Seto
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Seto on Jan 16, 2021 21:05:11 GMT -6
Hello BYCU Forum Community, I have enjoyed casually coming to this site. I see a great respect, accountability and effort among this group of individuals... it's honestly pretty great being able to read your guys' forum posts from time to time, such as the constant weekly BYCU Licks studies you guys do together or sharing songs of personal interest. It's cool that JohnG's books and him keeping a forum has led to a congregation of like-minded guitarists and music enthusiasts, I'm sure we all have our own epic personal journey, or perhaps it is much more humble than that!  In any case... I would like to share with you guys my plans for musical study over the next few months, until the end of May to be exact. I would be grateful for anyone interested in listening & reading to share their feedback, criticisms, challenges, cautions, advice, etc... To begin I think it best to give a brief summation of my guitar-playing history and more recent 'musical commitment'. I started playing quite a while ago, over a decade, but while I have made good strides in progress, I am definitely one who believes we all improve at different rates and have vastly different musical journeys. I had times early on where I definitely made rapid improvement, but.. for me I've also had several plateaus where I either just am not playing guitar as much as I would like to or am not seeing the progress I wanted too. So many circumstantial reasons but of course also my own commitment and discipline is constantly tested. In any case, fast forward to 2018, I had a certain... let's say 'expressive' moment where I had to reflect on what I wanted to achieve, test my beliefs on whether I can, and COMMIT! And so far it has gone quite well... I'm happy to say, knock-on-wood! It has been a great period of investment, trials and tribulations... something a part of me was a little afraid of before I made the commitment to myself in 2018, yet another part also deeply desired. It has been a great musical time I cherish and would like to continue to stoke the fire of...! And any other true believers reading this, I wish you the same in your own personal guitarist/musical journey...!! When I began to take my thunderous-lightning-blitzed steps up the guitarway to heaven after my commitment in 2018, I started to really study Troy Stetina's Metal Rhythm/Lead methods, and in April of this previous year I took it upon myself to start studying the Blues You Can Use book, which is now at this time being complemented by the fantastic Blues Rhythms You Can Use book as well. It's been just a little bit over two years since I made that commitment to myself and I have made a lot of progress on that front. I did a lot of journalling and goal setting, visualizing, planning, practicing, etc. I am deep in to Troy's Metal series now, and I have made great progress on BYCU and Blues RYCU books, I am very happy to say. One of my biggest goals at this point in time is to reach the musicality and fiery playing of the great boys of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Ed King and Steve Gaines. For me, they are some of the biggest guitar heroes out there, but of course there are so so so many wonderful and awesome musicians out there!! Specifically though, my big goal at this point in time is to be able to play That Smell by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and play it from learning it by ear! I want to challenge myself technically and aurally. So. On to the big debacle that this huge wall of text has been preluding... I am now on song 15 of BYCU book, Hard Edge Blues. I haven't yet really begun this chapter, as I have been balancing my time, and will continue to balance my time between the two book series, by JohnG and Troy. My plan is to reach and fully work through the rest of the BYCU book, to the end of Ch. 21, All Form's Blues, by the end of May. Time and life permitting--this is really what I want to strive to achieve during this block of time. The book has been steadily becoming more challenging so I am going to have to devote a lot of regular and consistent practice to maintain progression through to the end of the book. I would love to hear anyone's feedback, cautions or advice, especially those who have completed the BYCU book, or any of the more advanced material in the series, such as More Blues You Can Use, Jazzin' The Blues, etc... Thanks for reading and god bless  
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Post by joachim on Jan 17, 2021 3:19:33 GMT -6
Hi Seto,
welcome to the forum. I haven't completed More Blues You Can Use, although I made several attempts. A couple of other forum members made it all the way through.
Currently I am working my way through Rhythm & Blues You Can Use - a book I always loved, and still do.
I plan to give More Blues You Can Use another attempt at a later point, but one thing I've learned from starting and re-starting on all these books is that you need to do a lot of "noodling" using the ideas in the lessons and the backing tracks. Otherwise you will just learn a bunch of tunes that you will quickly forget. Also keep attention to the exercises and chord shapes learned - if you really know all the chord shapes presented and the exercises in the books, then you'll have come a very long way.
