@bluesiline Congrats with the one year MGA today Birgit!
Great to hear this and i wish you another second great year with a lot of good guitar practice! And looking forward to follow your practice log! 😀 👍 

Practice log 08-08-2021

I’m working with Robert’s lesson „Learn enclosure & chromatic passing tones in blues – YL21 » and this really good sounding chord tone practice exercise for a blues in A inspires me a lot.

What I noticed while practicing :

1 - My previous solos I played always at 90 bpm but I’m now able to play this new one at 110 bpm, a huge step for me! I‘ve practiced starting at 90 and I slowly increased the tempo: 95, 100 until 110 bpm.

I think that my 16th note strumming practice has an influence on my solo playing now. And I’m convinced that, with a little more practice, I’ll be able to play this solo at Robert’s original tempo 120 bpm.

2 – It’s the first time that I’m not only tapping my foot to the beat but also moving my body a little bit while playing the guitar. It doesn’t look so good yet, sorry, but doing this for the first time it’s not easy to move the body and play the guitar at the same time. There is still room for improvement.

3 - I try to rest my picking hand on the bridge. I think it’s getting better compared to previous videos but still needs more practice.

In the penultimate measure I played only one note instead of the chord. Was easier for me to play.

I’m open to suggestions for improvement,

Birgit

Yeah there she is, the first practice after the first year celebration of her practice log. You give the Rainy Sunday in Holland a great bluesy/jazz feeling! 😀 👍 

Birgit, you are right on the beat with timing- excellent! And moving along with the music.

Posted by: @blues-lover

You give the Rainy Sunday in Holland a great bluesy/jazz feeling! 😀 👍 

Thank you, André. Your kind words brighten also my at times rainy and windy Sunday here in Switzerland 😊.

Birgit  

@clayton 

Thank you, Clayton, I try to implement - step by step - what my teachers here at MGA have taught me regarding timing and rhythm…… 😊. 

Birgit

@bluesiline Thank you, Birgit that is good to hear! 😀 👍 

That is very nice! Next, make the notes longer by releasing the pressure of the fretting fingers slightly longer. You are starting to get some swing happening.

Please, listen to swing feel a lot. See this video and let me know if it helps you:

@robert, thank you for recommending Alex‘ video. I just watched it a few times how to develop a swing time feel in a three step process, first playing even 8th notes, then playing behind the beat and then accenting the off beats. But I didn’t get on with it that well.

But at the same time I remembered your live stream video from Monday, Feb 22 , 2021 « Swing vs even feel and technique discussion « . And I  - personally -  think that your explanation suits better for me:

that a swing feel is based on a triplet feel where you take away the « 2 » and you count 1  3   1   3  … and it clicked for me 👍.

I also get along better with the audio examples you present in the live stream video.

To improve my technique I’ll work with your live stream video.

Birgit

Practice log 08-22-2021

I’m still working with Robert’s  „Funk Strumming – YL29“ , James Brown Style Groove, and try to get the 24 bars with the two patterns under my fingers.

Especially the transition from pattern 1 to pattern 2 was difficult for me to play and made me lose the rhythm many many times!

So this is my first recording - I was very nervous - where I succeded to play the 24 bars in a row. At 85 bpm.

I know that I didn’t play the grooves properly and that there is still a lot to do until it sounds reasonably well. Nevertheless, I put the video in my practice log because I’m so happy that I could play the 24 bars in a row, giving me self-confidence for further practice.

Birgit

Practice log 09-03-2021

I’m still practicing the The James Brown style groove from the lesson „Funk strumming – YL29“.

For the first time I’ve tried out to make air strokes with the right hand during bars 3 and 4 instead of muting the strings and playing scratches. That needs a lot more concentration at the beginning but I think it’s a good practice to play the funk rhythm in a more varied way.

Furthermore, I’m still working with Robert’s live stream video from Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, to get the swing feel into my playing for the lesson «Enclosures and chromatic passing tones – YL21». Needs a lot of listening and playing again and again to get the right feeling.

To expand my chord vocabulary I’ve started now the lesson «Swing Blues Rhythm with 9th&13th chords“. I highly recommend this lesson.

The voicings for the E13, A9 and B9 are so beautiful, so good sounding. I’m really touched!

It’s also a new and a big challenge for me to mute the unwanted low and high E string. It will take a lot!!! of effort to get the chords sounding clean. At the moment I’m moving from one chord to another in slow motion to get the different grips under my fingers.

But working with the rhythm pattern, it makes a lot of fun.

Birgit

I think you need to be more distinct with your right hand. Maybe if you watch my funk strumming video and play along with me there, it could help? I encourage you try exaggerating the strums, just to see what happens. You need to try a variety of approaches - strum hard, soft, fast, slow, etc - so that you will learn/feel when it's working best. It's so difficult to teach someone this technique, especially over the internet. The most important thing is the right hand. Forget the chords at first - just mute all strings. Think of yourself as a drummer or percussionist, grooving 16th notes with the beat. It's all in the rhythm and groove!

Posted by: @bluesiline

... To expand my chord vocabulary I’ve started now the lesson «Swing Blues Rhythm with 9th&13th chords“. I highly recommend this lesson.

Those 9th and 13th chords are cool voicings and the swing is king.  That's a big chunk of rhythm work with both Funk and Swing!  Sounds like you are falling into the groove.

Posted by: @robert

You need to try a variety of approaches - strum hard, soft, fast, slow, etc - so that you will learn/feel when it's working best. 

I always appreciate your comments and suggestions, Robert.

And yes, this is something I really need to focus on. I’ll do it 👍. 

Birgit

Practice log 09-19-2021

I spend a lot! of time learning the grips for the E13, A9 and B9 voicings of the lesson „Swing Blues Rhythm with 9th&13th chords“. I never played such voicings before but after a while I managed to mute the high E string. It wasn’t as difficult to learn as I had imagined. But learning to mute the low E string with my thumb will take a lot more time. I need to reposition my fingers until I’m able to better touch the low E string with my thumb.

The transition from the E13 grip to the A9 and B9 grip was also a big challenge for me to enable my pinky to swith from the G string to the B string in time.

I also focus on the swing rhythm, trying to make the notes slightly longer. I think it’s getting a little bit better, but it still needs a lot more practice.

I made a first simplified 12 bar trial and played it slowly! at 100 bpm with slighty modified patterns.

Birgit