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  • Showing only topics with the tag "instruments". Back to normal view
    1. What's your guitar (or other instrument) practice routine?

      I've been a self taught guitarist for about 10 years, but it turns out I'm not a fantastic teacher, so I've been taking jazz guitar lessons this year to fill in some of the blanks. It's forced me...

      I've been a self taught guitarist for about 10 years, but it turns out I'm not a fantastic teacher, so I've been taking jazz guitar lessons this year to fill in some of the blanks. It's forced me to sit down and actually practice specific skills, rather than just noodle around, play songs I know, and not stretch myself.
      So I knocked together a pretty basic practice routine, and I was wondering if anyone else has a specific routine that they follow when practising?

      Here's my routine:

      7th Chords & Arpeggios
      With root on the E, A, and D strings: Maj7, min7, Dom7, dim7 chords
      With root on the E, A, and D strings: Maj7, min7, Dom7, dim7 arpeggios (1 octave)
      With root on the E and A strings: Maj7, min7, Dom7, dim7 arpeggios (2 octaves)

      Scales
      Stepwise; 3rds; 4ths; 1-4-3-2 clusters; adding a chromatic note: Major, Dorian, and Mixolydian scales

      Chord scales
      (Not sure what this is called properly, but it's just learning the chords that apply to each note in a scale)
      With root on E, A, D: 1 octave of chords and arpeggios
      Staying in a major scale position: 1 octave of chords and arpeggios

      ii, V, Is
      7th chords around a ii, V, I
      Alternate voicings around a ii, V, I
      "Single note" riffing over a ii, V, I
      Scale riffing over a ii, V, I
      Arpeggio riffing over a ii, V, I
      Unrestricted riffing over a ii, V, I

      Standards
      Pick a couple of jazz standards and have a play around with them. No need to get them perfect, just become comfortable looking at chord sheets and semi-sight-reading the songs.

      21 votes
    2. Players of Instruments, what are you having fun with lately?

      Anything you guys have been having great fun/difficulty with lately? Any riffs/songs you're making? I've been trying to improve on Bass guitar and I learned that RHCP's Torture Me has a really fun...

      Anything you guys have been having great fun/difficulty with lately? Any riffs/songs you're making? I've been trying to improve on Bass guitar and I learned that RHCP's Torture Me has a really fun bass line. That whole 1-2-2-1 structure is challenging but satisfying as hell to pull off

      6 votes
    3. Musicians?

      Anyone play an instrument as a hobby? I'm currently learning how to play the violin I started about 2 weeks ago and really like it so far! I noticed my G string's fine tuner was not quite working...

      Anyone play an instrument as a hobby?

      I'm currently learning how to play the violin I started about 2 weeks ago and really like it so far!

      I noticed my G string's fine tuner was not quite working so I removed tension off the string to fix the screw--when I re-added tension I ended up breaking my string. This gave me an excuse to buy some nice starter strings! I can't wait to start playing on them I'm still waiting a few hrs to let them "settle in" on their own.

      7 votes
    4. Seeking advice: Best electric piano's for (well) under $1000

      Hi everyone, Each and every hobby has a start. I'm going to learn how to play the piano. For this, I'm planning to buy an electric piano. There's a regular grand piano I have access to, but they...

      Hi everyone,

      Each and every hobby has a start. I'm going to learn how to play the piano. For this, I'm planning to buy an electric piano. There's a regular grand piano I have access to, but they come without headphone jacks, and until I get better I want to limit the scope of audible torture to my own ears as much as possible. So, I could do with some of your advice.

      This list of requirements is not meant to limit you in your advice, but serves more as a guideline, to give you an idea of what I'm looking for.

      Hard requirements:

      • Headphone jack
      • The sound library must contain at least a 'normal' piano sound and an electric piano sound (the more it sounds like a dirty Rhodes, the better!)
      • At least 128 voice-polyphony
      • At least 76 keys, but preferably 88

      Soft requirements:

      • Weighted keys
      • Simulated hammer action
      • High repetition
      • Ebony and ivory key feel (don't like the sensation of smooth plastic)
      • MIDI support so I can hook it up to a computer to try out other sound libraries

      Completely unnecessary but cool:

      • USB port
      • Bluetooth compatibility

      If you've learned to play the piano, especially as an adult, any advice you may have for me would be more than welcome, too.

      Thank you!

      9 votes