Workout Sun 30/11

Warm Up - 22 - beginner (11 reps)

Co-ordination - 23 - beginner (4 reps)

Ear Training - 37 - solid intermediate (9 reps)

Guitar used - Mexican Strat

Notes:
The longest workout ever! Took ages to get any sort of heat into my hands (it's really cold today), and ages to work out the fingering of co-ord ex 23 (the hardest in the book, according to the author). Not to worry, all things considered on honourable attempt. Also tried to stay solidly with alternate picking today, not entirely successfully (still slipped back sometimes !) but more alternate than normal anyway.

Workout Sat 29/11

Warm Up - 32 - solid intermediate (37 reps)

Co-ordination - 32 - high intermediate but see Notes (25 reps)

Ear Training - 33 - solid intermediate (14 reps)

Guitar used - Mexican Strat

Notes:
Feel like a bit of a fraud tonight for two reasons - first, the complete abandonment of alternate picking for Co-ord, making it ridiculously easy, Secondly having 3 false starts on Ear Training - just couldn't get the pattern for the 3rd ex at all to start with !!

At some point really ought to do more alternate picking - at the moment I still drop back to my old slow-ish sweep when it feels more natural, but that's not going to help develop speed - although I suspect given my picking method biomechanical factors are likely to be a limiting factor there...

Workout Fri 28/11

Warm Up - 14 - high beginner (25 reps)

Co-ordination - 13 - middle intermediate (24 reps)

Ear Training - 14 - solid intermediate (13 reps)

Guitar used - Mexican Strat

Notes:
Once again warm up hardest exercise, although I completely failed to alternate pick the last exercise ! Some exercises are just *too* well suited to my usual sweep/pluck method that changing to alternate would be an almighty act of will, given I've played this way without a pick for nearly 30 years ! Will probably try sticking with my current picking to see how far it can go before it inevitably breaks !

Workout Thu 27/11

Warm Up - 16 - solid intermediate (45 reps)

Co-ordination - 27 - advanced (just) (36 reps)

Ear Training - 30 - intermediate (just) (15 reps)

Guitar used - Mexican Strat

Notes:
Quite straightforward exercises tonight. Co-ordination had a few clams but was played fast enough to still quality as advanced on the successful reps! Could have gone a bit faster than 8ths at 80bpm for the Ear Training ex.

Workout Wed 26/11

Warm Up - 27 - beginner (15 reps)

Co-ordination - 12 - solid intermediate (25 reps)

Ear Training - 6 - intermediate (15 reps)

Guitar used - Mexican Strat

Notes
Not for the first time the warm up turns out to be the hardest exercise to play. Some perseverance on making the third and fourth fingers more independent will be useful.

Workout Tue 25/11

Warm Up - 7 - solid intermediate (35 reps)

Co-ordination - 24 - solid intermediate (24 reps)

Ear Training - 30 - low intermediate (18 reps)

Guitar used - Mexican Strat

Fairly straightforward exercises - felt that I could have set the bar higher / metronome faster, especially on the last exercise. A better metronome for counting 8th and 16th notes would help set a better pace.

Workout Mon 24/11

Warmup - 11 - intermediate
- quite tough this - good pinkie workout

Co-ordination - 5 - intermediate
- not as hard as the warmup !

Ear training - 8 - solid intermediate
- the exercise that counts in fives !

Guitar used - Squier Strat (warm up), Mexican Strat (co-ordination & ear training)

Not too bad overall - warm up very tough on pinkie though.

Didn't have the metronome to hand, so didn't take rep counts - warm up sneaked into intermediate, co-ord was easily intermediate, and the ear training could have made it to advanced.