More Blues You Can Use is difficult, really difficult. So don't worry about playing the tunes at full tempo. It's fine if you can, but otherwise focus on the music instead.
I liked Jazzin' the Blues a lot also, but - once again - I learned some nice tunes that I quickly forget again, without really using it.
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Post by bluesbruce on Jan 17, 2021 5:23:49 GMT -6
Welcome back, Seto. It's good to hear of your progress. If you're up to chapter 15, you've made really good progress in BYCU. Studying Blues Rhythms You Can Use along with this is a great combination, and Troy Stetina's stuff is all top notch, as well. It sounds like you've chosen some really solid methods to study. Keep practicing, keep playing, keep moving forward. If you've stayed on course for two years, then I'm sure you've seen improvement in your playing, and hopefully you've also figured out that "slow and steady wins the race". If you're self-teaching, it sometimes helps to have an online support group like this to check in with. Please feel free to check in here any time - whether it's to share progress, ask questions, share frustrations, etc. Also, if you don't finish BYCU by May, don't feel that you've failed. If you have stuck with it for two years and you have made steady progress you most certainly HAVE NOT failed. Good luck.
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Post by grampalerxst on Jan 17, 2021 5:50:27 GMT -6
Welcome! I don't meet the desired criteria for giving advice (I seem to never finish any book), but I have one general thought. That's a fairly aggressive goal. If I were to attempt it one of the first things I would do is determine a simple objective criteria for having "finished" something. For example I'm working through the Blues Licks You Can Use book with a couple of the other guys here (you may see reference to the BLYCU challenge in other threads) and so sort of piggybacking off the Challenge, I'm calling things complete when I get a full tempo performance of them recorded that is at least recognizably close. That could also be stated as working on everything daily for two weeks then give it my best shot in recording a performance. Side note: recording isn't required but it is sort of the convention/obsession here.  So I would suggest thinking about what you want to get out of each facet (chords, scales, studies) and having some advancement criteria in mind. I usually set the bar below perfection. IIRC, the material in BYCU gets increasingly dense towards the end. I only made it to about 17 or 18 before drifting off to something else. I should go back and finish it up one day. |
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Post by cunningr on Jan 17, 2021 6:33:12 GMT -6
Hey SETO welcome back!
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Post by jack1982 on Jan 17, 2021 7:17:08 GMT -6
Welcome Seto, or welcome back! At one time I was working through both the Stetina books and the BYCU books, both are excellent. My problem was I would get more interested in one and work on it exclusively, then get more interested in the other and work on that exclusively lol. I always feel that "it's guitar, it will take as long as it takes," so personally I don't set definite time goals. But if that works for you, all the better I definitely agree with Joachim about "noodling", Blues You Can Use takes you through each box of the pentatonic minor scale and then combines them all together. I would very much recommend going to YouTube, typing in "slow blues backing track in A" (or whatever your personal preference is), finding some tracks that you like and noodling along with them. You learn so much that way, for instance the notes of the scale will sound different depending on whether the I, IV or V chord is being played, and you develop a feel for that and adjust your note choice accordingly. And of course you're constantly working on your timing, and you're just expressing yourself musically, which is kind of the Holy Grail Recording yourself and posting it here is a huge help as well, as people point out things you may not notice yourself. |
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Post by Phil on Jan 17, 2021 9:41:33 GMT -6
Welcome back, Seto. Great advice from everybody. I'd like to add one more thing. If there's a study that you flat out don't like then don't waste your time learning it. The same goes for the lick book. I forced my way through BYCU, More BYCU, and Jazzin' the Blues. My primary goal was to be able to say (brag) that I completed them. There undoubtedly is a great feeling of accomplishment when you complete somebody's book. However, I now feel that I wasted some time forcing myself to learn things that I didn't really like the sound of. In the 3 books I worked through I liked almost all the studies. There were only 1 or 2 in each book that I didn't really like. However, with my limited skills those studies took a lot of time and effort. I did the same thing with the Mickey Baker book. There's nothing to be gained by using up your valuable time learning things you don't like the sound of and, therefore, will never use. I'm not talking about things that are difficult and challenging. I'm talking about things that you don't like musically. Take what you like from each book and don't force yourself to learn a study you don't like just to say you completed the book.
