Day 2

Monday, February 17, 2020 by Gary Johnston | 21-Day Challenge

Day 2 of the 21 day challenge.

I like to practice early in the day. It's quiet around here. Xena, the greyhound, joins me and listens quietly. Coffee is nice and hot.

Today will be speed drills with a metronome. Scales, finger exercises etc. Anything that will get the blood flowing.

What's your goal for Day 2?


My First Day

Sunday, February 16, 2020 by Gary Johnston | 21-Day Challenge

Piano

Well, my first day of the 21 day challenge has been largely spent getting myself organized. Once I decided what I wanted to do and needed to do things got easier.

I began with about 5 minutes of scales and Hanon exercises to just warm up. Afterall, it's still -12C windchill out there.

Then I spent about 12 minutes working on my nemesis, the diminished scales. These are great scales for jazz improv and transitioning between key changes.

Then I spent a solid 45 minutes on repertoire. I have two big shows coming up in March and I need to be on top of  40 or so pieces. One show, an Eric Clapton Revue, contains very little keyboard work so I have to work up my own parts. Very time consuming. The other show is a Jazz East show. The Jazz East show has all written charts so it's just about getting to know them and practice soloing if necessary.

Then I just played for 10 minutes for sheer enjoyment. Always a good way to end a practice session.

 That's over 70 minutes. 

Ukulele

Again, I played scales and LH technical exercises to begin and then moved on to discovering new chord fingerings on different places on the fretboard. Then I tackled some classical tablature to try and sharpen my tab reading skills. I finished with playing some good old Woody Guthrie tunes having a good sing.

Summary

Now I don't expect my students to spend anywhere near the amount of time practicing as I do as a professional player but you could apply my approach as a template for your own practice.

  • scales and technique
  • repertoire
  • playing old material for the sheer joy of it!

Divide your time in thirds even. One third on scales and technique, one third on new rep and one third on playing older rep. So a thirty minute practice would look like:

  • 10 minutes- scales and technique
  • 10 minutes new rep
  • 10 minutes old rep

Or any way you choose.

Have fun and become amazing.♥



21 - Day Challenge

Wednesday, February 12, 2020 by Gary Johnston | 21-Day Challenge

Hey, everybody!

Denise and I are putting forth a 21-day challenge to all our students that for 21 days beginning Sunday, February 16 you simply play your instrument everyday. Easy, right?

Denise and I will also be following this challenge and I'll be posting a blog everyday on our website journalling my day to day practice on piano, ukulele and bass.

You don't need to play for any specific time it could be 5 minutes or 5 hours, as long as you play *EVERY* day. If you miss a day, don't beat yourself up, just pick up the next day and carry on.

Make it an enjoyable experience. You could:
* get a calendar and some stickers and give yourself a sticker for every practice session
* use the student portal on our studio website to record each session
* keep track in a journal or on a blog or social media and share with others
* make some specific goals. Learn a new scale each day, do sight-reading only, learn 21 Hanon exercises, try a new composer, style or genre or whatever you like.
* engage friends and family to join you in the challenge

Daily playing is *THE* best way to connect with your instrument and *THE* best way to excel at what you do.

So join us beginning Sunday, February 16 and develop a life-style of playing

Gary and Denise