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Post by grampalerxst on May 17, 2020 4:14:46 GMT -6
Can't complain too much about my effort level this week, although I fell short of relentless. Results are another matter.
I haven't made the progress I'd have liked on BLYCU Lick 3. It took until today before I worked it up to the tempo where I started BLYCU L1 and L2 (85% of full tempo of Bruce's metronome overlay of the demo). Still haven't tried it with the backing track. Don't know if its cumulative fatigue, or if there's something my fingers find extra tricky about this one despite it being relatively straightforward "on paper". However, by hook or by crook I'll get it up to speed and get something, at least a facsimile, for next weekend.
It should be obvious that I'm digging Bruce's challenge. I was thinking about that. Best guess is it's largely a case of just the right exercise having come along at just the right time.
On the Electric Gypsy turnaround phrase I'm still battling the demon note I keep muffling. I've experimented with starting the phrase with an up-pick and that seems to help. By the middle of the phrase my picking becomes the same in terms of what notes are down picked/up picked, regardless of how I start. I really don't want to, but I think I'll have to go back to navel-gazing at my picking on this one. It feels like it should start with a down pick, but doing so seems to trip me up and I should probably figure out why, and where and why the picking syncs up regardless of which direction I start.
Had a new HVAC installed yesterday. Feels like having taken a really nice guitar and set it on fire.
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Post by cunningr on May 17, 2020 5:36:08 GMT -6
Well I as far as the challenge no time to look at it again. Instructor has me working on 2 solos Peter Green Black Magic Woman and The Thrill is Gone. Bout it for me.
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Post by blackcountrymick on May 17, 2020 5:40:11 GMT -6
Well, I did the main thing I have been promising myself I will do - MAKE A VIDEO!!!!!
Apart from looking at Lick 3 last night this has taken most of my time this week.
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Post by jack1982 on May 17, 2020 5:56:14 GMT -6
I mostly worked on a lesson from that new site I joined last week. I think it's coming along - once I get something memorized it seems to take absolutely forever for me to get to the point where I'm not occasionally constantly forgetting what comes next. I made a video of it but no no no - that will not be seeing he light of day Maybe next week. I've got the mic in front of the amp and I had it centered in front of the speaker, but by moving it 1 1/2 inches to one side the sound quality seems to have improved tremendously. The excessive brightness and lack of bass were fixed completely. I'm afraid I didn't spend my time on lick #3, but don't make me do any pushups just yet Bruce, I'll get on it today I cleaned up my mess a little bit:
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Post by wannaplayblues on May 17, 2020 6:12:53 GMT -6
I did another track from the other site. LOVED this one - solo blues guitar with my emulated Fender '64 Delux and lots of spring reverb. The main issue was recording. I used a click track to keep me in time - but recording with NOTHING else is eerily weird and mentally challenging. It's a whole new ball game, feeling exposed and with no other instruments able to cover your mistakes. I certainly notice how different it is for me - it took me several takes to get this done. EVERY TIME I hit record I made some horrid mistakes almost immediately.
I have one week to prepare the piece for next weekend which is the monthly challenge. Really don't want to miss that one.
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Post by cunningr on May 17, 2020 6:40:11 GMT -6
Nice playing gentlemen. Jack what size pedal board is that, I am looking for a commercial one can’t decide which one. Like a bag to so I can move around.
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Post by bluesbruce on May 17, 2020 6:45:07 GMT -6
Mick and Wannaply, both sounding incredibly bluesy! Cool stuff and nicely done, both of you.
I played more of the stuff I've been playing - Bending the Blues (think I've pretty much got my calluses back now), the simple rock solos, played a bit with Lick 3 from BLYCU. Unfortunately, been spending too much time at work, but I guess I should be thankful that I've still got a job and a paycheck coming in. I REALLY need to restring all my guitars, but it's one thing I avoid like the plague. If any of you guys will come over and do it, I'll buy you a drink! They actually allowed bars to re-open here, but I think you've got to stay 6 feet away from anyone else and wear a mask... I think it'll be a while before I'd try going to one!
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Post by joachim on May 17, 2020 7:01:04 GMT -6
Great stuff, Mick and WPB!
Another lousy week for me, where I had to force myself to squeeze in a bit practice. I dig Bruce's challenge, though.
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Post by jack1982 on May 17, 2020 7:19:58 GMT -6
Great stuff Mick and WPB! Really enjoyed listening to both of those! Mick your dog is hilarious, looking at the camera and then spinning his head around like "Oh jeez, I guess he's never going to stop." Good to see your bass player is still working hard, I haven't even seen mine in ages, I think he's in jail or something. WPB that was really cool. Love the unaccompanied stuff, has a real intimacy to it. Rich that pedal board is one of these: www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=Pedaltrain+Classic+22x12.5+w%2FSoft+Case+22" X 12.5". I got the soft case, which should suffice for anything short of going on a world tour
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Post by grampalerxst on May 17, 2020 8:48:46 GMT -6
Sounds great, wpb! I REALLY need to restring all my guitars, but it's one thing I avoid like the plague. I broke a string Friday night on BLYCU3 so I restrung that guitar. I decided a while ago I didn't want a guitar without locking tuners and no fancy floating bridges/locking nuts. Now I remember why. In ten minutes I was tuned up and playing again with six new strings. Switched from a set of Elixirs to Ernie Ball Paradigms. Sounds like a whole new instrument with fresh strings. Oddly, not better or worse per se, just different. I did notice I had worn little divets in the strings just above the frets (have SS frets on that guitar--another must-have for any new guitar for me) so it was time to change them. An an update from a few hours ago. I guess all it took was coming clean on my failures with BLYCU3, because I was able to get it up to full tempo with pretty good accuracy in a second round with it this morning. Next is trying to drop it in with the backing track.
