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Day Nine

More work on "I'm Tore Down" tonight, sandwiched in between setting up plans for my birthday and whatnot.

In the course of my playing the last week, I've figured out a couple of the chief issues I'll need to work on this year: Speed & Clarity. It seems to me that the dexterity and mental quickness in regards to licks and runs is one of the things that has suffered the most from the extended break the last few years has imposed on me. This will give me a chance to break things down, slow things down, and then build (and speed) them back up.

One of the more intelligent purchases I've made over the years in regards to gear will help out in this area. Tascam put out these Guitar Trainers that let you slow down songs & phrases without losing pitch quality. It also lets you loop a phrase for dissection, and probably do about a billion other things I'm not aware of yet. They were trying to move out the 1st series ones when I got mine, so while I assume that the newer models have more bells and whistles, for a poor college student to have been able to get a deal on one of "last year's models" was a steal at the time. I've used it before, but only in spots, and always when I've been looking to jumpstart my playing. Now that I'm not letting anything get in the way, the thing will probably fast become one of the most important things in my toolbox. It will also be a fascinating way to delve deeper into scales & note selection.

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