I'm up.

I got up at 6am this morning. Probably because I'd had enough sleep. Not many people are saying that around the Nuova Lazio area because it is presently very hot, but I have a heat pump. A heat pump also works as a cold pump. Last night our house was at 16 degrees. I slept like a baby. I didn't even wake for my 2am bottle (old Dean Martin joke).

Music practice is going well so far this year. I'm well ahead of my hour a day target that I always aim for. An hour a day doesn't sound like much, and it isn't, but every time you miss a day it gets harder to keep on track with that target. 

As you know, I practise three instruments - guitar, violin and double bass. It is certainly easier if a person only practises one instrument but, for me, three instruments is just the way it is. I guess I have an order of importance - double bass, then violin, then guitar - but this doesn't mean that the double bass always gets the most practice. In fact, so far this year, the guitar has had the most. It just depends what I'm working on.

At present, on the guitar, I'm working on what is called the rest stroke style of picking. This approach is used by gypsy jazz players and it gives you a lot of volume. A pick can go down and up

(over / through the string). The rest stroke is used on the down pick - the pick comes to rest on the string below the one you are picking. The up pick is a free stroke (it finishes up in the air).

There is a singer whom I back from time to time. She sings a few jazz standards. When it comes time for me to solo I'm on my own. This entails nice bold single note runs and plenty of chords dropped in. The gypsy jazz picking style works very well in this instance. My guitar, which is not the type used by gypsy jazz players, has a similar type of tone to a gypsy jazz guitar. So this type of picking seems to really suit it.

Django - the master.

I'll leave it there this morning. Keep cool out there.