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Day One Hundred Forty Three (Year Two)

I tried to practice deliberately today.  I was successful, at least for a while, by going back to something I had started to work on last year sometime.  I revisited another one of my abandoned projects, if you will.  The project of note was Clapton's version of "I'm Tore Down."  I had started learning that sometime early on in the life of the blog, and then gotten away from it around the time of the "Stairway" experiment.  In going back tonight, I made sure that I was focused in during the bit of time that I had, so that, even if it wasn't enough for me, I would still get something that felt like progress out of it.

I started with the scale that all of the riffs & licks are based on (C minor pentatonic).  I played through it slowly at first, and then with increasing speed.  I discovered that, having done a little bit of work last year, both the scale and the backing guitar parts felt familiar underneath my fingers more quickly than I had expected them to.

I'm also noticing that when I'm playing, I have to make a conscious effort to ensure that my hands are relaxed.  This, to me, says that I don't trust my knowledge yet.  I do notice, however, that if I can get them to relax, my playing improves, and that I tend to think less and feel the notes more.  Maybe it's a question of being warmed up enough before I dive in.  In all likelihood, it will end up being a combination of the two. 

I didn't spend enough time with the guitar today, in part because I wound down from work in front of the TV.  If I had gotten home and thrown myself into practicing, I would have relaxed and been musically productive.  All I know is that I'm getting somewhere, and of late, the steps seem to be quicker than they have been.

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