🎸 BurnsRhythm’s Burning Ambitions

[BurnsRhythm]

July 2025 Update

Well well well! Who’d a believed it! I’m now officially an old age pensioner having turned 66 last week!!!
Ah well, my body agrees​:smirking_face:….but my mind doesn’t!!

BLUES IMMERSION
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Unit 1 of the Blim course!
On seeing the mountain of lessons, I immediately started to prioritise what I wanted to do and the things that can be left till later. As I’ve said before, I’m not into artist essays or doing research into the lives of past blues players. Leave em alone and let them rest in piece. My immersion is through listening to the music that they left us.
Justin’s curated playlists are very good although some of the early recordings are a bit scratchy and hard going!

On the playing side….
Unit 1 is about pattern1 of the minor pentatonic. Of course, I already know pattern1 but in this course Justin moves away from thinking of it as a scale (once learned) and talks about seeing it as a framework to build on and he adds in the colour notes from the get go. I like it!!

Licks
There are 12 pattern1 licks to learn and I’m surprised and chuffed to bits about how quickly I memorised them. Justin puts words to the licks and it’s the words that have helped me to learn them.
I know, I know - “licks are words?”!! I still maintain that licks are not words - licks are Sound….but there’s no doubt that putting words to them has helped greatly. Maybe I’ll write more about that after the course.

Lick Medley
The above 12 licks are then to be played over a blues backing track. The bt is at 80bpm - which ain’t fast but I struggle with it! It’s one lick/bar and there’s little thinking time between each lick. If I repeat a lick over and over I can keep up….but trying to string them together usually results in some very odd sounding blues indeed!!
Anyway…I have to recognise my level of play and I’m okay with playing things slower. The speed will come with time. Keeping it slow and not trying to rush up to the level of the bt means I should be able to keep up with the course.

Bending
String bending is covered in Unit 1. It’s pretty much the same as in Grade4 - which is already an excellent lesson!
Nevertheless, I’ve gone through the lesson again cos there’s always room for improvement!

Bass riffs
There are some Bass riffs to learn.
I already learned them in the Blues Study module - apart from the last one which is a new to me variation.

Blues Standards
Two blues standards in the unit.
I was going to leave these till after the course but I changed my mind and got started on them in the last week. I’m just playing basic shuffle rhythm to the bt to get used to the structure of the songs. I can build the layers up after the course.

Transcribing
There’s a solo to transcribe which is based around the licks we’ve been learning. Being familiar with the licks makes it a lot easier to do. It takes up a lot of time though. I probably spend too much time trying to play it instead of getting on with the transcribing!! I enjoy it though and there are things to learn in trying to play it.

Despite my level of play being nowhere near that of some others, I have - as I said - thoroughly enjoyed Unit 1 and I’m confident that I can keep up with the course. I don’t expect it to get any easier but if I keep my expectations in hand, I can learn a lot in the coming months and then have a lot of practice to do after the course.

Looking forward to Unit 2 dropping tomorrow!

David

[MAT1953]

David @BurnsRhythm

Wow that sounds like an awful lot of work to get through and it’s only the first Unit. I do detect though that you are enjoying it.

You mention retirement, have really retired or just reached the state retirement age?

Michael

[BurnsRhythm]

@MAT1953

You mention retirement

Err…no, I didn’t mention retirement! I’ve reached state pension age and get my first draw this month. Lovely-jubbely! It’s time I had some back!
I haven’t retired though, still working, still farming - but in a lesser way now.

Yeah, there’s a lot of work to do in Blim. It ain’t what I call work though. This is music and it’s for fun!

[MAT1953]

David
I thought I would tease the answer out of you and your answer was what I expected. Like you I worked beyond statutory date, six years in fact, reducing my hours towards the end.
Form the tit bits I pick up it is hard work but people speak highly about the course, keep you nose to the grindstone.
Michael

[Prof_Thunder]

I enjoyed reading in your log about your BLIM experiences since I intend to do this course in the future after completing grade 3.

It would be nice to hear how the rest of the course goes. As it sounds such a lot of work, I guess you don’t have a lot of time to write down your experiences with it.

