Having Fun With Soundslice

I titled this post Having Fun with Soundslice, but Obsessed is probably more like it. I can't believe I'm actually tearing myself away from this web-based interface for a few minutes to write about it. Here's what I've been using Soundslice for:

-To upload sheet music from pdf or photo and turn it into notation that can be sped up or slowed down, looped, converted to mandolin tab, transposed to a different key, and so on. There's a whole slew of Irish tunes that aren't on Trailjams.org that and I'm using Soundslice to upload the dots and create my own library of these jiggy, slidey, and reely tunes. I also have some sheet music for Caribbean tunes that I've collected and I have also been uploading those. This practice is teaching me a lot about timing and the sheet music symbols for quarter notes, eighth notes, rests, et cetera. Irish music is pretty much on-the-beat, even if that beat happens to be a 6/8 rhythm, but Caribbean melodies have some crooked measures and syncopation going on. You can only do 100 uploads per month which sounds like a lot but I've already maxed out for the time being. One of the reasons I had time to write this is because I need to wait a week or more before I can do the next round of 100 uploads!

-To write out variations of tunes. For example, I can upload a basic Trailjams arrangement of a tune such as Wind that Shakes the Barley and then edit it to add triplets and double stops wherever I see fit. I prefer to figure this stuff out on my own rather than by simply copying others and this functionality allows for lots of creativity. I don't know how to program hammer-ons, pull-offs, and other embellishments yet but I'm sure there's a way.

-Composition and Compositional Study. My initial reason for signing up for Soundslice was to notate an original melody I had written and then try to add chords to it. I've been wanting to learn how to use a music notation software with this purpose in mind but I've always been hesitant due to the perceived learning curve. I wanted to play my banjo, not work on a computer. However, with Soundslice it is pretty easy and I've realized that, when used the right way, it can actually enhance my musical knowledge. I like seeing how tunes are constructed - noticing patterns and repeated motifs - and Soundslice is helping with that. Getting the syncopation of a melody to land at the right place within a measure is a challenge that gets easier the more you learn about timing and how it is sub-divided.

-To create Slices from scratch. You can do an unlimited number of these. Sometimes you don't have a good source for the sheet music or maybe it's just a hand-written transcription or a piece you've learned by ear. Soundslice allows you to create notation from scratch. Or perhaps it's a straight-forward contra dance tune and you don't want to max out your monthly upload limit, so maybe you just type it in from scratch. It only takes a few minutes to get it straight. One of my primary roles at the job I've worked at for the last 20+ years is trafficking broadcast and digital orders. Basically, a fundraiser/salesperson submits an advertising/sponsorship contract from a client and then I make that campaign a reality by flighting it to run in whichever way it was described on paper - TV, radio, podcast, streaming, web ads. What I've realized is that creating a Slice from scratch is not that different from this skill set which I have already honed through years of work-related practice. It's fun for me.

-Creating Ear Training and Scale Exercises. This is an unexpected use, but Soundslice has been great in this regard. One exercise I created was to notate the D-Ionian, D-Dorian, D-Lydian, D-Mixolydian, and D-Aeolian modes and have those play over a second instrument which is essentially just a D note drone. In another case I wrote out arpeggios and then added scale numbers and solfège syllables to the notes.  Yet another exercise I created was to figure out the chord voicings for every chord in the D-major scale: D- major, E-minor, F#-minor, and so on. My instrument has an unusual tuning - GDAEB from low to high, sometimes referred to as "baritone 5-string electric octave mandolin tuning". Michael Kang of String Cheese Incident helped popularize this tuning. I use it for my custom-made tenor banjo. Soundslice has a lot of pre-set tablature settings, however, GDAEB isn't one of them. Fortunately you can create your own unique tablature tuning. It took me a while to get the pitches correct but I figured out a way to do it. I have not really practiced chord voicings at all on this instrument so I was able to create custom tablature for this tuning with that type of learning in mind.

That pretty much covers how I've been using it this first month. I'm sure there are other features that I haven't explored yet. One example: I haven't synced any audio to the notation/tablature. I don't know if I'll need to do that because the built-in instrument sounds in Soundslice are sufficient. Don't get me wrong, some are horrible sounding but I've found a few that I like such as harp, vibraphone, marimba, and ukulele. These work for my needs, which is basically just creating a library of music where the audio matches the notation. 

