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Post by bluesbruce on Mar 29, 2020 9:17:18 GMT -6
Been isolating at home, which has led to more guitar playing - so at least something good has come of all this... I'm trying to pick up BYCU as a means to get back into playing some. Work has been sort of irregular, and of course the gym has been closed. Unfortunately, my calluses are not up to very much "Bending The Blues" and "Bends, Slides, and Shifts" - so I can only take so much time of this. Anyway, I'm going to try to keep after it. Hope everyone and their family is staying health and free of all of this corona virus stuff.
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Post by jack1982 on Mar 29, 2020 12:00:31 GMT -6
Didn't get much practicing in this week - I "finished" that Albert King challenge and once that was done, well...I got lazy lol. My new project is going to be recording a version of "Stormy Monday", I've got the bass line in one of my bass books and found a Marty Schwartz video on YouTube where he goes through the chords. I thought I might steal some licks from "Makin' Changes" in More BYCU to use for the solo.
Anyhow here's the Albert King thing, this is all the licks that were taught, with one of them played about 3 times. It's funny, the first lick is very similar to the lick in bars 3, 11 and 24 of "Makin' Changes" even though the styles are entirely different.
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Post by wannaplayblues on Mar 29, 2020 14:46:02 GMT -6
Well, my gig was cancelled - and my band can't rehearse. I'm isolating as much as possible and working from home during the week, but evenings are free, so I signed up to another site that offers weekly lessons. Picked one and made an effort to learn and play it. Here's my efforts:
I'll be continuing with these weekly lessons. Perhaps one a week, maybe...
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Post by cunningr on Mar 29, 2020 15:35:52 GMT -6
Well practice spotty for me, but got at 3 or 4 hours in working on Chill Out. I have the bits and pieces but not quite able to play the entire song.
Nice playin Jack!
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Post by cunningr on Mar 29, 2020 15:39:55 GMT -6
Well, my gig was cancelled - and my band can't rehearse. I'm isolating as much as possible and working from home during the week, but evenings are free, so I signed up to another site that offers weekly lessons. Picked one and made an effort to learn and play it. Here's my efforts: I'll be continuing with these weekly lessons. Perhaps one a week, maybe... Great playing! I am same boat working from home. I have a membership on that site but really dont take enough advantage from it. |
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Post by blackcountrymick on Mar 29, 2020 16:32:50 GMT -6
Well, I've pretty much finished reviewing the stetina rhythm and Rock books up to where I left off a good while ago. I'm now into new territory and ready to start lesson 8 from the Total Rock book "Strummer". There's both rhythm and lead parts to play on this one. I really enjoyed listening to your music postings Jack and WPB, made me realise its been over 2 years since I did any recording, I think I may have forgotten how to set up my gear and use the software  . This could be interesting!!! EDIT: I forgot to say Troy Stetina has a new website with loads of interesting stuff regarding practicing etc. Stay safe guys. |
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Post by Phil on Mar 29, 2020 23:22:43 GMT -6
Nice playing Jack and WPB. Good to see somebody uploading videos. Let's see who posts a video first - me or Mick. My money is on Mick.  Jack, is that based on "Crosscut Saw"? I used to listen to a lot of Albert King. There's a great video of him and Stevie Ray Vaughn where they just push each other to the limit. Terrific playing by both of them. King was not going to let Stevie upstage him. I've been working a lot on my rhythm playing and still struggling to play some solos. It's very frustrating when I can't even play a solo that I put together. On a brighter note - me and the guy I get together with are starting to sound halfway decent. All of a sudden things started to come together this week on a couple of songs. I'm trying to talk him into doing a video with me but he's not too keen on the idea. I guess he doesn't want to tarnish his reputation.  |
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Post by joachim on Mar 30, 2020 1:06:23 GMT -6
Nice playing Jack and WPB, I enjoyed both of those. I am still working on ii-V-I progressions, arpeggios, etc.
