I’m looking for advice from past BLIM members on this video. Send your comments as to whether or not you think I’m up for BLIM. I’m at mid-grade 3 now, and started about 2years ago. I made this short video of me playing, no edits, just random stuff: quick riff, chord changes, triads, power chords, and minor pentatonic scale. Not sure I’m ready for BLIM or not. Hope people who took this course can help guide my decision making. Thanks in advance to all you wonderful people out there. Here’s the You Tube link. Sorry, sound is a bit dodgy.
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Hi Jim
I am on the last month of BLIM3, I will be rejoining on BLIM4 as I had virtually 6 weeks out from the beginning of Oct due to a big planned holiday and subsequent jet lag.
The course is primarily focusing on licks within each pentatonic scale in A. There are exercises to learn each pattern and then the licks and then put them together into a 12 bar medley, hopefully for you to record and get feedback from peers and JG teachers(very valuable). The first unit means it all new and there is a lot to do, as there are other thing to learn and do, if you try and do more than the minimum Justin recommends to practice then it will take a big time commitment IMO. For the first 3 units I was putting in 2-3 hours a day, I’m retired, and some of the stuff I struggled with and I had to leave to come back to. For Unit 4 and 5 I put in about the minimum and just about managed U4 medley and still am working on U5 to get it right, but I did focus on a U5 challenge.
So to try and answer your question honestly, you can play chords a, some bit tentatively, we all do until we use them in earnest in songs regularly and they become second nature. BLIM does not focus on chords but there are some, dom 7 to play 12 bar blues I, IV & V in key of A that’s A7 D7 and E7, it’s 2 chord shapes if barre chords are used. There are some songs which use chords if you have time to take them on, a lot of people on BLIM3 didn’t due to personal time constraints. You know the 1st position A minor pentatonic scale and you will certainly be able to rattle it off if you do BLIM and all the other positions and put them together if you put time and effort into practice.
The exercises and instruction Justin gives really helps in the technical aspects like bending and vibrato and the demonstrations of the licks and medley are great references to help you. If you take part in the BLIM community through the course and ask questions post videos you will get lots of support from peers and teachers, do not underestimate how valuable this is, it helped me feel I was not alone and often made me work on things I needed to improve.
If the above inspires you and you are keen to learn and improve then join, get to work on the preparation U0 in earnest, I would recommend that you learn to play a simple 12 bar blues shuffle. Two aspects this I and others wasted time on at the start is learning to record yourself . The quick simple way is with a mobile phone, practice doing it. If you are tech savvy then you can use a computer with software and suitable interface, on a Mac it could be GarageBand and a mic or a guitar interface. The other is Guitar Pro(GP), all the course materials for licks and medleys come with these and also mp3 files, you don’t have to use GP, but it makes everything so much easier, JG Richard did a great instruction video on it. You can slow songs/medleys down to practice along with, use it to play backing tracks to record you playing along to, and do transcribing exercises, to get the most from it you need a computer. My advice is get familiar with video recording and Guitar Pro now, and get your recording/monitoring set up nailed so it’s easy to use through the course.
If you join BLIM4 and find it’s too much or you’re not ready then you always have 30 days to get a refund. In reality there is a lot to learn and do. I doubt anyone on previous BLIMs did everything in each month, and as Justin says the course will get you to improve and then over coming years redo and expand your learning and blues technique through the course.
I hope this helps you.
Cheers
Adrian
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Hi Jim ,
I think this is a useful one to read when people ask.
The official Blues Immersion (BLIM) FAQs page is here
I hope this helps ,
Greetings
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Great question and a great way to ask it @jvlynch
Several places to begin to gauge for yourself.
In this Before & After section you will find a mix, some who started BLIM at about your level and some who were beyond your level. All made progress.
In this Live Launch event Justin explains and takes Q&A.