I'll end by sharing an example of an original arrangement of what I think is a Haitian melody called Bonsoir Dame. I found this song years ago on Spotify by a group called Zantalino y su Orquestra. It's a cheesy recording in the first place, but I had it transcribed by Nick DiSebastian and I've been holding on to that sheet music for years. The recording was in the key of C# (that's a key signature of 7 sharps for those keeping score) so the first thing I did upon uploading it to Soundslice was change it to a more congenial key such as G. Upon analysis, I realized that the actual melody had some timing challenges that were going to trip me up so I started tweaking the melody until it resembled something more like an Irish jig or slide. It almost became the pre-existing tune Going to the Well for Water in the process! That in and of itself was a study in how melodies come together. This one won't win any awards and I probably won't bust it out at the Irish session, but try to imagine a wizened Sliabh Luachra fiddler playing this in the corner of a cozy pub!

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I Played In My First Open Mic On Saturday

At one point, while waiting for my turn at the open mic, I though this might have been a mistake. Here I am with my dinky tenor banjo getting ready to play obscure instrumental tunes while others are singing and knocking out grunge covers or shredding on Jimi Hendrix. And the word "mic" in open mic suggests that there might be some amplification involved. I sipped a Guinness very slowly and pondered.

Let me back up a minute. A taphouse in my neighborhood hosts an open mic every other Saturday. I let it slip that I play banjo so Tyler, the jocular and risible (thanks thesaurus) Beatles loving young employee at the taphouse who is involved with the open mic, kept asking me when I was going to play. I can't say no to Tyler, right? Fortunately I recruited a local guitarist and open mic devotee David Grooveseeker Knickerbocker to play rhythm guitar so that I wasn't just up there by myself.

First off, I am much more comfortable playing in Irish sessions or contra dance jams because, well, you're not playing solo. In those settings multiple instruments are each playing the melody in unison, so if you flub or forget it doesn't really matter because someone else will still carry the melody forward. Also, unlike an open mic, a session is not really a performance. However, I looked at the open mic as an opportunity to showcase (force upon people) some obscure Caribbean style melodies that I've uncovered but rarely get a chance to play. So I chose three pieces that I know pretty well and David did an admirable job to learn the chords and play them with me.

The pieces I chose were Carnaval En Margarita, Entonement Meringue, and La Paloma Blanca.

Carnaval En Margarita comes from the 1990 CD Bonne Humeur by the Etcetera String Band, an obscure classic where this Mid-western string band reimagined early Creole/Caribbean dance music. Carnavel En Margarita was written by Lionel "Lanky" Belasco who was born in Venezuela around 1882 and grew up in Venezuela and Trinidad. Margarita is an island off the coast of Venzezuela. It's supposedly a paseo, although since I'm not really sure what a paseo is I'm not sure if my playing brings that out or not.

Entonement Meringue comes from the 1938 book Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston. The book included some musical notation, Entonement Meringue being one of them. Hurston credited the piece to an A. Herandez, although I have no idea who that is.

The third and final tune I performed was La Paloma Blanca, which comes from the playing of Southwestern fiddler Cleofes Ortiz, who was born in New Mexico in 1910. I've heard recordings of this tune as done by the Buckhannon Brothers: Curtis and Dennis Buckhannon and by The Rhythm Rangellers: Paul Rangell & Emily Abbink. I play a more simplified version.

This was fun and if I get up the nerve I might do it again! Below are some sheet music lead sheets that I created for these tunes. If you learn any of these, let me know!

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My Ideal Irish Session

My ideal Irish session is a little different than the norm. It would be open to players of all instruments, not just the instruments thought to be the standard Irish trad instruments. It wouldn’t just be jigs and reels, but would feature a broad variety of tune types including hornpipes, slides, polkas, slip-jigs, marches, mazurkas, waltzes, barn dances, and so on. And it wouldn’t be limited to just tunes from Ireland, Scotland, or England, but would expand to include melodies from North America and other places, much like the mixture of tunes found in the Portland Collection, for example.

The pace would be moderately fast, like jam session speed. Not super duper fast, but not slow either. Somewhere in between. The focus would be on playing by ear and memory rather than sheet music so that you can engage with and interact with your fellow musicians in the moment. Everyone would be encouraged to participate and play along with unfamiliar tunes, trying to pick up what you can. Tunes would be played in sets of 2, 3, or more, just like a regular Irish session, but instead of it always being three times through a tune, there would be the option to play it 4, 5, 6 or more times through before moving on.