Having heard that the BLIM is such a lot of work, I’m surprised how many people are doing the course and it must be difficult to do all the work for the course as well as doing a normal day job. You mentioned that you are a farmer. Knowing how tough farming is and that there’s always a lot to do, it’s impressive to also follow such an intensive course.

I hope it’s going well.

[BurnsRhythm]

@Prof_Thunder
Hi Ian, thanks for checking out my log.

Yes, there’s a lot to do in the Blim course but it doesn’t all have to be done right now. Prioritising what I do helps me stay with the course.
Although the first six months is intense, we have lifetime access to the course so I imagine I’ll be to-ing and fro-ing through it for a long time to come.

I read elsewhere that you’re at the end of G2 and asking about string bending. I would certainly start learning bending before you embark on Blim. It takes quite awhile to perfect.
There’s some Blues stuff coming up in G3 and you could always have a look at the Blues modules in G4

Unit 3 starts on Monday so I’ll be doing a review of Unit 2 in the next few days.

[BurnsRhythm]

August 2025 Update

BLUES IMMERSION Unit 2
Not quite as many lessons in U2
Some of the lessons in U1 were foundational…sort of ‘how to’ which apply throughout the course. In U2 there are a few extra, or ‘Extension’ lessons which can be done now or at a later date, for example, there’s a lesson on standard vibrato and then extension lessons for different types of vibrato.

13 licks to learn this time, including intro, turnaround and outro and once again a bt is provided to play them as a medley.
Justin emphasises that the licks should be learned well and then play around with them and try to build them into improvisation. Easier said than done!!
I’ve found that continually practicing and playing the medley turns it into an ear worm and it becomes difficult to break out of it and use the licks in a different way.
Improvisation is hard to do for me at this early stage. I find it hard knowing what to play. Richard turned that around and suggested I don’t know what to SAY!
He’s right!! He gave me a line or two of lyrics to try with the licks but I haven’t made much of it. It’s gonna take time…a long time!

On the rhythm side - closed position shuffle rhythms are introduced. That means holding first finger on the root note and third finger on the 5th note…no problem there, that’s a power chord. But then the little pinkie fella has to stretch up a couple more frets for the 6th on string 5 while still holding the root - Ouch!!

There are lessons on the different 12 bar blues formats and how to recognise them and also extension lessons on a few other formats.

I like the curated playlists in this unit much more than the last one. They’re Chicago Blues from the ‘50’s and I’m starting to hear how the Blues influenced Rock n Roll. Good ole Chuck Berry!

There’s another solo to transcribe. I started on this today but only done a few bars so far.

Oh Lordy Lord….this course is packed full of stuff. Justin’s recommendation of minimum 30 mins practice 3 times a week is a joke!! Don’t know who he’s aiming that at but it certainly isn’t me. I need all the time I can get just to practice the licks and technique. I sometimes think that I’m just sampling the course during the initial 6 month period and then build on it after that. (There are two more blues standards to learn…I haven’t even started on them!)

Unit 3 starts tomorrow so more new stuff!

🎸
David

[MAT1953]

David @BurnsRhythm
Sounds as you just about keeping up, get that nose to the grind stone.
Michael

[math07]

Yeah it looks like you are doing great with BLIM. Don’t worry, you are not alone!!!
Your challenges are normal and happened to us all un previous blims. it’s funny because I think I could have copy pasted your message if I had a learning log last year for blim 1. It summarizes my past feeling very well

[BurnsRhythm]

Yeah, I’m not alone. I doubt anyone finds it easy. If they do, then they probably needn’t be doing the course.
I’ve just had a peek at U3

[Socio]

Sounds like you’re making good progress and enjoying the course.

@BurnsRhythm

the little pinkie fella has to stretch up a couple more frets for the 6th on string 5 while still holding the root - Ouch!!

Stretch with the first finger

[BurnsRhythm]

@Socio
Thanks James.
My progress isn’t fast but it’s progress nonetheless - I’ll take that.

@Socio

Stretch with the first finger

Do you lift your third finger when playing the pinkie note?

