Toby Jenner's Roadcase

Always look forward to your LL as there is always something in there that I’ve not heard of which I need to Google - hybrid picking and framework blending to name two!! :slight_smile: As I have noted before they also always appear way more advanced than I’ll ever achieve.

No problem, I will aim to complete each main unit on the left side each day.

Most of the items in column D will be part of that, for example while I am getting the Triad shapes memorised I can use material from both courses but won’t look at the soloing side until I feel the shapes are internalised, at which point that will be the main focus of that discipline but also using them as chords in songs.

On the rhythm side I am a way off mixing with fills but a few more weeks of running through the studies should then allow me to do that.

Regarding licks I will likely go back over some of the Corey and Jeff solos I learnt pre Blim, while practicing the unit medleys to keep those licks fresh. I completed the BLIM LMs in 15 minutes this morning and then stopped to resume later. So I will see how much I can get done or reassess in the remaining 15 minutes. Most likely go over just 2 of the ones I learnt before Blim and play catch up over the next few weeks before starting anything new, though a couple had been dabbled with early Blim !!

Same with the Acoustic Blues. I was up to the 3rd piece in Hamburgers Essentials course, so I will initially go back over the first 2 and some of Justin’s Solo Blues I can hopefully play from memory.

Time slot wise its evolving as normal, I needed an extra 5 minutes to get through the 7 arpeggio patterns I am learning but only 15 minutes to complete the rhythm practice, so they have been adjusted accordingly. Tomorrow I’ll run through a couple of the arpeggio etudes which may only be 10 minutes but I am not logging time spent, it is just a guide.

Hope all that helps.

Sadly Sophie our GSD passed away a couple of years ago but had been my constant companion in the music studio !

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Never say never Stuart you keep moving forward, just take your time. Outside of BLIM I don’t think Justin does a Hybrid picking lesson as far as I am or aware - never been able to find one. But just think finger style but holding a pick with thumb and index and plucking with the other fingers.

On the blending front, mostly likely a Justin term in BLIM but just being able to navigate freely across the pentatonic patterns, moving from one to another. Sounds more complicated than it is.

Just keep at it and you’ll do fine, just remember my saying !!

:sunglasses:

As always Luka dear friend and the same to you !
:sunglasses:

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Thank you Toby, I might steal an item or two. :grinning:

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Knock yourself out :+1:

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Excellent recap and review Toby!

I’m impressed with your ability to keep yourself so organized and on track! While I definitely practice, it’s hard for me to follow a super structured routine. It frequently devolves into song practice or trying to write a song :laughing:

Happy new year to you Toby and I’m looking forward to seeing your blues progress through 2025 :+1:

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Thank you Jenn !

If I didn’t do this I’d get nowhere fast, so it has just become part of the new year process, review assess re-plan. I had a similar set up of each of the six BLIM Units and naturally the posse gave me some ribbing ! But heck I’ve been using an xls since circa 2014/15 !

Happy New Year too, to you and yours ! Looking forward to what you guys get up to this year !

:sunglasses:

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I noticed that your training log included True Fire courses. How did this work when you blended it with BLIM? I am scheduled to take BLIM2 and want to continue working in True Fire also.

Any tips would be appreciated.
Brian

Pretty much put everything else on hold while I did Class 1 as it was impossible to run them.parallel given the Blim content you get each month. Now I am consolidating they heve been restarted and integrated as there is a lot of overlapping material.

Toby @TheMadman_tobyjenner I saw your LL when it first came in but just had time to review it in detail.

As always very comprehensive and nicely presented in spreadsheet format. Not part of BLIM but I aware that it has been an intensive six months of learning for those involved.

Too many things to comment on them all so have just picked out a few.

PMT - we both seem to be in Grade 5, don’t know about you but Grades 1-4 were pretty straight forward but Grade 5 is where it gets more theoretical.

Practice Routine - how good are you at keeping to it.

Fingerstyle - it makes a nice variation to just strumming and I see your list of songs is interesting

Hybrid Picking - that is something Justin doesn’t seem to cover in a Lesson might be in some song lessons but have just started to look at this myself. Could be a useful technique to combine picking and strumming.

Onwards and upwards to 2025 and all the best.

Michael

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Hey Michael thanks for the read and observations.

