Lesson 2 Blues Rock Tune

Hi Cunningr, the tone sounds great. I'm not sure if you are using echo or delay, but I think I would dial it back a bit. It sounds like you're hitting everything on time and getting the bends right. Have fun working on the next lesson, and be sure to duck if your wife swings the guitar at you!

Rich,

I think your timing and tone sound good. I kind of agree with TommyD on this - the echo/delay is too much for me. Of course, that's going to be a matter of personal preference... You're definitely ready to move on, the ax-wielding threat of your wife notwithstanding! Thanks for sharing. Are you recording dry and applying the effects afterwards? I'm not really familiar with the IJAM and it's capabilities.

Bruce

Wow, Rich. A tremendous improvement over your last recording. Your playing and tone are good. Regarding echo: I found that just a tiny, almost imperceptible amount to give it some depth is enough.

I think that at this stage it's important to stick to playing what's written. Once you learn it and can play it close to the example then you can tweak it all you want. I'm referring to the strummed chords. If you learn it as written it's a valuable lesson in rhythm, timing and holding a note for full duration. It should be 4 downstrokes right on the down beats, but the 2nd and 4th are cut short which gives it some rhythmic interest. Practice that part only a few times and you'll get it.

Phil

PS. I think you need to practice this tune a few more times this weekend. It would be best to use your Fender Bassman cranked up significantly so your wife can also enjoy it.

Rich,

Check the homepage. There are supplements to the 1st few lessons with some very good tips including suggested fingerings.
bluesyoucanuse.com/bycusupp.html
Phil

Nice job on that Cunningr, sounds like your timing is very good and I like your guitar tone too. It's probably too much delay for this song - of course that's up to you - but hey, when you get a new toy you've got to play with it, right?

I agree with Phil about the chords, you should probably learn them as written - learning to play a rest, as there are after the second and fourth chord strums, is one of the trickier things in guitar playing; and it's an important skill to develop early on. Once you've got it down as written, then of course feel free to play it however you want.

For that new V7 chord, you play that in the same position as the IV chord, you don't move it up 2 frets like the previous V chord. If you look on page 11, the little arrow next to the chords points towards the same fret in all of them, and the V chord is two frets above it. On page 14 you can see the new V chord is on the same fret as the arrow. Is that what you were wondering?

Thanks jack that was what I was wondering, it's not very clear in the lesson.

definitely have to play with the toys.

Rich,

I wasn't aware of the supplements for the 1st few months until someone pointed them out to me. There are some real gems on playing technique in them. A very important one IMO is the one about developing a 'light' touch with your fretting hand. It's tough to do and even tougher to remember to do it.

Phil

Unless my old ears are totally hosed up it sounds like he's playing 3, 8th note down strokes and an 8th rest instead of 1, 4th note strum and one 8th note strum and an 8th rest.

Beats        2    and   3      and     4    and   1     and
cunningr - Da   Da   Da   (rest),   Da   Da   Da   (rest)
BYCU     - Dah        Da    (rest),  Dah        Da   (rest)

Yeah he stuck an extra chord strum in there, but I just meant the rests are still there and in the right place.