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.

Dry Spell

I just went through a dry spell as far as practicing goes. I just couldn't get motivated to get in gear and pick up an instrument. I've read lots of good advice online on how to practice, but nothing on how to discipline myself to actually DO it.
I found some inspiration on some forums. I signed up for a forum for each of my instruments. I check in every morning and have found all sorts of encouragement and good advice.
For one thing, I've tried to set up a schedule for practicing, but my days are not all the same. If I miss my practice time, it throws me into a quandary and I end up doing nothing. So, now I'm going to try to set up my schedule each morning as I have my coffee.
It's interesting to see what other players are working on. I've gotten some great tips and ideas that I want to work on. Nothing is more deadening than to play the same scales day after day. Not that I mind scales, but I need a focus. One person said he only practices the scales that are used in a song he's working on.
I've found some backing tracks for bass scales to help me with intonation. My sister sent me a web site that has backing tracks for bluegrass music. There's so much out there , I should never run out of new things to try.

The Bass Mute has Arrived

This mute is a really solid piece of rubber. It cut the volume about in half and, it might be my imagination, but I swear it makes the bass sound better! Hmmmmm, now I'm mulling over the possibility of leaving the mute on and amplifying the bass --- It will be amplified with the Happy Strings group anyway...but not at the jam sessions. Well, just something to experiment with.

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.

Practicing

I've been struggling the past few days, today especially, with motivation to practice. Sometimes I get revved up and can practice for hours. When I learn something new, I do feel inspired to practice it a lot, but after a week or two, it turns into a chore. Days, like today, I can barely get through a one hour practice session. I try to take it as it comes but the fear is always that I will stop playing.
I also have symptoms of a condition called piriformis, or also known as a "pain in the butt." From what I understand, it's caused by the sciatia nerve and can be very uncomfortable, especially when sitting for a long time. I could try standing up with the ukulele and the bass uke, but not with the dulcimer. Standing and walking do not seem to help much anyway.
Another frustration is that I play three different instruments. I could easily practice one instrument several hours a day, but to practice each of them several hours a day would  be pretty difficult. I still have to take care of my dogs, clean my living space (at least a little), do laundry, grocery shop, cook and do some work. I really felt I was goofing off until I took a good, hard look at my daily chore list. I need to learn some time management skills.

Things that motivate me

• One of my best motivators is playing with other people. I do like to show off a new tune or riff. I've mentioned that I've been going to jam sessions recently.  I always feel like putting in the time in the "shed" after a jam session. I've missed a few sessions but plan to get back on track this coming weekend.
  I've also been playing with my sister long-distance by way of Skype. There are problems with using Skype. We can't hear both of us at the same time but it's better than nothing.
• I love to listen to really good players. That works really well for dulcimer, but I haven't seen a single bluegrass ukulele player. There are tons of good bass players out there but they generally play upright bass in bluegrass. Most electric bass players play other styles. I have only seen one person playing a bass uke with bluegrass players. So I have no one to emulate in my chosen style of music. I guess that makes me a trend-setter.
• Keeping notes and planning my practice sessions. I know this is a great way to make the best use of my practice time. It helps to keep track of what I'm working on. I can get lazy with this too.
• Reading blogs and articles on how other people motivate themselves to practice. Sometimes I read something that just triggers an "Oh, Wow" moment and that can motivate me for days.  Sometimes I spend too much time on the Internet and not enough actually practicing.

Well, tomorrow is another day.