Yes BLIM was intense mainly due to the new material each unit, so with what I have now its a fairly stable platform to practice on and much cementing of knowledge I already have. Guess the only “new” items are Hybrid and Slide and though not new to me not areas I have focused on.

On the items you picked out.

Stick to it - pretty much keep to the plan and aim to practice all areas daily and generally accomplish that. I am lucky that my domestic situation means I get a good couple of hours each morning and will do another hour or so in the afternoon. Example today I started just after 9am and finished about 12:40. But got in the habit of doing 3 to 4 hours each days during BLIM, normally in smaller tranches, like 3 sessions. Now and then life gets in the way and somethings can’t be completed but that’s the exception. This afternoon Licks, Slide, Impro and some song work !!

PMT - I’m midway through 5.3 at the moment but put it on ice during BLIM. I plan to revisit once this routine gets bedded in (nearly there) so it will get tagged into the Transcription Box and just something to do when not playing - there nowt on TV these days anyway !
I have a pretty good knowledge of CAGED from Justin’s old course and what was Master the Major Scale and reasonable comfortable with modes, having followed @Richard_close2u extensive guide. So some of the stuff coming up will be covering old ground !

Hybrid Picking - the more I look at some of the great Blues players and dedicated Blues teachers, I find more and more are using it - even Justin - and from what I’ve experienced it is a useful skill to acquire. We touched on some basics in Blim but like you say no real lessons here on the subject - surprisingly.

Fingerstyle - Keeping my hand in on the folks side - Dust In The Wind and others - but not my main focus at the moment. But I’ll pick up and play the odd pattern now and then. When you take into account Acoustic Blues (did an hour today !!) and Hybrid Picking there is a lot of overlap. And as I said somewhere above, those finger picked melody lines can be transferred into improvisation, so everything is mutually supportive of everything else,

What I would add, I will take the occasional day off and not play at all. And if life gets in the way and I cannot complete a full “routine”, I don’t beat myself up and fret about it, life to short and I am playing stuff I never dreamed I would. So all is good !

Once again, thanks for the comments and I wish you continued success and progress in the year ahead,

:sunglasses:

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Wow, Toby!
What a resource! I once started to program a practice routine helper, but quickly let it fall. I’m sure I’ll find lots of useful bits in your posts above when I slowly read through the whole of it!
When I signed up for Blim two weeks ago or so, and watched the first pre-start lessons, I was pretty confident, but then, doing the rest, above all, looking at the transcribing level 0 lesson, oups!.. and now reading your comments and practicing organisational stuff, I fear what’s coming up with the course a bit! :slight_smile:

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Hi Toby, I always look forward to your log entries, always informative and inspiring! I couldn’t keep up with the last entries yet, so much valuable content here.
Your recap of 2024 shows you dedicated approach and your development!
Thanks for keeping us informed also during BLIM time, I really appreciate your efforts to keep in contact with this side of the forum :green_heart:!

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He Dom there is nothing to fear and don’t worry about the U0 transcribing, it gets easy but not a lot I can say this side of the border ! :rofl: But take your time and do what you can and make it fit your life schedule. The one thing Justin states through out is he is not expecting everyone to completed everything each unit. If you can great if you can’t you have the material for life. And after all you are only building a Blues foundation, there will be a lot bricks to add once the course is over. Main thing is to enjoy it !

:sunglasses:

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Thanks Andrea

Nor could I but folks keep asking questions !! :rofl:
If anything I write in my Roadcase is of benefit to anyone I am more than happy to share.
And yes there is a lot of mystery surrounding Blim but no reason not to share progress along the way. All good in MHO as long as people don’t post any spoilers.

Well I am back full time now, so you will have to get use to my ramblings again !

Once again thanks for dropping in.

:sunglasses:

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:joy: I’m looking forward to that :wink:!

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So there’s no AfterBlim then? :joy:

Seriously though, I would have thought you would still have access to the Blim1 part of the community so you could discuss course material with your fellow blimmers as you continue practicing it.

We do in need but the activity there has dropped off but not died completely. To be expected now the course has finished, as many folk never stepped across into the main arena, despite plenty of encouragement to do so. There are still a few folk out there playing catch up, so the odd question will surface now and then. And the JGC peeps who did BLIM will still be around to help them out for sure.

:sunglasses:

Ah, okay, that all makes sense. It’s a pity more of them haven’t joined us this side of the fence though. Maybe they’re all experts now! :roll_eyes: