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Post by Phil on Mar 22, 2020 9:05:52 GMT -6
Well, another week has slid by and I didn't record a video.  I've been focused on completing some solos on songs where I had little bits and pieces of solos but not a complete solo. The typical Jazz standard is 32 bars long. That's 2.5 times longer than a 12-bar Blues and I have a hard time with 12 bars let alone 32. I'm not talking about improvising. I'm talking about "composing" a solo. Taking bits from other people and combining them with my own ideas. So I now have solos for 6 of the 20 standards I have memorized. I'm assuming that if I continue doing this it will become easier and eventually morph into being able to improvise. Maybe in my next life.  I hope everyone is staying healthy and gets through this current pandemic unscathed. |
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Post by cunningr on Mar 22, 2020 9:26:56 GMT -6
Hi all, first off apologies for not getting the challenge posted. I did start work on it, but do to situation here in Spain just cant focus, pretty scary, they are extending the stay home order for additional 2 weeks.
So make sure you guys are social distancing this is no joke.
I have been working on same stuff a little but as mentioned no focus.
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Post by bluesbruce on Mar 22, 2020 10:29:35 GMT -6
Socially isolating here, for sure. Picked up my guitar, tried to play the "beginner studies" at the start of BYCU. Pretty rusty, for sure. I think it'll come back, if I just get back into playing regularly.
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Post by joachim on Mar 22, 2020 10:47:19 GMT -6
I have being doing a lot of arpeggio and triad exercises, playing over i-V-I progressions etc.
Something I ought to be better at, but I realized I wasn't - not by a long-shot.
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Post by jack1982 on Mar 22, 2020 15:19:44 GMT -6
I'm still working on my Albert King licks. I've got most of them to the point where I can play them "satisfactorily" and now I'm arranging them into a solo. There are 14 licks and of course some naturally lead into other ones, and others very obviously don't lol. Got a Blues Driver pedal and I'm liking it quite a bit. More bass than the Tube Screamer, and the Tube Screamer seems to make it sound like there's a blanket over the amp, which the Blues Driver doesn't. Also bought a new 10' guitar cable which doesn't work  |
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Post by Marc on Mar 23, 2020 6:12:56 GMT -6
I had a really successful week. I spent some quality time with the guitar. I've been stuck on BYCU lesson 9 Getting Funky for a couple of weeks. I pretty much have it nailed on the slow tempo. On the normal tempo there are a couple of areas of work. My fingers just don't seem to want to do what I tell them.
I also picked up Jazzin' the blues. A big thanks to Phil for helping me track down the backing tracks since the CD was missing.
Since I'm one books closer to having the complete John Ganapes collection, I decided to switch gears and work on the first lesson in Blues Rhythms you can use and of course Jazzin' the blues. I really think that is what helped get over the Getting Funky hump.
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Post by cunningr on Mar 23, 2020 13:04:20 GMT -6
I'm still working on my Albert King licks. I've got most of them to the point where I can play them "satisfactorily" and now I'm arranging them into a solo. There are 14 licks and of course some naturally lead into other ones, and others very obviously don't lol. Got a Blues Driver pedal and I'm liking it quite a bit. More bass than the Tube Screamer, and the Tube Screamer seems to make it sound like there's a blanket over the amp, which the Blues Driver doesn't. Also bought a new 10' guitar cable which doesn't work Those Blues driver pedals sound nice, i have a keeley moded one my go to pedal. Because of the things you pointed out. you breaking any strings with those Albert King licks I broke like three high E strings while we did some of his stuff. Made me go to 10s |
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Post by jack1982 on Mar 23, 2020 16:21:31 GMT -6
I'm still working on my Albert King licks. I've got most of them to the point where I can play them "satisfactorily" and now I'm arranging them into a solo. There are 14 licks and of course some naturally lead into other ones, and others very obviously don't lol. Got a Blues Driver pedal and I'm liking it quite a bit. More bass than the Tube Screamer, and the Tube Screamer seems to make it sound like there's a blanket over the amp, which the Blues Driver doesn't. Also bought a new 10' guitar cable which doesn't work Those Blues driver pedals sound nice, i have a keeley moded one my go to pedal. Because of the things you pointed out. you breaking any strings with those Albert King licks I broke like three high E strings while we did some of his stuff. Made me go to 10s Funny you should ask  I put a new set of .009's on and went through 4 high E strings, now I put some .010's on and so far I've only broken one. |
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Post by cunningr on Mar 24, 2020 10:27:11 GMT -6
Those Blues driver pedals sound nice, i have a keeley moded one my go to pedal. Because of the things you pointed out. you breaking any strings with those Albert King licks I broke like three high E strings while we did some of his stuff. Made me go to 10s Funny you should ask I put a new set of .009's on and went through 4 high E strings, now I put some .010's on and so far I've only broken one. Yeah glad it wasn't just my technique lol. I need to order a couple new sets but mail isnt moving here. Its like a science fiction novel. |
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Post by grampalerxst on Mar 26, 2020 4:48:19 GMT -6
Late to the party but doing well.
