Dave Douglas on Ear Training

This article was posted in 2008, but still looks like a worthy read:

Dave Douglas on Ear Training

Wednesday Working

Morning only:

Beginner 4-Corner Balance Drill
Frog Stand Practice (60 sec. total work)
Tried some chest expander exercises from Noe book
Neck And Shoulder Focus Practice from the Kraftsow DVD

Pretty much taking it easy today. Left shoulder pain is receding - probably a combination of healing and the yoga practice. Once again, Viniyoga comes through!

Messiaen modes for jazz

Nelson Veras is a unique jazz guitarist who has chosen an unusual path for the development of his voice. Click here to go to a page that describes how Veras applies Messiaen modes. The page includes video and audio links.

According to jazz guitarist Gene Ess, there is a book by Masaya Yamaguchi called Symmetrical Scales for Jazz Improvisation that updates Messaien's concepts for the 21st century. I took a peek at some sample pages of this and his other books and they are deep.

Some C Melodic Minor exercises

I recently started practicing the Graham Clark Scale Method on viola and guitar. I am convinced that this method will help me nail down the intervals that I want to play, with less time wasted searching for the interval in the fingerboard. The examples in his article are written for C Major. C Melodic Minor is new to me, so I decided to write down some exercises from his method for C Melodic Minor.

This is the first set of exercises for the modes of the scale:

Note sequence	Mode
CDEbFGABC' C'BAGFEbDC	C Melodic Minor
DEbFGABC'D DC'BAGFEbD	Dorian b2 or Phrygian #6
EbFGABC'DEb EbDC'BAGFEb	Lydian Augmented
FGABC'DEbF FEbDC'BAGF	Lydian Dominant
GABC'DEbFG GFEbDC'BAG	Mixolydian ♭6
ABC'DEbFGA AGFEbDC'BA	Aeolian b5
BC'DEbFGAB BAGFEbDC'B	Altered Dominant

With the above note sequences written down, it's much easier to extrapolate the degree-to-root note pairs to practice for that section of the GC Method.

Here are the broken interval exercises for C Melodic Minor:

Note sequence	Interval
CEb DF EbG FA GB AC' BD' C' Eb'C' D'B C'A BG AF GEb FD C	3rds
CF DG EbA FB GC' AD' BEb' C' F'C' Eb'B D'A C'G BF AEb GD FC	4ths
CG DA EbB FC' GD' AEb' BF' C' G'C' F'B Eb'A D'G C'F BEb AD GC	5ths
CA DB EbC' FD' GEb' AF' BG' C' A'C' G'B F'A Eb'G D'F C'Eb BD AC	6ths
CB DC' EbD' FEb' GF' AG' BA' C' B'C' A'B G'A F'G Eb'F D'Eb CD BC	7ths

Here are the triad exercises for C Melodic Minor:

Triad	Chord
C Eb G	i minor
D F A	ii minor
Eb G B	iii
F A C'	iv
G B D'	v
A C' Eb'	vi
B D' F'	vii

Monday Workout

Morning Workout

Joint Mobility (Intu-Flow program from Rmax)
Four Corner Balance Drill (introduced in the Intu-Flow DVDs).
Frog Stand Practice (as described in Sommer's article)
Low Back/Sacrum Viniyoga Practice

Left shoulder still hurts despite no workout over the weekend, other than yard cleanup

Day Workout (during breaks at work)
Pullups w/supinated (palms facing me) grip
1-leg squat (not directly related to the gymnastic goals, but done to build leg strength)

I actually only did 2 sets today. I'll hold off on pullups for now and let the left shoulder heal some more. Frog stand does not seem to bother it as much. I still can't hold the Frog Stand for 60 sec. straight (not even close!) but I managed to sustain a hold for more than 5 seconds a couple of times, up to the 60 sec. total work.

Tried to get into Tuck Lever but lack the ab strength to simply curl myself up into it. I'll take tomorrow off from pullups, but when I resume I'll go for static hold practice of the hanging leg lift, emphasis on the Hanging Straight Leg L, as described in Coach Sommer's article, Developing the Hanging Leg Lift. I can do a Hanging Tuck L for 10 sec hold, no problem, so I'll start with the Hanging Straight Leg L with bent knees.

