31

49

These Milan Pavans are harder than they look/sound.

I swear to change strings soon. Haven’t had much time to lately with unfortunate circumstances. Often don’t start practicing until I’m tired.

41

Gonna try to make better recording of this variation tomorrow.

36

Doing some metronome work with Rodrigo’s Fandango. It is easy to speed up the quarterly chords if you’re not careful. Likewise, it can be hard not to slow everything else down.

I am recording and using the metronome all on my phone here. My house is much improved since Hurricane Michael, but most things are still boxed up. One day I’ll find my metronome.

38

Trying a technique that I have never used in a performance. Plucking the strings with the back of the nails. It’s a possible solution to playing this variation up to speed with greater ease. If I were to pluck all of the strings normally, my right hand would bounce around a lot more.

15

This is the Danza from Julian Orbon’s Preludio y Danza. I like that my ‘a’ finger stays at the back of the design for much of the clip.

I’m participating in the 4th Florida Guitar Festival and Competition this weekend. I’m playing in the recreational round. I’ve never heard of a recreational round before this. I LOVE the idea.

Day 8

Decided to post a little slower version of Llobet’s 5th Variation on a Theme by Sor.

The right hand technique here is something I have been struggling with. The idea seems simple: you pluck one string twice, and another string once. Then repeat the pattern which result in a nice triplet. However, I have trouble making it sound clean and rhythmically clear. It’s frustrating to have trouble with such a simple concept.

I’m also usually better at playing harmonics. I have a suspicion that this set of strings is quasi faulty when it comes to playing artificial harmonics (and I long considered not even commenting on this).

The Storm After the Storm

My life has completely changed. I used to wonder around the Internet for a few hours a day reblogging funny things, working, and my various hobbies.

Now I feel like I am living in the Capitol Wasteland of the Fallout universe.

Do not think people that our lives have gone on. This is the view from my driveway yesterday.

My place of employment has been destroyed, been working there since 2009. It was a small private dental office. Its gone. I was the primary income provider. I now collect $275 in unemployment. There are no jobs in my field for over 100 miles. It will take years before this area is even remotely economically where it was pre-Hurricane Michael.

We built our home in 2012. We have to sell our house in this wasteland before February because that is when the mortgage temporary hold is up. We got a hold on our utilities but health/car insurance, credit cards, and other non-house bills will not hold any payments. FEMA and D-SNAP is a joke.

My daughter turned 18 on 10/19, but is 2 years behind in school. She was on her way to getting her diploma but now she has to get her GED because its faster - she refuses to relocate with us. Oh yeah, we are relocating. Out of state. The economy in the panhandle of Florida is dead. We are moving to Denver CO because my wife, other adult household members, and I can get better paying jobs out there. It is also somewhere we always wanted to move to but not like this.

I am rebuilding from here but my life is forever changed. And I am one of the lucky ones. My house or cars sustained no damage. Some members of my household is able to return to work to hold us over until we relocate.

Please do not forget about us. The rest of the world is joking about the Trump umbrella thing but we are still in mourning. As I drive around in town there are more downed trees than standing trees. Blue tarps cover the majority of roofs. Many houses still have trees crashes through the living room.

This will take years for my home to recover. I cannot stay. Goodbye Panama City, I hope you can heal from this diaster. There are good people here who want to rebuild. I just cannot be one of them.

35

Haven’t had much time to practice or post videos. People are finally starting to show up to work on my house to do repairs caused by Hurricane Michael back in October of 2018z However, rats are starting to invade my life and I’ve had to devote some time to pest control and keeping my two two dogs safe. I also have to help out with working on the house.

This is an excerpt from the Passacaglia from Rodrigo’s Tres Piezas Españolas. I’ll post and say more about this later.

Day 6

My schedule has been busy and I’m not able to post as often as I did when I once had more time (before I had to move out of my house due to damages caused by Hurricane Michael). I am still amazed that I’m already at day 6 of what is my goal (100). I hope to keep a moment of posting a video at least four to six days a week. If I can do seven, even better!

Tremolo angle.

Recently at school, I had a discussion about the effect of playing straight on the strings vs playing with a more angled attack. In the first demonstration I am playing with a straight attack. This tends to bring a brighter sound. In the second example I am demonstrating a more angled attack. This sound tends to be a bit less metallic and is preferred for the right hand in general (not just tremolo). As discussed in a previous video, I believe my right hand could be less harsh and quieter in general.

Thumb and tremolo.

At the end of the video I only pluck with the thumb. This is something that will help shape the tremolo. I keep the left hand the same, but only sound the notes given to the thumb.

63/100