Richard Chapman - Playing Log

Playing Log

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PLAYING LOG

November 12 2009

I have recently been developing my new material. Had a successful session in the Cowshed studio in London with the bass player Paul. Recording engineer Joe Leach was on good form and we worked on the arrangement of different sections and the layering of the guitar and bass for a new piece which is going to be the opening track on the CD.
Carrying on with technique work and building fluency at higher tempos. Hard work today as I got up with a heavy cold and felt unwell. Nevertheless I still pushed myself hard and put in over four hours. Now up to 132 bpm and able to stay physically relaxed and retain creativity. And importantly, working on my touch so that I can strike and play the notes fully to convey musical feeling and expression.
I’ve also been working on moving up and down each string so that I can shift into different positions more quickly.

October 9 2009

Having a very positive run of playing five days a week on linear technique.
Working again on creativity and today I’ve reached the tempo level of 112 bpm. On most days I warm up with a group of around 20 rhythmic variations, going from quarter notes (crotchets) to sixteenths (semiquavers). On all rhythmic elements I concentrate on right hand accuracy, and I make sure I play for at least five minutes on each using a small hour glass type sand timer which feels more natural than a clock. After this I move over to open improvisation based on tonal centres, and I explore more unusual scales and free chromatic approaches. Eventually I can play flowing lines using triplets and sixteenths and sometimes short sections with sextuplets.
Working with intervals and combinations of these with extended arpeggios. Practising with fourths, fifths, sixths and sevenths as well. Using a capo, often on the fifth fret to bring down the string height so that I can put in more than four hours each day without straining my left hand.

MAY 3 2009

Recently I had the idea of writing a 'Playing Log' outlining my current and recent work on the guitar. I'm also going to write about different areas and ideas and this material will be progressively expanded.

CREATIVITY WITH SINGLE LINES

When I started playing seriously I decided to concentrate almost entirely on single line improvisation and technique. I have always done this as my primary activity and I started off with open improvisation in keys such as C and G. I slowed my playing down to the point where I could think of anything and play it instantly at will, such as scales, phrases and intervals. I used an electric metronome as a type of rhythmic backing and my first tempo level was 60 bpm (beats per minute). After playing single notes on quarter note (crotchet) beats I found myself playing pairs of notes on each beat with a type of lilting or swinging triplet feel which felt natural. Interestingly, as I moved to full triplets and started playing a continual stream of improvised lines and intervals, no tension built up and I felt completely relaxed. I improvised by trying out and extending things I was hearing, visual patterns and motifs or abstract ideas or sometimes material from written music or recordings. I use a pick (plectrum) for medium and fast improvisation and fingers for slower playing and melodies.

BEATS PER MINUTE

I regularly use an electric metronome. This is set at various speeds and each click or beep is measured as beats per minute. Tempos are written for example as T-100 or 100 bpm (beats per minute). Fundamentally, I tend to think of each click as a quarter note (crotchet). If the metronome is set at a slow tempo such as 60 bpm, each click is equivalent to a second on a watch or clock. Four clicks is four beats and their duration is four seconds. Using quarter notes, the four clicks can be thought of as a bar of 4/4 and at 60bpm, there are fifteen bars of 4/4 in one minute.