WayneConrad - Posted - 01/11/2020:  10:07:04

About nine months ago I took up Ukulele. Already knowing some banjo made it much easier to learn ukulele. Not a small part of that is because I've learned a lot about how to learn an instrument. This time I decided to start a practice book and use it to keep track of what I'm practicing. My memory is awful, and I'm always forgetting tunes or letting hard-won skills atrophy because I forget to play or practice them. Now this little book can be my memory. It's small enough to fit in my ukulele's case, so I can have it with me anywhere. Here are some pages from my ukulele practice book.

Progressions - Here I'm practicing some simple chord progressions in every key. Tally marks show which ones I've practiced, so when I get interrupted and come back later, I know where to pick it up again (that way I don't just get practice at the keys one one side of the circle). At the bottom of the page I've written out the minor chords, some of which I'm still learning.

Scales - These are some scale patterns I'm practicing here on the bottom three strings, and the metronome speeds I've practiced each at. Sometimes when I go back to one, I find that I can't actually play it at the speed I left off, and have to back off a bit.

Exercises - A list of exercises from one of the books I'm learning from, with tick marks from each time I practiced the exercise. Instead of trying to master each exercise in a book before moving on, I've found I do better if I sort of graze through them, getting something from each one, and then repeat them. The list keeps track of where I've grazed.

Tab - The tab for an arrangement I worked out and don't want to forget. Not strictly practice material, but the book has a lot of blank pages in it so there's room.

Songs - Songs I'm in various stages of arranging or learning. The ones with stars are good enough to perform at the open stage. The others are in various stages of figuring out.

This has been so useful to me that I'm going to start a banjo practice book as well.

What's in your practice book?

Practice book - Progressions

Practice Book - Scales

Practice Book - Exercises

Practice Book - Tab

Practice Book - Songs

 

Mooooo - Posted - 01/11/2020:  10:54:52

Mine mostly has lyrics and chords. There is a list of songs that I learned and from time to time I used to used it to play songs I hadn't played in a while. There's a list of the intervals of the Major modes, the Harmonic modes and the Melodic modes. Also, I have the Circle of 5ths written out. I haven't used it in a while, but maybe I will since it's out.

Tractor1 - Posted - 01/11/2020:  13:37:08

every song i claim to kinda know

WayneConrad - Posted - 01/11/2020:  15:03:07

quote:

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Originally posted by Tractor1

every song i claim to kinda know

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Thanks for chiming in.  Can I ask what you put in your book?  Titles and keys?  Lyrics and chords?

Tractor1 - Posted - 01/11/2020:  16:26:35

Just the titles in alphabetic order,though that does not matter. It does make it easy to check if one comes to mind in order to make sure it is there. The keys I know. The lyrics if any I have memorized (hopefully). I practice each page then go to next ,never allowing myself to skip. Once a week I make the voyage. I say that , with fingers crossed ha ha. I used to have them written on pieces of paper of couple songs on each piece. two cans .I would dump them in one can ,then draw them out one at a time and put them in the other one.that added interest to practice but was no perk in my quest to play

Tractor1 - Posted - 01/11/2020:  16:34:42

If I am practicing a new song any written notes'' tab or regular ''will be practiced about every night until memorized or dismissed entirely. The learning for me relies on practicing it strongly then sleeping on it and getting back the very next day with a repeat.Something about working hard to a point then sleeping on it helps a lot.
I don't suggest this as correct for anyone else

Bill Rogers - Posted - 01/11/2020:  17:35:14

I don’t have a “practice book.” I’m not even a semi-professional musician and that level of organization is more than I care to do for playing.

WayneConrad - Posted - 01/11/2020:  18:21:07

quote:

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Originally posted by Bill Rogers

I don’t have a “practice book.” I’m not even a semi-professional musician and that level of organization is more than I care to do for playing.

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I don't mean to imply that everyone should have a practice book, or that having one makes me special.  I have one not because I have aspirations, but because my poor memory hampers my quest to learn music.  I am curious what those who have a practice book put in it, but of course there must be many (or even most) who don't need or want one.