I think I used too many words to make a simple point.  |
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Seto
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Seto on Jan 17, 2021 18:17:47 GMT -6
joachim Yes, I definitely resonate with that idea about “noodling” to try to incorporate what you are learning at present. I try to do that often, but I also like to repeat chapters periodically and go through them again to help me stay within the sphere of content. Even if I manage to reach my goal of ‘completing’ BYCU at the end of May, I will certainly continue using and practicing the material therein. I probably won’t begin More Blues immediately after. I wish you luck in your next attempts at that book, Joachim, you’ve come along a far way if you’ve even made it to such material so that’s the main thing. Thanks for the advice @tbone, I completely agree with that, the idea of ‘using’ what is being taught. I try to split a lot of my time up between just playing whatever I feel like and times of more focused exercise, song practice, theory practice, type study. It’s much harder to practice with other musicians lately though. Hopefully someday soon it can become a more regular thing again. Thank you for the kind words, bluesbruce, if I’m being completely honest though chapter 14 still needs a fair bit of proper work before I could really call it cased! Yes, slow and steady and consistent daily/weekly effort is the true key! Begin with the end in mind, get on it and build them chops kinda thing! Yeah, mostly self-study but I have had a couple of helpful mentors for short durations as well, so I appreciate my opportunities of the past. And thanks for the parting words, it’s good to be reminded that not reaching the goal we set out for—exactly as intended—doesn’t necessarily mean we failed. To paraphrase Dr. Yang Jwing-ming wisely said, “Even just reaching 60% of your goal should be viewed as a success.” Nice @grampaler, well we all have our own temperaments and best ways of practice, finding out our own optimal ways is an adventure all unto itself. I agree, it is a rather lofty and ambitious goal, and I may not reach it. But it won’t be for a lack of trying! I appreciate your perspective, and indeed, maybe it could be worth reviewing again and completing for yourself sometime too. cunningr Hey Cunningr! Thanks! jack1982 that’s awesome man, the BYCU and Troy Metal series are awesome laid out systems. Great anchors to build and develop from, I’m finding. It’s funny that you describe the ‘focus on one for 1 week, then the other for the next week’ as a bad thing. That’s actually exactly how I like to do it. I find the variety and timing gives me a great foil between methods. Sometimes I’ll take two or even three weeks on 1 book before switching back to the other. That advice for improvisation you suggested is golden. Playing music like that is some of the most fun that can be had, it’s actually an area I really need to put more time in to. I also feel I should probably develop my ear training and learning songs by ear more frequently. There are just so many varying skill sets to develop and not enough time to work on them all! Hey @phil, I will definitely keep that in mind if any of the music isn’t jibing with me. So far I’ve genuinely enjoyed learning all the songs, thankfully. But I haven’t gone too deeply into the series yet, so I will carry that notion with me if I run into any that are dragging on or not clicking with my tastes. Also congrats on working through the whole/majority of the series, that’s very impressive. I saw a couple vids of your playing and it was very nice, I hope you see some great progress this year! Thanks for all the responses everyone, I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I was very surprised to see so many in depth comments. May we all individually make great progress and hopefully inspire one another to our greatest potentials for electric guitar mastery. Cheers all!
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Seto
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Seto on Jan 26, 2021 9:10:48 GMT -6
I think I will try to keep this topic somewhat active and try to post bimonthly updates on my progress. As bluesbruce said, I may not reach this goal but I will go a long way in trying, and that’s the important thing!
So I’ve broken down this goal into “smaller”, shorter term goals. Right now I’m getting lessons 13/14 back up to speed and have begun working on lesson 15. For the next 3 weeks I will continue work on these primarily, and hopefully I’ll have Hard Edge Blues down quite well by then, while also keeping up with scale and chord practice. From there I’m going to devote a month or so to 2 lessons each, whereby hopefully by the end of May I’ll be well into lesson 21 or near that lesson. I’ll keep ya’ll posted on this!
