practice like Coltrane

Goals this Week

1. Practice for twenty hours this week

2. Do two new Hal Leonard lessons

3. Learn how to play the beginners’ version of “Happy Birthday to You” in C

4. Listen to a lot of Ray Charles

Monday, June 15th
^{12:00pm – 1:00pm, 3:00pm – 7:00pm}

Planning and Other Work
Write a plan for this week’s practice. Make playlists and sync iPhone. done

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming chord two progressions from Yupo. Do position 1, no open strings fretting exercise. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Practice playing chords and melody for Happy Birthday to You, Aura Lee, and Ode to Joy. Do flashcard game. Read and play through Lesson 16 – Lesson 45 at a really slow pace (be sure to name notes as I play them.) Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman.

Voice
Read over Vocal Technique book. Practice first exercise on CD. Do One-Octave exercise. Practice Angel Eyes, All of You, and I’m Glad There is You.

Tuesday, June 16th
^{10:00am – 11:00am; 4:00pm until 9:00pm}

Collecting
Go to UNT and check out five more CDs. Rip them to my hard drive.

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming chord two progressions from Yupo. Do position 1, no open strings fretting exercise. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Practice playing chords and melody for Happy Birthday to You Do flashcard game. Do a new Hal Leonard lesson. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman.

Voice
Practice first and second exercises on CD. Do One-and-a-half Octave set. Practice Angel Eyes, All of You, and I’m Glad There is You once or twice apiece. Record them. Practice Roxanne.

Wednesday, June 17th
^{10:00am – 11:00am; 4:00pm until 9:00pm}

Collecting
Go to UNT and check out five more CDs. Rip them to my hard drive.

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming chord two progressions from Yupo. Do position 1, no open strings fretting exercise. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Practice playing chords and melody for Happy Birthday to You Do flashcard game. Do a new Hal Leonard lesson. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman.

Voice
Practice first and second exercises on CD. Do One-and-a-half Octave set. Practice Angel Eyes, All of You, and I’m Glad There is You once or twice apiece. Record them. Practice Roxanne.

Thursday, June 18th
^{lunch break; 7:30pm until 9:30pm}

Planning and other activities
Order Stevie Wonder book through Barnes and Noble.

Guitar
Practice playing chords and melody for Happy Birthday to You. Play through new Hal Leonard lessons. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman.

Voice
Do One-and-a-half Octave set. Practice Roxanne and Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer. Record them.

Friday, June 17th
^{work at the Italian Inn}

Do One-and-a-half Octave set as warm up. Sing Angel Eyes, All of You, and I’m Glad There is You! Record them. Focus on breathing.

Saturday, June 18th
^{1:00pm until 8:00pm}

Planning and other activities
Review plans and update them. Think up and write down some interesting approaches to the songs I already do. Write up my “learn a CD project.”

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming chord two progressions from Yupo. Do position 1, no open strings fretting exercise. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Practice playing chords and melody for Happy Birthday to You Do flashcard game. Go over Hal Leonard lessons. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman.

Voice
Practice third and fourth exercises on CD. Do One-and-a-half Octave set. Practice Roxanne and Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer. Record them.

Sunday, June 19th
^{1:00pm until 8:00pm}

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming chord two progressions from Yupo. Do position 1, no open strings fretting exercise. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Practice playing chords and melody for Happy Birthday to You. Do flashcard game. Go over Hal Leonard lessons. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman.

Voice
Practice third and fourth exercises on CD. Do One-and-a-half Octave set. Practice Roxanne and Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer. Record them.

Wednesday, June 10th
^{8:00pm – 11:30pm}

Guitar
Practice strumming chord progressions. Do position 1, no open strings exercise. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman. done

Voicedone%
Read over Vocal Technique book. Practice first exercise on CD. Do One-Octave exercise.done

Thursday, June 11th
^{5:30am – 7:00am; 3:00pm until 8:00pm}

Planning and Other Work
Rip CDs from practice books. Write a plan for this week’s practice. done

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Do position 1, no open strings exercise. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman. Practice playing chords and melody for Aura Lee, Jingle Bells, and Ode to Joy. Do flashcard game. Read and play through Lesson 16 – Lesson 45 at a really slow pace (be sure to name notes as I play them.) mostly done; didn’t do flashcards or Hal Leonard book. I practiced for three hours instead of five.

Voice
Do One-and-a-Half Octave set. Do first three exercises from Murray book. Practice Angel Eyes, All of You, and I’m Glad There is You. not done

Collecting
Take CDs and books back to UNT and check out five more. done

Friday, June 12th
^{11:00am until 1:00pm; 1:45 until 2:30; two hours at the Inn}

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Do position 1, no open strings exercise. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman. Practice playing chords and melody for Aura Lee, Jingle Bells, and Ode to Joy.not done

Voice
Record and listen to my performances. Focus on breathing. Do two sets of the voice exercises from Set Your Voice free. Sing Angel Eyes, All of You, and I’m Glad There is You. not done


Saturday, June 13th
^{9:00pm until 11:00pm}

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Practice playing chords and melody for Aura Lee, Jingle Bells, and Ode to Joy. Do a new Hal Leonard lesson

Voice
Breathing exercises. One-and-a-half octave set. Sing Paranoid Android and Sunday, Bloody Sunday.I ended up doing my vocal practice at the Inn; I was a bit distracted, but it was fun. I sang Angel Eyes, All of You, and I’m Glad There is You.

