Behind the Scenes - Helen's Log

Hi, that was a while ago i see you :blush:, now I’m far from clear in my head so I hope this comes over good…but I read above that that shouldn’t be an obstacle not to be 100% :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:… you’re already a little further along in your journey so I’ll say it anyway, I hope it would help you too,

take a lick from Justin’s ā€˜blues pattern 1 or 2’ lessons where he demonstrates 5 licks each lesson ( or if you like othet ones do that one(S) )
Licks from patern 1
… preferably one with 3 or 4 notes only… and get started with that… add a note or 2 or a whole lick over time (a You really should only do ad a whole lick if you’ve played the other one cross-eyed backwards) or if you don’t like it quickly, dump it and choose a new one…

well that helped me

But since I haven’t been able to read everything properly, I hope this is what you even slightly asked…and if not, it was nice to talk :grin:

Greetings

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@roger_holland Hi Rogier, glad you are back in the saddle! Hopefully you don’t suffer of too much pain in your elbow, at least the flu seems to be better?

Concerning improvisation I should probably be more precise.
I always followed the course in the given order during Grade 1 to 3 and kept that up so far. Grade 4 starts with the Major Scale Meastro Lessons. So it’s primarily running up and down the scales and building up speed and accuracy.
The improvisation part or better say ā€œget musicalā€ part is left a bit on the surface at the beginning of Grade 4, the task mainly is to ā€œexploreā€ the scales, just to try different note combinations, etc. out of the scale. And there are the One Finger Solos to get used to the pattern, when you don’t have the connection of a certain finger to a certain fret.
This doesn’t stress me, I can do that. I can play combinations of notes out of the scale over BTs. Although my note choice is still ā€œrandomā€. I’m starting to get more feel for which notes sound good together. And I believe, at this point, maybe it’s already covered, what Justin wants us to do.
What I’m struggling with is, people are always talking about getting ā€œcreative and musicalā€ and that’s the point I feel somewhat lost…is that at this point already enough, given the fact of a really limited tool kit?

The fancy techniques to get the most out of a note are only covered in the second part of Grade 4, when it comes to the Minor Pentatonic in Blues context with more techniques and licks to learn.
So far, I haven’t touched bending (just some very basic stuff), have just a little idea of vibrato, hammer ons, flick offs, as taught in the Beginner Course.

My impression is, I’m just not far enough through the lessons and I’m asking myself if I probably should do the Blues lessons first? I’m more towards the Minor Pentatonic and the Blues stuff anyway and I’m asking myself, if starting there won’t be probably more effective? And then, I tell myself, that there should be a reason why Justin starts out with the Major Scale Maestro.
I’m facing the old dilemma: going directly into the direction I want to go and picking out the lessons in this context or going step by step… :laughing:.
Sorry, all this is just a case of ā€œthinking out loudā€ :thinking: :laughing:!

@GrumpyMac Deborah, your link is really helpful!

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Hi Flu is just some coughing now and the elbow has turned into an infection, but it’s fine at the moment and I’m happy,

I knew you were a good girl :grin: :sweat_smile:

And ther is the need of licks to break that :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:
I think it’s safe to say that this is the point where the licks have to take over the ā€œworkā€ playing scales quickly becomes…not so musical… and what I read you’ve got to that point now.
Now peek over the wall and grab some blues … the lick in riffs in grade 3 are also quite a huge step and certainly not easier than the large number of licks learned in grade 4 … I think it is time that you do something more and add musicality to the solos … you are already doing it so much better/more structured than most of us … well I am not the best example but … fly over the fence wall to something licks that are also often included in discoveries and you can also do them in between, you have neatly completed your scale playing…

start with one lick :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: You already know the notes…so that must be easy :roll_eyes: :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: ,

but i also found this one very helpfull
https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/string-bending-technique-te-106
I hopes this helps a little :crossed_fingers: Any one else with better insights…feel free to break my opinion :blush:

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Happy to read that it’s going better, Rogier, hope you can get the infection under control soon!

Puh… I don’t know :laughing:, That’s what they say :joy:…

Yes, I think, I’ll do that. Already dipped my toes in yesterday… Reactivated the minor pentatonic and had some fun with the given BT’s. I do better with the minor pentatonic, it’s just my vibe.
I guess, I’ll do the modules parallel to the Major Scale work… In the end, there is so much stuff in Grade 4, it will take me quite a while to get through anyway…
I like the aspect of learning licks, small little bricks that can be added step by step… That fits into my current low energy level. So I can learn something small and still have the feeling of having taken a step ahead.
I think, I have left that part, where ā€œmoving onā€ and ticking lessons was the goal. More than ever, it’s about absorbing whatever we need to get better on our individual journey :wink:.
Thanks for your input, Rogier, always very appreciated :green_heart:

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Well, it’s been a while, I had a hard setback, but I’m back :sweat_smile:

I don’t think there is an end to grade 4…but if you find it, please tell me :roll_eyes:

yes, I can imagine that learning a lick suits your current situation well…

O there is a lick that I started almost exactly 5 years ago ( so leave that aside :see_no_evil_monkey: ) and have now mastered it quite well, but can only play well but only after a good practice session in the morning when everything (vingers /wrist is ā€œsmoothā€ and warm…
Greetings from a nice blue sky holland :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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So happy to read that!

