domhatch
so tonight i have my second lesson since last week. but my second lesson in, oh, i dunno - forever maybe? we're piecing together purple haze and i gotta tell you it's a challenge. i have about 3% of the intro under my fingers. yes, 3%. but hey, i didn't get into this to do something i can already do, did i?
the end goal is to become a competent blues player by learning the songs, the techniques, and the theory of some of my favourite blues, blues rock and classic rock players. anyhoo, so far so fun, and i'll keep y'all updated every once in a while.
peace out
dh
IceCreamMan
tomorrow it might be 6% and this is the benefit ..so keep at it ...... dont view "growth" between one day an the next , but over 3 months ..... i do things on guitar today i could not do 3 months ago and so it goes....
life long commitment
domhatch
IceCreamMan wrote
tomorrow it might be 6% and this is the benefit ..so keep at it ...... dont view "growth" between one day an the next , but over 3 months ..... i do things on guitar today i could not do 3 months ago and so it goes....
life long commitment
oh, for sure. when my last lesson started i could play precisely 0%. and my goal is not only to play individual songs, but to be able to play what i want, when i want. definite lifetime commitment required!
thanks for the comment
dh
Ray
I need to take lessons. For the discipline side of things. I also think I need to find someone to jam with.
vic
DH, which songs CAN you play at this stage ? if I may ask....and ito Purple Haze (JH) are you working on the intro, lead and chords at the same time ?
giggsy
Nice - going to be starting lessons soon too, stagnated for way too long
Norman86
good luck Dom! ?
i need time to for lessons! anyone have time for sale? lol
Psean
Enjoy man. They make a big difference. I need to get back to lessons on the new year.
Attila
I need to go back to my original thinking which is to spend less on gear and more on predefined lessons ...much like what you are doing Dom.
peace
domhatch
so, going to try to reply to all y'all in one post:
i haven't been playing - with any particular goal in mind - for a good long time. thus, lessons. main reason giggsy? stagnation. just plain goin' nowhere in an awful hurry. i also want to be able to jam - constructively - with just about anyone, and for that i need a good degree of self-confidence, which is lacking at the moment. once i have a few new songs under the ol' fingers, along with the understanding of what goes into making those songs work, i believe i'll feel a lot more confident in my ability as a guitar player.
i truly believe i have a fair amount of talent. mainly what i lack is pulling all my little pockets of knowledge together, focusing my efforts, and giving myself goals to reach. so i'm taking lessons. and my instructor may not necessarily be the right guy to assist me with all this - but at the very least i have a fixed time every week to chat guitar, and for an outside source to assess my progress and give me pointers. not to mention chat gear and guitarists. two lessons in and i'm having a ball, and most of all challenging myself - i'm up to about 53% on that intro, by my estimation...
in terms of songs i already know, there are dozens. but - and it's a big but - not having actually sat down with the guitar for a long time, most of them would require a serious amount of time to get under the fingers. i'd say i have a repertoire of around 12 to 15 songs i could whip together, given a couple of months of serious practice time - but serious practice time. that's including acoustic and rhythm on electric. lead/improv is something i fiddle with - and that will be part of my focus in lessons.
in terms of purple haze, we're breaking it down bit by bit. so the intro is actually made up of a couple of repeated/semi-repeated phrases, or phrases that are at least of similar make up. get the first bit (3%) right, and it's sorted. get it under your fingers, and move on to the next phrase. rinse, and repeat. before you know it, you have one shining head of jimi hendrix intro. of course, there's a whole bunch of texture to be added - vibrato, phrasing, etc - but the primary task for me is hitting the notes, and get the timing right. i'll worry about adding more expression once i have the thing down pat.
the verse is actually pretty simple - E7#9, G, A - with the typical hendrix thumb over the top 'barre' style on the G and the A. then it gets a bit more complicated in the lead up to the solo, and i'm working on that this week.
man, what a pleasure having something to aim for! it's a whole different experience of the guitar. and it makes a huge difference having someone there to, as i said, assess your progress and point you along the road.
shoulda done this way sooner, but i guess it really takes something to push you over. for me, it was a complete lack of wanting to even play. and it was a choice - pack it all in, or start taking it seriously. i couldn't bear to part with my guitars, so choice made, i guess. and i have my wife to thank for a large part of the decision. she's a trooper, bless her.
two lessons in, 53% of the intro down, and a long, long road to go...
dh
Squonk
good stuff
Just reading about your enthusiasm has completely enthused me!
vic
domhatch wrote
so, going to try to reply to all y'all in one post:
i haven't been playing - with any particular goal in mind - for a good long time. thus, lessons. main reason giggsy? stagnation. just plain goin' nowhere in an awful hurry. i also want to be able to jam - constructively - with just about anyone, and for that i need a good degree of self-confidence, which is lacking at the moment. once i have a few new songs under the ol' fingers, along with the understanding of what goes into making those songs work, i believe i'll feel a lot more confident in my ability as a guitar player.
