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Post by perfopt on Mar 15, 2014 6:36:03 GMT -6
Hi
I am a beginner working my way through BYCU. I have gotten till Lesson 8 and so far the lessons have been very interesting.
Every lesson teaches some theory, chords, scales, and finally (my favourite) a small musical piece. But the chords are rarely used in the piece - the background music uses the chords but not what what I have to play (i.e. the tab notation).
Am I missing something, should I be practicing the chord progression also?
Thanks
Perfopt
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Post by grampalerxst on Mar 15, 2014 7:41:13 GMT -6
Your observation is correct. In my mind the main thrust of the curriculum is the study pieces, and the scales/chords are background material to help contextualize the musical pieces as well as providing more well-rounded technical development. That may not be what Mr. G intended, but it's how things seem to work for me. There's nothing wrong with trying to work out the BYCU rhythm parts, but I don't believe it's "mandatory". If you stick with the series the chords/rhythm ideas become more prominent in More Blues You Can Use and Blues Rhythms You Can Use. The latter I'm working in parallel with BYCU, the former I own and have thumbed through, but haven't started working yet--it's a bit out of my reach technically at this stage.
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Post by bluesbruce on Mar 15, 2014 14:45:12 GMT -6
Ditto what grampa said. There are a few rhythm type parts presented toward the end of BYCU, but BRYCU is MUCH more dedicated to playing rhythm parts. I didn't do them in tandem, but that's an interesting approach. I don't think there's a right or wrong way. I think John G. has usually suggested to do BYCU first.
Bruce
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JohnG
Full Member
Posts: 193
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Post by JohnG on Mar 16, 2014 11:01:30 GMT -6
This is a very interesting discussion. I see that there is an omission in BYCU in that the chords and progression sections don't really relate to the studies. I didn't think they needed to be when I wrote the book. That wasn't the concept. Now I see that it would have been a very good idea. I will have to work on this new concept, and hopefully come up with s set of rhythm studies that will work with the tunes in the book. Stay tuned.
Thank you for this.
JG
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Post by perfopt on Mar 18, 2014 20:08:07 GMT -6
JohnG - I did not realise that this is the username of the author!! :-)
One bit I keep reading online,with regard to soloing, is that I should be paying the notes in the chord currently being played for it to sound "legit". There are sometimes conflicting suggestions that you dont *always* have to play the same notes as the chord. I have never understood this right so when I solo over a background track, assuming I figure out the progression, I play the same scale but it never really sounds as good as more accomplished players. Almost like there is a secret blues player code that has to be learnt and cannot be "taught" ;-).
As I work through each lesson I keep checking to see if the notes in the tab match the notes of the chords in the backing track. So far it looks like there is some overlap but there are some notes that are not part of the chords. Such notes still sound good, so there must be more to this than what I have read.
It would be great if you could include some information that connects the solo with the backing track.
In the meanwhile I am planning to learn how to play the chords and progressions in every lesson in addition to the music piece.
Thanks for writing this series, I am enjoying the journey.
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