I did Robert’s warm-up lick YL13 in A for the first time.
The lick can be played over the entire neck. The hand move is very challenging but really helps to navigate the guitar neck (as Robert pointed out in his video). I really love this kind of practice!
It’s an A mixolydian lick with a minor 3rd in it. This mode sounds really interesting and bluesy and it’s really fun to play. I’m well pleased in learning more about modes.
I had never thought, that the hand move could work, but playing with the backing track and breathing regularly helps a lot to get into that rhythm and to let the hand move.
I learned a lot in getting my left hand more agile!!!
Very helpful: Robert’s information on the A major chord (the C and E shape from CAGED).
I played the lick with 100 bpm (Robert’s original is 120 bpm).
My next step is to play it with more smooth transitions, especially I have to focus on the pick-up notes.
That's a challenging lick set. Might seem simple but the timing requires more than meets the casual ear. That solo is straight time over a shuffle.
Let me suggest thinking about the pendulum swing of a metronome, and swinging your self just a little left and right, or just your head, along with tapping your foot. Literally internalize the rhythm and then you can embody The Groove. Meaning, you feel the swing of the beat in time, and that space in between the beats, that's the groove, just like a pendulum swinging and cutting a swath. Feel the time, let it occupy you, express itself in your physical being, and then when everything is moving to the beat, start working on the exercise. Saying... rhythm and funk players don't stand still, and the choir always rocks to the groove in the old gospel churches.
@bluesiline, it's your thing, do what you want to do! Thanks for the props, I'm glad I could share the word in a way that spoke to you. Go on and find Your Connection, then bring it on home in the way that is uniquely yours. One note, played with feel and intention, in the proper moment is priceless. Add more when you can as long as you are not letting go of the groove that is the foundation.
I always admire and aspire to be the musician who plays with the right amount of space in performance.
That's really good, Birgit! I think you are doing really well with that lick. It's a good technique and dexterity exercise in my opinion. I shall make a shuffle track with it too... this track has an even feel, not shuffle. I'll make one at a slower tempo too.
So many good sounding licks to discover in Robert’s „2 minute lessons“. I’m really impressed!
This week I worked with „Phrasing with Minor Triads“, 2 licks based around minor triads and played over a I-IV-progression, from A minor to D minor.
These licks have a really beautiful sound. And I like the way Robert changed the licks for the second round so that it is very interesting to listen to. Especially the end is particularly impressing.
The exercise is very challenging for me and demands a lot from my fingers: 2 tricky slides in bar 4, a bend and release in bar 6 and a bending in bar 8. And the ending lick goes up the neck and is very demanding for me.
As I can hear from my recording, holding the notes a little bit longer will keep me busy for a long time. But this exercise is still a good practice for me and really fun to play.
I played it with 100 bpm, Robert’s original is 120 bpm.
This week I started with the 1st solo of the 24 bar A minor Blues Solo A01. It’s a really sweet solo, I like the sound very much.
Very challenging for me are the bends, vibratos and triplets. In bar 8 is a 16th note triplet which I replaced by an 8th note.
My approach:
First of all I listened to Robert’s solo again and again, trying to understand which notes he emphasizes, how he plays the slides, the triplets and the bends.
spending a lot of time humming the first 12 bars while listening to the backing track and listening to the chord changes.
playing bar by bar with a metronome.
playing the licks separately over the backing track but ignoring the chord changes, only to get the licks under my fingers.
finally I tried to play the licks over the backing track while listening to the chord changes
Thanks to the recording I can hear what I have to work on:
vibratos and bends will take many years
I have to get the right feeling for triplets
my slides sound really choppy. I need to let them sound a bit smoother.
Keep going, Birgit, that's a lot of work and a good plan. I see you are humming and internalizing.
Here's a technique that many use to build skills in practice and listener expectation in performance: Put on a backing track and play one riff, maybe 3, 4 or as many as 6 notes. Start with a simple phrase and let the backing track run for many minutes. Play the riff (recording is even better) and keep repeating with little variations. Express yourself and experiment with timing, attack, bends, holding a note. Let a note ring and sustain for a bar. Be the mad scientist and find those hidden ways to express that phrase/riff.
Thank you Clayton, I will bear in mind the "Samurai say" taking a riff and trying out some variations. That’s definitely the way to work on technical skills in a more relaxed and intuitive way and to see, what comes out!
That Samurai quote comes from Phil T Sudo's "Zen Guitar." Nice little collection of thoughts on how to approach playing and nothing about technique.
I'm following my own advice and milking a few phrases over a backing track. How many sounds and expressions through different emphasis and timing can be found in a small piece of the fretboard?
Nice, I hear improvement for sure. I think you could use a tone with more sustain. It will make it much easier. It sounds like it's hard to get the notes sustaining.
What I think you should focus on is 1) timing, by humming and singing the licks/phrases, and 2) letting notes ring longer (sustain will help).
Those little details like slides, bends, vibrato - work on them too. It takes time to develop those.
I did Robert’s warm-up lick YL13 in A for the first time.
The lick can be played over the entire neck. The hand move is very challenging but really helps to navigate the guitar neck (as Robert pointed out in his video). I really love this kind of practice!
It’s an A mixolydian lick with a minor 3rd in it. This mode sounds really interesting and bluesy and it’s really fun to play. I’m well pleased in learning more about modes.
I had never thought, that the hand move could work, but playing with the backing track and breathing regularly helps a lot to get into that rhythm and to let the hand move.
I learned a lot in getting my left hand more agile!!!
Very helpful: Robert’s information on the A major chord (the C and E shape from CAGED).
I played the lick with 100 bpm (Robert’s original is 120 bpm).
My next step is to play it with more smooth transitions, especially I have to focus on the pick-up notes.
Lots of power in your playing. Like the soft yet gentle striking of your plucking. Matches well for this style of music.
Requires a lot of practice. But Robert has a talent for creating so beautifully sounding practice lessons that’s a pleasure practicing playing. And I always have to work on letting ringing out the notes longer. I continue practicing !
