30 June 2000
Went with two friends from work who are taking guitar lessons from Mark to see Mark play in his jazz trio at Harris' Steak House last night. Though I'm not a jazz fan, I love the sound of upright bass, and it was fun to see Mark outside of the little room in his house where he teaches. He sounded great, and the grilled salmon with parmesan mashed potatoes I got at the bar were very tasty. I'd go again...though I'd be there for the music (and the fish), not for the big hunks of beef in the front window (or the ones in business suits in the bar).

5 July 2000
Learned a new Soul Coughing song last night (Lazybones). It turned out to be a good one for practicing keeping my fingers down. I brought the CD to my lesson and played along for Mark, who said, "yep, it looks like you've got it." He showed me a better way to play the B-flat (on the E string instead of the A string) in the second section so I didn't have to move my hand at all—just my fingers. Even better for practicing technique.

This week I learned about 7ths—major, minor, and dominant—and tried desperately to stretch my fingers to get the minor ones. Dominant 7ths are most comfortable for me. (Does this say something about my personality, I wonder?) Between now and next Wednesday I'm to practice All of Me playing root-3-5-7, which ought to slow me down even more than root-2-3-5 did last week. Major and minor were relatively easy to keep track of, but now I've got dominant to worry about in addition to a new note pattern.

I find that I retain more (and get more out of subsequent practice sessions) if I practice as soon as I get home from my lesson. I haven't been doing that lately; I think it's because my lesson's now at 7:30 instead of 7:00, and with my usual stop at Safeway worked in, I'm not getting home until 8:30 or 9:00. Tonight I came home and practiced right away, so I hope what I learned will stick. I've also been thinking about finding some other musicians (or even just a guitarist) to play with. Trying to keep up with others is a great incentive to practice—and it could be even more fun than playing along with Soul Coughing CDs.