I attended the online blurs session today. I attempted to record it, but got a message that I had to have permission to do so. I hit a button asking for permission, and later Richard said several people asked the same question, and a recording of the session would be available online. I can’t find it. Today’s session was the third (or fourth) in the blues series. I missed teh previous ones. Is there a link to them anywhere on this site?
You could eventually look at everything here… The person responsible here (if I understand correctly Laryne) works 3 turns in one round to get everything done… so we will have to be patient, but it’s coming
Hope this helps,
Welcome here Terry ,I wish you a lot of fun
Greetings Rogier
I have a question from yesterday’s lesson. Using the basic format as follows:
A A A A
D D A A
E D A E
Would the blues lick for the first change to E be played just for one measure (4 beats) before the change to D? Similarly, do you have four measures to play licks in A at the beginning?
Thanks in advance for any clarification.
Yeah, I definitely get the feeling that she is working hard on multiple projects and still has a very big “to do” list at the end of everyday. . .patience is a slowly disappearing phenomena in our digital times. . . we get the feeling that everything should be a just a click away. . . anywhoo. . .will be happy with getting to sit in on the live sessions when I can and when I can’t will wait for the recordings to come. . .all good things come to those who wait. . .
Welcome Terry!!
This is a great place to get to know the whys. wheres, and what’s of Justin Guitar!!
Hope you have a great time with your playing!!
They are having technical difficulties, video isn’t good quality out of sync as well as may not make it there at all. There is no real guarantees as of now but they are working on it, to try and resolve the issues. In my opinion it should be one of those things like a one on one with an instructor, no recording. Make your notes and work with it. That’s what I have done, in doing so I remember alot of the lesson. The important points I already have written down. You don’t get to have a second same session in real life… if you want one make a one on one session with Justin. Just my opinion. Also he is coming out with a massive new Blues lesson series. So there is that as well.
Peace out! Cheers and SOCIABLE!!!
(Canada) The timezone difference is making it impossible for me to attend all clubs that are not on the weekend I considered quitting my day job but I need the money to buy a new guitar Just kidding. I cross my fingers for the recording solution.
I’ve bookmarked the page, and will check it frequently. I’m currently at the end of Grade 3 and part way through the first blues module. I missed the first 3 online blues lessons. I watched part 4, but it was somewhat over my head. I’ve downloaded the 1st lesson via the Video Download Helper extension in Mozilla Firefox. Having done so, I can now view it via Transcribe!, which gives the ability to slow down the video without affecting the pitch, to pause, rewind, loop specific sections, etc., a significant learning tool. I look forward to the other lessons showing up.
We are in the same place regarding lessons. I really struggled to keep up and know I’ll need to go watch #4 again, probably multiple times, to sort out the pieces I don’t have a lot of familiarity with.
Watch the first three. I could follow those with music theory grade 4 mod 4.1 and beginner grades 1-3 completed (but not mastered). I had a major lightbulb moment during the first class regarding the use of licks.
The short answer is that you play 4 bars of A, 2 bars of D, 2 bars of A, and then one bar each of E, D, A, and E.
What you posted is a 12-bar blues in A. So A is the I, D is the IV, and E is the V. This pattern is: [I I I I, IV IV I I, V IV I V], and you can play the same blues pattern in other keys by changing the root or I note.
Very true. But then again, over-committing is also a problem.
Hi Dennis - it really depends on what you are playing over the E. You can of course just play A minor pentatonic over the whole thing and it will sound ok. If, over the E, you are specifically playing notes from E or E7 then you might need to change when the song moves off E. In particular the G# (which is the 3rd of E) might not sound great - the notes E and D (the root and flat 7 of E) are in the A minor pentatonic so will sound ok, and the 5th of E while not in the A minor pentatonic will probably sound ok.
TL;DR - if you are playing something “E specific” over the E chord it’s probably best to change back to A minor pentatonic or a lick specific to the next chord when the change happens.
Thanks Paul - This is helpful. After watching Justin’s live blues lesson, I thought he was stating the need to change the solo licks to match the chord changes in the music. If I understand your comment, the licks can be in any key as long as the notes aren’t “conflicting” with the rest of the music. This makes sense, but it’s a challenge for a first timer to sort all this out without direction.
Hey Dennis - I wouldn’t say the notes can be in any key - this example is in A, and you can play A minor pentatonic the whole way through - that will be fine and it’s the place to start. However, in this lesson Justin was changing the licks so he highlighted notes from the chords being played (A, D and E), that makes for a more ‘sophisticated’ sound, but if you do it, then you need to be careful that you make the changes at the right time or some notes could sound sour.
If you are starting out with this idea, then I’d suggest you first get comfy playing A minor pentatonic over the whole thing. Once you have that down, perhaps think about changing to highlight the D chord over bars 5 and 6, then moving back to A minor pentatonic for the rest. Over time you can look to make more changes, but this is where I’d start.
Really good and appreciate the further clarification. As I’m new to all this, I’d prefer to just play everything in Am anyway, but I over-thought that video lesson and concluded I had to change every time bar chords changed.
In all the sports I’ve played, there was always a rulebook. Haven’t found one yet for guitar.
Plenty of very good players have made a career doing just that!
I think the only real rule is ‘If it sounds good, then it’s good’. Everything else just helps you get there more easily
People keep trying to create a rule book in music, but then someone comes along and tears it up. Been happening for centuries.
Do we know if all of the Blues clubs videos will be made available to watch for people who are unable to attend them live?