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Post by Marc on Mar 30, 2020 3:26:46 GMT -6
I am still on BYCU lesson 9 "Gegging Funky". I have it nailed at the slow speed, but full tempo seems impossible. I keep telling my self that my guitar progress is a marathon and not a sprint. Sometimes I just want to take a pill. Though BYCU lesson 9 is my focus, when I get frustrated I have been doing some other lessons as a distraction. namely, Jazzin' the blues lesson 1, blues rhythms lesson 1 and 2.
I topped off my BYCU collections with Jazzin' the blues and Rhythm and Blues you can use this week and picked up some special cables to run my amp direct into my Audio Interface for recording in the quiet. I would like to try making some videos like some of you. What kind of setup do you have. I considered just using my phone or laptop webcam.
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Post by wannaplayblues on Mar 30, 2020 5:04:54 GMT -6
... and picked up some special cables to run my amp direct into my Audio Interface for recording in the quiet. I would like to try making some videos like some of you. What kind of setup do you have. I considered just using my phone or laptop webcam.
For the audio you have several ways to record your tone: - Stick a microphone in front of the amp. This is a bit harder as you'll pick up background noise and mic placement + type of mic will all affect the end tone recorded.
- Headphone jack of amp. Most modern modeling amps have a headphone jack for practice - you can simply cable this direct into your PC and DAW and record it without background sound. The headphone jack will usually emulate cab effects too.
- Use amp modelling software on the pc. Plug the guitar via USB to the PC amp software, create your tone and effects - then direct the audio to your DAW.
- Multi-effects pedal out. This is how I do it. I setup the tone I want with my multi-effects unit (amp, cab, effects, etc) and then take this output via USB into the DAW and record. I use a FREE powerful, feature rich DAW called Ardour (ardour.org/)
Your DAW* is where you pull in your backing tracks, record your tone and mix the two so they sound balanced and blended together. You can also use it for post recording effects too - like added reverb, delays, etc. It's the output of the DAW that you need to hear when recording. Most of us use headphones to do this - but powerful speakers are fine too if your amp isn't too loud.
When it comes to the video: You can use anything you want, but I HIGHLY recommend an auto-focus USB HD web camera and plug it into your PC to record. Mine was about $50 on Amazon and you can see the results on my posting above. It's affordable to me, and I'm not aiming for movie quality cameramanship  The camera or PC mic is NOT used for your guitar recording audio! Any audio picked up by your camera recording you can ignore.
Composition: At some point you have to export the recorded audio (which has been recorded seperately to the video) from your DAW to a file (mp3, WAV, etc) and import it into software that can sync the video and music. This is where you are essentially "editing" (like in the movies) and add your title cards, etc. It's fun and can be fiddly at times. You'll need software for this. I use Adobe Premier Pro as I use this for bits at work. However, there are FREE alternatives! OpenShot ( www.openshot.org/) is VERY powerful - I've used it in the past. Whatever software you use - it'll export the final video (mp4, HD mpeg, etc) which you then upload to Youtube or similar.
It's fun! But then first time you do it, have a Saturday set aside while you learn the software and pieceing it all together. I'd suggest recording a 20 second bit of rhythm, then try to make a video out of it to learn it all and see what works for you.
Enjoy!
