Session notes, bookings and the Shed, all in one place
Most of your progress happens between sessions, so I make sure you’re never guessing what to work on.
After each session I write up what we covered, This week’s objectives, and any worksheets, backing tracks or recordings that go with them. It all lands in your own member portal, which comes with your sessions at no extra cost. Your bookings sit alongside, and so does the Shed, with the tools for the work you do on your own.
Example screens with sample data.
Notes you can come back to
Each set of notes records what we worked on, what I noticed, and what to do next. I write them for you to use at the instrument, so they’re specific: a tempo to aim for, a fingering to try, a track to listen to.
Worksheets and backing tracks open straight from the note, and because every session is kept, you can search back through months of work when something we did in the spring suddenly makes sense.
This is a real set of notes, shared with permission, from a session on working out chords by ear.
Working out chords by ear
- Tone
- Lean and Pull
- Ear training
Tone. We looked at the EQ on your J Retro preamp: what each boost and cut frequency does, and where each one is useful. Most of our time went on the mids. The range of the mid control is significant, so a small move changes the sound a lot.
Lean and Pull in context. We played the Lean and Pull bonds from Harmonic Elements over backing tracks, moving each vamp through several keys. You found this a useful way to train your ear, so we’ll keep using it. Ear training apps can lack context, such as a key centre, and a backing track in a key is much closer to a real bandstand. After a long spell on I IV V and i iv v, it was interesting how hard a ii V I was to pick out.
Working out chords: an order of operations
- Find home. Rather than chasing every chord, listen for the root of the I (or i) and get a feel for the key centre first.
- Work out the progression. Follow the bass movement and name each chord by where its root sits against home.
- Play it safe. Lines on 1, 5 and 8 fit every chord, because they don’t commit to major or minor.
- Test the quality. Try the 3 on weak beats to hear whether each chord is major or minor.
Once you know whether home is major or minor, diatonic theory gives likely answers for the rest. If the I is major, the IV and V are probably major, and the ii, iii and vi probably minor. Probably, not certainly.
This week’s objectives
- Keep working through the Lean and Pull backing tracks in new keys, finding home first each time.
- Get to know the flavour of each bond and molecule (its feel, or emotional colour) well enough to recognise it on sound alone.
Next time: The First molecules, with a key centre quiz.
Every shed needs tools
Between sessions, the Shed has the tools for the work you do on your own. You choose which ones you use, and which ones I can see. They’re on their own page too, where you can have a go before you join.
- Practice diary
- Habit tracker
- Metronome
- Tempo tracker
- Drone
- Tuner
- The Shelf
- Questions for Jack
- Recorder
Your sessions, on your phone
Your upcoming sessions are listed with the time and place, ready to add to your phone’s calendar. If you’re on a block of ten, you can see how many hours are left and when the block ends. If you need to move a session, you can ask from the same screen.
- Works on any phone: it runs in your browser and can sit on your home screen like an app, so your latest notes are there even in a practice room with no signal.
- Private to you: invite only, behind your own sign in. Your notes, files and diary aren’t public.
- Parents kept in the loop: for anyone under 16, a parent or guardian can get a copy of every email the portal sends, if they’d like to.
Who the Portal is for
Start with an introductory session.
Half an hour to meet, talk about where you’d like to get to, and see how we work together. It’s £20, and we’ll arrange a time as soon as you get in touch.
Book an introductory session (£20) Member sign in