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My aim/goal for todays session is to learn a couple of songs for next week when I am playing at the Legends of Rock weekend in Great Yarmouth. I am taking part in jam sessions later on in the night- where all the musicians from the 50 bands at the holiday park get together in a more organised jam session. I have put my name forward for many songs, as well as helping some people out and learning any that no one has put their name to. Songs I have to learn are Layla - Eric Clapton and Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden.
I practised in my living room for an hour with no breaks.
I used to be able to plaay Layla a couple of years ago, however I have not played it in a while. I do remember the chorus chords, structure  and the main riff however I do need reminding of the verse chords! I just looked at this website to remind myself of the chords (I can remember that there are quite a few!):
https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/e/eric_clapton/layla_acoustic_crd.htm
I had some trouble with my high E string which kept going out of tune then after the video (see below)  it snapped! When I replaced it the next one did exactly the same!! Never seen that before!

Moreover the Soundgarden track I'd never actually heard of before, so the majority of my time with this song was spent listening to it, giving me an idea of the structure and any solos in the song. I then used this website to start learning the song from the tab:
https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/s/soundgarden/black_hole_sun_tab.htm

I did not get chance to record Black Hole Sun, however here is some video evidence of my practise of the other song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgCeuJBYhm0
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This was another band practise at the Music Shed in Derby, and practised from 7-10.
Our aim was to prepare further for the Legends of Rock gig in Great Yarmouth. We were to play 2 sets in the session and replecate our gig this coming Friday, with the second set being what we will be playing at 'Legends'.
The practise went well transitions between songs were smooth and we still had just over 5 mins spare after timing the second set (you only get 50 mins max in Yarmouth otherwise the sound man litrally pulls the plug!) We have decided on the next song we want to learn as a band, which is War Pigs - Black Sabbath. I do know this song as well as being able to play nearly all of it- to prepare for the practise I will keep listening to the song so that I memorise the structure of the solos. I will record myself during the weekhaving a go at playing it!

Below is the video of my practise of war pigs. This wasn't perfect but for now it is not essential- the song needs to be learnt for after legends as that set is the most important set of the year for the band! Had some tuning issues with my guitar again which was the main cause for me to keep stopping or make mistakes (it really puts me off!). I knew the majority of the structure but again I still mostly need to work on the structure of the solo(s)

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Band practise with the aim to have a set ready for one of our most important gigs of the year- Legends of Rock in Great Yarmouth (Yarmageddon). We timed a set and made sure it would fit in our alotted time.
We practised from 7-10 at the Music Shed, Derby.
After working on New Rose together we managed to get through the set with 7 minutes to spare, therefore was left with the decision of adding another quick song or to make one of our songs last longer. We decided to go for adding a song where a guitar solo is set and couldn't be extended- Bark at the Moon by Ozzy Ozbourne. Now we have a practise every week until the gig.

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My aim was to get back into playing and learn a 2 songs, one being for my band. These songs where Hot For Teacher - EVH and New Rose - The Damned. I had learnt the intro to the EVH song a long time ago however never got round to the structure of the song, so this one was just for me. The Damned song is going to be used at a gig in March therefore I need to know it perfectly ready for a band practise tomorrow.
I played in my living room from 6:30 until 10:30 with a few breaks.
After having a week off of playing I decided to get back into it by warming up and playing some of my favourite songs and improvising in different keys. Then I moved onto learning the songs, firstly having a go at Hot For Teacher. Learning the structure of the song was quite easy as I know it well, however during the verses the guitar riff requires heavy use of the pinky finger (which is everyones weakest finger). After a few tries it was starting to feel fatigued therefore I need to keep practising the song in case I ever play it live- fatigue always gets to you when you are under pressure in a live performance situation!! The next song I had to learn was quite easy- again I already know the song and its structure therefore I was just really learning the sequence of chords.
The Damned song was quite hard at first to get the structure into my head- as its punk a lot of the chords used in the song  aren't musically correct which can put me off! However I watched a lesson on YouTube and used a tab to get the song learnt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuN53pgCOTg (The guitar lesson)
https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/d/damned/new_rose_tab.htm (The guitar tab I used)

Here are some videos of me practising the 2 songs:

https://youtu.be/cOR-6YOmNrw (Hot For Teacher)
https://youtu.be/xtdKBaNWarI (New Rose)

Although they are not perfect there is still time to get them gig ready as the Damned song will only be played halfway through March.

