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Post by jack1982 on Oct 23, 2022 6:05:19 GMT -6
Well I had a crappy week for guitar playing, all kinds of other stuff to do. Woke up Monday morning and it was chilly in the house, ended up having to get a new furnace installed. Then my aunt got a new cell phone and gave it to me to get it set up; I spent half my guitar playing time on the phone with tech support in India with that damned thing. Finally got it to work though. And they're building a new retaining wall behind our house so...this should be the most expensive week ever  I need a beer. Oh wait it's 7:00 in the morning. Anyhow, I'll probably try to get some half-finished recording of "Mr. Crowley" ready for Griff on Tuesday. The song is at 90 BPM and I can play the first solo at maybe 75 and the outro solo at 80. There are just some really fast licks at the beginning of both solos that are taking me a long time to get up to speed, I can play the rest of them okay. The rhythm part is kind of rough and the keyboard part is kinda sorta okay lol. Here's the keyboard bit if anybody's interested: Hopefully I'll have this song finished by the end of November. I'd also like to get started on "Lay it Down" by Ratt. Well hope you guys had a better week than I did  |
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Post by bluesbruce on Oct 23, 2022 8:49:04 GMT -6
Jack, that powerful chordal organ part sounds pretty cool! I'm thinking that I can get my midi keyboard out of the storage unit when our condo is finally completed and we move (they are currently estimating December or January move-in). Boy, that project has really dragged on way longer than anticipated due to covid, supply chain issues, labor issues, ever-changing city building codes, etc., etc. Anyway, progress is being made, and our unit actually has wall board, cabinetry, wood flooring, HVAC, and bathroom tiling in progress. We will have a small office/spare bedroom which I will be able to set up as my studio, which I am really looking forward to!
Anyway, I had the most productive guitar week I've had in quite some time. I re-started "Guitar Aerobics", hoping that the daily practice plan inherent in the book would at least get the guitar into my hands everyday. It has worked as I hoped, and I played some every day. Since just getting started seems to be the toughest part, once I've got the guitar and computer set up, it's been kind of easy to pick up and try to play something else once I've competed the "Guitar Aerobics" lesson for the day, and I've probably averaged over an hour per day of playing time this past week! I''m pretty happy about that.
The "second phase" plan that I am envisioning is going to be to take maybe about a half dozen guitar books that I'd like to work through, and just start with lesson one in ALL of them, trying to record my way through them like we've done with BYCU. I'm kind of figuring one of two things will happen: (1) I will actually make progress slowly through all of these books, or (2) I will become more focused on one particular book, and drop off the others. Candidate books that I have in mind are: "Basic Blues for Guitar" by Fred Sokolow (the electric blues sections), MBYCU (probably too advanced until I'm a bit more back into regular playing), Jazzin the Blues, Rhythm and Blues You Can Use, "Total Rock Guitar" by Troy Stetina, "Funk Guitar" by Ross Bolton, "Metal Lead Guitar Volume 1" by Troy Stetina, "Beginning Solo Guitar - First Jazz Standards", "Guitar Atlas - Jamaica" by Raleigh Green (rocksteady and reggae sections), and "Fast Forward Lead Guitar Solos" by Ricky Rooksby. The main goals for now are to get the guitar back in my hands daily AND to find some direction of study.
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Post by Phil on Oct 23, 2022 9:21:30 GMT -6
I've been MIA from the forum for a couple of weeks, but I'm still here. Been practicing more and posting less.
I'm still working on chord melody arrangements of "Georgia" and "Misty". It's taking forever because I keep jumping around to other stuff, like learning another song, lick or solo. Then when I go back to these 2 I continue to change/add things so they become never ending projects.
I've decided to drop "Georgia" for awhile and focus on "Misty". I've taken ideas from about 4 different sources and combined them. Now it's time to stop tinkering, finalize and arrangement, and just learn to play the damn thing.
Jack: Nice organ playing. Looking forward to hearing "Mr. Crawly". Regarding home repairs: Today I put in the last of 8 windows I'm replacing. I sometimes miss the days when I could just pick up the phone and call the landlord to report a problem.
Bruce: Good to hear you're getting back into it. Be careful you don't spread yourself to thin and fall into the "I gotta learn everything at once" trap. That's a constant battle for me.
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Post by cunningr on Oct 23, 2022 9:57:29 GMT -6
Hey everyone, apologies for disappearing. Been busy summer the my wife fell so been dealing with her arm.
My combo and private classes started up again, working on Kansas City and Sensitive Kind Santana version.
Got another friend involved with the combos but he is on a different night but we cover same songs so ladt night got together to practice.
Ordered a new Kingfish Telecaster, wife says its my Christmas present now.
anyway hope everyone is doing well!
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Post by grampalerxst on Oct 25, 2022 4:30:48 GMT -6
Hey guys, one of the side effects of being an old retired guy is that I sometimes lose track of what day of the week it is. Last week was pretty good for me, played some every day and had multiple sessions most days. Started fooling around with some ideas for a "holiday" recording, stuff that's much more stripped down than what I've done the last couple years. Still haven't decided one way or the other whether I'll actually do it this year. Otherwise, still just working on some old stuff I partially learned in my much younger days and have started revisiting some of the stuff I was working on when suspended lessons back in the spring. Good to see you back Rich! Keys sound good Jack, you should dress up like Phantom of the Opera and play that all night when the trick-or-treat crowd comes. Phil, good to hear you're still workin' the standards. Bruce, that sounds like a pretty decent plan. I've been thinking about getting BLYCU back out and finishing it up, and maybe going back to my scale patterns book, both really just to add some amount of organization. Following whims (what I've been doing) is great for keeping one's interest up, but it doesn't always foster consistent progress the way working through a curriculum does. |
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Post by bluesbruce on Oct 25, 2022 5:23:54 GMT -6
Hey guys, one of the side effects of being an old retired guy is that I sometimes lose track of what day of the week it is. Bruce, that sounds like a pretty decent plan. I've been thinking about getting BLYCU back out and finishing it up, and maybe going back to my scale patterns book, both really just to add some amount of organization. Following whims (what I've been doing) is great for keeping one's interest up, but it doesn't always foster consistent progress the way working through a curriculum does. LOL, Grampa! One of my wife and my jokes post-retirement is that every day is Saturday now! It does become difficult to keep all the Saturdays separated in my mind... I think you've hit the nail right on the head about having a curriculum to keep you moving forward, and I think that is exactly what I am in search of. That way, if the muses don't move me to pick up the guitar, some sense of duty or obligation does. Good to hear that your tendonitis has let up and you're able to get back to playing. I could easily throw BLYCU back into my mix if you'd like to revive that project. Looks like we've lost Joachim for the time being, unfortunately. Sounded like he'd been struggling with time due to work and kids, etc. Hopefully he is OK and will re-materialize at some point. |
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I need a beer. Oh wait it's 7:00 in the morning.