That’s what I feel too… I should have said ā€œto go through all lessonsā€, I will be a never ending circuit. And I guess, I read somewhere, that Justin will do a revision of the Intermediate Course, so I probably will be there forever! So, we are two already :joy:!

:squinting_face_with_tongue: So I don’t have to stress myself, when learning those study pieces takes a while :flexed_biceps:.
Rogier, let’s enjoy the journey… it’s still so satisfying :blush:!
And greetings from a sunny mountain village!


Attention to all gardener’s: This is NOT a second gardening thread!!! Just pure nature :wink: :hibiscus: :joy:.

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May 2025

May was a busy month again with lots of stuff to do apart from guitar world!
I just kept practicing as much as I could fit in. My schedule was quite similar to the previous one, so nothing exciting to tell here.

So I’ll pick out just two points:

My guitar and the luthier
I finally got my guitar back from the young female luthier in best condition and with a full setup - I’m really happy how everything turned out! Nothing wrong with the guitar and she finally found out where the vibrations came from.
It’s so stupid and I felt like an complete idiot. It was the inbuilt tuner and pickup’s block battery in the battery compartment. The battery was just a tiny bit too small compared to another one she had to compare (different manufacturer). As I did lots of finger strumming and muted hit practice for the Finger Strumming Course. All of those hits must have shaken the battery inside and in the end, they must have sent out those vibrations on certain frequencies. Oh man :squinting_face_with_tongue:!
What I really enjoyed was our conversation about guitars and guitar related issues. She was quite surprised about my knowledge and I told her, it’s all thanks to JG and this community :blush:.
She also showed me some of her handmade guitars.
Oh boy! I should have never touched them :see_no_evil_monkey:!!!
One of them was a classical guitar, but with a neck width of 48 mm, so to say a cross over model with nylon strings with a cedar top and koa back and sides. One of the most beautiful guitars I’ve ever seen! The excellent craftsmanship could easily be seen and the tone was angelic, soft and gentle. This gave me some serious thoughts, if a nylon crossover wouldn’t be a great addition to my collection for fingerstyle… :wink:?
Another one was a great looking candy apple red Telecaster that was so incredibly smooth to play…but unfortunately at a price point I simply can’t justify at my current play grade, or should I? Stop! Stop! Stop! :guitar: :guitar: :guitar:No, no, no!!! :joy:

Finger Strumming Course
I’ve already mentioned, that I really enjoy the Finger Strumming Course and I can only recommend it to everyone. I’m having lots of fun with it and with every new technique I’m learning, I enjoy finding new and old songs that are nice practice items and that get a new spin just by changing the strumming technique.
I recorded some of those practice items and decided to post two them here for documentation, although all the learnt techniques are still WIP. Unfortunately, I only recorded them with the voice recorder of my phone :selfie:. Therefore no video, just the simplest setup, not even a mic. Both are simple one takes and totally pure.

1 See The Lights

A song I haven’t heard for ages and stumbled over on YT. I initially felt that this would be a good one to practice Justin’s thumb strumming and the first finger techniques. A simple chord progression allows to concentrate on strumming.
The original increases a lot in dynamics throughout the song and I tried to pick that up by changing patterns and techniques and intensity. It was significantly harder than expected, especially if I sing at the same time. Finger strumming requires more feel than strumming with a pick, at least, that’s what I’m thinking. Depending on which part of the fingers you hit the strings, the sound can be quite different, so every slight movement already causes some inconsistency of tone. Practice, practice, practice!

2 Jolene

This song has accompanied me since I’ve first learned it and so I decided to try out Justin’s Muted Hit finger version on it. I’m currently practicing several songs with this technique and I like this percussive element a lot.
The main difficulty is to get the percussive hit whilst still having the chord ringing out. So the hit shouldn’t ā€œkillā€ the sound but still should be clearly recognizable as strong rhythmic element. This takes a lot of practice! My first attempts were just for the bin… Interesting, how much very, very small or simple adjustments affect the tone here. It’s a great tool to play around and I hope, I can get much better with it over time!

Constructive criticism always requested!

