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Post by jack1982 on Jul 31, 2016 5:22:22 GMT -6
Sounding really nice Mick, I agree with Joachim it's very smooth and melodic but maybe just a bit in-anticipation-of-the-beat in places. With the really slow stuff you've gotta let that beat drag you along, like an old branch getting dragged down a lazy stream lol
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Post by bluesbruce on Jul 31, 2016 5:59:04 GMT -6
That's a nice sounding rhythm piece, Mick. Put Charlie into a very deep chill. I'm anxious to hear "Cheap Runs", too. That and "Driving Blues" were the one-two punch that knocked me right out of MBYCU...
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Post by blackcountrymick on Jul 31, 2016 15:35:24 GMT -6
Thanks guys, this was another great study to learn and only 5 more to finish the book, I only hope I have the staying power to get the graduation this time round . Joachim, I think you are right about being in front of the beat at times, I genuinely find it difficult to play behind the beat without it sounding like I'm trying to catch up, man, there's more to playing that laid back easy style than you think!!! I'm STILL working on "Cheap Runs", and moving on to "Jump Blues" and new skills to practice, loads of off beat upstrokes in this one......what fun!!!! EDIT: just started working on "Blues a la chord" also.
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Post by Phil on Jul 31, 2016 21:03:54 GMT -6
Thanks guys, this was another great study to learn and only 5 more to finish the book, I only hope I have the staying power to get the graduation this time round . Joachim, I think you are right about being in front of the beat at times, I genuinely find it difficult to play behind the beat without it sounding like I'm trying to catch up, man, there's more to playing that laid back easy style than you think!!! I'm STILL working on "Cheap Runs", and moving on to "Jump Blues" and new skills to practice, loads of off beat upstrokes in this one......what fun!!!! EDIT: just started working on "Blues a la chord" also. I had a hell of a time with the rhythm part of Jumpin' Blues. Maybe it'll be easier for you since you've been working hard on playing rhythm.
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Post by blackcountrymick on Aug 7, 2016 17:35:53 GMT -6
Cheap Runs - Lesson 3 - More Blues You Can Use
I was going to move on to the next study in MBYCU but I was not too happy to do this until I had got some sort of a work in progress video recorded of "Cheap Runs", so here it is, this is where I am now with this study, a long way to go yet to get it anywhere near good enough, hopefully I will improve enough to record a better version.
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Post by Phil on Aug 7, 2016 19:33:02 GMT -6
Mick, I have to congratulate you for having the courage to post an in progress video of this particular study. This is an extremely difficult study for guys at our level to play in time and smoothly at full tempo. Nobody, to date, has ever uploaded a good version of this including a quite accomplished guitarist who has a version up on youtube. I'm not going to point out your flaws. You already know the parts that are giving you trouble and you said you recorded this just to document where you're at right now. However, I might be able to give you some useful tips even though I have yet to record a version that I'm happy with. This tune isn't fast. It's only around 74 bpms, but you're required to play anywhere from 6 to 9 notes per beats which makes it incredibly fast unless you're a highly skilled thrasher. The #1 problem for me was (and is) playing these notes evenly and smoothly. You can't count out 9 notes in a single beat. So, what do you do? You slow it down to the point where you can count out the notes in each beat. For example, take that triplet within a triplet (I don't even know what to call that) on beat 3 of bar 2. Forget the pickup notes at the end of beat 2. Just play the notes of beat 3. Play it as 3 triplets tapping your foot on the 1st note of each triplet. Play it over and over gradually increasing the speed. Get your picking direction sorted out and then don't vary it. I found that up picking the 1st string and down picking the 2nd string works best for me. I'm alternate picking - up on 1st string down on 2nd string. Relax your fretting. Now repeat that 10,000 times. When you are able to play this at a pretty good pace add in the 1st note of beat 4 as a target note. I treated the slide from fret 8 to 10 as one note with the 8 fret being a ghost note. In other words I land on fret ten right on the beat. I don't know how the hell to play it exactly as written. So, here's what you got - triplet triplet triplet target note. Treat it as 4 beats and tap your foot on each one. Eventually, when you get it up to speed you'll tap your foot on beat 3, play the nine notes evenly, and land smack dab on the 10th fret of the E string on beat 4. Do basically the same thing for each of the runs. Strip them down, play very them very slowly and evenly, and really focus on hitting the 1st note of the next beat right on the beat. I hope this helps you and anybody else working on this study and that I'm not coming across as some kind of know-it-all. I've seriously considered doing a video on the way I'm approaching this study, but I thought that might be a bit pretentious and presumptuous given my current playing abilities.
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Post by bluesbruce on Aug 7, 2016 21:39:00 GMT -6
Wow, Mick, I thought that sounded pretty darned good. I think Phil has some good points about it - especially getting your picking sorted out and not varying it. You know, this study and "Drivin' Blues" drove me right out of MBYCU, but I'm still thinking of this as a temporary step away. But I think this study may be like a lot of those Johnny Norris acoustic tunes - you could spend a very long time getting it up to that kind of speed. These MBYCU studies, though, did make me realize that playing fast is definitely a skill I do not possess at this time, and that it will take some work to develop that ability. I think you're wise to say "this is where I am now and I'm moving on". That doesn't mean you're throwing in the towel on learning this kind of "cheap run", just that you're moving on to working on something else as well.