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Post by Phil on May 17, 2020 9:26:29 GMT -6
Impressive sounding stuff from Mick and WPB. I made a video last week. It was of my vegetable garden and I posted it to a FB gardening group. I guess that doesn't count. I jumped around too much this past week and didn't focus on what I had planned. Hope I can change that this week. Being able to focus on one or two things has been a constant up hill battle for me.
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Post by Phil on May 17, 2020 9:35:09 GMT -6
...
It should be obvious that I'm digging Bruce's challenge. I was thinking about that. Best guess is it's largely a case of just the right exercise having come along at just the right time.
...
Had a new HVAC installed yesterday. Feels like having taken a really nice guitar and set it on fire.
"When the student is ready the teacher will appear." Recently I've revisited some courses I've had for a while. Suddenly they make more sense and seem more relevant now. I wasn't ready for them before.
Regarding the new HVAC: I could have bought 2 very high quality guitars and a good amp for what I paid.
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Post by jack1982 on May 17, 2020 10:13:17 GMT -6
I guess I can share my little recording - still a rough draft lol. I'll keep working on it.
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Post by blackcountrymick on May 17, 2020 10:58:09 GMT -6
Good work with the vids guys, it really feels like this forum is having a bit of a resurgence. I forgot, I also restrung and polished my custom tele this week also, I guessed it deserved it as it was featuring in a video . My next piece is a study based on "I'd rather go blind". And of course Bruces challenge.
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Post by bluesbruce on May 17, 2020 11:35:30 GMT -6
Sounds good, Jack. Channeling some Jimi, there! Good job!
We had to replace the HVAC system at our lake place earlier this year - yeah, a big financial ouch!
Phil, I agree with you whole heartedly about books and courses I've collected over the years and really wasn't ready for them. I also think you had something really great on your blog - pick out a course of study and stick with it all the way through. I've realized this is one of my biggest "sins" in regards to making progress. I've also been guilty of the so-called "cherry picking" - learning stuff that sounds cool to me, skipping over other stuff... In fact, this is pretty much what I did with BYCU, and have been toying with the idea of running through the whole thing again.
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Post by Phil on May 17, 2020 11:35:40 GMT -6
Good work with the vids guys, it really feels like this forum is having a bit of a resurgence. I forgot, I also restrung and polished my custom tele this week also, I guessed it deserved it as it was featuring in a video . My next piece is a study based on "I'd rather go blind". And of course Bruces challenge. I saw Christine Mcvie perform the most beautiful version that song I ever heard. It was just her and her piano. This was back in the pre-Buckingham-Nicks line up of Fleetwood Mac. There's a version on YT where she's not sounding so good, but she was perfect the day I saw them.
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Post by blackcountrymick on May 17, 2020 11:48:41 GMT -6
Good work with the vids guys, it really feels like this forum is having a bit of a resurgence. I forgot, I also restrung and polished my custom tele this week also, I guessed it deserved it as it was featuring in a video . My next piece is a study based on "I'd rather go blind". And of course Bruces challenge. I saw Christine Mcvie perform the most beautiful version that song I ever heard. It was just her and her piano. This was back in the pre-Buckingham-Nicks line up of Fleetwood Mac. There's a version on YT where she's not sounding so good, but she was perfect the day I saw them. This is probably my favourite version:
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Post by Phil on May 17, 2020 19:26:04 GMT -6
That was great. I never heard that rendition before. Of course, I know who Joe Bonamassa is but I don't think I've ever heard of Beth Hart before. What a terrific, powerful voice. IMHO only a female singer can do this song justice. I've heard versions by some great male singers, but they all fall flat.
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Post by grampalerxst on May 18, 2020 6:38:19 GMT -6
"When the student is ready the teacher will appear." Recently I've revisited some courses I've had for a while. Suddenly they make more sense and seem more relevant now. I wasn't ready for them before.
That's pretty much it in a nutshell. My physiological skill has grown to the point where two weeks is enough time to get physically comfortable (wish I could say proficient) with the examples. In two weeks I can make some strides with coordination and adaptation. In the past I often ran into hurdles that were strength and range-of-motion driven. I can't achieve much development in those areas over two weeks.
The format is also timely--it's a good habit to record and analyze. I find it hard to motivate myself to record when I can tell I'm falling significantly short while I'm playing, which is most of the time. A combination of these being bite-sized pieces and the ground rules means I'm making more of these "scratch" recordings, and having parts of them be semi-improvised gives me a window into aspects of my playing when I'm doing something less practiced.
I can't say I'm absorbing much intellectually, just leaning more finger tricks, but that's important too.
I also think the backdrop of the pandemic is part of the stew. I'm only going in to work 3 days a week, two of them part days, and being a bachelor in an elevated-risk age/gender cohort, so my level of socialization is way down compared to my norm (which is already low due to being an incorrigible introvert). My old dog is deaf so you guys are the ones stuck "listening" to me. Listening to everyone's attempts and commiserating over some of the difficulties is an occasional ray of light poking through the pall of the pandemic. That helps me focus on the challenge.
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Post by Marc on May 20, 2020 5:42:55 GMT -6
I was late in my update from last week, but since then I've taken a little break from guitar. I did watch this movie on Peter Green which I really enjoyed. I have never listened to Fleetwood Mac, but I had a friend try to push it on me. Of course, he was pushing the Stevie Nicks era band. I listened to their first record and was blown away. Peter Green seems like he was really close to becoming another Syd Barrett. www.amazon.com/Peter-Green-Story-Man-World/dp/B078TNF84HIf anyone else has any suggested documentary on music, musicians and such I would love to check them out.
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