Had some time to practice today before and between lessons. Technique was sloppy at 105bpm (16th notes) on a couple of exercises. And I noticed some tension in my right arm with newer exercises.

For those of you who don't know, tension or strain in either your right arm or left hand (vice versa for lefties) will actually slow you down. This is not like weight lifting where you work through the pain/strain. When you feel that burn coming on, you have to try to relax the muscle while your playing. If you cannot seem to do this, then slow the metronome down a few clicks and start building back up to the original speed.

Final thought on technique - it definitely comes over time. You do not wake up day after day with amazingly new chops. What you do is wake up after a few weeks/months of focused practice and realize "I can play cleaner and faster than I could a while back". When this happens, smile - enjoy the moment - then get back to practicing!

Finished out my chord progression from last night with a moody, walking bass line going from E - A - C - D over the Am9 grip. The harmonic minor scale had several tasty positions that worked well with this progression.

Ear training - worked on a few chord progressions and a couple of solos from recordings for students. No ear drills (I need to get back to the drills as well).

That's it for the studio time. I'm off to home to eat dinner, play with the kids and hopefully practice some more (Cliffs of Dover is calling out to me).

See you tomorrow!