Edited by - WayneConrad on 01/11/2020 18:22:37

Richard Hauser - Posted - 01/12/2020:  07:34:16

I have divided my banjo playing time into 3 areas -



1. Playing Technique

2. Melodic Banjo

3. Scruggs Banjo



Playing technique includes exercises that will maintain and develop new playing skills. I also practice exercises which improve my familiarity with the fingerboard - single string scales using all of the neck. The goal is to instantly be aware of where every note is on the fingerboard. It helps me with improvisatio



The Melodic section includes (1) New Melodic Tunes and (2) My Melodic tune repertoire. IMHO playing melodically improves fingerboard familiarity and make me concentrate harder on several things. In my case, it improves my playing techniques on both Melodic and Scruggs style material.



Scruggs section. This is the biggest section. It contains -



1. New Tunes and Problem Tunes

2. New Licks

3. Pentatonic Tunes

4. Tunes for practicing improvisation.

5. All the tunes in my repertoire - except melodic and pentatonic



Accomplishing all these things take a lot of time. It has reached the point where I play the tunes in my playing repertoire and work on improvisation one day, and do all the other things the next day. I also play guitar and fiddle, so it can be difficult to play every instrument. I listen to music and read informative books on playing and theory. I am always trying to make my practice time more effective. When I play the repertoire I try to physically and mentally relax and just let the music happen. Of course that is why I do all the other things.

Finally, I typed a list of things I want to do and keep it taped to the music stand.

Edited by - Richard Hauser on 01/12/2020 07:38:00

MrMasterZac - Posted - 01/13/2020:  16:34:21

my standard practice session for guitar (my main instrument) usually is in 3 or 4 parts - Technique, Etudes, Sight Reading, Repertoire.

This changes with the styles Im playing in, as there arent always etudes in each style, and techniques overlap.

For banjo, its usually just technique and repertoire.

Wyozark - Posted - 01/13/2020:  19:27:52

In the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Indy’s father had a personal book that he kept with him that he wrote every clue, every bit of information, including illustrations about finding the “Holy Grail.” I was inspired by that, and so when I began to learn to play the banjo I made my own “Holy Grail” book to write down the best advice, songs I wanted to learn, notes to keep me on track, cartoons, inspirational quotes, and anything else whimsical.

Here are some sample pictures of my book. I am able to keep it in my banjo case, or middle drawer and I do look through it to update it and draw inspiration or to set goals. For a while my very young granddaughter was fascinated by it and would pretend to read it.

The picture on the cover is by Missouri painter Thomas Hart Benton. I got to see the original painting down at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR.

The picture here is from the “google doodle” for Thanksgiving 2013. I had received my banjo as a Christmas present the previous year but the following March a friend/colleague was murdered by an ex-inmate and I kind of fell into a funk and put it all away. But that Thanksgiving the google doodle featured a banjo playing fox and I heard that banjo music that made me bring out the banjo and give it a go again.

I try to keep track of what I want to play and what I have learned. There are actually several lists scattered through the book.

And then I have a second book. It holds all of the tabs I’ve downloaded and printed off. If I could do it over I would have made it all organized alphabetically. But it’s way too late now and I have to either paper clip or put a sticky note on whatever tune/song I’m working on. I do have it roughly divided by having the Christmas music in the back.

And there you have it: probably more than anyone ever really wanted to know. . .

But my lengthy answer here and pictures was kind of a practice for me because I'm a presenter for the TOTW week soon and I needed to get a better grip on formatting. Best wishes to you Wayne.

pickn5 - Posted - 01/20/2020:  09:49:40

WayneConrad my practice book has a list of the tunes I can play, alphabetical tab deviders, and, if I learned the tune from tab, the tab behind the appropriate devider. I also keep the maintenance manual for my banjo in the same 3 ring binder.

AndyW - Posted - 06/19/2020:  08:45:16

I don't have a 'practice book' as such. My beginner 'Clawhammer from Scratch' book took that place when I first started learning. Following on the only book I keep are lists of tab for the tunes I play that aren't in books. ie tab I have downloaded and printed out or stuff I have worked out and written down myself. Then again I'm not learning chords nor scales, but only through the tunes I work through. A lot of bits do get written down and subsequently binned as I go through the process of learning tunes though.