*DAW = Digital Audio Workstation
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Post by bluesbruce on Mar 30, 2020 7:24:34 GMT -6
I am still on BYCU lesson 9 "Gegging Funky". I have it nailed at the slow speed, but full tempo seems impossible. I keep telling my self that my guitar progress is a marathon and not a sprint. Sometimes I just want to take a pill. Though BYCU lesson 9 is my focus, when I get frustrated I have been doing some other lessons as a distraction. namely, Jazzin' the blues lesson 1, blues rhythms lesson 1 and 2. I topped off my BYCU collections with Jazzin' the blues and Rhythm and Blues you can use this week and picked up some special cables to run my amp direct into my Audio Interface for recording in the quiet. I would like to try making some videos like some of you. What kind of setup do you have. I considered just using my phone or laptop webcam. Marc, I think Wannaplay gave you some solid advice regarding video making (which I highly recommend you to do). I would also add that good lighting is an absolute must if you want any quality to your video images, and you can find boat loads of Youtube videos about this topic. Even if you end up buying some lighting, this can be done very inexpensively. What I really wanted to comment on was the first part of your message - having "Getting Funky" nailed at slow speed, but full tempo seems impossible. My sage advice to you in this situation would be to move on and NOT to spend any inordinate amount of time or effort on "getting up to speed" with a study. That said, the ability to play faster WILL NOT magically occur without applying some slow, steady pressure to it. I think this exact issue can become a huge source of frustration for a developing guitarist. I'd suggest you do one of two things with this study: (1) incorporate playing it once (and only once) every day at your top tempo and then once more at a couple of BPM faster into your daily practice, or (2) shelve this study entirely for now, but set a reminder on your cell phone for three months from now telling you to go back and try "Getting Funky" again. I'll be interested if others have any input about this. Good luck! Bruce |
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Post by Marc on Mar 31, 2020 5:01:52 GMT -6
Thanks guys, y'all are rock stars in my book. Such a helpful group of players. wannaplayblues - I can do the DAW audio stuff. The video I was not sure about. When I was looking on youtube I saw a few of people recommending $600 cameras and such, I think I was looking in the wrong places. My main electric is $250 (used) so a $600 camera was too rich. I can swing $50. bluesbruce - Thanks for the advice. I had looked at the lesson ahead but was not ready to commit yet. I am now  . I have been once a week going through every lesson I've gone through so far in the blues you can use. Trying to keep things fresh and making a note on areas I need to work, and areas I got down. |
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Post by jack1982 on Mar 31, 2020 6:00:05 GMT -6
Phil - yeah a bunch of those licks are from Crosscut Saw, and some others from Night Stomp. Probably a few others from his other most well-known songs. Marc - as far as video, I'd say give the cell phone a try and see what you think of the results. If you've got a really good phone it probably takes good video, if you've got a cheap one (like me), maybe not so much. I actually don't know how to transfer stuff from my phone to my PC, so that's why I've never tried it lol. A webcam is nice because it's all set up and ready to go - you just open the program, hit record and you're in business. As far as increasing speed, I think John actually recommended not to spend too much time on a single study - get it to the point where you can play it decently and then move on. You're technique will naturally improve as you move on to the more advanced studies. Of course guitar playing is a hobby and we do it for fun, so if you really love Getting Funky and want to continue working on it, then by all means do  If you've got a DAW you should be able to slow the song down to any tempo without changing the pitch - it's much easier to increase your speed a couple of BPM at a time than to go from the slow to full tempo version and maybe make a 20 BPM jump all at once. If a certain part of a song is causing you problems, stop and analyze exactly which movement it is that's causing the problem. As often as not I'll find it's something to do with picking, for instance I'll pick a note with a downstroke and then try to pick the next one with another downstroke, where an upstroke instead might solve the problem, etc. etc. etc. By the way, do you have the backing tracks? They're available here: www.bluesyoucanuse.com/store.html |
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Post by Marc on Mar 31, 2020 22:19:00 GMT -6