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Andrea @helen0609
Two very nice songs sounded great. I liked the finger strumming, ot worked well. I have only touched on the first lesson in that module must have a look at the later lessons.
Michael

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Very nice strumming and singing. Can’t remember I ever heard the first song, I like it a lot - and your strumming was really good! Now I’ll have to look up what finger strumming means… I’m always doing it how I think it could or should be :blush: it’s been long since I watched some strumming lesson from Justin.
And I’m glad your guitar problems are solved!

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Hi Andrea ,
first a big ovation :clap: :clap: :clap: :man_bowing: and a thank you for sprucing up our breakfast and certainly also the heads up because

the radars in my head immediately start flying to confirm it with smartass comments :laughing:
But since my accoustasonic has a battery in the back, I’m really going to play it this summer and I quickly realized that this could absolutely happen to me… so so so… super nice that it was solved so simply :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

A scroll that was too hard made me start with Jolene, I play that riff myself and even though I had (or will have in 10 years) I have a beautiful voice that riff and singing is not an option…
I think it’s great what you’ve made of it, Ooo, I miss the visuals because that obviously says a lot more about how strumming works, but after seeing something before and hearing this now, I think it’s fine…I and we really enjoyed it :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: :clap: :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

Then I put on ā€˜I see the Lights’… wow, it was made for your voice and next to me she says after 3 sentences ā€œhey is this also that German lady?ā€ and after the yes she continues ā€œnice, this is really made for her fine voiceā€ and I completely agree, it sounded like it was written for you :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:
And my girl is a woman who normally doesn’t really like ladies who sing, so the compliment really has double value :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:

You will never get your money back now because you have clearly used up that course :grin: :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

Take a deep bow and thank you on our behalf :clap: :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: :bouquet:

Edit:Ps: This doesn’t actually belong in an LL… if you ask me , you can see from some likes that many people view each LL (so it is of course fine) but there are also many like me who stop reading a lot LL from the largest group dure intrest and or time manegment (also new people who are who still searching /navigating easly could mis all this goods :scream:), but this would deserve full attention in an AVOYP :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: … but I was not asked. :innocent:

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Im really glad that your problem was solved so easily ^^

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Hi Andrea, as Richard often points out- there’s no such thing as a silly question. That kind of thing can happen to anybody. I once brought my son’s bass down to the luthier as the electronics had stopped working completely.
We didn’t know there was a battery in it, and it had run down. Sigh… :roll_eyes: :rofl:
Bravo on both your videos :clap:
I preferred the singing on Light and the guitar playing on Jolene
It’s funny- I think hitting the muted strums forces our voices to sing precisely on the beat, rather than allowing more fluid phrasing :thinking:

Ah yes, nothing like recognising a feeling :wink: :rofl:

I’m not sure I agree :thinking:
Avoyps have a habit of sinking down the topics into oblivion like a stone in water.
If you’re an active/positive member in the community, folk are likely to check out your LL every now and again and pick up what you’ve been up to.
How do you think we all know what’s happening in Gordon’s and Rogier’s gardens? :wink:

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Hi Brian,
But if you don’t post many videos and if you visit a lot and are a regular hello and all poster, you often see that AVOYP gets a lot more views and comments … at least that’s the case with me … well that can also be something positive because it quickly becomes a bit much for me and perhaps also for Andrea, but the difference in likes and comments is significant for some…

and let it be clear … by saying this it is also a huge extra compliment to her, it doesn’t matter to me of course …

it is also why I start my big project not on a new topic … well …If I ever finished it I let Richard pin it in AVOYP :grin:

Have we met ? :innocent:

Back to the garden and then to eat outside :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: :waving_hand:

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Andrea

Like many others posting performances on here you do yourself a disservice. Your strumming on both songs is very good, particularly on ā€˜See the Lights’ with variation to the pattern and dynamics. You could probably try ā€˜Jolene’ slightly higher: your accompaniment is both musical and percussive. Excellent!

Brian

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Hi Andrea. Two great finger strum performances there.

No no no … it’s called strum dynamics. :grin:
Good stuff. I preferred the vocal on ā€˜see the lights’. I think ā€˜Jolene’ would be better if you sang it slightly higher.

As for LL or AVoYP. I’d say LL if you’re working on a song and are going post another version soon. AVoYP if you’ve finished with it for now.
As for getting the most number of comments, it’s the same couple of dozen regulars who listen and comment so I dodn’t think it makes much difference.

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[quote="sairfingers, post:175, topic:371399ā€]
As for LL or AVoYP. I’d say LL if you’re working on a song and are going post another version soon. AVoYP if you’ve finished with it for now.
[/quote]

I agree

A WIP is more suited in a LL and then the finished version would be an AVOYP

@MAT1953 Thank you, Michael! I like the course a lot. I’ve been mostly a pick strummer in the beginning, but the more I play, the more I love finger strumming. Definitely worth to have a look at the later lessons, if you already started.
We all know: rhythm is king!
@domi7

Haven’t heard it in a while too, but I like the carefree sound of late 80ies and early 90ies, reminds me of a very nice time of my life :wink:.