[Socio]

It was a tip from Seth. He says that it is easier to reach back with the first finger than reach forward with the pinky. So he says to set up based on your pinky position to fret the note.

[BurnsRhythm]

@Socio

I’ve given it a try tonight but I’m afraid I don’t find it any easier!

[sclay]

Interesting to read others go through the BLIM course. Seems like you’re really digging into it ( which you need too ).

One suggestion if I may.

@BurnsRhythm

That means holding first finger on the root note and third finger on the 5th note…no problem there, that’s a power chord. But then the little pinkie fella has to stretch up a couple more frets for the 6th on string 5 while still holding the root - Ouch!!

You can use your 2nd finger for the 5th instead of the 3rd finger. This makes the pinky stretch easy; plus it frees up that third finger for the numerous embellishments you can do in this area.

Stretching adjacent fingers across 3 frets may seem impossible at first, but with the right hand position, and repeated stretching, it becomes easy.

Cheers, Shane

[BurnsRhythm]

@sclay

Thanks Shane,
I’ll try 2nd finger method.
Whichever way you do it, it’s a stretchy shuffle!

[Silvia80]

Good morning David
I’ ve just read your update with my tea and I find it very interesting, thanks for sharing your Blim journey!

… pinky is a wild beast, there’s nothing to do other than keep trying and be more patient than you think you can

I hope your starting period of retirement (if I remember well) is going well…which it seems as I read you being very much engaged with your guitar

[sclay]

Yes it is. But the 2nd finger method becomes much easier, and opens up that third finger.
Give it a go and see what happens. You can can use both methods.

Cheers, Shane

[BurnsRhythm]

Morning Silvia!

Retirement!!
No, I haven’t retired - still putting in a full shift!

Good to hear you found something interesting here.
That pinkie has its uses. It can fret notes, do hammers and flicks and it can even bend strings, although the third finger is much better at bending so I use that one. Pinkie looses its power though as it reaches across onto the thicker strings and for these shuffle rhythms it’s at full stretch!

Practice practice practice!

[BurnsRhythm]

September 2025 Update

BLUES IMMERSION

Unit 3 is another huge unit and it builds on the first two.

Lessons include:
Blues slides
Rolling technique
Turnaround theory and licks
Triad chips
Dominant 7th chord grips
Melodic sequences
The BB Box and some BB licks
Targeting chord tones

And that’s all on top of the usual pentatonic framework (pattern 3 this unit), another dozen or so licks in the pattern and the medley, a couple more Blues Standards and the transcribing exercise.
(Oh, and the history and artist study lessons…blah!)

There are three more curated Immersion playlists to listen to. They are titled ‘The Electric Kings’ and feature Blues from the 1960’s. The production on them is becoming more modern and that makes them more listenable and more recognisable.

So how have I faired?

Well, as ever, there’s far too much in the unit for me to become good at in just one month so I deliberately leave some of it till later. Again, some of the lessons are ‘extension’ lessons - designed to be tackled later.
Pattern3 of the minor pentatonic is new territory for me so I had that to learn first and then the licks within it.
I watched the BB box lesson but decided to leave it till later, so I haven’t learned any of the BB licks either.

My playing to backing tracks is slowly improving, although I still trip up trying to play the medleys at tempo. It seems to be a mind issue where I freeze for a split second and that throws everything off!
The Targeting Chord Tones lesson is helping because it forces me to listen to the bt and focus on what I play at the same time. It’s actually an extension lesson but it’s one that I’m taking on now.

Improvisation. Hmm…. I wouldn’t call what I do - improvisation. It’s more experimenting/exploring which becomes a bit stop/start when I play something that doesn’t work and then try to redo it differently. It’s a start though and hopefully it will eventually build into something more musical.

Well…we’re halfway through the course. Three down, three to go. I’ve found that I can keep up with it by sticking to the bare essentials. Lots to do after the course but then, I didn’t expect to be a guitar wizard after just six months of this.
Unit4 doesn’t drop until next Monday so I have another week and then on to whatever delights U4 brings.
I don’t expect it will be an easy one!

David