Hi David, 2 years inā¦and 1 month almost as Iām a bit late in my reply, I actually read your update when you posted it then I got lost in life but I Iām finding sometime today to comment
2 years inā¦wow! And itās nice you have identified a genre you want to dive in deeper as Blues, I was happy to read your ideas and plans are quite clear. Also about what you wrote about the singing, like anything else it requires commitment and when one 'spare time is not much one needs to choose what he/she enjoys the most and is not perceived as too difficult! For meā¦Iām putting the Blues aside for the moment, I like the Blues but other things seem more achievable for me and thus more motivatingā¦ thereās a short Blues Section in the Method Book Iām using, but Iām skipping it at the momentā¦I hope to learn some Blues in the future using Justinās resources.
Visualisation is something I learned to use too and it wasnāt that easy at the beginning , but I can visualise a musicsheet, a chord shape, a melody and sing/hear it in my mind.
As for audiation you may find this of some interest, if you havenāt checked it already
Gordonās Music Theory is very popular here and there are many music schools that promote his method, especially starting from newborns on.
I wish you can find in 2024 as much time as you wish for learning and playing guitar!
Hi Silvia, thanks for checking out my log.
Yes, Iāve found a path to follow by learning more about the Blues. Although the Blues Studies module is in Grade4, itās quite basic so far, so I feel okay doing it as it follows on quite nicely from the Blues in Grade2. Iām also working slowly through the first module of Grade3.
Iām finding visualisation and audiation very useful. Iām certainly no expert with it, like everything else, itās a skill that builds the more you do it.
You say that you can visualise a music sheetā¦hmmā¦I donāt try to do that. I start by reading the tab and visualising the fingering and imagining the sound. Iām now at a stage with my Blues pieces that I donāt need the tab. I can play it or visualise it from memory but I donāt visualise the tab itself, just the playing of it.
Thanks for the link. Iāve bookmarked the GIML website. Havenāt read any of it yet but I will be doing.
David Iām no expert either and I agree the more you do it the more you can do it.
Iām getting to this eventually, but at the beginning it seemed too difficult for me and I visualised the fingering by singing the notes in my head as Do re mi ectā¦as I well know where the notes are on the fretboard, first 5 frets at least, even if my knowledge is expanding with time and practice.
@SILVIA
Silvia, it looks like our approach to visualisation is slightly different but I donāt think that matters. We each find a way that works for us and develop it from there.
The end result is that it makes it easier to learn a song and from my limited experience so far, the song becomes more ingrained in my memory and speeds up the learning a bit. Early days butā¦.
Practice has been going reasonably well over the last couple of months.
BLUES
Iāve continued playing and practicing the Vari Shuffle Climb and the Lickin Riff pieces. Theyāre becoming ingrained in my memory and I can keep cycling around the 12 bars, mixing it up between all the different elements. Polishing it all up will no doubt be a never ending process.
GRADE 3
I spent a week or two on the D chord explorer improving on the sus chords.
Linking chords with scales was quite straightforward and I have a similar thing going on in the Blues.
Moving open chordsā¦didnāt do much with this except play along with Justin in the lesson.
Greensleves
This is what Iāve been spending time on in the last few weeks. I watched the rolling chords lesson. So obviously itās about fingerpicking - which I donāt do - I decided to learn the song but playing it with a pick. Itās not memorised yet, thatās a work in progress. Itās easy to play but hard to get right in terms of dynamics in order to bring out the music. I have a tendency to strum the chords a bit hard, which drowns out the melody note. Iām working on it, trying to get a good bass note then stroking the middle part of the chord before a bit more attack on the melody note.
One of the things that has stood out for me about playing this way is playing the melody note on the beat. So the last note of the chord is on the beat, not the usual first note. Interesting !
Getting Greensleeves right aināt easy. I had thought of just spending a certain amount of time on it and then moving on. Iām having second thoughts now. If I can nail playing this with a pick, itās going to do wonders for my pick accuracy and control and that can only be a good thing for my overall playing.
Iām enjoying what Iām doing - bringing some melody into my playing in both the blues and with learning chord melody. Itās far more fun than strum strumming chord progressions for songs.
David @BurnsRhythm
Sounds as though you are getting on nicely. I admire your determination to have a go at Greensleeves I am keeping away from it as l never got the hang of Happy Birthday in Grade 2.
If you like playing melody when strumming, I know you say you are not into finger picking but it is worth a look you might be surprised.
