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Post by wannaplayblues on Nov 16, 2014 1:26:11 GMT -6
A good week of practice and a successful recording of Blues Sixths. Started on the rhythm of Hard Rocker. Had a look at Eric Clapton's "I'm Tore Down" - would love to be able to play it.
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Post by Phil on Nov 16, 2014 3:17:20 GMT -6
I got in 5 days of practice for a total of 6.5 hrs. Most of that was spent on "Cheap Runs" and "Blues a la Chord." Didn't do much else. I can play play "Cheap Runs" now at 85% of full tempo. I think I'll have it up to speed by next week. I started playing around with varying the speed by trying to play at 100% a few times and then bringing it down to 90%, back up to 100% then down to 80 or 85%. I'm finding that attempting to play at a speed which is way beyond my ability makes it easier to play at slower speeds. I was able to go from 80 to 85% yesterday by doing this. I had been stuck at 80% for a while. This is contrary to what most of the experts say (i.e. increase speed gradually), but it's working for me. "Blues a al Chord" is coming along nicely. I'm up to bar 17. The tremelo chord progression is the big obstacle on this one. I've got the chord changes down in time, but need to work on the tremelo part a lot in isolation. It's as hard to do as it sounds. WPB "Hard Rocker" is one of the few studies from BYCU that is actually easier than it sounds. That really surprised me. When I 1st heard it I thought I'd never be able to play it. The rhythm and lead together make it sound almost like 1 guitar which makes it sound more complicated. Looking forward to hearing (or seeing) you play this one.
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Post by joachim on Nov 16, 2014 3:38:14 GMT -6
I put in lots of hours the last few weeks - my wife and youngest kids are visiting family, so I have plenty of time and my new strat was hard to put down.
I stopped my guitar class - I didn't like playing a group of people together, and I was the most inexperienced player so always trying to catch up. Quiting the course gave more time for BYCU again, and I hope to finish "More Minor Blues" soon. I am back to a regular schedule with a bit of scale practice warm-up, then an exercise from "Rhythm 365" - not necessarily a new one each day as some are tricky - and then BYCU/BRYCU studies.
One thing I am missing badly, though, is some regular and structured improvisation practice. My guitar class taught me that - I can't just start soloing to a random backing track. I should start putting aside 15 minutes a day for it...
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Post by Phil on Nov 16, 2014 4:20:23 GMT -6
...I am back to a regular schedule with a bit of scale practice warm-up, then an exercise from "Rhythm 365" - not necessarily a new one each day as some are tricky - and then BYCU/BRYCU studies. That's essentially what I've been doing. Great minds think alike. I do a 15 minute (timed) warm up. I do 5 different exercises for 3 minutes each. I always do the "spider" and then 4 random scale type exercises from MBYCU. Then I move on to the studies or whatever else I want to do. I wrote up a practice plan, but almost never follow it except for the above. I wouldn't be too concerned about this right now. Most of us here probably wouldn't sound very good randomly soloing over a backing track. You have to build up a good data base of licks to improvise or you'll just end up running up and down scales. There is a certain myth surrounding improvising.
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Post by cunningr on Nov 16, 2014 4:21:27 GMT -6
I got about 5 hours of practice in, moved on to 9th chord blues. I also got the basic rythm down for Layla. Practice using 7th and 9th chord shapes. Spending lots of time counting to help get my timing sorted out.
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Post by joachim on Nov 16, 2014 4:47:14 GMT -6
I wouldn't be too concerned about this right now. Most of us here probably wouldn't sound very good randomly soloing over a backing track. You have to build up a good data base of licks to improvise or you'll just end up running up and down scales. There is a certain myth surrounding improvising. Phil, maybe you're right. I would love to hear John Ganapes advice on when and how to start working dedicatedly on improvisation. To move forward without losing my direction, I think I will put my efforts into finishing BYCU/BRYCU first and then start more wholeheartedly on learning licks (perhaps "Licks You can Use"), repetoire of classic blues songs and applying it to some improvisation.
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Post by Phil on Nov 16, 2014 7:14:12 GMT -6
... I think I will put my efforts into finishing BYCU/BRYCU first and then start more wholeheartedly on learning licks (perhaps "Licks You can Use"), repetoire of classic blues songs and applying it to some improvisation. Actually, BYCU and MBYCU are filled with useful "licks." As you progress through the books you'll see that John uses some licks that are essentially the same but used in different contexts. One that comes to mind is the "bend-release-pull off" that he uses a lot. That is a very useful lick and not easy to pull off cleanly (pun intended ). The other is the ubiquitous 3 note lick that starts so may Blues solos (e.g. 7th fret 3rd string full bend followed by 5th fret 2nd string and 5th fret 1st string). Don't think of licks as complete musical ideas. Licks can be as short as 1 or 2 beats.
