Hey everyone,
As part of my consolidation of Grade 2 I decided to learn Justin’s Blues Lead. It’s the first outing for the electric 
Justin provides a backing track for his blues lead. The last couple of bars in the recording I got lost in the groove and just let my fingers play what I was feeling at the time 
As always feedback is welcome and appreciated JustinGuitar Blues Lead - YouTube
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Nicely done James. The improv at the end was great. Putting your personality into your playing is a good thing.
@stitch Thanks for the listen and feedback, Rick, it’s much appreciated. I think the exercises like 3-in-a-line really help with getting to know the scale which in turn helps making music with it.
Good stuff James and nice building on the beginners solo theme. Improvising more on top of the basic solo is on my consolidation list too as you know, now I’ve got something to aim at 
Sweet guitar too btw and spot on tone for soloing, impressive speed in the ending 
James is gone man solid gone. Nice little Blues Lead work out a great little meander at the end adding a bit of spice. Hats off to you sir !
Well done James. Coming along very nicely mate. As for getting " lost in the groove?"Keep doing that I say. That’s where you’ll often discover the cool stuff 
Cheers, Shane
Sounding pretty sweet James! You got the Blues
Hi James,
Nice done, good that you started doing this with the electric 
… have fun with it
Greetings,…
Nicely done James.
You’ve got the blues-moves coming along nicely.
That was very nicely played James, I enjoyed the listening! 
@WouterBruffaerts
Thanks for the listen, Wouter, its very much appreciated. Stick with Justin’s course and you’ll be well on your way to playing the blues.
@Notter
Thanks for the listen, Mark, its very much appreciated. For the consolidation of the blues, its worth checking out the minor pentatonic pattern exercises in this post First Steps in Blues Improvisation using Minor Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1. I found them to help get the fingers to break away from playing up and down whilst training my ears to know the notes. Glad you liked the tone as that was a first for me trying to find the right tone to go with the backing track having predominantly played the acoustic.
@TheMadman_tobyjenner
Thanks for the listen and feedback, Toby, its very much appreciated. That little meander at the end surprised me too. After the first cycle through the blues lead I thought of the recent post by Maggie and said to myself “relax, feel the music, just let go and enjoy”.
@sclay
Thanks for the listen and feedback, Shane, its very much appreciated. I think my fingers and ears now know the minor pentatonic scale enough to get lost in some backing tracks and explore what works and what doesn’t work with them.
@jkahn
Thanks for the listen and feedback, JK, its very much appreciated. When I first started the course it never crossed my mind but once you give it a go it doesn’t let go.
@roger_holland
Thanks for the listen and feedback, Rogier, its very much appreciated. Yes, it was about time I started spending more time on the electric and it was a lot of fun. I think getting the wireless system made a big difference.
@Richard_close2u
Thanks for the listen and feedback, Richard, its very much appreciated. Next on the list is the 12-Bar Blues in A guitar challenge. I’ll probably stick to your suggestion of using slides, hammer-ons and pull offs as not covered bends and vibratos in the course yet.
@Silvia80
Thanks for the listen and feedback, Silvia, its very much appreciated. I’m glad that you enjoyed it. Now I need to follow your inspiration and get around to learning a fingerstyle song from start to finish.
Bring it on … good stuff and a great way to extend yourself.
Good shout for that post James, thank you. Planning on hitting my blues section of consolidation next month
have you already thought of anything in particular? Have fun with fingerstyle…I think its difficulty is over rated, it just needs practice and patience, just like anything else!!!
Sounding great James - timing is spot on. That’s the most important thing for blues I think, and it’s something I struggle with sometimes.
One tiny suggestion to try if you feel like it - for example in the opening bars on the first string you have the frets 5 8 5 phrase - a little motif. When you hit the ‘8’, you could give it a tiny tweak up, not even a half step bend. If you do that, it gives it a bit of “attitude”. I think you’re using your pinky on that note - the tweak might be a bit easier if you use your third finger there. Important thing is to mute the note just as it’s tweaked up - don’t let it come down again, go straight to the 5.
@Silvia80
I’ve started learning three fingerstyle songs with each serving a different consolidation purpose and level of difficulty. That is so true, it just takes lots of practice slowly and correctly.
@twistor59
Thanks for the listen and feedback, Phil, its very much appreciated. Yes, I felt there were phrases, like the one you pointed out, that just seemed to call out for a bend. However, I’ve still not learned how to bend strings on the course. In saying that I do like your suggestion of applying just a tiny tweak up as it would give it that bit of “attitude” and something that I should be able to manage. You have definitely given me something to think about when working on a piece for 12-Bar Blues Challenge in A, thanks for that mate. Yes, I am using the pinky on the notes on fret 8, I was initially only using the 3rd finger when first learning the scale but then adapted to the approach of using the pinky when playing through the notes on fret 8 and using the 3rd finger when intending to play a bend etc. Hopefully that’s the right approach?
I’m not really qualified to say what the right approach is 
- I’m only about 4 years into this thing!
I just tried it - like you, I think if I’m playing the A minor pentatonic box 1 scale I would use the pinky on fret 8, but if I wanted to tweak that note I would switch to the 3rd finger. It’s possible to tweak it with my pinky too if I bunch those fingers together to support it, but the first way works better for me.
Incidentally, that tweak sounds good wherever that minor 3rd note is - G string fret 5 and low E fret 8!
Hi James, that sounded really cool . Great job 
. I’m m already looking forward to my first blues lesson 
.