RPM

It's safe to predict that I won't complete the challenge this time around. I really have only completed (recorded) one song in the last month. That sounds really pathetic, but I must note that I have come up with riffs and chords for at least 10 if not more songs in this timeframe. The primary task for me now is to learn how to take a riff or idea and make a complete song with it. Probably like saying all you have to do to become a doctor is study hard and go to medical school. I had divided some of my time in learning my new bass and trying to prepare for the scheduled jam session with Chris by working on the songs we had agreed to play. I also realized that I just didn't know enough about Logic so I got back into watching the tutorial videos on macprovideo and so far I think I've watched about half of the level one videos (100+ out of 210) and in that process I've definitely learned a lot about the program.

I'm going to try and stick with my original 2012 goal of a new composition per month and a new song learnt by ear every month as well. I did okay for January, but February is coming to a close and I don't have either of these completed. I'll have to ensure I complete two of each by the end of March. Technically you could say I learned two new songs for the jam sessions (Hotel California and Slither) but I cheated and used tab because of the short time frame. I did okay with the Black Country Communion song "The Great Divide". I think I essentially know the whole song, I just have to develop my chops to be able to play the solo, and that will take several months to nail down since it's a pretty fast solo in parts. I'll pick a couple of more tunes to learn by ear, most likely something I know I can't get a good tab for. A Tommy Emmanuel song would be a good challenge, or for that matter I could try Eleanor Rigby by Pete Huttlinger (have to learn tremolo picking for that one, a completely new technique for me) or Harry Connick's version of Stardust for piano. Now that I think about it, those are probably the two songs I have jones'd the most for that don't have sheet music or tablature available. I won't necessarily nail those in a month either, but if I can get close to at least learning the actual music for both then I can practice the playing.