazing place my friends.
Thank you Tomo, Sammi, and George for the structure! Thank you to all who fill in the spaces.
Sunil
Sammi Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Tomo Fujita
I am so grateful!
Tomo
Sunil
Kurt Schubert
Beautifully said, Sunil, thank you!
Kurt Schubert
Linda M Tucker
Sunil
Sammi Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Sunil
Just wanted to post another chord etude from the Leavitt book. I am posting the view from behind the neck to see if you think I am still grabbing the neck too tightly.
I have been working on trying to break that habit but sometimes I feel like I need to squeeze a bit harder on my acoustic because the action is higher than my electric.
Well let me know what you think.
Beautiful! Thanks Richard.
I really didn't watch you the first time because I was reading along and listening. And being inspired!
Thanks for showing where I am heading. Eventually.
Please keep updating us! I appreciate it very much
Have a great day!
Kurt
Day 108 of 1095 straight days practicing sight reading.
Sammi Fujita
Sunil
Clay
Tomo Fujita
Linda M Tucker
+1 more...
Thanks for watching (and listening) Kurt. I have been practicing this Etude everyday for the past 22 days. I still flub some notes but I feel like these chord etudes force your hands to make some odd shapes and difficult changes so I enjoy practicing them.
I’m also trying to concentrate on not squeezing too hard.
I do want to move on to practicing something else though. So I think I’m going to take a break from sight reading.
Cheers.
Sammi Fujita
Sunil
Clay
Tomo Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Lovely, Richard. Super clean.
Sammi Fujita
Sunil
Clay
Tomo Fujita
Richard John Albano
+1 more...
Thank you Linda!
Sammi Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Sunil
Clay
Tomo Fujita
Thank you Rich! Lovely! Good job! I think you are doing so well! Sounds great to me.
Please keep thinking "Softer & relax more!" That's what I think about my playing. Another word... I never ever satisfy so I keep working and keep improving!
Tomo
Sammi Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Richard John Albano
Sunil
Clay
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Sammi Fujita
Sunil
Clay
Tomo Fujita
Linda M Tucker
+1 more...
Sammi Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Tomo Fujita
Sunil
Clay
Sounds so lovely, Rich! 22 days is so amazing. Seems like the consistent effort is creating something beautiful.
I read your post incorrectly and thought you were asking whether you were holding the neck too LIGHTLY. Lol only at GW!
Thank you so much Sammi! đź’•
Kurt Schubert
Tomo Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Clay
Tomo Fujita
I have decided to increase my practice sessions from one per day to two per day, but to limit each session to one thing only and to keep the time per session between 30 and 45 minutes.
This is because I want to build my skills in four different areas simultaneously. They are:
1) Triads – at first and currently still – the root inversion of C major in two positions on the fifth string and one position on each of strings 6, 4, and 3. I want to be able, eventually, to go from one to another smoothly at tempo and without looking. Later, I will, of course, replace this focus with other inversions and keys one at a time.
2) Bossa Nova rhythms. At least 3 basic, one at a time.
3) R,3,7 chords and chord progression for Girl from Ipanema – Garota de Ipanema
4) FB Blues Shuffle Bassline – key of A – 12 bar blues
Concerning “without looking”, we all learned the five major senses in school: Vision, Hearing, Touch (and Taste and Smell – we don’t care about these last two unless you are planning to eat your guitar). But, we do care about some hidden senses a lot more. They are:
1) Proprioception (body position sense, where your fingers are, how far to move them, what a stretch feels like, shift positions, and grab a chord).
2) Kinesthesia (sense of movement, how your hand travels in space.
3) Vestibular sense (balance and orientation, micro adjustments while seated or standing).
4) Interoception (internal state, tension vs. relaxation, fatigue, breathing).
We should use vision only occasionally, except when first beginning, to map out the fretboard layout and landmarks; after that, we need to develop proprioception for finger placement, kinesthesia for movement pathways, and hearing for confirmation and correction. I am going to look for exercises to develop (increase my sensitivity) in each of these senses individually as they pertain to my fretboard skills.
I will include a spontaneous video (no retakes) to demonstrate where I am currently (i.e., how much I still need to improve) on C major root inversion by root string.
Great plan Richard. Love how organized you are!
I think you need to publish your video as "Unlisted" for it to show up here.
Kurt
Day 170 of 1095 straight days sight-reading
Linda M Tucker
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Sunil
Clay
Tomo Fujita
Thank you Richard for sharing your plan! Two sessions a day... 30-45 minutes for 4 items.
That's a great plan! Very organaized and looking forward to your guitar journey!
Tomo
Linda M Tucker
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Sunil
Clay
Kurt Schubert
Good to hear from you again Richard! Like Kurt said - need to change video settings - it doesn't show up.
Really good plan. Looking forward to seeing more updates.
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Tomo Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Sunil
There it is! Like the genome sweatshirt.
Good stuff Richard - I like your warmup ideas - I need to do more of that. Those root triads on 456 are tough, especially lower on the neck. I also struggle with root triads on 123 higher up the neck - for the opposite reason - space is super tight.
Thanks for posting!
Linda M Tucker
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Tomo Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Sunil
I made this video for Richard.
Please take a look. Thank you.
Tomo
Jonathan Ramsay
Linda M Tucker
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Kurt Schubert
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Jonathan Ramsay
Linda M Tucker
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Kurt Schubert
Sunil
+2 more...
Thanks all, I changed the YouTube video setting to "unlisted". I hope that helps.
I love the stretching ideas too Richard! Thanks for sharing!
Kurt
Linda M Tucker
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Tomo Fujita
Clay
Yes! I love your video! Great explanation on what you have you been doing.
Thanks so much for sharing! Good job stretching
Good job playing all root position C triad! I can show you a little bit trick on left hand thumb position and slighly different angle. Hope I can make a video for you.
Tomo
Linda M Tucker
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Kurt Schubert
Richard, I really like the stretching. My fingers on my left hand can bend all the way back. It is very strange.
Thank you.
-LaVoy
Tomo Fujita
Linda M Tucker
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Tomo Fujita
Clay
Kurt Schubert
I can see it. Like everyone said just Great work all around Richard. This is timely I have been thinking I need to stretch more before practicing. These little tips go a long way. Thanks a lot for sharing your practice here so we can learn too. Do mi so. Sounding good.
LaVoy Thomas Ragels
Tomo Fujita
Kurt Schubert
Clay