I've decided to experiment with changing how I hold my pick, so now I can't play anything. The change is in how I orient the index finger of my picking hand so that I hold it more conventionally. It changes how I employ my wrist and forearm. I'm going to work with the new grip a little every day until the end of April and reassess.
I don't bend much beyond a minor third and it's been a long time since I had a string break. I use mostly use Ernie Ball Paradigms and D'Addario NY XLs, .010s. I went through a rash of string breaks (coincidentally around the time I was working on Bending the Blues, and that caused me to stop using Elixir strings for a while. My operating hypothesis is that there was just a few bad batches of them out there for a while. The breaks were occurring mid-string, not near the bridge or nut. A year later or so I put a set of Elixirs on one of my guitars and they've held up.
Next set I'm going to try .009s, based on a video of Rick Beato's I watched. The conclusion of the video is that gauges lighter than .010 have advantages for rock-style playing in that there is less lower-midrange frequency that need to be eq'd/tone stacked out for the sake of avoiding a muddy overdriven sound. Thought I'd give it a try and see if I concur.
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Post by jack1982 on Mar 26, 2020 5:56:00 GMT -6
Late to the party but doing well. I've decided to experiment with changing how I hold my pick, so now I can't play anything. The change is in how I orient the index finger of my picking hand so that I hold it more conventionally. It changes how I employ my wrist and forearm. I'm going to work with the new grip a little every day until the end of April and reassess. I don't bend much beyond a minor third and it's been a long time since I had a string break. I use mostly use Ernie Ball Paradigms and D'Addario NY XLs, .010s. I went through a rash of string breaks (coincidentally around the time I was working on Bending the Blues, and that caused me to stop using Elixir strings for a while. My operating hypothesis is that there was just a few bad batches of them out there for a while. The breaks were occurring mid-string, not near the bridge or nut. A year later or so I put a set of Elixirs on one of my guitars and they've held up. Next set I'm going to try .009s, based on a video of Rick Beato's I watched. The conclusion of the video is that gauges lighter than .010 have advantages for rock-style playing in that there is less lower-midrange frequency that need to be eq'd/tone stacked out for the sake of avoiding a muddy overdriven sound. Thought I'd give it a try and see if I concur. A lot of the string breaks I had with the Albert King stuff (with the .009's) were mid-string, though when I switched to .010's, that break was at the bridge. I think it's mostly the aggressiveness of King's playing, you're not doing pretty little bends - you're jamming that SOB up a full step right this instant lol. For me at least, that leads to a very heavy-handed playing style and lots of string breaks. I even switched from my normal Jazz III extra large picks to some .73 mm nylon picks, because with the thicker Jazz III's I was picking so hard that everything on the high E string had a ton of fret buzz. |
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Post by Marc on Mar 26, 2020 6:36:10 GMT -6
Late to the party but doing well. I've decided to experiment with changing how I hold my pick, so now I can't play anything. The change is in how I orient the index finger of my picking hand so that I hold it more conventionally. It changes how I employ my wrist and forearm. I'm going to work with the new grip a little every day until the end of April and reassess. I don't bend much beyond a minor third and it's been a long time since I had a string break. I use mostly use Ernie Ball Paradigms and D'Addario NY XLs, .010s. I went through a rash of string breaks (coincidentally around the time I was working on Bending the Blues, and that caused me to stop using Elixir strings for a while. My operating hypothesis is that there was just a few bad batches of them out there for a while. The breaks were occurring mid-string, not near the bridge or nut. A year later or so I put a set of Elixirs on one of my guitars and they've held up. Next set I'm going to try .009s, based on a video of Rick Beato's I watched. The conclusion of the video is that gauges lighter than .010 have advantages for rock-style playing in that there is less lower-midrange frequency that need to be eq'd/tone stacked out for the sake of avoiding a muddy overdriven sound. Thought I'd give it a try and see if I concur. A lot of the string breaks I had with the Albert King stuff (with the .009's) were mid-string, though when I switched to .010's, that break was at the bridge. I think it's mostly the aggressiveness of King's playing, you're not doing pretty little bends - you're jamming that SOB up a full step right this instant lol. For me at least, that leads to a very heavy-handed playing style and lots of string breaks. I even switched from my normal Jazz III extra large picks to some .73 mm nylon picks, because with the thicker Jazz III's I was picking so hard that everything on the high E string had a ton of fret buzz. I want break some strings....sounds like y'all are having fun with the Albert King stuff.
I was going to ask if anyone used the Jazz III picks. I picked up some eric johnson signature to try out. I love them.
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Post by grampalerxst on Mar 26, 2020 8:53:38 GMT -6
I use three types of picks, the generic tortex Jazz III, The ~1 mm size Dunlop Flow (plastic), and old school Fender Medium. My favorite is the Fender Medium turned sorta sideways like SRV used them. But that's not suitable for some things. Best guess is I'll ultimately drop the Jazz IIIs in favor of the Dunlop Flow. It seems like a better all-around tool for non-jazz-style playing.