Michael
I do and it may be. I have said this to others but Iām pretty sure that what I hear is not what others hear. There is not a lot I can do about my hearing so having to make the best of what I have left.
I have found this hard and have only really managed to make head way with C>G>C. D>A>D is just awkward. Not really seeing how this will fit with anything that I am practicing at the moment.
Michael,
I tried fingerpicking in Grade2 but didnāt like the sound of my finger pads on electric guitar (donāt want nails) so I didnāt take it any further.
Greensleves is a simple arrangement but Iām learning so much from it in my first foray into chord melody.
I can see how, as someone who is singing and playing, that chord melody may not be a priority for you.
Stuart,
My hearing is fine so itās difficult for me to relate to your problems.
I read somewhere that being hard of hearing shouldnāt be a barrier to developing your musical ear. I guess it doesnāt make it any easier though!
Iām also thinking that youāre ear is developing, so you are on the right track. Keep going!
You could try linking chords in any song. Keep it simple at first.
If you have a song where the chords change from C in the last bar of the verse to G in the first bar of the chorus (or G to C), try a link in the last bar of the verse to announce the chorus.
Iām with you here Stuart, albeit Iāve got most chord links worked out but incorporating into songs Iāve not really grasped properly. @BurnsRhythm Thanks for the nudge David, i know itās obvious that it can work in any song, I think my challenge has been in timing the link.
@MAT1953
Okay, Iāve put an acoustic guitar on the list. Itās not near the top though!
@Notter
Fully understand Mark, the timing is important.
Itās a bit like chord changes, you can get them to a point where theyāre easy as an exercise and then it all goes pear shaped in songs.
I find itās good to keep it simple. A simple strum pattern in the bar with the link, even as simple as a down strum on beats 1 and 2 then the link notes on beats 3 and 4, then ramp the rhythm up to continue.
Hi David, thanks for your update, it was a good reading!
No itās not, I agreeā¦thereās so much going on , it needs time and practice but itās very rewarding when you first nail the single aspects and the tune eventually.
Aināt that tricky?! It got me months of practice to be able to do this! (Rolling chords fingerpicking)
Iām sure Justin did a song lesson where he shows and explains this technique to strum the chord and get the melody note ringing out nicely, kind of as if it were a rolling chord, but with a pickā¦I think itās a Beatles songā¦give me sometime to check and see if I can find it again.
Totally agree! How was that old tune? all I need is Melodyā¦Melody is all I need! ahā¦noā¦that was āloveā ā¦which is kind of the same!
Thanks Silvia.
Yep, Greensleves is certainly trickier than it looks.
Itās an old, old song and one of those that seems to have been ingrained in my memory forever. I may have played it on Recorder way back in school, though I donāt remember doing so!
Iāve always liked melody too so itās good to be learning chord melody now. Itās better than just strumming the chords.
Iām okay with the melody note of the chord being on the beat, although Iām only playing it to a foot tap for now. The test will come when I play it to the metronome!
I thought Iād log this here in case I (or you!) need it to gee me up a bit further down the lineā¦
I had to go into town yesterday for an appointment and I was a bit early so I popped into a little pub that we used to go to (among many others) when we were having a night out in town many many years ago. Itās not a big pub at all, quite narrow, squeezed in between two shops, but back then there was usually live music on.
It was around lunchtime when I went in and the only people there were a couple of old codgers having a pint in the corner and the landlady.
There is a little bandstand with a drum kit, a couple of electric guitars and some speakers etcā¦so obviously music is still a thing there.
I had a chat with the landlady and they have live music every night!
Sundays from 3 till 9, and Mondays 7 till 11 are open mics.
She said the open mic crowd are a friendly, supportive group and are a mix of experienced and newbie performers.
The bloke who runs the open mics is an experienced guitarist who plays in a few bands and is also a guitar teacher.
She said heās very helpful to anyone who needs it and often picks up his guitar and backs them.
I canāt sing to save my life but I intend to go along sometime just for a look-see.
Hopefully I can meet people and some sort of team up, jam buddies, whateverā¦ may be possible in the future.
Iāll be 65 in July. If I havenāt been by thenā¦.somebody give me a kick up the jacksi !
David @BurnsRhythm
Interesting.
I have only one comment to make as Nike says āJust do itā
Michael
PS Age is just a number donāt let that put you off - sorry thatās two comments.
Michael
ā¦which is kind of the same!