The setting would be in a pub or café because it's fun to be able to have a beer or coffee or whatever your preference is during the session. Being in a public space adds an element of excitement and pressure that can be a good influence, although on the other hand no one is going to judge you if you make a mistake or flub a tune. If it’s a three hour session, maybe there’s a natural 5 to 10 minute break built in mid-way through to give everyone a breather.

The atmosphere would be loose, with everyone getting an opportunity to call tunes and lead them. If someone walked in with an instrument case, they would be immediately invited into the session. It wouldn’t have to be boom-boom-boom rapid fire one set of tunes after another. There would be time chatting and socializing. A natural ebb and flow. You’d get to know everyone’s name. There would be no strangers. There might even be the occasional song. One or two songs per evening is probably enough.

Musicians would be respected not just on their playing ability, but also on their ability to be a good “hang”. Someone fun to be around. Personality is just as important as chops, if not more so. The only people not welcome back would be those who are obviously just there to be a nuisance and disrupt the good time. No jerks or a-holes allowed.

Seating would be completely democratic, however, self awareness plays a role. If you’re still learning your instrument and are unable to contribute or participate as much as a seasoned fiddler, then it might be better to switch seats and allow the master fiddler to be better positioned than the newbie. Nobody is going to make you do this, but it’s the right thing to do.

The more the merrier. No one would be turned away due to max capacity. Space and a chair will almost always be found. And we won’t be super worried about duplication of instruments. Did two guitarists show up? OK, let’s see what that sounds like!!!

The repertoire would constantly be growing. New tunes would be introduced and passed around. Tune names would be shared. It wouldn’t just be the same old tunes, or same old sets week after week. You'd come prepared to lead something different than last time. Keep it fresh.

The type of etiquette that would be very important is no talking or side conversations while others are playing a tune. If, for whatever reason, you are sitting out a tune then don’t talk over the tune and by all means don’t look at your phone the whole time. You’re under the unspoken obligation to participate as a good, respectful listener even when not playing. That part should be obvious but it’s not.

If I think of anything else I’ll add it!

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Six Ways That Jerry Garcia Has Been An Influence on Me

In honor of Days Between, here's another Jerry Garcia themed post.

I'm a hobbyist, adult learner who plays in Irish sessions, so it would be a stretch to say that I have much musicality in common with Jerry Garcia. However, I would like to think that he's one of my biggest influences, at least in the following ways.

Melody
Jerry's playing is very melodic. Yes he is a master improviser who is always aware of the chords of the moment which is informing his note choices. But, you can almost always hear the foundation of the song's vocal melody line in any of his solos, even as he builds and builds to a higher crescendo with each chorus. I know of no other guitarist quite like this. When I finally chose to start playing music, I chose a style(s) of music such as Irish trad that was all-melody, all-the-time.

Choice of Instrument

If the text-book definition of guitar flatpicker means Tony Rice, Doc Watson, or Norman Blake, then I don't know if you'd strictly call Jerry a flatpicker, per se, but he definitely used a pick to pluck solos and melodic lines. He wasn't just a strummer or finger player. He was a picker. And before he was a guitarist, Jerry was an accomplished 5-string banjo player, a role he reprised in the early 70's while a member of the short-lived yet highly influential traditional bluegrass band Old and In the Way. When you look at it this way, my choice to play tenor banjo makes a little bit more sense. It's an instrument that's tuned like a mandolin, flatpicked like an acoustic guitar, but is indeed a banjo.

Play By Ear - Be In the Moment

Jerry was not an illiterate musician by any means. He would peruse guitar theory books as they came out, and I'm pretty sure he could read music if he needed to, but Jerry was by and large an ear player. If he could sing it or hum it he could play it and that was his preferred way of going about it. It's taken me a long, long time to come around to this way of thinking, but I'm starting to embrace that same philosophy and I'm trying to do the ear training to get there. I don't like sessions where people are looking at sheet music because there is no interaction between the musicians and nobody is listening to one another. I like sessions where people are active and engaged, listening and adapting that day's version of the tune, even if it is a tune like Out on the Ocean that you've played hundreds of times before. What's something new, some new intention, that you can bring to that tune today? I think that's the approach Jerry would take.