i truly believe i have a fair amount of talent. mainly what i lack is pulling all my little pockets of knowledge together, focusing my efforts, and giving myself goals to reach. so i'm taking lessons. and my instructor may not necessarily be the right guy to assist me with all this - but at the very least i have a fixed time every week to chat guitar, and for an outside source to assess my progress and give me pointers. not to mention chat gear and guitarists. two lessons in and i'm having a ball, and most of all challenging myself - i'm up to about 53% on that intro, by my estimation...
in terms of songs i already know, there are dozens. but - and it's a big but - not having actually sat down with the guitar for a long time, most of them would require a serious amount of time to get under the fingers. i'd say i have a repertoire of around 12 to 15 songs i could whip together, given a couple of months of serious practice time - but serious practice time. that's including acoustic and rhythm on electric. lead/improv is something i fiddle with - and that will be part of my focus in lessons.
in terms of purple haze, we're breaking it down bit by bit. so the intro is actually made up of a couple of repeated/semi-repeated phrases, or phrases that are at least of similar make up. get the first bit (3%) right, and it's sorted. get it under your fingers, and move on to the next phrase. rinse, and repeat. before you know it, you have one shining head of jimi hendrix intro. of course, there's a whole bunch of texture to be added - vibrato, phrasing, etc - but the primary task for me is hitting the notes, and get the timing right. i'll worry about adding more expression once i have the thing down pat.
the verse is actually pretty simple - E7#9, G, A - with the typical hendrix thumb over the top 'barre' style on the G and the A. then it gets a bit more complicated in the lead up to the solo, and i'm working on that this week.
man, what a pleasure having something to aim for! it's a whole different experience of the guitar. and it makes a huge difference having someone there to, as i said, assess your progress and point you along the road.
shoulda done this way sooner, but i guess it really takes something to push you over. for me, it was a complete lack of wanting to even play. and it was a choice - pack it all in, or start taking it seriously. i couldn't bear to part with my guitars, so choice made, i guess. and i have my wife to thank for a large part of the decision. she's a trooper, bless her.
two lessons in, 53% of the intro down, and a long, long road to go...
dh
Now don't forget about the lyrics and the vocals DH !! ?
domhatch
Vic wrote
Now don't forget about the lyrics and the vocals DH !! ?
nah mate. that's a whole other story...
shaundtsl
Thats cool DH. I had already played in two gigging bands before I started my lessons and the lessons probably doubled my ability at least.
It was just great being taught the right way and finding that it was making sense was such a boost to me.
It was only two months worth of lessons, but was a great teacher (Dan Patlansky) and made the world of difference to my playing.
domhatch
shaundtsl wrote
Thats cool DH. I had already played in two gigging bands before I started my lessons and the lessons probably doubled my ability at least.
It was just great being taught the right way and finding that it was making sense was such a boost to me.
It was only two months worth of lessons, but was a great teacher (Dan Patlansky) and made the world of difference to my playing.
yes, well, we can't all take lessons from one of sa's best guitarists now, can we? ? still, i can say i did have lessons from someone who once taught dan for a while - a guy by the name of tony russell. a great jazz player, wonderful teacher, incredibly knowledgeable man on all things guitar and a smashing guy to have a few beers with after the lesson to boot. always made a plan to book his last slot on a saturday.
must have been quite an experience having lessons with dan - there's a guy who seriously knows his stuff...
dh
shaundtsl
It was quite a cool experience. He had a very easy to learn technique which I think he uses in his workshops now.
In my case, it took me back to basics and taught me things I should have started with which improved most areas of my playing.
jt
...
jt
er... Where are the updates???
domhatch
missed the third lesson - we were away in the pilanesburg. will have a make up lesson some time in the next few weeks. (and no, deefstes, that will not be a lesson on how to apply make up.)
looking forward to monday night's lesson though - think i've just about nailed the intro, verse structure and fiddly bits leading up to the solo. so then we start on the solo itself, and a bit of improv over the solo progression. it's the improv i'm most looking forward to - we'll start looking at a bit of theory then, i hope.
there's some seriously lekker rhythm playing in this song though, it starts to really speak to you once you get into it. think i might have mentioned it already, but when he pulled out purple haze on that first night, i panicked. i was, like, dude - hendrix? what're you - nuts? but it just goes to show that if you take it bit by bit, at a pace you can handle while still challenging yourself enough to feel the rewards, yooooooouuuuuuu caaaaaaaaan doooooooo eeeeeeeeet...
well, i reckon.
dh
domhatch
right. where's the emoticon for 'hangs head in shame'? this one will have to do... :-[
tonight we're back into the swing of things. i'm pretty much done with purple haze - the basics at least, and not counting the solo, where i have tons of work to do. but at least i have the main parts under my fingers, and when i play it with a backing track, i can more or less keep up, and manage a semi-decent improvised solo using an Em pentatonic for the most part.
i did pretty much diddly formally over the xmas break, just the odd noodle here and there. but it's among my resolutions to get stuck in this year. i want to have a real chat with the dude this evening about setting goals. it seemed like we weren't aiming anywhere specific last year - i don't know if he was just assessing me, which is fine, but i want to be able to look at what i should be achieving and by when - and if not, why not and what i can do to improve on reaching goals, or whether they're unrealistic. you know, that kind of stuff.
oh, and i want to bring a guitar to work this year. we'll see how that goes down!
peace peeps, and keep on rockin!
dh
