You’ve made a lot of progress over the last 6 months, Toby. With your dedication, commitment & application, the next 6 months is going to be even better. Happy I’ve got a front row seat to watch you progress through the BLIM course and to steal your licks.
Toby @TheMadman_tobyjenner
I think you are right in having only periodic LL to report progress.
I am not a BLIMer but the more I hear about it, the more it seems a lot of dedication is going to be required and it is going to be time consuming.
Michael
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Great read and update, Toby! You’ve come a long way in the past half year, especially the last few weeks. It’s great to see how dedicated and motivated you are with regards to the Blues. 
I’m so much looking forward to this!
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Hi Toby, I have to say that you have an impressive list of past recordings. I have been trying to read your learning log from the beginning ( it has taken me a couple of days), so this is my second viewing of this list. Of course any list this impressive deserves an encore (EDIT: upon further reflection, I realized that this list had to be updated since Dec. 2021).Your organizational prowess has inspired me over the last 2 years in JG. I have tried to mimic your organization and practice tips in a small way.
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Hi Toby, based on all your LL entries, I would say you are one of the better prepared members of the BLIM. This just gives you a chance to do like Eric Clapton or SRV and totally immerse yourself in the old blues music and artists, that provides the foundational understanding and inspiration for truly great improvisation in the blues.
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Thanks for the read Steve, there are another 12 recording to add from January this years and some others in the pipeline related to the BLIM course. The organisational side of things stem from my working life but they can be applied to all manner of things in life. Mapping them out is one thing, sticking to the plan is another but I have been more focused on certain things over the last couple of years and that seems to be paying dividends with the Blues course and for now I am 100% committed to that. As for practice tips and advice, I just try to help folk avoid some of the mistakes I made back in the day and save them a lot of heart ache !
Anyway, I appreciate the feedback. You’re doing ok yourself, so just keep doing what you are doing as you’re progressing well.
Cheers
Toby
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Well for those who have been around long enough, it’s December so it is time for me to publish my updated recording Catalogue for 2024. My first recording on the old forum was way back in April 2014, which means I have been posting my efforts for over a decade, man how time flies ! I gave up counting how many there have been a few years back but each year I publish an updated list of the “work” I’ve shared with the folks here.
There are a few categories that have not been populated this year and the OM appearances have been few and far between. In fact I thought it had been a lean year which has been very heavily focused on The Blues Immersion Course.
In fact I’ve just spotted some early BLIM Unit 0 preparation recordings on Souncdloud but no need to muddy the waters, as they could be a spoiler for Class 2 !!
So it was only when I sat down today to update the listing, did I see how much has been captured and there are still a few marked Private on YouTube that won’t be seeing the light of day any time soon.
There is unlikely to be any new recordings until the New Year, when I hope to get out an end of course Blues Diary Update and The British Blues Posse are hoping to lay some tracks down, once we’ve recovered from the last Unit.
So busy year, lots achieved and more to be done !!
Cheers
Toby
====================================================================
2024 UPDATES of THE MADMAN’S RECORDING CATALOGUE
====================================================================
Guitar Challenges/Learning Log Updates
No new entries in 2024
New Section JG Live and Clubs
No new entries in 2024
The Madman’s New Diaries Series
No new entries in 2024
The Madman’s Diaries OM Footnotes - Justin Guitar Community Open Mics
A Compilation of JGC OM Dry Run rehearsals
April OM 23 - Madman’s Diaries OM 23 Footnotes - Peace Is Free & The Rambler Final Dry Run
https://youtu.be/4-5jn0J54Vc
July OM 25 - Madman’s Diaries OM 25 Footnotes - Don’t Come Lookin OBS Dry Run 20/07/24
https://youtu.be/_b1bte8OeO4
July OM 25 - Madman’s Diaries OM 25 Footnotes - Masters Of War OBS Dry Run 20/07/24
https://youtu.be/XCogxvcAKUQ
The Madman’s Blues Diaries Series
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Four - DHE The Vamp
https://youtu.be/Ohy_rdE1H0E
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Four - In Hale Take II 17C
https://youtu.be/ZKtpl483rRw
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Four - Steady Thumb Blues
https://youtu.be/aAUnNh5zKXI
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Four - Tears From Above CC Slow Blues
https://youtu.be/V93FFeIXrJc
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Four = Tripin Stumblin 'arder Than It Looks
https://youtu.be/6T_j4OpRgVc
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Four - BLIM Unit 0 Recording 08C
https://youtu.be/GI53zT2a05U
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Five = LM # 1
https://youtu.be/h70tptLPFmA
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Five = LM # 2
https://youtu.be/JFslpift1eM
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Five = LM # 3
https://youtu.be/XuyL6_CxtHk
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Five = Sweet Home Chicago
https://youtu.be/1TeLwRrAa_E
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Five = Scruffy Eric @ Crossroads Slough Attack
https://youtu.be/NXvcrtVTfaA
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Five = BUAB 90% Tempo
https://youtu.be/LmQc7YSkPlA
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Five = TIGer Intro 80% Tempo
https://youtu.be/WWa2J95KyNU
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Five = Who Took My Damn Keys
https://youtu.be/liZvNrYLfU0
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Six = Swampy and The Madman (BLIM Challenge # 2)
https://youtu.be/iNUY_RtrC1E
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Six = Slow Burn Impro Solo
https://youtu.be/d-eAh8k542A
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Six = Slower Burn II
https://youtu.be/3ZU8O8r_LpU
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Six = Aint Sad For Long
https://youtu.be/wDAdmdzhobU
Last Updated 19tH December 2024
CLICK TO RUN
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Toby,
Great end of the year recap! Such a great way to see all your hard work this year layed out in one spot. I might have to copy you in my LL 
Looking forward to your end of BLIM updates and especially these 
Would be amazing to hear all the BBPers in the same track! I hope you guys get to do it 
All the best to you in the new year 
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As always, I’ve enjoyed your recordings, be it studio, live OM or BLIM-related plus the inimitable diary entries, Toby.
