Mastering the guitar is a long and continuous journey. There is always room to improve, to grow as well as more things to learn.
I truly think you are doing awesome and have really come a long way in a very short time . IMHO your recordings are very well done, balanced and mixed well. Your guitar tone is excellent, your playing has improved with each post. I think I am hearing your vibrato coming out too!
You are doing great, Birgit! I am very glad to see that not only are you getting better, but you're also sharing that progress with us. That helps us all!
Humming along with a melody or lick to the backing track, while tapping your foot - that is extremely important to be able to do.
I continued to improve the E major blues solo and the 2-5-1 Jazz Lick in C.
I did a lot of work in practicing triplets.
The triplets in bar 7 and 8 of the E major blues solo are rather tricky because I have to hold the last note of the triplet of bar 7 to the next bar and on beat 2 of bar 8 comes the next triplet.
There is still a lot to do: I have to play the triplets clearly ! I often « slip » in order to « save » the tone.
I practiced to play the vibrato a little bit louder, but it’s not easy. With too much energy I touch the adjacent strings. Needs more practice.
E major blues solo
2-5-1 Jazz Lick in C
Positive moments :
- I can feel that I can hold the notes a little bit longer
This week I learned the first solo (12 bars) of the Robert’s Easy Blues Solo E-01 (24 bars). I’ve chosen the 90 bpm backing track. It’s perhaps a bit too slow, but it’s easier in the beginning. I hope to increase the speed step by step.
The many bendings and vibratos as well as the triplet in bar 4 are a huge challenge.
The triplet in bar 4 is difficult for me with a hammer-on from fret 12 to 15. Needs some practice.
I can hear from my recording:
that I need to play the vibrato louder and with more dynamic. During playing I have the feeling that the vibrato is loud enough, but when I hear my recording it seems too quiet.
bending needs more practice, getting the right timing to push the string and therby not to over bend or under bend.
Some notes at the end of the solo are again too short.
I needed a lot of recordings until I got this one! It’s just a beginning.
Thank you Clayton, I like your comparison with the chops very much!
Recording is such a powerful practicing tool. I appreciate this even more.
At first, I do record only with a metronome. That really shows me « brutally honest », where I can’t follow the sequence of the bars. These are the parts I have to focus on.
For me, a further and very positive side effect of recording is, that the mental pressure during recording helps me steadily to overcome the habit of sticking to notes again and again before a technically demanding part begins.
I played pull-offs for the first time. I watched Robert’s course on how to play pull-offs properly. I higly recommend this course. And I know now why a pull-off should called a pull-down: to get more energy.
This technique needs a lot of practice. I must prevent that it sounds as if I had stepped on a cat’s tail: not too short notes and not too much energy.
And I played double-stops for the first time. I have to learn finding the 2 strings without looking at my picking hand. Needs really a lot of practice. But I absolutely want to learn this technique, because « harmonic intervals » sound so great. The riffs sound bolder and richer.
I learned the second solo of Robert’s Easy Blues Solo E-01 which includes pull-offs and double-stops.
Bar 20 begins on « 1 and », but I began on the « 1 ». Beginning on « 1 and » sounds much better. Needs more practice.
It’s a big challenge but I’m confident to improve my technique step by step.
And I’m always focusing on timing and note length. A lot of tough but enriching work !
I do a lot of practice, but Robert has a talent for providing us with so good sounding beginner songs that it’s really fun and boosts motivation.
I‘m currently practicing the new „4 note descending pentatonic pattern“ which is a practice drill indead, really challenging for me, very good for finger coordination (plus stretching), with a lot of roll overs and very good for focusing on note length 😉, but it sounds so interesting and together with the backing track it’s a very cool solo!
This week I began with Robert‘s „4 note descending pattern“ in C major. It’s a beautiful practice drill but has been the most challenging practice drill I ever had before!!!
So many aspects are involved:
- many roll-overs
- many parts with pinky and ringfinger successively on adjacent strings
- position 4 of the C major pentatonic is extremely challenging because it’s really difficult to play as a beginner: On the lower frets the distance for moving the fingers is very large whereas on the higher frets the distance is rather short.
Focusing on the note length was hard work: I couldn’t hold the first two notes of bar 13, because that is currently to difficult for me.
I needed a considerable amount of practice time for the following version. And there is still a lot to do to get a fluent sound.
Robert’s original version has 100 bpm, but I practiced this drill with 90 bpm.
This week I learned the first solo (12 bars) of the Robert’s Easy Blues Solo E-01 (24 bars). I’ve chosen the 90 bpm backing track. It’s perhaps a bit too slow, but it’s easier in the beginning. I hope to increase the speed step by step.
The many bendings and vibratos as well as the triplet in bar 4 are a huge challenge.
The triplet in bar 4 is difficult for me with a hammer-on from fret 12 to 15. Needs some practice.
I can hear from my recording:
that I need to play the vibrato louder and with more dynamic. During playing I have the feeling that the vibrato is loud enough, but when I hear my recording it seems too quiet.
bending needs more practice, getting the right timing to push the string and therby not to over bend or under bend.
Some notes at the end of the solo are again too short.
I needed a lot of recordings until I got this one! It’s just a beginning.
great progress going on
the vibrato is keeping a 3 point balance from the fingertip, the palm, and the wrist
in other words, try not to keep the balance focus on one point, of course when one starts out learning vibrato , the fingertip will be the main focus because you'll be looking at your fingertip
mentally keep that in mind and after a few years of thinking about it, ( decades for me ) your signature style will appear suddenly over night
an example of this would be Roberts new live session the other day. New guitar , yet his signature vibrato is the same
give yourself a couple of years, it will arrive like a much and deserving beautiful Birthday gift
I will now very much bear in mind your explanations on keeping a „3 point balance“ during practicing vibratos. Things I haven’t thought about so far. It will be a long but very enriching process.
I like your vibratos very much!
Supporting each other - one of the great advantages here at MGA!
I will now very much bear in mind your explanations on keeping a „3 point balance“ during practicing vibratos. Things I haven’t thought about so far. It will be a long but very enriching process.
I like your vibratos very much!
Supporting each other - one of the great advantages here at MGA!
Thank you so much and enjoy playing
Birgit
Thank you very much for your kind comment.
The vibrato is like swimming. It comes down to balance and with that, one uses less energy.
The 3 points is a balance that is a thought process, I say this because if you had to play with your toes ( no hands ), the same principle would still come into place. It's kind of like a triangle.
