JPsuff
Blackstar Artist
After having downloaded "52 Rhythm Fills & Variations" months ago, I decided today to finally open it up and see what's what.
Boy have I got some learnin' to do!
I've only gone through Section 1 and barely stepped into Section 2 and though I find that much of what's there is very familiar, much of it is nowhere as easy to play as I may have thought.
Some of it is very simple and intuitive (and even some things I'm already playing on my own), but other riffs -- though simple in structure -- are surprisingly difficult to get under my fingers and will definitely take some time to learn. I like Griff's approach though in that he doesn't "insist" that something be played a certain way but rather that he wants to point out the essence of something -- it's vibe and groove and how understanding THAT is more important than exactly copying every note he plays.
I also love the fact that he demonstrates variations of licks and riffs to show that there's more than one way to play something and still have it sound good (which I believe is going to work well for me and my "non-rock star" hands)
As stated, I just cracked this open today and later on I tried to play some of the things I "learned" with various backing tracks I have and though most of it sounded like crap, some of it clicked and I get where Griff is going and I think that over time -- as I become more comfortable with all of this -- I will find what works for me.
It is somewhat sad to realize just how much I DON'T know but at the same time it's exciting to think of how much my playing can improve if I stick with this. Of course "sticking with it" is the tricky part, but I think the payoff will be worth enough to keep trying.
This is gonna be fun!
Boy have I got some learnin' to do!
I've only gone through Section 1 and barely stepped into Section 2 and though I find that much of what's there is very familiar, much of it is nowhere as easy to play as I may have thought.
Some of it is very simple and intuitive (and even some things I'm already playing on my own), but other riffs -- though simple in structure -- are surprisingly difficult to get under my fingers and will definitely take some time to learn. I like Griff's approach though in that he doesn't "insist" that something be played a certain way but rather that he wants to point out the essence of something -- it's vibe and groove and how understanding THAT is more important than exactly copying every note he plays.
I also love the fact that he demonstrates variations of licks and riffs to show that there's more than one way to play something and still have it sound good (which I believe is going to work well for me and my "non-rock star" hands)
As stated, I just cracked this open today and later on I tried to play some of the things I "learned" with various backing tracks I have and though most of it sounded like crap, some of it clicked and I get where Griff is going and I think that over time -- as I become more comfortable with all of this -- I will find what works for me.
It is somewhat sad to realize just how much I DON'T know but at the same time it's exciting to think of how much my playing can improve if I stick with this. Of course "sticking with it" is the tricky part, but I think the payoff will be worth enough to keep trying.
This is gonna be fun!