Texasbanjo - Posted - 06/19/2020:  11:17:46

At one time I wrote down/copied/recorded anything I was learning. When I started learning songs and backup, I figured out the chord sequence to each song and wrote it down at the bottom of the lyrics and wrote it in the Nashville Numbering System so I could play the song in any major key. I made tabs of hot licks, melodic licks, various kinds of scales, etc.

Now? I have a song book that has several hundred songs in it and most still have the chord sequence at the bottom of the page, although I really don't need it now. It is alphabetized and has dividers and each song is labeled on the top corner with the key I play/sing it in. I also have a 3-ring notebook full of various tabs I learned as I was progressing from beginner on up. I seldom look at any of those tabs, but if I'm playing something that I haven't played in years, I may refer back to the tab just to refresh my memory.

Richard Hauser - Posted - 06/20/2020:  07:23:14

It seems like more people have a library than a book. We buy a lot of books, but in time end up using the same few books on a regular basis.

Helix - Posted - 07/14/2020:  10:40:00

It’s a continuum for me from the river to the Delta swamps to the open ocean

Elizabeth Cotton’s. 500 miles

“Dink’s song “ I knew A man he was long and tall
Moved his body like a cannonball

I knew a girl she was long and tall
Slept in the kitchen with her feet in the hall
I like tab and sheet music I just don’t have dinner every night with them

I like to think of lyrics as pearls on a necklace, so that bpm really figure into how clearly people get the thought
I like to know what the lyrics are and what’s being communicated

WayneConrad - Posted - 07/14/2020:  11:09:08

I enjoyed reading everyone's take on the practice book. Wyozark 's book is especially remarkable, so much soul in it.

bigleaf - Posted - 07/20/2020:  10:11:08

This is such a timely post. My wife has set me to the task of organizing, prioritizing, keeping/discarding music books, mags, lesson & class handouts, handwritten exercises, etc. Drums, guitar and banjo. A central book for each is probably the answer I need.

steve davis - Posted - 07/26/2020:  09:39:33

My practice isn't in books.
Each week we have band practice and new ones are gone over until next week.
This week it's Alley Cat and Maybeline.

Richard Hauser - Posted - 07/27/2020:  06:08:43

I almost always playing along with recorded tunes using "The Amazing Slow Downer", or just rhythm tracks using "Band in a Box". So I don't need a list of the tunes. Playing along with recorded tunes reinforces my memory of the melody and helps me get new ideas. Playing along with BIAB provides the opportunity to create variations "on the fly", use new licks, etc..

loonsailor - Posted - 07/29/2020:  08:59:26

My situation is kind of like Bill / Bigleaf, which is why my practice book is no longer a book. I play guitar in a big funk band, banjo, and now dobro, and the pile of papers / books became beyond my poor organizational skills, especially with the difficulty of finding things while wearing finger picks. Therefore, my practice book is now a tablet. Specifically, I use this android tablet, and MobileSheets Pro app.  Everything I'm working on makes its way into the tablet.  Since I'm doing on-line lessons (Noam Pikelny Artistworks on banjo, Mike Witcher Peghead Nation on dobro) a lot of what goes in the practice "book" is already in pdf format, as are a lot of other charts that I pick up on-line from Banjo Hangout, Banjo News or wherever (tef can easily be converted to pdf), so I never need to print it.  When I want something that I've got in a book or on paper, it's easy enough to scan it, then file the book / paper.  Makes for a very neat music stand!

Within MobileSheets, I create setlists as appropriate.  Right now, I have a "banjo practice" setlist, a "dobro practice" one, and many for specific gigs.  I think I'm gonna split the banjo practice setlist into ones for "warmup and exercises", "repertoire", and maybe "new tunes".

BTW, the gigs are why I originally tried the tablet.  The band I play in has >100 current, detailed multi-page charts (band has horns, multiple singers, etc.) and the guitar book (a separate book is maintained for each instrument) was a large binder that was a nuisance on-stage.  So, the band moved to tablets, which also allowed me to organize and enter setlists for each gig rather than leafing back and forth on stage, and page turns by foot pedal.  It's WAY better.  So, one of my first covid lockdown projects was to move my practice on to the tablet.  I'm very pleased with the result.

BTW, I'm mostly an Apple guy, but normal iPads are two small for reading music, at least for my old eyes, and the big 12.9" iPad pro, while gorgeous, is just too expensive for a music reader.  The android tablet referenced above is perfect.