Keep on rocking in the free world, my friend!
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Interesting to hear how your year has gone and it is very clear that BLIM has been a very large part of it.
All the best for 2025
Michael
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Hi Toby,
A decade 
Cheers to the next one
Greetings and keep on playing 
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Great recap Toby. Its been another big year mate. Lots of Blues which is always a good thing.
Have a great Xmas mate.
Cheers, Shane
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THE MADMAN’s END OF YEAR REVIEW AND WHAT COMES NEXT
Well despite the recent stock take, I thought I would go back and see where I was a year ago, as its been one hell of a roller coaster ride for sure.
I’d almost forgotten that this time 12 months ago I was still going through my review of Grades 1 to 3, to see what I’d missed since the Old BC and IMs got turfed out the door and all these “grades” got dropped on the scene.
Good to know that by February I was back on a Blues footing, with the focus on Blues Soloing, Acoustic Blues, Folk Fingerstyle and some toe dipping into Hard Rock Rhythm and British Metal !!
Then the buzz of BLIM started to fester and by June I’d signed up with loads of doubts and zero self belief. Naturally the intense work load was such that Acoustic Blues, Folk Fingerstyle and the Hard Rock Rhythm and British Metal all took a back seat, while I dove into the Deep Blue Waters !
Since the start of BLIM and periodically through the intervening months, I kept folks in the main Community updated on progress and released three Chapters of the Madman’s Blues Diaries, so no need to repeat all that here but I hope at some point to get an end of term summary recorded. Watch this space, as I have my plate full !!
Then the gap between those updates and now was summarised a few weeks back, so now its just a case of mapping out the plans for 2025.
And for a change on day one its pretty much job done. No surprises that there is a shed load of BLIM consolidation, over lapping with similar areas I can now go back to, especially as I am not getting inundated with new material every month. It may look a lot and it will still be a big chunk of time each day but it fits my schedule and there are so many overlapping areas, much of it is complimentary, which makes a change
So the complete package looks like this :
The core daily components expanded for clarity :
The middle panel is a more in depth break down of some of the core components and additional material
And the 3rd panel is a helicopter view to keep me honest and the building blocks of the new plan ! The last few items being aide memoirs for later in the year !!
So yet again its going to be one hell of a busy year !!
Finally, one of the biggest pluses this year in signing up for BLIM, was what I see as accelerated learning. I have absorbed things quicker and been able to learn things in days that used to take weeks and some times months to get my head and fingers around. That on its own has been a real confidence boost and means I am now looking at anything saying, if I work at it, I can do that. Where as in the past its been, can’t do that move on to something else !!
Big call out the my #BBP collaborators, as it has certainly been their support and encouragement that has engendered that mind set. So huge thanks guys !
And also another huge thanks to those individuals out there who have been with me over the years and kept me going, you will know who you are. 
Right on that note, time for a brew ! 
Cheers Peeps
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I must admit that every year I am looking for this spreadsheet of madness! (It is fascinating how different people approach structure and learning.)
Keep us posted with your progress sir and a happy new year!
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That is one well structured plan, I like how you organised this! 
If I may provide feedback, the scope looks a bit wide. There are many aspects to cover, multiple sources, acoustic/electric, genres… I am guilty of this as well, but new/different things seem to have an amazing power to attract us. 
