Progress Comes Slowly

Photo not in the camper but at a friend's bunkhouse

I've been doing better with practicing. Not as much as I'd like, but some is better than nothing. And it means I'm keeping my motivation up.
There's really so much I could be doing, but with training and walking dogs, fixing meals and cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping, there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day. OK I confess. I do spend way too much time checking email and FB. I tend to leave them open so I can see if there's something new so I don't have to actually open and read them.
I'm also uncomfortable practicing, especially singing, when the door to the camper is open. My neighbor only about 8 feet away and I don't know if he's a music lover or not. Most people around here spend their days watching TV. I leave the door open sometimes to get some fresh air and to keep an eye on the dogs when they're out on their lines.
I do want to do more video recording. I've found that even old videos can come in handy. Like today I was working on D notes in the third position on bass. I had several videos of me on dulcimer which were mostly all in the key of D. I had a great little practice session with myself.

Cardboard Dulcimer Mute

I discovered today that the cardboard mute, mentioned below, also works on dulcimer. I had to fiddle with it a bit to keep it from migrating to the middle of the strum area and damping everything down. I actually turned in upside down and slid it tight against the bridge. It worked great, especially on loud and fast pieces.
For slower pieces, I found I didn't like to use it so much. I can play softer and like to hear the strings ring on a song like Ashokan Farewell.

My brother mentioned that the hair ties, or scrunchies work on the nut end of a guitar. I have some scrunchies somewhere - just couldn't find them. (the story of my life.) I'm not sure how one would get them over the scroll and tuning pegs and still be tight enough to mute. I'll try it sometime when I find them...
Can't wait to get the bass mute.I won't have any excuse now not to practice!

Bass and Ukulele Mutes

After my very kind neighbors commented on how much they enjoyed listening to me practice, I thought I'd better get a bass mute. I do make some horrible noises trying to play with a bow. I ordered one from Amazon. Waiting for that one to arrive.

I thought I'd like one for the ukulele too. I couldn't find one online but I did find directions for making one out of some kind of clay. Then it hit me that plain ole cardboard might work! I pressed a strip of cardboard on the strings just enough to make an indentation. Then I cut a little way up on each mark. I cut one too close to the edge so I just made a single string mute for that string.

I slid the cardboard up against the bridge and it works fine. It sounds kinda plunky, but it does cut the volume and that's what counts.

Soloing

I'm finally figuring things out. All those years of practicing scales, I never connected how to use them. Now I'm determined to learn to solo, even if it's just a few simple bars of  bluegrass. I've made myself some backing tracks and now I see the reason for all those scales.
I have a free program called Audacity. I just love it. It makes it really easy to record myself playing chords and I can then save it as a MP3.