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Post by jack1982 on Nov 16, 2014 7:14:33 GMT -6
I had a good week of practice, 12 hours on guitar and 11 on bass. I started each practice session on bass for a little change of pace. This week I think I'll go back to starting on guitar, then maybe switch off every-other-week to keep things interesting. On guitar I worked quite a bit on True Trem Blues, been practicing the pedal tone lick and the other fast lick after that in isolation, which seems to be helping. Should probably do the same with the double bend stuff at the end too. Been practicing it at 95% full tempo and then moving up to 100%; it's one of those things where I might pretty much nail the pedal tone lick one time, and miss all but two notes of it the next time lol. Ah well, practice practice practice. Worked a little bit on Funky Soul in the R&B book, that will probably become my #2 project this coming week. Also worked on a rock ballad solo in my Soloing Strategies book, did a little blues fingerpicking stuff (that is so fun!), did some improvising over backing tracks, worked a bit on Silent Night as well as the theme to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. On bass I worked a lot on Hide Away. The most challenging part is getting that triplet cadence going throughout the whole thing while doing little lead-ins to each chord change. Worked some on Bass Aerobics; I skipped ahead to week 11 because the first 10 weeks are all chromatic stuff and the third song, though it was very cool, had me spending long periods of time going 1-2-3-4 down on the first fret, which put my wrist at an uncomfortable angle and kept it there for a long time. I'm not young and indestructible like I used to be so I skipped to week 11 where he starts with scales and arpeggios. The songs are a lot harder but I can play them comfortably. This week I'm GASing for a tube amp Can't afford that Peavey Valve King right now, but I might be able to save up for a Fender Super Champ by Christmas.
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Post by silverthorne on Nov 16, 2014 14:58:10 GMT -6
I was extremely lazy this week. Some autumn blues, heh. I'm always experiencing this problem - I just can't force myself to take the guitar, but if I do it - I just can't stop for a very long time. I'm practicing Preaching Gospel Blues and Blue Sixths for now in parallel. I think I should also try to start BRYCU book. Still struggling with partial chord part in PGB and trying to adjust my speed to this tricky part in BS. Somehow I managed to get this test recording today (I cut the remaining part because I failed there) - soundcloud.com/slvrization/blue-sixths-bycu-17-test-recordingYou can hear that while second "tricky" part is almost okay, the rhythm of the first one is broken. I am playing simultaneous notes with fingers only (thumb and middle, keeping the pick between index and middle) and for single notes I'm using 1.5mm heavy pick. I know that it's not right way, that maybe I should pick this notes with pick and finger, but maybe next time Edit: I've also uploaded not very bad take of PGB, here it is - soundcloud.com/slvrization/preaching-gospel-blues-bycu-16-test-recordingStill trying to find the best tone for it. You can notice some dead notes in partial chord part and some rhythm fails And I'm not 100% happy with bends. I hope I'll be able to record final videos soon.
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Post by jack1982 on Nov 17, 2014 6:20:43 GMT -6
Silverthorne - Blue Sixths sounds really nice! You just got a little late with one note in the fast part that kind of threw your timing off, but other than that it's sounding really good. Great job on Preaching Gospel Blues too. Maybe just needs a small bit of smoothing out (though it's really good overall), and that first chord in the ending part is just a bit late, and a bend or two are a bit off, but it's very musical and beautiful to listen to. And I LOVE your guitar tone
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Post by jack1982 on Nov 17, 2014 6:35:37 GMT -6
You guys were talking about improvising so I suppose I can chime in I'm a firm believer that you should start right away. There are so many basic skills that take such a long time to learn - just moving your fingers around the fretboard in a non-memorized manner, playing little melodies you make up on the spot, etc. Put on a backing track (there are a bunch over here www.yourbackingtracks.com/ ) , take box 1 of pentatonic minor in the appropriate key, and try to string together a few notes in a row that sound good. That right there can take a really long time just to get bad at You get used to how the sound of the notes changes as the chord progression cycles through its I-IV-V progression, and since there's only 5 notes in the scale, you eventually start to know what they'll sound like before you play them. And then there's the whole skill of playing simple phrases that start and end in appropriate / musical sounding places in relation to the backing track; getting the feel for starting a phrase right on beat 1 of a bar, or on beat 2, and playing a short phrase vs. a longer one, etc. And just taking it from "cobbling together a few notes in a row" to "expressing yourself musically" - that can take a lifetime
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Post by joachim on Nov 17, 2014 6:56:19 GMT -6
You guys were talking about improvising so I suppose I can chime in I'm a firm believer that you should start right away. There are so many basic skills that take such a long time to learn - just moving your fingers around the fretboard in a non-memorized manner, playing little melodies you make up on the spot, etc. Put on a backing track (there are a bunch over here www.yourbackingtracks.com/ ) , take box 1 of pentatonic minor in the appropriate key, and try to string together a few notes in a row that sound good. That right there can take a really long time just to get bad at You get used to how the sound of the notes changes as the chord progression cycles through its I-IV-V progression, and since there's only 5 notes in the scale, you eventually start to know what they'll sound like before you play them. And then there's the whole skill of playing simple phrases that start and end in appropriate / musical sounding places in relation to the backing track; getting the feel for starting a phrase right on beat 1 of a bar, or on beat 2, and playing a short phrase vs. a longer one, etc. And just taking it from "cobbling together a few notes in a row" to "expressing yourself musically" - that can take a lifetime Jack, I know you're right. I have been putting it off because I suck at it - it's something I need to stick with.