Having PC issues this morning, after power outage last night but I will come back to your comments later. There isn’t much in the way of new material, as I was working on what you may see as non Blim prior to the course. In fact 90% would be work in progress, compared to 100% new content we have been absorbing for 6 months.
And the scope is not as wide as you imagine, when mapped as it all dove tails together, which I will demonstrate later.
You may want to check out what I was up to pre Blim in the meantime.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL3Ur4AkmxhYtEXGGibvHxaMUj9FtK8yD&si=doIT1u8KRcww3b4b
Laters.
As I said not really new or different, maybe the flow will help you see the bigger picture and how this is all linked.
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No need to explain warm up etc.
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Also no need to explain Framework Blending (you having Blimmed), which combines the Dorian Blues scale when you add the colour notes. Reference points in Brad Carlton;s Blues Riff Volumes for accuracy and damping. Look at this as navigational skills that are tidy and in time,
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Should not have to explain Triads - but JMc teaches them in a way I really like - stacking thirds across each string for example, starting with lowest C on the 5th string, stacking C E G C laterally and the E G C E on the 4th, wash rinse repeat, so the pattern stitch together on each subsequent string set. Melodic soloing on hold for a few weeks until I have C F G under my fingers, all sets but Ross has some different backing tracks to Jeff, to spice the learning up, then I move from MMT into Melodic Solong. So last 2 days just C, today F then later G,
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Arpeggios are built off the triads and as this is Dom7 specific it ties in with the Blues and everything above and below it.
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Hybrid picking - we’ve touched on that in the medleys, JMc encourages its use to play Triads for different feel and texture - see PA&F. So these are exercises that support that. And the finger work augments the Acoustic Blues.
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Blue Rhythm comes as a much need break from the mainly single note work, so far and ensures I maintain my chops with the tasty chords we learnt in BLIM and which caused me no end of heart ache about 5 years ago, attemptin BLues Rhythm 1 and 2 now in Grade 6. Now I can play them I need to keep on doing so and ensure the chord changes are smooth and clean, so the Blim “studies” provide the vehicle. Which can then be applied to JMc Rhythm and fills - play a few bars of chords add some licks was rinse repeat, its all building blocks.
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Blues Licks - BLIM Consolidation, work on the problematic licks and use licks to improve technique and the apply them in impros and solos. Much of the material was in both Corey’s and Jeff’s courses that I was doing before Blim, so revisiting the solos I learnt, identifying favourite licks for improing and developing a Go To library and if you don’t play them, you won’t know what you like or what fits where, plus new licks could crop up when I start learning the new solos after the initial refresher.
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Acoustic Blues - well there was some very basic AB in early Blim but I’d already learned about 15 pieces before that and had 2 on the go (1 learn 1 refine). This goes hand in glove with hybrid picking and also extracting melody lines from the pieces that can be used in solos and impros, so seamlessly on from the Blues Licks section before and seamlessly into a round of Impro afterwards,
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Guitar Labs - a review of where the medleys licks and impro went wrong, Timing issues or unwanted string noise ? Review identify correct.
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Slide Guitar - Well it simply applies all the right hand techniques covered so far and makes you more honest. And its really fun to play hence it being the last element of technical development.
Songs ? - Wells there is a bloke round here who has been banging on about learning songs since I arrived a decade ago, Seems like a good idea dun it !
So there you go, works for me YMMV !
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It’s like one big spiders web that all interlinked. I do have one question, if I may ask, where does the minor triads fit in on your masterplan?
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Well if you look in the yellow box you’ll see that Axis of Awesome that has both. From a melodic soloing approach I’ll take the lead from Ross. Once he gets to them I’ll combing with Master Minor Triads and use the same approach. So yes as the days and weeks roll on, the odd word will be added to encompass development.
Example G B e only but all sets mapped out - I’ll likely add this a couple of times a week to keep it fresh, as it was another pre Blim exercise, inc playing in position.
What I am trying to do is strictly Time Box, so timing may also be refined in the coming weeks.
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It looks more manageable now that you explained, especially having in mind you well started number of these. Everything is connected indeed and you do keep a high level view of why these are in your schedule. 
One more question: You organised blocks and assigned times, is the intention to go through all the blocks each day? Or to choose a few to work on each day?
It was good to watch and learn some of the history of Madman diaries. Same as from David’s story, it is very encouraging that you overcame the issue with singing - something I am struggling with and these stories give me hope.
German shepherd is a beautiful and useful dog. 
Justin mentioned playing minor pentatonic scale on a single string. I love this, I kind of discovered this myself earlier when learning pentatonic shapes and had some time practicing this. However, it never crossed my mind to try triads the same way, I will try this!
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