getting refocused on a practice routine has been productive so far. the hard part was actually sitting down and spending the time to do some long-term planning. well, long term being 6-months, which is about as far-out as i'd like to plan... any further and i think i risk drifting or changing the goal and losing focus. 6-months, though, is a pretty good sweet spot. i'll be wrapping it up at the end of the year and that will come fast enough. i can reevaluate my progress and set a new goal then and see how well the 6-month plan worked.

i've managed to get two sessions in, most days. as i've done for years now i start my day off with 45 minutes to an hour, more or less. sometimes more focused than others, but always in the morning. lately, though i've been able to manage a second session of about the same length in the late afternoon and it's been very helpful. i think splitting the time up between two sessions has been much more effective than say, a 1.5 to 2 hour session. i think going to work and getting completely out of the mindset of music and then coming back to it feels more like practicing 14 days a week. the material feels a bit fresher and i can jump back in a bit quicker with less fumbling when i start. terrific.

bass guitar and drums
my warmups have included pinky strengthening exercises (just a few minutes of a whole step bend on the G string of a guitar with my pinky and ring finger) and the difference is quite noticeable. this is a thing i started a few years ago and it really makes sense. i used to think i didn't have to do warmups because i don't shred or do any acrobatics but uh, they make a difference. i don't think i could have nearly as strong of a pinky by "just playing" so doing the exercises in a warm-up has really helped. when i play i haven much more pinky confidence and i'm less likely to change up my fingering position to favor a stronger finger.

i spent so long learning how to visualize the fretboard on guitar through the lens of the major scale and it really helped so much. it gave form to a nebulous object. lately, though i've been working to re-visualize the fretboard through the lens of arpeggios. it occurred to me that this is a more functionally effective way conceptualize the instrument. i mean, after all, 90% of what we play as bassists and guitarists are chord tones. as a bassist i certainly don't play chords so it makes sense to focus on the underlying forms to be able to quickly see what is available to play. this certainly sounds way easier than it is in practice, but there was a time, just a few years ago, that i didn't understand the instrument at all. i'm actually excited to slowly see the bass in a new way. this is the type of long game that i get really excited about.