I start out with some key ideas scribbled on the notebook on the left. Then I start mocking it up on the big pad on the right, fleshing out some of the shorthanded ideas.
Then I enter every note and marking into a music notation software called Finale. I think it's so helpful to visualize the fingerboard for these etudes, so I'm also making up dozens of fingerboard diagrams in Photoshop that get inserted into the Finale notation pages.
I'm also creating audio backing tracks for the etudes. Getting some help on some of the cooler grooves from my in-house producer,
Toby Beats
.