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Post by Phil on Mar 26, 2020 8:56:17 GMT -6
Late to the party but doing well. I've decided to experiment with changing how I hold my pick, so now I can't play anything. The change is in how I orient the index finger of my picking hand so that I hold it more conventionally. It changes how I employ my wrist and forearm. I'm going to work with the new grip a little every day until the end of April and reassess. I don't bend much beyond a minor third and it's been a long time since I had a string break. I use mostly use Ernie Ball Paradigms and D'Addario NY XLs, .010s. I went through a rash of string breaks (coincidentally around the time I was working on Bending the Blues, and that caused me to stop using Elixir strings for a while. My operating hypothesis is that there was just a few bad batches of them out there for a while. The breaks were occurring mid-string, not near the bridge or nut. A year later or so I put a set of Elixirs on one of my guitars and they've held up. Next set I'm going to try .009s, based on a video of Rick Beato's I watched. The conclusion of the video is that gauges lighter than .010 have advantages for rock-style playing in that there is less lower-midrange frequency that need to be eq'd/tone stacked out for the sake of avoiding a muddy overdriven sound. Thought I'd give it a try and see if I concur. Nice to see somebody else here who watches Rick Beato. He often has trouble explaining the basics. His mind is racing ahead and he gets off topic too easily. However, his "What makes this song great" series is absolutely fascinating to me. He also has done some great interviews and doesn't ask any dumb questions. His knowledge of music production and music theory is mind boggling. He's also a damn good guitarist. |
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Post by Phil on Mar 26, 2020 9:08:17 GMT -6
I want break some strings....sounds like y'all are having fun with the Albert King stuff.
I was going to ask if anyone used the Jazz III picks. I picked up some eric johnson signature to try out. I love them.
When I first got back into playing guitar I used Jazz III because Eric Johnson used them. Eventually I decided I didn't like such a small pick even though I have small, skinny hands. I went to a Gypsy Jazz style pick for a long time and then settled on a Dunlop (1.5 with an Alligator on it).
About 1.5 years ago I dropped the pick (literally) and now play exclusively with my fingers. Playing with fingers only has advantages and also some big disadvantages, but I'm trying to make it work.
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Post by cunningr on Mar 26, 2020 11:03:50 GMT -6
A lot of the string breaks I had with the Albert King stuff (with the .009's) were mid-string, though when I switched to .010's, that break was at the bridge. I think it's mostly the aggressiveness of King's playing, you're not doing pretty little bends - you're jamming that SOB up a full step right this instant lol. For me at least, that leads to a very heavy-handed playing style and lots of string breaks. I even switched from my normal Jazz III extra large picks to some .73 mm nylon picks, because with the thicker Jazz III's I was picking so hard that everything on the high E string had a ton of fret buzz. I want break some strings....sounds like y'all are having fun with the Albert King stuff.
I was going to ask if anyone used the Jazz III picks. I picked up some eric johnson signature to try out. I love them.
I used to use jazz picks and like point for lead work, but now I use .88 dunlop tortex green. But i ordered strings today and a pack those picks with a gator on it a bit stiffer but I think they have some grip on them. |
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Post by joachim on Mar 26, 2020 14:00:56 GMT -6
A lot of the string breaks I had with the Albert King stuff (with the .009's) were mid-string, though when I switched to .010's, that break was at the bridge. I think it's mostly the aggressiveness of King's playing, you're not doing pretty little bends - you're jamming that SOB up a full step right this instant lol. For me at least, that leads to a very heavy-handed playing style and lots of string breaks. I even switched from my normal Jazz III extra large picks to some .73 mm nylon picks, because with the thicker Jazz III's I was picking so hard that everything on the high E string had a ton of fret buzz. I want break some strings....sounds like y'all are having fun with the Albert King stuff.
I was going to ask if anyone used the Jazz III picks. I picked up some eric johnson signature to try out. I love them.
I use those picks also, almost from when I started playing. I remember I struggled getting a good sound strumming chords with those thicker picks, but now I don't think about it. |
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Post by bluesbruce on Mar 27, 2020 6:37:43 GMT -6
About 1.5 years ago I dropped the pick (literally) and now play exclusively with my fingers. Playing with fingers only has advantages and also some big disadvantages, but I'm trying to make it work.
Phil, I hope when you dropped the pick, that it didn't go inside the sound hole! Man I used to hate that. Back in my previous life, I used to play acoustic finger style only - couldn't play with a pick to save my life. Now after years of neglect, I can't play with either a pick or with my fingers! There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to each. Of course, now I realize you need to be able to play BOTH ways (and to hybrid pick, as well...). Oh, and +1 to Rick Beato. He's a fountain of knowledge. I also love the What Makes This Song Great series. |
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I put a new set of .009's on and went through 4 high E strings, now I put some .010's on and so far I've only broken one. 