Phil - yeah a bunch of those licks are from Crosscut Saw, and some others from Night Stomp. Probably a few others from his other most well-known songs. Marc - as far as video, I'd say give the cell phone a try and see what you think of the results. If you've got a really good phone it probably takes good video, if you've got a cheap one (like me), maybe not so much. I actually don't know how to transfer stuff from my phone to my PC, so that's why I've never tried it lol. A webcam is nice because it's all set up and ready to go - you just open the program, hit record and you're in business. As far as increasing speed, I think John actually recommended not to spend too much time on a single study - get it to the point where you can play it decently and then move on. You're technique will naturally improve as you move on to the more advanced studies. Of course guitar playing is a hobby and we do it for fun, so if you really love Getting Funky and want to continue working on it, then by all means do If you've got a DAW you should be able to slow the song down to any tempo without changing the pitch - it's much easier to increase your speed a couple of BPM at a time than to go from the slow to full tempo version and maybe make a 20 BPM jump all at once. If a certain part of a song is causing you problems, stop and analyze exactly which movement it is that's causing the problem. As often as not I'll find it's something to do with picking, for instance I'll pick a note with a downstroke and then try to pick the next one with another downstroke, where an upstroke instead might solve the problem, etc. etc. etc. By the way, do you have the backing tracks? They're available here: www.bluesyoucanuse.com/store.html I forgot i had purchased the BYCU backing tracks. I'll have to see if i can log into cdbaby. Ill need to figure out how to slow down the temp in my DAW
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Post by cunningr on Apr 1, 2020 9:04:47 GMT -6
Thanks guys, y'all are rock stars in my book. Such a helpful group of players. wannaplayblues - I can do the DAW audio stuff. The video I was not sure about. When I was looking on youtube I saw a few of people recommending $600 cameras and such, I think I was looking in the wrong places. My main electric is $250 (used) so a $600 camera was too rich. I can swing $50. bluesbruce - Thanks for the advice. I had looked at the lesson ahead but was not ready to commit yet. I am now . I have been once a week going through every lesson I've gone through so far in the blues you can use. Trying to keep things fresh and making a note on areas I need to work, and areas I got down. Marc another tip for recording the video and audio separate let the video record audio as well. So when you start recording make 3 sharp notes or use a stick if your using a mic on the amp gives you a reference point to use for syncing the video with the audio in the daw, then you just silence the audio from the camera. I use Garage Band it takes videos. So i import everything into GB sync the audio export it with the HD audio imbedded then I can use a video editor. Many ways to do it. |
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Post by wannaplayblues on Apr 2, 2020 3:21:19 GMT -6
And that, my friends, is why the clapperboard was invented for the movie industry; as a visual point of reference by which to align the audio. True story!
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Post by cunningr on Apr 2, 2020 9:33:55 GMT -6
And that, my friends, is why the clapperboard was invented for the movie industry; as a visual point of reference by which to align the audio. True story!
WPB question are you able to save the backing tracks to your hard rive from that other site? If so could you give me a hint on how to get the damn thing into my daw. It just opens the in a web player and i have tried everything to just save the mp3. |
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Post by wannaplayblues on Apr 2, 2020 11:08:53 GMT -6
Hey buddy, I have to post it here to get an attachment in. I use my browser. Basically, I open up the page of the track I want to learn (where the PDFs are also) and then right-click the [DOWNLOAD MP3] text which will give me the option to save it to my computer. I'll download all the versions to work with. Once downloaded I then just use "import" to import other audio in my DAW. Hope that answers your question See image below...  |
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Post by cunningr on Apr 2, 2020 16:14:27 GMT -6
Hey buddy, I have to post it here to get an attachment in. I use my browser. Basically, I open up the page of the track I want to learn (where the PDFs are also) and then right-click the [DOWNLOAD MP3] text which will give me the option to save it to my computer. I'll download all the versions to work with. Once downloaded I then just use "import" to import other audio in my DAW. Hope that answers your question See image below... Yeah I swore i tried that and it only gave me text file, will give it another look. Thanks. |
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Post by Marc on Apr 2, 2020 21:51:36 GMT -6
WPB question are you able to save the backing tracks to your hard rive from that other site? If so could you give me a hint on how to get the damn thing into my daw. It just opens the in a web player and i have tried everything to just save the mp3. If you right click on the link, and pick 'Save Link As..' it will also let you download it. I find it easier option |
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. This could be interesting!!!
The camera or PC mic is NOT used for your guitar recording audio! Any audio picked up by your camera recording you can ignore.
. I have been once a week going through every lesson I've gone through so far in the blues you can use. Trying to keep things fresh and making a note on areas I need to work, and areas I got down. 
If you've got a DAW you should be able to slow the song down to any tempo without changing the pitch - it's much easier to increase your speed a couple of BPM at a time than to go from the slow to full tempo version and maybe make a 20 BPM jump all at once. If a certain part of a song is causing you problems, stop and analyze exactly which movement it is that's causing the problem. As often as not I'll find it's something to do with picking, for instance I'll pick a note with a downstroke and then try to pick the next one with another downstroke, where an upstroke instead might solve the problem, etc. etc. etc.