Was planning to do a video diary but there is a thunder storm raging at the moment and the lecky has gone pop a few times, so going TLOG - as I got labelled a Vlogger ( ) today I’ll be T(ext)logging !
So long time since I posted a recording this year bar the OM Footnote and I’ve been planning to get a few toons down but RBS has tripped me up each time. But with the BLIM kick off just a few weeks away I had to draw a line in the sand and put down the latest “achievements”.
I managed to get two recordings done today, neither perfect and areas for improvements are obvious to me but as I have said before I never expected to be playing this kind of stuff.
All being well I hope to drop another 2 or 3 tracks before it all goes mental with BLIM. At least one from Jutsin’s Solo Blues Course.
But for now there is an offering from a Corey Congilio course I’ve been trawling through, its supposed to be SRVish style wise but I rejigged the last few bars as its been way to fast for my old hands but hoping to revisit after BLIM.
The other is from another David Hamburger Acoustic Blues courses I started earlier this year.
All being well these examples will have given me a stable platform on the Blues Immersion.
Time will only tell.
The double stop sections of the electric one are awesome, and I envy people who can thumb a bass line and play over the top of it like in the acoustic one.
BLIM M1 may be a few weeks away but that’s some good preparation work you’ve been doing Toby in the mean time. The CC and DH pieces are sounding great. You’re steady thumb blues is coming along superbly, you’ve developed some solid finger independence.
Electric and acoustic both sounding good Toby! Some of the lines on the electric are very cool, and very bluesy. Some of the bends don’t sound perfect but after blimming for 6 months I think that will all be sorted for you! I love the steady muted bass note of the acoustic piece, and also how it goes from simpler to more difficult. Nicely played.
It’s really nice to see your pre-BLIM jamming, I will look forward to your post-BLIM jamming (or instalments along the way!)
@twistor59 Hey Phil those double stops are one of the areas that I think needs work, so really grateful you picked them out. Awesome ? Work in progress. As for the the steady thumb Blues been at it getting on for a year and love the style of the old masters. Good thing is the melody lines can be transferred as licks in there own right. Looking forward to sharing the BLIM journey with you,
@Socio James this was all WIP before BLIM came on the scene. Just needed to be captured and a line drawn in the sand ahead of the next 6 month slog! Steady thumb is good but the melody needs some accuracy on the picking and avoiding muting strings. The Congilio and McErlain stuff will serve as a good platform for BLIM but like you intend to keep the acoustic Blues ticking as its an integral part of the early stuff, so will pay dividends.
@mathsjunky Thanks Paul. Both of these were set pieces to learn but yes, I intend to go through the SRV style piece and jot down the licks that were new and not in my current portfolio. Easy to forget you take a long piece like this and extract lots of goodies !
@jgottwals Hey Jeremy glad you liked the PRS this was the first successful recording. To start with I was not too enamoured with the onboard pickup. Tried pushing it through the POD Go were I had set up a couple of pre-sets for my Fender and Takamine but the PRS didn’t float my boat. So today I just DIed into my AI and went for it. Like you happy with the tone. As for BLIM yep I’m just about ready all being well !
@Mari63 good call on the bends, a bit iffy here and now and the bend/release didn’t quite capture the release but hey all WIP. And yes after 6 months I too will hope to see some improvements. As to the acoustic set, pretty much the hallmark of the pieces David Hamburger sets. A good mix of “easy” then some challenges. Some missed frets and muted strings during those sessions but I play it cleaner when that damn record button aint pressed! I’ll likely share future BLIM recording to the JGC Gen Pop and keep the Chapters rolling. Good way for folks to see what’s happening in the suburbs !
@stitch Ah Yoda, you have made so much impact along that journey. Those yellow boxes are still close to my heart and support the framework that underpins my playing.
I am now seeing those “colours” you have often talked about and seen outside the normal boxes. Recently watched an Ian Stich video where he labelled the collective of all those colours the Mixo Dorian Blues Scale. Now I know you don’t always hold with his fancy names for these things but he painted out what you’ve been talking about for years and I’ve been trying to follow. Its all falling into place. So yeah really looking to BLIM, see you on the flipside !
Very good playing on both parts - the electric s;ightly edged it for me; you seemed really in the groove with that piece. Hope you enjoy the blues course.
it’s great inspo and something for me to work towards.
I’m working on the Blues courses and lessons on the JG website. (Hopefully, I’ll get myself together enough soon to post a video for some feedback of where I’m at. Some days it feels like I’m going backward)
Also looking forward to some post-BLIM videos from you, and maybe some updates along the way if you have time
That sounded excellent, Toby. I also liked better electric guitar, but there is a strong bias there. I think you have a very good starting position for the Blues course, some of those licks sound fantastic.
Very quick reply Stuart but I’ll be back later to respond the you and the others who have posted.
Double stops are simply two notes played together on adjacent strings. You can play the whole pentatonic scale for example using this technique - see below - some of the note combinations sound really strong other a little dissonant. You would normally play each pair with one finger.
And now the Criticism … Maybe you missed it, but I have more to do these days and I can’t have more work , the good thing is that this helps with my BLIM i think so I can leave it at that as far as criticism is concerned and copy what Mari says.
And what I meant by I’m already so busy, During the first video I was ready with paper and saw some wonderful licks and things to learn from, I liked it a lot,
As for the 2nd video, I loved that one , I love that vibe and it is a style that I want to fully immerse myself in…
@beejay56 Brian thanks for listening. There is a different vibe between these two styles. Both are learned pieces and it took a while to get the first one under my fingers and the longest piece I have learned to date. But yes easy to try and let them flow and groove take over ! Thx.
@Stuartw just keep practicing and slowly going forward and you’ll get there. None of this was achieved overnight and still very much work in progress.
@Avalon426 Thank you Jasmine. Took some time to settle on a preset for the ASAT tone and may stick with this one for a while. Not a lot of choice on the Parlour this time it was just plug and play. Justin has some great Blues lessons and modules that I’ve used over the years and some other tutors. Certainly enough here to teach you some good Blooz but as I said above it all takes time. If time permits The Blues Chapters will continue and chart the BLIM progress, rest assured more to come.
@Boris1565 Hey fellow Blimmer ! Thanks man, I’d been reviewing all my playing and Blues “skills” before committing to the course, there was always some doubts about being proficient enough. So these were part of the confidence booster. Yeah some good licks in that piece for sure and sadly a few others I could not play … yet !
@roger_holland Come on man where is your endurance, there has only been a few thousand post to get through. Again thanks for listening and feel free to steal what you like. If you want more info drop me a DM. A more conventional Impro may follow in the next few days, to meet the preparation exercise. Watch this space and over in the other city next door !
I thought that they may be but I haven’t been calling them that. I thought that they were just chords (on the basis that more than 1 note played together is a chord).
Not tried that. Have tried on a couple of strings combinations but not the whole scale.
If you are worried that your skills are not sufficient for the course then I might as well pack my bags now. Little chance of me getting on the course for the next 5 years at the level I am at!
Cheers mate you’ll be fine when the times. Sometimes things just click into place and you wonder why it seemed so hard. Then you start learning something and start all over
Its never ending !
) today I’ll be T(ext)logging !
I think you have a very good starting position for the Blues course, some of those licks sound fantastic.
… Maybe you missed it, but I have more to do these days and I can’t have more work 
, the good thing is that this helps with my BLIM i think so I can leave it at that as far as criticism is concerned and copy what Mari says.