Never Play the Same Setlist Twice

The Grateful Dead, and to some extent The Jerry Garcia Band, were famous for never playing the same show once, let alone twice! Jerry was well practiced (he knew his scales which we'll get to in a moment), but he was refreshingly under rehearsed and ready to take chances even if that meant pulling out a song that he may or may not be ready to play. I'm kind of the same way in sessions. I don't like the same old sets of three tunes back to back for all time, although the Dead did have their own dependable "medleys" such as Scarlet/Fire and China/Rider. I also like to mix it up and I'm just as likely to call a tune that I don't really know yet as one that I have down pat. Fortunately, Irish sessions seem to have this spontaneity built into their format. There's never like a setlist for an Irish session. You never quite know what you're going to play or how you're going to fill the two or three hours. Even making one change, such as changing Morrison's > Kesh > Swallowtail to Lilting Banshee > Kesh > Swallowtail can breathe new life into a tired set of tunes. Like when the Dead would do Mississippi Half-Step into Franklin's Tower.

Scales and Modes

Jerry knew his scales and modes inside and out and was especially fond of the Mixolydian and Dorian modes found in the folk and traditional music that was a big influence on him. I also like dwelling in these worlds and fortunately the repertoire of tunes that get played in Irish sessions has a generous dose of Dorian and Mixolydian. I know that this is partly because of the limitations of diatonic instruments like the flute, whistle, and pipes, which dictates that a lot of tunes have to conform to the notes of the D-major and G-major scales like E-Dorian, A-Dorian, D-Mixolydian, and A-Mixolydian. Hey, I'll take it!

Less Is More - Be a Feel Player Not a Shredder

I strongly dislike the type of guitar playing known as shredding. I guess Jerry could shred too when he wanted to, but to me he's more a taste and feel player. Why play three notes when one note will work just fine? Jerry was more about having a musical conversation, letting the notes flow and tell a story. He wasn't just regurgitating licks and riffs. With that in mind, I try to approach "Irish" tenor banjo from a similar perspective. So much of what is mistaken for good banjo playing is just pyrotechnics and rapid fire notes. That doesn't appeal to me. Part of it is that I don't have the skills or technique to pull that kind of playing off. But another part is I don't like the sound of it. Sure a well played, well placed triplet sounds great, but you can quickly overdo it. Rather than wonder "how would a banjo player play this?", I sometimes think more along the lines of "how would a flute player play this?". A flautist has to take breaths, so their version of a tune is going to likely be more sparse and less notey by default. I think you can potentially make more beautiful music from a less is more approach. Leaving space between the notes. The space between.

Fun fact: This post was originally titled "Six Ways That Jerry Garcia Has Been An Influence on Me". When I finished writing the post I counted and it came out to six. I didn't even have to go back and revise the title.

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Irish Fixed Do Solfège - D instead of C

I used an AI prompt to create this image

Solfège is a musical system that uses distinct syllables for the notes in a scale (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti). A great thing about solfège is it relates everything back to the major scale. If you are a musician, the major scale has a sound you are probably already familiar with. Whenever a note is flatter than the major scale, the solfège syllable rhymes with "ay". Whenever a note is sharper than the major scale, the solfège syllable rhymes with "ee".

For example, normally note 4 of the major scale is Fa, as in Do, Re, Mi, Fa. However, when the four is sharpened, like in the Lydian mode, the Fa (fah) sound becomes Fi (fee). This made me wonder if the Phish song Fee had a sharp four and Google says yes, Fee by Phish features a sharp four chord in its harmonic progression. Very clever Trey Anastasio!

One type of solfège is fixed do solfège where each syllable is permanently assigned to a specific absolute pitch. Normally C is always Do, D is always Re, and E is always Mi, regardless of the key or musical context. However, as an ear training method for Irish trad, I thought it would be fun to base the fixed do around the note D since D plays such an important role in Irish trad. D being the lowest note on the D-whistle and Irish tunes being so fundamentally diatonic.

Doing it this way, D is always Do, E is always Re, F# is always Mi, G is always Fa, A is always So, B is always La, and C# is always Ti. The other notes you have to remember are F is Me (may), G# is Fi (fee), Bb is Le (lay), and C is Te (tay). Using this form of notation, the first two measures of Swallowtail Jig would be Fa-Re-Re, La-Re-Re, Fa-Re-Re, La-So-Fa.