From your recording I get the sense that you have only just about started to learn where the notes are for A minor pentatonic pattern 1 and not done much with it yet. Your single string picking is there with the riffs though hesitant. You don’t play much rhythm so I’m unsure on that. The lessons in BLIM will definitely challenge you and your progress from that start point could be massive. If you have the time to allocate to dedicated and structured practice then, yeah, why not. You will need to be mentally prepared for ups and downs and a six-month deep dive, plus the inevitable ‘compare yourself to others who may be more advanced than you’ which you will need to ignore the best you can. Remember, BLIM students become a mutually supportive and encouraging Community. And we highly recommend forming / joining small study-buddy groups.
Check this topic also for advice from previous BLIMmers.
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Hello Jim.
Only you can know if lead guitar is what you want to learn. If it is then I think you would be okay with Blim.
You would be starting at a low level but that’s ok. That’s what I did!
We’re nearing the end of Class 3 and I have no regrets about doing it from a low level. I have a long long way to go but, at the same time, I’ve learned such a lot in the last 6 months - much more than if I hadn’t signed up. It’s a lifetime course and is now set out in front of me and I know what I have to do.
These are just my own thoughts and may/may not help you in your decision of yay or nay. Good luck!
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What a great question, Jim, and an even greater way of asking for help and understanding. Firstly, keep that video, which is probably one of the hardest things that is going to be asked of you. Of course, nothing is forced, but you have done it. To me I if you have the time and you can afford to do it, go for it, mate. I am looking at the gear you have and the way you are playing, even the way you have broken down the simple parts you have learned; your passion shows, and it’s for life, not just for Christmas. I say go for it, mate, cheers HEC
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Adrian, thank you so much for your honest and comprehensive feedback. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that for me and other people wondering if they’re ready for BLIM. I appreciate it very much!
Thanks Roger.
Thanks Richard, I appreciate your honest and positive feedback. It helps greatly. You were quite correct in your observations on my video of me playing. Some of the hesitation is my usual in the video when I record myself. I tend to overthink things instead of just playing it and having fun/trying too hard to be perfect and resulting in screw ups. That’s me all over. I think at any point, even if I wait a while, BLIM will still be a huge, demanding challenge if I really want to nail it, like anything else. Thanks again for taking time to write back.
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Thanks, Burns Rhythm. Yes, it did help me immensely. I assume from the presentations on BLIM that it’ll be a continuous learning curve that will probably take years to perfect, or become somewhat proficient at it at least.
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HEC, thank you. Yes, I thoroughly enjoy playing guitar and everything else I have to play instrument-wise. I do plan on keeping that video in a separate folder to refer back to. It was great to hear Artem’s video progression on his blues playing. He recorded over the same backing track over a period of 7+ months, month by month, and I could hear a vast difference in his playing ability over time. I do that with many other recordings on other instruments. They’re all great fun, I love the sounds they make, and enjoy doing it. I’m still a bit on the fence about taking on BLIM, or it taking me on, but I’m a bit closer to a final decision now.
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Maybe view Donna and Vanessa.
There were others across BLIM 1, 2 & 3 who started at similar levels and have not (yet) posted before & after but did post progress videos in the BLIM sections.
Justin just stated it here: https://www.youtube.com/live/9UnhMYqX-oA?si=c5K1QHiPIXLg2syT
He has yet to see a pupil who dug all the content during those 6 months, so everyone can only digest a certain amount and then gets back after those 6 months to what they missed and would like to work on next.
Jim, did you watch the class 4 launch?
It made me want to take the class immediately again
And from 15:50, he also gets to your question.
Whatever you decide, I think it will be fine (I mean, take it immediately or later, I don’t mean dropping the idea at all )
Good idea! Vanessa was in my class and I remember she entered being “not so advanced” but made such a big progress during BLIM!
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AJ, thanks again. Yes, I watched the launch. I was grateful Justin got to my question and was able to offer some good ideas, like posting the video I did and seeing what others who took BLIM said about it. I’m this close, but will check out the grade 4 blues info to see what I think. Best I do it over winter when things are slow rather than in summer when I have a ton to do around here outside.
Richard, thanks again. I will check out the 2 people you mentioned. Thanks so much!
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