Friday Workout

Morning Workout

Joint Mobility (Intu-Flow program from Rmax)
Four Corner Balance Drill (introduced in the Intu-Flow DVDs).
Frog Stand Practice (as described in Sommer's article)
Bhujangasana and Vimanasana from Low Back/Sacrum Viniyoga Practice

Day Workout (during breaks at work)
Pullups w/supinated (palms facing me) grip
1-leg squat (not directly related to the gymnastic goals, but done to build leg strength)

Suffered mild left shoulder strain while swinging across monkey bars. I probably need to build more shoulder strength as the left shoulder may still be extra weak from the previous shoulder injury.

Tuesday Workout

Despite refraining from further swinging on the monkey bars, my already-sore left shoulder seems to have been aggravated even by merely hanging from the bar to do leg raises. I found via Google a post by Coach Summer on this discussion thread:

Postby Coach Sommer on Mon May 26, 2008 10:49 pm
Your hanging strength is currently insufficient for the demands of hanging leg lifts. For the time being move to another core strength element and consider using the information in the following essay to increase your shoulder stability:
http://gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewto ... ight=#2664

I clicked on the link he provided and he mentioned several exercises. Of those exercise, I thought an overhead support walk was a realistic option. I tried my 16kg kettlebell and realized I'd lost a lot more upper body strength than I'd previously thought, after all this time of not exercising the upper body. I couldn't military-press the KB even once, where I had been able to press it for at least 5 reps.

I thus did the following this morning:

Intu-Flow Beginner Mobility Drills
Beginner 4-Corner Balance Drill
Frog Stand Practice (60 sec. total work)
Neck And Shoulder Focus Practice from the Kraftsow DVD Viniyoga Therapy for the Upper Back, Neck & Shoulders

Tonight I'll dig out my Lifeline Chest Expanders. These were instrumental in my shoulder rehab in the past.

New workout routine

I found the monkey bar set near our office building. I had no idea it was there, despite months of working in that building.

My low back/hip has recovered nicely, but is still not ready for weight training. The Low Back/Sacrum Practice from Gary Kraftsow's DVD has helped, after about 4 months of practice 3-5 times a week. My shoulders are still a bit touchy but better off than my back.

As the experts say, one's workouts would be more effective if one has a goal in mind. So I have decided to resume pursuit of the skills described in Christopher Sommer's article Building an Olympic Body through Bodyweight Conditioning. None of the exercises in this new routine bother my shoulders nor my back.

Morning Workout

Joint Mobility (Intu-Flow program from Rmax)
Four Corner Balance Drill (introduced in the Intu-Flow DVDs).
Frog Stand Practice (as described in Sommer's article)
Low Back/Sacrum Viniyoga Practice

Day Workout (during breaks at work)
Pullups w/supinated (palms facing me) grip
1-leg squat (not directly related to the gymnastic goals, but done to build leg strength)

So far, I can do 3 pullups comfortably. Not great, but that's why I'm doing them. My 1-legged squats are weak, so I just do 1 rep per leg. I do 4-5 sets of the Day Workout during a typical work day.

I'll tweak this routine over time. The first thing would be to find the yoga compensatory flows for pullups that are in Scott Sonnon's 4x7 DVD.

Given my current weak state, reaching my goals will take quite a while. But I really enjoy going outside to do the pullups, especially when the weather is nice.

MIDI Footcontroller Roundup on The Gear Page

If you are a musician who needs to coordinate multiple MIDI devices (synths, effects processors, etc.) with footswitches, because both hands are busy playing your instrument, you probably need a MIDI footcontroller. The Gear Page's Digital And Modeling Gear forum has a nice roundup here.

CNNMoney.com - The 20 best money Web sites

The 20 best money Web sites

I don't recall seeing Smartmoney.com on the list, but it was suggested in the Digg.com comments.

Danny Barnes: How To Make a Living Playing Music

I'm as guilty as a lot of people (apparently) of fantasizing about a different lifestyle - in which one makes music for a living instead of working at a "real" job. Check out Danny Barnes' "how-to" article. Doesn't sound like an easy lifestyle...