D-Ionian (AKA the major scale, key signature two sharps)

D = Do (doh)

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E = Re (ray)

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F# = Mi (mee)

G = Fa (fah)

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A = So (so)

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B = La (lah)

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C# = Ti (tee)

D = Do (doh)

D-Dorian (flat 3, flat 7, key signature no sharps or flats)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

F = Me (may)

●

G = Fa (fah)

●

A = So (soh)

●

B = La (lah)

C = Te (tay)

●

D = Do (doh)

D-Lydian (sharp four, key signature 3 sharps)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

●

F# = Mi (mee)

●

G# = Fi (fee!)

A = So (soh)

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B = La (lah)

●

C# = Ti (tee)

D = Do (doh)

D-Mixolydian (flat 7, key signature one sharp)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

●

F# = Mi (mee)

G = Fa (fah)

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A = So (soh)

●

B = La (lah)

C = Te (tay)

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D = Do (doh)

D-Aeolian (flat3, flat 6, flat 7, key signature one flat)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

F = Me (may)

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G = Fa (fah)

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A = So (soh)

Bb = Le (lay)

●

C= Te (tay)

●

D = Do (doh)

D-Harmonic Minor (flat 3, flat 6)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

F = Me (may)

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G = Fa (fah)

●

A = So (soh)

Bb = Le (lay)

●

●

C# = Ti (tee)

D = Do (doh)

Here's an exercise my music teacher Brad Overton gave me. Find a D drone on YouTube and try playing and singing these scales over the D drone. When doing a scale other then the Ionian/major scale, listen for the "weirdness" of the notes highlighted above.

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My Grateful Dead Origin Story

The vinyl version of Reckoning contained the song Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie

I've written about this before, but my Grateful Dead origin story began in August 1992 when Eric Clapton's Unplugged CD came out. I was in the record store Digits on West Broad Street in Richmond to buy that Eric Clapton CD when the record clerk said "If you like that, you should check out the original unplugged, pre-MTV" and he handed me the Grateful Dead CD Reckoning, their live acoustic album culled from fall 1980 performances at The Warfield Theater and Radio City Music Hall. I got that CD then and there, and thus began my Grateful Dead journey.

Reckoning was a great way to jump into the Grateful Dead because it accustomed me the to the idea of live recordings and introduced me to their roots and influences. Not only did it have superb originals such as Dire Wolf, It Must Have Been the Roses, Cassidy, and Bird Song, but it also included covers and traditional songs such as The Race is On (country), Dark Hollow and Rosa Lee McFall (bluegrass), Been All Around this World (old-time/traditional), Jackaroe (Celtic folk), and Deep Elem Blues and On the Road Again (blues). This led me in all kinds of places as I started to check out artists ranging from Mississippi John Hurt to Elizabeth Cotton to Bill Monroe to Miles Davis and beyond. I was already interested in folk and Americana, but this really propelled that fascination.

The 2-CD live album simply called Jerry Garcia Band had recently come out (August 1991) so that was the first non-Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia CD that I got, followed shortly thereafter by the Garcia/Grisman CD Not for Kids Only and the self-titled CD by potent but short-lived bluegrass band Old and in the Way, featuring Garcia in a side-man role on banjo alongside Peter Rowan, David Grisman, John Kahn, and Vassar Clements. I also got the first New Riders of the Purple Sage CD since it had Jerry on steel guitar.

In 1992/1993, the idea of releasing entire, unabridged Grateful Dead or Jerry Garcia Band concerts song for song, warts and all, had not hit yet so unless you had tape trading connections you relied on the officially released live albums such as Without A Net which were almost always comprised of a la carte recordings from different live shows designed to emulate the flow of a live concert but not actually tracked start to finish from one show. For the first couple years this was my only option, although I would sometimes tape episodes of David Gans' The Grateful Dead Hour off the radio. It took a couple years, but I eventually started accumulating tapes via the kindness of Deadheads through blanks and postage, including the famous 5/8/77 Cornell and 8/27/72 Veneta Oregon shows. After I transferred from Longwood to VCU, all my college friends and I did was listen to Grateful Dead music!

