Practice Regime

I'm trying to step up my practicing this summer. I've always been a terrible sightreader and don't have very good ears so I'm hoping to focus on sightreading and ear training alot as well as my sound and time-feel.

One of the things I'm doing to try to make this happen is keeping a practice journal. In celebration of this I'm posting my first entry here for all to see:

June 3rd, 09

10:50-11:30 Saxophone Warm-up
Mouthpiece blowing 5 mins F major Scale
Long tones middle C going to F above and G below trill “Hee”
Terrace Dynamics 4 different notes of varying register 4 different dynamic levels
“Finger Twisters” Phrygian all 12 keys three times
Overtones played with half step bends below in this order:
Fundamental-12th-Octave-2nd Octave
Then the same with three strong articulations
Overtone scales
Joel Miller Exercise Overtone Matching with metronome Octave Only mm=80 bpm
11:30-12:30 Transcribing Hank Mobley’s “Workout” Solo
12:50-1:30 Bebop Scales (3 parts) MM = 90
Scales with Metronome on 1 and 3 starting on the 6th degree on the and of 3
Pattern 3rds to 7ths w/ passing tone through cycle of dominants
Joel Miller Bebop Scale exercise Metronome on quarter notes MM= 100
Start on third, descend over an octave to seventh
Passing tone between 7th and root desc. Between 9th and 3rd asc.
1:40-2:10 Singing with Metronome Phrygian Scale and Two Phrygian Melodies from “A New Approach to Sight-Singing”
2:45-3:00 Sight-reading (3) in “Encyclopaedia of Improvisational Rhythms and Patterns” by Charles Colin
MM=100 for quarter notes and half notes, read as both concert pitch and Bb part
3:40-3:55 Etude from the Universal Method Eighth Note = 100 (Quick Breaths)
4:45-5:10 Sight-reading from the Omnibook

My chops are pretty much done after this. In the end, this isn't that much. 2 hours and 15 minutes with the saxophone, an hour lifting solos and half an hour singing.

This isn't very impressive, the hard part will be keeping it up. We'll see how I do.