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Seto
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Seto on May 22, 2021 22:00:15 GMT -6
I failed miserably in keeping any kind of decent log in this topic but I will share my journey so far. Let me start by saying work is a bastard. It steals all the valuable time and energy in a day that could be better devoted to guitar!!! Oh well, such is life. I didn’t even come close to reaching my BYCU goal. I made it to song/lesson 17, Blues Sixths and song 5 or 6 in Rhythms YCU, the Major 7th rhythm study. I burnt out on it though, so I decided to set aside my BYCU studies for a few months. Let it recharge for a bit, then when I feel ready and eager to resume I will return. I started my studies in this series on April of last year, it was a very nice distraction and anchor point during turbulent times. I have developed a fondness for this series and this community, many things learned and it is nice to interact with many of the passionate musicians on this forum, you guys rock! I’m excited though, and already my lethargy and waning on my studies of BYCU have been replaced by enthusiasm and new beginnings with me recommencing the long-since-shelved Total Rock Guitar method. I wrote in my journal that after the “Blues Hurricane” season would come “Total Rock Summer”! And it has...! Haha, well I’ve been excited for it because these next 3-4 months are all about the best thing in regards to learning guitar... THE MUSIC! 🎸⚡️ So with Total Rock Guitar serving as the core book during this time, the rest of my time will be devoted to just learning new songs of bands I love; Rush, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Muse, Metric, and so on. Hopefully it will prove a fruitful time and a lot of fun, I’ve enjoyed it so far. I’m also going to occasionally resume my work on the Metal Rhythm/Lead series by Troy when I’m stricken by the mood and have the time for more thorough and concentrated practice sessions. But best of all and also certainly most awesome, I finally went out and bought myself a new guitar! It’s been 7 years since I last got a new axe. It’s such a good feeling introducing a new guitar to “the family”. It’s my 3rd one. Happy playin’, ya’ll! Attachments:
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Post by bluesbruce on May 23, 2021 7:39:22 GMT -6
Seto, Seto, Seto... you've got to jettison this "failed miserably" thing! One thing we've all learned is not to Rush things (sorry, I just couldn't leave that bad pun alone! ROTFL  ). It sounds to me like you have moved forward and you have not set music and guitar aside, so to me, that spells success! I don't think setting BYCU aside for a while is any "failure". There is a WHOLE lot of ground between "Texas Rock" and "All Forms Blues". You had mentioned Stetina's Total Rock Guitar. Look at "Hair Rock" and look at the stuff at the end of that book. Talk about a lot of ground in between! I think when you've progressed through one of these to the point where you are at the limits of your skills and abilities, that just doggedly working on the next song for months on end is nothing but a recipe for frustration and a setup for quitting (it is NO FUN, which is the LAST thing any of us want). I think when you reach this point, you are best to set it aside and work on something else. I would encourage, though, to pull it out maybe every couple of weeks and play the stuff you can already play out of it. That's just my two cents worth. Good luck! |
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Seto
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Seto on May 24, 2021 0:16:48 GMT -6
Thank you for the supportive words, Bruce. It means a lot! I don’t mean to rush the process (good pun, I enjoyed it), I just tend to set goals that are maybe a bit on the ambitious side. Also, good point in regards to being aware of just how far from Texas Rock or Hair Rock is to the final tracks of their respective methods... just goes to show the vast amount of material packed into those methods.
I was working on some different music today, was a nice change of pace. I have been working on “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”. So much work to be done but they’re fun projects to play with. I’ve also been working on “Symphony of Destruction” and “Kill the King” today. The main intro riff of Kill the King was a fun sixteenth/eighth speed rhythm to contend with. And I’ve pretty much got Symphony cased... just the hard part left—the solo.
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In any case... I would like to share with you guys my plans for musical study over the next few months, until the end of May to be exact. I would be grateful for anyone interested in listening & reading to share their feedback, criticisms, challenges, cautions, advice, etc...
). It sounds to me like you have moved forward and you have not set music and guitar aside, so to me, that spells success! I don't think setting BYCU aside for a while is any "failure". There is a WHOLE lot of ground between "Texas Rock" and "All Forms Blues". You had mentioned Stetina's Total Rock Guitar. Look at "Hair Rock" and look at the stuff at the end of that book. Talk about a lot of ground in between! I think when you've progressed through one of these to the point where you are at the limits of your skills and abilities, that just doggedly working on the next song for months on end is nothing but a recipe for frustration and a setup for quitting (it is NO FUN, which is the LAST thing any of us want). I think when you reach this point, you are best to set it aside and work on something else. I would encourage, though, to pull it out maybe every couple of weeks and play the stuff you can already play out of it. That's just my two cents worth. Good luck!