Start of a New Year

[Owen]

Jan 1-Jan7, 2022:

Practiced 1-2 hrs./day, usually morning and before dinner.
Jan 1: begin replaying tunes played during year, Clare Reel,Cluck Old Hen, Humours of Westport and Blackberry Blossom. Try from memory, if not; write down first three notes. Play along Blackberry Blossom with Mandolessons Fiddle Tunes @ 92bpm

Jan 2:Figure notes for song “Surfer Girl” that came into my brain, w/o title or words and practice.

Jan 3: Play Clare Reel, Galway Girl, and Pretty Little Dog. Practice D and G Chordal Scales. Replay Surfer Girl

Jan 4: Swallowtail Jig, Galway Girl, Clare Reel, and Kesh Jig

Jan.5: Kesh Jig with metronome 6/8 @ 72bpm for 15 min. The same with Kerfunken Jig. Kerfunken easier for me. Go over Galway Girl, Red Haired Boy andSwallowtail Jig.

Jan 6: Replay Surfer Girl practicing for upcoming Strung ALONG zoom. Galway Girl and Red haired boy (FH play along, but not fast enough for fastest speed.

Jan 7: Practice Surfer Girl, Galway Girl and Red Haired Boy in AM. Zoom in PM, and I completely botched Surfer Girl, which was all I had time for!!! DISCOVERY!! I need to continue to work on relaxing while playing in front of others. Need more “playing in the park”, not songs so much; just scales and techniques till I lose myself! Goal for the year.

[Marg Sherringham]

This looks great Owen, so organised! You’ve inspired me to have another go at keeping a record of my practice, just watched Jason’s practice too and can see how productive his method can be if I can steer myself in that direction.
Started to write down my practice each day, but sometimes got carried away practising and didn’t leave time to write it down at the end.
Have been spending a lot of time making index cards too, and generally, each day practising a mix of:
Scales with drones, major, dorian and pentatonic, different rhythms and melodic patterns.
Technique exercises, newest is play one, slur 3.
Transposing older tunes.
Playing older tunes by memory with strum machine.
New tunes: Hobart’s Transformation and The Butterfly.

[Author]

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