Mick, I think your playing is top notch on that, but watching your video, it gives me the optical illusion that Charlie's head is sitting on top of your lead guitarist's shoulders. I'm sorry, but watching the video made me laugh, and I couldn't put that thought out of my mind.
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Post by Phil on Aug 7, 2016 22:49:02 GMT -6
Wow, Mick, I thought that sounded pretty darned good. I think Phil has some good points about it - especially getting your picking sorted out and not varying it. You know, this study and "Drivin' Blues" drove me right out of MBYCU, but I'm still thinking of this as a temporary step away. But I think this study may be like a lot of those Johnny Norris acoustic tunes - you could spend a very long time getting it up to that kind of speed. These MBYCU studies, though, did make me realize that playing fast is definitely a skill I do not possess at this time, and that it will take some work to develop that ability. I think you're wise to say "this is where I am now and I'm moving on". That doesn't mean you're throwing in the towel on learning this kind of "cheap run", just that you're moving on to working on something else as well. Mick, I think your playing is top notch on that, but watching your video, it gives me the optical illusion that Charlie's head is sitting on top of your lead guitarist's shoulders. I'm sorry, but watching the video made me laugh, and I couldn't put that thought out of my mind. I agree 100%. Nobody should stay stuck on any of these studies. The fact of the matter is, unlike BYCU, MBYCU is not organized by degree of difficulty. "Cheap Runs" is one of the most difficult in the book.
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Post by jack1982 on Aug 8, 2016 5:33:56 GMT -6
Pretty darned nice work in progress Mick! You're getting there! Phil made a lot of good points, I'd just add that I think it's best to always practice at a tempo you can play the song comfortably at; push it a bit of course, but as long as you're practicing playing it well then it will slowly get easier and you can move on to a slightly higher tempo. This song is just ridiculously hard and I admire your efforts!
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Post by blackcountrymick on Aug 8, 2016 15:08:47 GMT -6
Thanks guys, lots of good and appreciated advice here. As my YT account is supposed to be a record of my progress (or not) its perhaps useful to record the difficult lessons or stumbling blocks as well. As you have all said before MBYCU is a real tough cookie to crack and requires lots of work. Bruce, as soon as I saw the vid after rendering I thought exactly the same as you regarding Charlies head on my shoulders, made me laugh as well . Onwards and upwards!!!
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Post by blackcountrymick on Sept 17, 2016 17:06:12 GMT -6
Jump Blues in Ab - Lesson 17 - Blues Rhythms You Can Use.I decided to jump back to the rhythm book as there are only a few lessons left to do to get a book graduation , then I will have to decide on the Jazz or R & B book. The sync isn't quite spot on but I think its close enough, plus one or two strum pattern flubs but good enough to share and move on I hope.
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Post by joachim on Sept 18, 2016 3:34:21 GMT -6
That was pretty darn good, Mick. Flawless until the last couple of strums, grrr Thanks for sharing - I am looking forward to the last couple of songs!
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Post by jack1982 on Sept 18, 2016 5:19:07 GMT -6
I think you did a nice job on that Mick, it seems like a challenging one to keep in good time but for the most part I think you nailed it. Love that little chord at the end, it makes such a nice contrast to the rest of the song.
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Post by Phil on Sept 18, 2016 7:24:56 GMT -6
Nice timing there, Mick. I probably spend more time surfing the web and watching various guitar lessons than I do practicing, and it seems that playing in time is a major problem with many people. In fact, it appears to be the #1 problem. Well, you don't have that problem.
I like how John G. works in playing the same chords in 2 different areas of the neck. They're the same chords, but the different voicings give 2 very distinctive sounds. Also, the 1/2 step into the chords spices up an otherwise mundane progression. This is the kind of stuff that you can use in your playing immediately,
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Post by blackcountrymick on Sept 20, 2016 17:07:41 GMT -6
Rockin' Boogie in A - Lesson 18 - Blues Rhythms You Can Use.If this don't get the old foot a tappin' nothing will !!!
Just 3 more to book graduation
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Post by joachim on Sept 21, 2016 0:25:58 GMT -6
Nice done, Mick! That didn't take you long to get that one polished - very nicely played!
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Post by Phil on Sept 21, 2016 16:05:25 GMT -6
Nice playing, Mick. Now you're all warmed up for "8-Bar Boogie" in MBYCU
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Post by jack1982 on Sept 22, 2016 5:19:18 GMT -6
Nice job Mick, and a very cool song too!
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Post by blackcountrymick on Sept 26, 2016 3:53:57 GMT -6
Lead Rhythm in C - Lesson 19 - Blues Rhythms You Can Use.
So here's lesson 19, nearly there... There appears to be a problem with the video rendering, there was quite a large windows 10 upgrade yesterday which has caused a few program clashes, I may have to do a reinstall of Sony Vegas.
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Post by jack1982 on Sept 26, 2016 5:35:51 GMT -6
Great job Mick! that's my favorite song in the book and I loved what you did with it! Fantastic guitar sound too. You're not the only one having problems with Windows 10 - my Logitech webcam software quit working completely. I wasted Saturday night and Sunday morning trying to take advantage of Microsoft's promise that I could revert back to my previous operating system - which was a lie - I've still got Windows 10. At least my webcam works now, but who knows what surprises await me when I try to make another video One of these days I'll do a nice clean install of Windows 7 and that will be that.
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