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Sound check at venue with the aim to warm up as a group as well as get the right levels so it is an enjoyable performance for the audience.
We were at the venue and played for around 20 minutes, playing Johnny B Goode and USA Idiot.
The singer, bassist, guitarist and myself went out in front of the P.A to make sure we were all happy with the sound and went on and played the gig

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Aim of this session was to just go over any songs I thought I might make a mistake on later tonight at a gig, making sure I was confident with the whole set as it was going to be decided and written at the venue.
I practised from 9:30 until 13:20 at home playing on my own or to backing tracks off of my phone.
Went well, no real cause for concern so should be fine for the gig tonight in Ashbourne.

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Arrived in Wakefield and after setting up our gear we did a line check, then a full band sound check playing USA Idiot (greenday). We did this to set the right levels for us, as well as the rest of the bands using the same bass rig, drum kit and mic's. We spent around 30 mins doing this before putting our amps on standby and waiting around for the gig.
Again everything went smoothly, I made sure all the sound levels were good for me, as well as making sure the mix from the monitors was to my liking. We had a great gig!!

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This morning I had a quick practise before I set off on my journey to Wakefield to play at a festival to raise moeny for someone with cancer. We were only going to be playing a 50 minute set therefore this limited the amount of songs which I had to practise. I just wanted to make sure I knew the set and the songs I was going to be playing.
I was just practising in my living room, plugged in my phone to the amp, played the tracks I wanted to practise and played along to them. I played from around 10:45 to 1 o'clock, before cleaning the guitar and getting all my gear ready to go to the venue.
No problems, everything went as planned- felt ready and prepared for the gig!

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Today I just had to learn the Bar Tender and the Thief - Stereophonics by the end of my session.

I was back at home- practised and learnt the 'phonics song within around 10 mins which I was pleased about. However I did carry on for much of the rest of the night practising other songs seperate to the MF set which I play with other bands or at open mic nights. I spent around 2-3 hours playing.
I like to improvise lead over looped chords and create harmonies when practising like this. I  also go over songs that are quite hard so that I can keep the technique needed to play it. Songs like Sultans of Swing, Black Rose etc.

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The aim of this was to sound check and the sound man to get a good level of all the instruments in the band. Moreover I was borrowing someone else's amplifier, therefore I was using this time to get used to playing with it.

This was inside the venue itself and lasted about 30 mins.

Fairly straight forward sound check did a quick line check and made sure monitors were giving a good mix then we played All The Small Things and Johnny B Goode. At this private party the birthday boy had asked if he would be able to get up and play guitar with the two bands that were playing tonight, so after previously saying yes we did a quick rehearsal of the song that he wanted to play with us which was Whole Lotta Love - Led Zepp.

We played the gig and it went quite well.

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Aim for this small session was to get into the right mindset knowing the setlist so there are no surprises during the gig! Also I had to pack my things together, clean and restring two guitars before the journey.

I did this from about 11-1 pm just in my living room.

Just a last minute check through really went through nearly all the set missing the ones were I knew 100% I could never make a mistake on it...!
Got my guitars restrung and made sure the fret board was cleaned and lemon oiled up. I also did a quick check on my cables, wireless system and effects pedals.

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Today I had a rehearsal with my band Metal Fatigue (MF). Our aim was to practise the set we were going to play on the coming Saturday for a private party we were playing in 'The Slade Rooms' at Wolverhampton, making sure everyone recapped our normal set and could play them all perfectly. Moreover we have learnt around 5 songs since Xmas therefore these need to be practised too.

Our practise is booked from 7-10 pm at the Music Shed rehearsal rooms in Derby.

We went through our proposed set however found that some of the 'new learns' were not up to the mark, so were either scrapped or saved for another gig. We decided to scrap Cum Feel the Noize - Slade as previously we had tried to learn the more 'rockier' Quiet Riot version, however this was too high for our singer. But when we learnt the Slade original the song just didn't sound right in this key- so after no one could be bothered to find another solution the best way forward was to bin it!!

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