I don’t know particularly what I am back at today, but I figured I would write a bit to figure it out. I’m not back at it as in back in the saddle, but rather…no, wait, I guess back in the saddle may be appropriate since I am back in my office chair (my broken office chair) writing again. Writing has become something I particularly look forward to - a way to unburden myself and clarify a few things. So, back at it, I guess, means that I am back to the writing, freewriting a stream of thoughts as a way to clarify what I am thinking.

So for the moment, I am thinking about writing and I am thinking about the guitar (I’ll get to the guitar in a few minutes). I am beginning to prepare for taking this blog beyond the simple exercise of freewriting into a more focused practice, looping on particular ideas until I have nearly exhausted them.

The past number of posts have focused on my musical practice, emphasizing my guitar repertoire, but also touching on other areas of study. I should also loop a bit on the piano and on composition since these have been central parts of my musical practice in the past. In the past I have presented myself as a composer because that was my primary musical practice. I need to get back to that, writing about Fux and Hindemith and Schoenberg and Mingus and Sun Ra and Fela. I have always been attracted to composers in particular since that is the source from which the music comes. I really admire composers like Sun Ra and Fela for their prolific output. It’s something I don’t think I could even approach.

But I do need to get back to producing compositions that I can use to get myself out there. I am more than just a guitarist, although I am proud to be a guitarist. The guitar is my primary instrument, and so I need to develop my chops on the instrument. Let me begin to list some of the deeper aspects of guitar playing, leaving aside for the moment the issue of repertoire:

  • Scales and arpeggios: Work these out with both fingers and pick. Concentrate on the modes of major, melodic minor, harmonic minor, and the pentatonic scales. Work on sequences and phrases. Harmonize melodies as in Harmonic Mechanisms. Connect the scales and arpeggios to key centers and chord phrases.
  • Chordal knowledge: Work on the blues changes in Arnold’s chord workbook. Work on Harmonic Mechanisms so I can move lines within chords. Work out the drop-2 and drop-3 voicings of II/Vs, III/VI/II/Vs, etc. In other words, work on stock chordal phrases and their common embellishments.
  • Technique: This is a separate category because I play primarily fingerstyle. I need to regain some of my chops with a pick, paying attention both to alternate picking and legato picking. For fingerstyle stuff I can work on the Carcassi and Sor materials as well as continuing to develop my repertoire for fingerstyle jazz.

In the end, try to keep it simple. The more complex my practice becomes the more likely I am to drop it. I need to find a sustainable guitar practice and stick with it.