Sunday, June 14th
^{7:45pm until 11:00pm}

Voice
Breathing exercises. One-and-a-half octave set. Practice Paranoid Android and Sunday, Bloody Sunday. Sing ‘Love and Happiness’, Paranoid Android, Sunday, Bloody Sunday, and I Got A Woman at karaoke.not done; I didn’t go to Karaoke, and I went to bed early.

Collecting
Buy four albums from Amazon. not done

Thursday
^{11:00am – 2:00pm; 5:00pm until 8:00pm}

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Do position 1, no open strings exercise. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman. Practice playing chords and melody for Aura Lee, Jingle Bells, and Ode to Joy. Do flashcard game. Read and play through Lesson 16 – Lesson 45 at a really slow pace (be sure to name notes as I play them.)

Voice
Organize my voice practice by reviewing my goals and approach. Do three sets of the voice exercises from Set Your Voice free. Practice Angel Eyes, All of You, and I’m Glad There is You.

Collecting
Take CDs back to UNT and check out five more.

Friday
^{11:00am until 1:00pm; 1:45 until 2:30; two hours at the Inn}

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Do position 1, no open strings exercise. Practice playing and singing I Got A Woman. Practice playing chords and melody for Aura Lee, Jingle Bells, and Ode to Joy. Go to lesson.

Voice
Record and listen to my performances. Focus on breathing. Do two sets of the voice exercises from Set Your Voice free. Sing Angel Eyes, All of You, and I’m Glad There is You.

Saturday
^{9:00pm until 11:00pm}

Guitar
Use a metronome! Practice strumming. Practice C major scale (position 1 and single string). Practice playing chords and melody for Aura Lee, Jingle Bells, and Ode to Joy. Do a new Hal Leonard lesson

Voice
Breathing exercises. One-and-a-half octave set. Sing Paranoid Android and Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Sunday
^{7:45pm until 11:00pm}

Voice
Breathing exercises. One-and-a-half octave set. Practice Paranoid Android and Sunday, Bloody Sunday. Sing ‘Love and Happiness’, Paranoid Android, Sunday, Bloody Sunday, and I Got A Woman at karaoke.

Collecting
Buy four albums from Amazon.

I need to work up from an hour or two every few days, to five hours several days a week, and at least two hours every day.

Coltrane, too, was a master of technique; he would practice his horn for many hours each day. In these periods of acquiring technique, Trane truly found himself, and found a way to musically express his experiences and feelings. He was genuinely obsessed with the basics of his horn, the basics of his sound. A musician once recounted to me how Coltrane’s practice sessions went (I’m not exactly sure how the musician actually found this out, since Trane rarely practiced with anyone else, but it fits Coltrane’s personality and musicianship so well that I tend to believe it). First he played an entire hour of only whole notes, focusing exclusively on his tone. Then came another hour of just half notes, then another hour of quarter notes, working on scales, arpeggios, along with his tone. Next was an hour of eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and faster runs, incorporating everything he had done so far with speed as well. He would then spend a few hours working on exercise books for other instruments, such as violin and harp. Finally came time spent on actual songs or compositions, which would often consume a few more hours. Every musician practices technique and scales, but very few are obsessed with the basics of sound in the way Coltrane was. Most musicians I know (myself included) will begin a practice session with a few minutes of whole notes to focus their tone and warm themselves up. Coltrane spent over an hour on whole notes. He was simply never content with the skill he achieved, the harmonic knowledge he had, the success of his work, or simply the sound of his horn. What is most remarkable was his tireless dedication to the technical mastery of his craft, not for its own sake (which is what far too many musicians dedicate themselves to), but for the sake of expressing himself in ways he hadn’t yet found.

Coltrane’s technical control often amazed listeners as much as his creativity and the originality of his work. As J.C. Thomas writes of Gerald McKeever, a drummer and one of Coltrane’s biggest fans, “Trane’s solo on So What grabbed him; its driving, energetic outpouring of notes, all with such tight, incredible control, the intelligence behind the passion, the discipline that controlled the creativity.”

my biggest thing is staying consistent it almost hurts my ears to play a bad note and probably also because i am solo i feel less motivated but im gettin better.

I’m going to try a two-hour a day, five days a week music challenge. My main goals will be:

1) Learn the melody, chords, and scales to three Ray Charles songs

2) Learn fifteen chords

3) Do singing exercises for at least twenty minutes each day