That’s also a good approach! I see myself getting more confident to play around with the way I strum and that is what it’s all about. My goal is being able to transfer ā€œfeelā€ into the strings some time and therefore doing the courses and forcing myself to be precise in my technique helps a lot.
@roger_holland Thank you so much for all your nice comments and thanks also to your nice wife!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That reminds me, that I should learn the riff and the picking eventually. Jolene is such a great song! I had a nice moment with this song… at the end of the winter 24, we had a last ski day and at one of the chairlift stations they had turned up the music on full volume. When we entered the lock gate, Jolene started to play and instantly me and the service guys started to sing together as loud as we could. Such a crazy, but really funny moment!

So sorry for that, but I only recorded the audio :woman_facepalming:.

Uuuuh, you both are too kind. My vocal actually range is quite limited (see Jolene), but this one fitted quite well. But unfortunately, I’m no born singer!

Thanks a lot, but I won’t anyway, the cours is worth every penny :wink:!
@brianlarsen

Ok, then I was a step further, at least I knew, that there was a battery inside :joy:!

I love that ā€œBrianesqueā€ comment :rofl:. Ok, still thinking about how to solve this dilemma :joy:. But I see, what you mean… I admit, Jolene is a bit at the limits for my voice (another proof, that I have 0,0000000% in common with Dolly :joy:)

Right! It’s interesting how much the strumming and accents we add impacts the vocal expression. And I’m really surprised on the other hand, how much orientation singing gives me for a song. So I sing, although I’m not good at all, but who cares…
@beejay56 Thanks so much for the nice words! I totally agree with the advice for my singing on Jolene. I simply don’t find a suitable pitch for that one. It’s definitely something to work on!
@sairfingers Thanks Gordon for taking the time to waste some precious holiday time on my humble recordings!

:joy: Just ask a Scotsman and you will get a different perspective! Love that, we should turn our weaknesses into strenghts :flexed_biceps:!

Definitely right, but as said obove, I don’t seem to find the right pitch!

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Thinking about: AVOYP

I definitely noticed that, Rogier :green_heart:!

I’m still no ā€œperformerā€. I’m still not keen on performing in front of an bigger audience. That may be different to other’s dreams, who aim for putting themselves on stage and play for others, but I maybe would only play for just a few people to make them happy. At least for now, still not at a point where I see myself as performance-ready!

When I post a video or recording, it’s mostly out of the feeling, I should/want add something to this precious community, or give something back in terms of keeping the spirit up or to add something helpful.

When I see the daily flood of videos coming in, I truly appreciate everyone’s effort, but I have somewhat lost count or overview, so I had to get much more selective, out of the necessity to limit my reading time. And I guess, it’s the same for others too.

For me, AVOYP always has been a category to post something of what I’m pretty satisfied with, for something that’s at a point where I can say, ok, finished for now, I can be ok with my progress.
There are so many posters in AVOYP who do much better, I simply don’t think I would add a lot with those recordings above, which were mostly recordings for self assessment, for stating where I am. They are still a work in progress and therefore not ā€œworthā€ yet to clutter up the AVOYP section.
I also thought about putting them under the Strumming Course Lessons as it’s very quiet there, but as they are just audios in this case, they might be of limited use, as nobody can see the technique.

I see, where @roger_holland and @beejay are coming from, videos posted in LL can easily get lost in the nirvana, but it’s a bit of the same as in the AVOYP sections.

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Ha, in that case I say, this is the right place :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:(of course everything is fine where you want to post it anyway :sweat_smile:)

but more who do less than this level :smiling_face: … (without wanting to dismiss that as a bad thing)
so

:scream: No ,please don`t think that … a lot like you a lot and then it is always an add :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:

I just see in the right corner we talk furter in the garden/vacation topic :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Hi Andrea, I listened to your recordings a few days ago but couldn’t find the time to reply. I’m very happy to read and hear that you’re proggressing well on the Fingers Strumming Course and I can relate to actually all you’ve written, especially this for the muted hit

Getting a consistent sound is anything but easy! But you’re doing very well from what I can hear from the recordings!

Also…

Listen to the sound and decide how much hit or volume from the chord you like and then keeping it consistent :exploding_head: … but it’s fun and with practice we’ll both gain more confidence!

That said the recordings are both very enjoyable…thanks for sharing them!

I hope your holiday at the Garda Lake went well and you spent a relaxed time with your family! I’ve been reading in Rogier’s Log in the past few days but couldn’t find much energy to interact…but I enjoyed your conversation and @roger_holland 's stories made me smile…thank to you both for keeping me some company :blush:

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