January Birthdays 
I'm sharing this because its something I tend to do everyday and helps me in huge obvious ways. Feel free to add your own favourite drills or tips here.
#1: its important to define the word badass in your own vocabulary as something that was unmistakably cool and intentional.
#2: when practicing, it's really important that you get as close to that as possible. Why settle for any less?
Always practice badass things and always write and search for badass material. When I practice - for instance misirlou - ill find a way to play it that is suitable for me and I'll make sure I do it that way every time. At this point that means I'm playing the riff at 70bpm but that's okay because i like to make sure it sounds rough and the tone is where I need it to be.
I'll take twenty pennies line them up and play a trouble passage inside of playable parameters. When I play it right I'll slide one of them over to the side. I'll continue this until they are all covered. If however my focus breaks and I fall out of time or I don't play it right or I question at all if the phrase was badass it most certainly was not and I have to start over from zero. This means that the drill doesn't often get completed but that just means I either have more work to do or there needs to be a change in my approach. I would like to mention here I only do this for twenty minutes on a timer so I don't chew up my whole day doing this.
I swear by this drill and think it really forces someone to work on aspects of playing, taste, discipline and patience that are so important to any musician.
Sorry if this comes off as hardcore and I hate being long winded.
Hope this helps people.
Last edited: Nov 05, 2012 16:08:36
