Dominique: BLIM 2 before/after

So this was my pre BLIM soloing.
Never really practiced soloing, but the subject soloing came along somewhere in Justin’s course, so I think I tried it a bit at the time.
In any case, I think it was not that terrible… The backing track was provided by the BLIM class (along with many more)

Then, BLIM came and - hit hard! :slight_smile:
It was a LOT of content and I had lots to learn and practice.

Before, I mostly used the acoustic guitar, loved folk music and mostly did fingerpicking. I never really felt like learning riffs and licks and to try soloing before.
So that was a big step.
Somewhere around the end of Unit two or during Unit three, life got in the way and I continued only on a lower gear, still practicing content from unit one and two, from then on only picking up what I rated really fun or really important for me, knowing I could always come back later and learn the rest.

The end nearing, I knew I wanted to record a looper session, because I didn’t get really good at soloing, being a generalist in guitar and life anyway I loved having learned bass lines (Justin called this bass 6), do some chords, for example like that “shuffle riff” (chunka chunka) and put some soloing on top.
While I find my way around the Am pentatonic scale better now after BLIM and suitable notes come much easier to me now (and I remember a few of Justin’s licks), this is not fully represented in the below video.
I came across a few technical problems capturing video and audio and putting it together afterwards (stupid me thought a smartphone audio would not be nice enough but I think I should have just gone with that), so in the end I lost patience and my performance could have definitely been better, but I wanted to finally create this post: :slight_smile:

Back to Unit one!
When Unit one came in with all the videos, the Unit one book and even more material and we had to immerse in Delta Blues music, I was overwhelmed and had to write this song… Pretty much finished it in one day and posted it (only in the BLIM section of the forum) as if it was “a classic Delta Blues song you should know” (or not)…
“Talkin’ 'bout a hard start” by “All Thumbs Delta Dom”…

And maybe, two thirds or so in the course, I asked in my BLIM workgroup if anyone wanted to apply what we learned and put a Blues song together.
BLIM fellow Boris1565 said yes and we created this one - that was really fun to do:

So, even with me being not fully immersed due to life circumstances from half of the way on, it was an amazing experience and I want to thank Justin and his team for this great course and all the support!
And I’d like to thank my fellow co-BLIMmers for the inspiration and motivation they gave me, the help, chats, and the nice time together.

I can wholeheartedly recommend the BLIM class to anyone who can free enough time during those six months to really get the most of it.

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Dominique

Your ‘hard start’ song is truly bluesy: likewise the St Louis Blues. Congratulations on your progress. I look forward to hearing more!

Brian

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Hello Dom,

thanks for sharing.

I really like your loop video. How simple it started and then building it up…

From what I saw and heard it is really important to let breathe (let space) between phrases/licks (dont know right names of those) and you naturally got it here. :slight_smile:

Topics like that can really inspire more people to attend BLIM, because result are hugely noticeable. :slight_smile:

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Hi Dominique,

Great A video of you playing :grinning_face_with_big_eyes: :partying_face: :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: :clap:t2:
Nice to see those constructive layers and the fact that the video does not run completely smoothly is not a problem at all, super fun to watch… and also quite nice to listen to… it is good to hear when you play licks in it or “walk” a pentascale…

You are standing on a crossroad and the signpost is pointing in the right direction :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

Greetings

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Congrats Dominique, very nice to hear those different layers and how they build up. Very inspiring for future BLIM folk. Thanks for posting, I really liked it! :+1:

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Wow Dom, that was a great show of learning from BLIM. The growth in your technique, confidence and the way you captured the funk of Delta Blues in your own writing and vocals was on fine display. I only tinker with soloing and riffs on my acoustic so far, but this post gives me motivation to some day get an electric guitar and get myself “BLIMMED.” Thank you for sharing.

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That’s amazing progress Dom! Very impressive and inspiring!
They were all enjoyable to listen to, especially your looper video, very groovy :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:
Thanks for sharing :slight_smile:

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Your “Hard Start” was one of the first posts I listened to when I joined Blim, and thought it was great. And I knew I had to “follow this guy”.
: )
I could listen to your “Blues Loop” again and again. You clearly got a lot out of the course, reflecting the work you put into it.
You’ve added so much to this Community. Your posts, collaborations, open mics, and support for others.
It’s been my pleasure stalking you, and look forward to what you do next…

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Thanks a lot, Brian!
And yes, I think I can’t stop myself from doing more very soon! :grinning_face:

Thank you Michal for your nice words! I’m glad you’re seeing an improvement. :slight_smile:
I had the feeling I could do better and if I get a nice chunk of time in the next few days, I’ll try just recording with just my smarthpone and my looper pedal instead. Means less good sound, but the process should be smoother.

It’s nice of you, Rogier, to stop by and drop all these nice words! :slight_smile:
I think I’ll need my glasses to read that signpost clearly! :slight_smile:

Andrea, thanks a lot for watching and listening and your nice words! :slight_smile:
I’m always glad to read your posts! :tulip:

Hey Michael, really? I felt that some of the other BLIMmers did better, but I am glad for sure to have improved. And these days I start to take another round through Justin’s course with a few Ex-BLIMmers.
Thank you for your nice comment! :slight_smile:

Thanks a lot, Jasmine! :sunflower: :sunflower: :sunflower:

Thanks a lot, Wayne! If everybody says so, I must have improved, it seems! :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:
And - there were quite a few nice things in what you said above and now I think you must be mixing me up with someone else, for sure!

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Congrats on your progress and completing the immersion :slight_smile: Your improvement is quite noticeable :slight_smile: It was a pretty good idea to use your looper to build a song with 3 guitar layers. Really cool :slight_smile:

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I found finally some time to watch and listen everything. You did great Dominique, great rhythm all around and improvement is very noticeable on improv/soloing part. I agree on looper as well, very creative and nicely put together. I am glad we did that collaboration, it was fun and we learnt a lot. :slightly_smiling_face: I look forward to listening more Blues from you.

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Hi Dominique, all your recordings are much much enjoyable…I loved the hard start especially with that “old recording/vinile” effect(…:thinking: can you understand vinile?), fun lyrics and very very bluesy…but I’m too lazy and probably unable to give technical feedback…you just sound great! :raising_hands::100::blush::musical_notes::guitar:

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That’s a great write up of your experience and an honest appraisal of how you managed to learn and improve through BLIM and beyond.
Thanks for sharing.
:slight_smile:

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