I got to see the Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia live a total of 6 times from 1994 to 1995, however, my first actual Grateful Dead related concert was The Jerry Garcia Band on 11/18/93 at Richmond Coliseum. I went to it as a complete noob (my only companion was a mate from the golf team) but I thoroughly enjoyed the music. Honestly, 1994/1995 Grateful Dead was not that good, but 1993 Jerry Garcia Band could be transcendent! Go back and listen. Later on I would see the John Kadlecik version of Dark Star Orchestra many, many times, as well as The Other Ones and Furthur. None of it was quite the same without Jerry. I kind of closed the book on The Grateful Dead with the conclusion of the Fare The Well shows in 2015 so I didn't ever really get on board with Dead and Co.

I still like to listen to the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band every once in a while, but it doesn't completely dominate my listening and world view like it once did. I think that's a healthy way to go about it. Jerry Garcia remains my favorite musician of all time. Listening to him sing and play guitar is as good as music can get, in my view.

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My Takeaways After Reading DAILY RITUALS by Mason Currey

I've been reading the 2013 book Daily Rituals by Mason Currey. In the form of mini profiles, the author details the creative habits of writers, artists, composers, and other makers from the past couple hundred years or more. Everyone from Stephen King to Maya Angelou to Beethoven to Frank Lloyd Wright to Georgia O'Keeffe. The author scoured biographies, interviews, magazine articles, obituaries, and other sources to find descriptions of these daily routines. Not everyone was like this of course, but I did notice some common themes showing up again and again.

These artists and creative types...

-Are very routine oriented. They have very consistent and not very glamorous work habits.

-They don't wait for inspiration or the muse to strike. They show up every day and put in the work, honing their craft. Many have personal goals such as 2,000 words a day or three hours of dedicated focus.

-Most keep a strict schedule that varies very little from day to day, even going so far as to eat basically the same meals every day.

-They keep their plate clear so that there are not a lot of other interests or obligations competing for their time. They avoid things that would prevent them maintaining these daily patterns.

-They are often insomniacs or have trouble sleeping and use pills or other drugs to turn their mind off or on. Frequently they are also alcoholics or heavy drinkers. Sound familiar?

-They are totally dedicated to their art. It comes before everything else. Some are even guilt-ridden if they take a day "off".

-Even those who worked a 9 to 5 job on the side found time to be productive, perhaps with a concentrated three hours in the early morning before going to work, or from 8pm to 11pm after being at their day job.

-The repetition itself seems to be the important thing. It creates a pathway for one's mental energies to flow. 

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When I moved to the West Coast two years ago it totally disrupted my daily schedule - in a positive way for music practice and in a negative way for fitness and exercise. When I was living on the East Coast I didn't start work until 9am, and during the years of 2020 to 2024 I would exercise and strength train for about an hour every morning. I wasn't playing much music during this time but I got in the best shape of my life and lost over 40 pounds. 

Now that I am on the West Coast, my "9 to 5" is 6am to 2pm so now I get out of bed and immediately start working my day job. I don't set aside much time for banjo playing during the work day, but having afternoons off means that I've been able to keep a fairly consistent weekday practice schedule which allows me to put in an hour or two of dedicated music practice each afternoon. My practice consists mostly of learning and re-learning tunes while continuing to develop my ear. I don't work on technique or ornamentation all that much, except in the context of a tune. Because I go to a couple sessions each week, I can always think of tunes to better learn, re-learn, or review.

My West Coast Saturdays are actually pretty similar to how my East Coast Saturdays were. I try to keep weekend mornings entirely clear. My favorite way to start a Saturday is get up early and start working on music. I might play or practice anywhere from 7am to noon, with only a few breaks in between. It depends on whether I have any music sessions or jams that day. If I have a session or a jam to go to later that Saturday, I might limit my playing and practice time during the lead up so that I don't overdo it before going to the jam.

Sundays are pretty similar but I often play in a Sunday afternoon Irish session, so my Sunday mornings usually consist of a light practice session where I run through tunes I might want to play if called upon to lead or suggest a tune that day. I'm a list maker so I usually make a list of tunes before going to the session.

I think tune learning practice can be a form of creativity. Especially if you approach it with the routine of listening to an existing tune then creating a tune of your own that sounds like the existing tune. Rinse and repeat. You might start off with a version of the tune that doesn't share many notes with the source recording. Over time perhaps you can eventually match the source recording note for note. Or perhaps you simply trust your ear even though the notes you're playing may not be exactly as the tune is written. Once you have close to a 100% match, then you can veer off again, knowing that at any time you could go back to the original if/when you want to. I think it's as simple as that.