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Post by silverthorne on Nov 17, 2014 7:08:00 GMT -6
Silverthorne - Blue Sixths sounds really nice! You just got a little late with one note in the fast part that kind of threw your timing off, but other than that it's sounding really good. Great job on Preaching Gospel Blues too. Maybe just needs a small bit of smoothing out (though it's really good overall), and that first chord in the ending part is just a bit late, and a bend or two are a bit off, but it's very musical and beautiful to listen to. And I LOVE your guitar tone And finally I love my tone too I can get some good sound from Guitar Rig - woo-hoo! I always try to find individual tone for every lesson - for example: ** Blue Sixths - bolder and darker sound, I even tried to make recording with neck+middle pickups in series (humbucker mode via S1 switch) but that was too much so I returned to neck single coil, added some "Normal volume" on virtual Vox AC30 and used relatively little and thick pick (1.5mm extra heavy Planet Waves - Black Ice) along with fingerpicking... I think it worked nicely Can't wait for the day I'll be able to record all the tune without fails! And I think this tune should sound super awesome performed ONLY with fingerpicking a-la Mark Knopfler. If only I had enough skill for such rendition! ** Preaching Gospel Blues - this melody is charming and sounding so light, so my choice here - cleaner (almost clean with only a very little breakup on chords) and maybe thinner tone. I cut almost half of "Brilliant Volume" knob, added some extra reverb (maybe too much in previous version ) and used one of my favourite picks for now - Fender Medium Here is the second version with slightly different tone - soundcloud.com/slvrization/preaching-gospel-blues-bycu-17-test-recording-2 I thought that I can make a video with this take, but I messed the ending, forgot vibrato on pre-final bend and sometimes strings are not muted correctly (it is hearable). So maybe another time #edit: what about chord in the ending of PGB, that is too late... I just can't play it faster. Can't do
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Post by Phil on Nov 19, 2014 16:38:36 GMT -6
I wouldn't be too concerned about this right now. Most of us here probably wouldn't sound very good randomly soloing over a backing track. You have to build up a good data base of licks to improvise or you'll just end up running up and down scales. There is a certain myth surrounding improvising. Phil, maybe you're right. I would love to hear John Ganapes advice on when and how to start working dedicatedly on improvisation. To move forward without losing my direction, I think I will put my efforts into finishing BYCU/BRYCU first and then start more wholeheartedly on learning licks (perhaps "Licks You can Use"), repetoire of classic blues songs and applying it to some improvisation. Joachim, I take back what I said above after reading this article: www.bulletproofmusician.com/why-improvisation-should-be-part-of-every-young-musicians-training/
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Post by joachim on Nov 20, 2014 0:50:54 GMT -6
Phil, maybe you're right. I would love to hear John Ganapes advice on when and how to start working dedicatedly on improvisation. To move forward without losing my direction, I think I will put my efforts into finishing BYCU/BRYCU first and then start more wholeheartedly on learning licks (perhaps "Licks You can Use"), repetoire of classic blues songs and applying it to some improvisation. Joachim, I take back what I said above after reading this article: www.bulletproofmusician.com/why-improvisation-should-be-part-of-every-young-musicians-training/thanks, Phil. I've searched a bit on recommendations for this, and indeed there seems to be a general consensus that improvisation should be part of your daily practice schedule early on, so I probably need to give it a higher priority.
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Post by Phil on Nov 20, 2014 4:43:25 GMT -6
thanks, Phil. I've searched a bit on recommendations for this, and indeed there seems to be a general consensus that improvisation should be part of your daily practice schedule early on, so I probably need to give it a higher priority. Don't thank me. It looks like you were right and I was wrong. I've never thought about about improvisation from the perspective of that article.
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