Slow Blues Feel Learning To Talk From The Construction Kit

Aussie Dave

Blues Newbie
Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie to the forum, but I've been using Griff's excellent courses for a year.

The CK is a great idea, in helping us learn vocabulary & timing & how it goes together.

However, I wonder what the best approach is (after learning the licks, constructing some solos & playing them) to actually doing this in a more free-flowing, spontaneous way like a lead guitarist with real chops? Clearly this transition takes practice & time. What are the best steps to make, to take me there?

Dave
 

OG_Blues

Guitar Geezer
Hi Dave, and welcome to the forum!
You ask an excellent question - one that I have asked myself and have been giving some thought to.
The SBCK seems to work pretty good for constructing solos in a formulaic "planned" manner, but my personal ultimate objective with the course is to achieve exactly what you suggest. To be able to construct solos "on the fly" in real time, to the point that a person could play somewhat endlessly over a long backing track without repeating the same stuff over and over again, or at least not in the same order, and in any key.
The exact method to achieve that is probably somewhat different for everyone, and I am not yet certain exactly what will work for me, much less someone else, so all I can offer is my train of thought and speculation.
In a pretty general sense, I do believe that one prerequisite involves acquiring a fairly large vocabulary of licks, and variations of those licks, such that they can be played without any thought or concentrated effort, and recalled without hesitation so that they just flow from the fingers. This is a pretty tall order all by itself that will take me quite a bit of time and practice - possibly years. I'm a slow learner. :) But I don't give up easy.
The next step is to be able to "hear ahead" at the same time you are playing, in order to hear and select what will sound good against the backing track (or a live ensemble), and do this fast enough to be ready to play it when the time is right, while then hearing and selecting the next part to play, and so on and so on until they pull the plug on your amp and kick you off the stage.
The next step in the progression would be to be able to play melodic lines simultaneously as you hear them in your head, or with just a very short delay. In other word, your finger just (magically) play what you are hearing in your head in approximate real time.
I find that there are some magic moments when I am actually able to do these things just described, but usually not for very long, and not very consistently. Even these occasional short episodes (accidents??) of brilliance (LOL) are enough to encourage me that my goal is ultimately achievable, if I live long enough.
If there is one word that sums up everything needed to reach the objective, I think it would be "fluency".
This is probably of absolutely no help to you, but writing it down helps me commit to it.
Time's a'wasting - better get to it.
Later,
Tom

Also, I forgot to mention, that in my opinion, until one has acquired pretty good fundamental playing techniques, the above objectives will be much harder / slower to achieve. There are so many moving parts happening so quickly, you can't be thinking about executing basic technique at the same time. Lots of things need to happen without any thought so that the mind has time to think about what's really important. When you watch a really good player, he or she makes it look effortless - because to that person, it is virtually effortless - they have reached that level of fluency.
 

johnc

systematic
Adding to Toms good comments above I haven't done or even looked at the CK course but speaking generally and what I think it would be about.
It should be giving you a set of licks/phrases that work well on a I chord, another set for IV chord and another set for V chord.

Just as an example, I don't know what Griff has done exactly..but this is what you could do IMO
So this becomes a set that you can choose on the fly like a took kit.
Say you have 4 licks each that you study for the I, IV, and V. Lets call them Licks A, B, C and D that can be used over Chord I.
Then you would have licks E, F, G and H any of which that can be played over the IV chord and another set of 4 you can play over the V.

So once you know them all like on the fly you can say start off with lick C on the I chord, then use lick F on the IV chord and what you choose on the V.
The different combinations of knowing these say 3 sets of 4 licks are quite large in number not having done the maths. The next solo use a different combo and you can go all night without repeating.

Once you have these sets of licks/phrases firmly memorised, you can embellish them further and make it all sound like your own just as if you are winging it on the fly..

So I guess for a start, learn one set and once they are working well, learn a second set until they are all 6 licks burnt to memory. Play them along with backing tracks or songs initially as a set then start to mix them them up say by using lick 1 of the 1st set on I chord and lick 2 of the second set on IV chord and back to lick 3 of the 1st set on the V.
Then do a different combo for the next time through and keep changing the combination.
Then try the same thing in different Keys at different tempos and rhythms..

Pretty sure Griff would be giving you some great classic sounding licks to start using in this way..
 
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OG_Blues

Guitar Geezer
johnc - what you describe is pretty much exactly what Griff's construction kits are all about, so you are right on the money I think.
As one other person commented in a different thread, "it's not as easy (to put into practice) as it sounds", and I agree with that.
Aussie Dave - to get further towards a more direct or specific answer to your question, which is how to go about putting the CK into use (a method), I have a few more thoughts. A method goes a step beyond the mere presentation of the information that is in the CK.
Griff has often said (paraphrasing) "if you can't sing or hum it, you can't play it". I think this is generally true, but I would add the word "WELL" to to the end of it, and we all want to be able to play it well, right?
I have learned that I learn best "incrementally", and if I try to bite off too much at once, it doesn't progress as well. For example, if I tried to go from novice player to playing improvised jazz over complex changes in one step, I, and most other people would fail. Trust me, I tried it, I failed - which is exactly what brought me to BGU.
So, here is the method I have started doing and am going to spend more time doing for a while.
1. Construct several good sounding solos using the CK and some other licks I know quite well. Practice them until they flow easily.
2. Then, no guitar involved, i.e., not in hand, no actual playing. Put on an extended backing track.
3. While listening to it, sing or hum the solos constructed in step 1. (it doesn't need to be done out loud - I'm a lousy singer, so this is pretty much done "in my head").
Next we move on to starting to improvise the sequence of licks, so these are a subset of step 3.
3a. Methodically substitute different position 1 licks in each of the solos.
3b. Methodically substitute different position 7 licks in each of the solos. (the into and ending are probably the easiest substitutions to hear IMO)
3c. Methodically start substituting licks in other positions, letting you internal hearing be your guide. If you "hear" a lick that is not one of standard licks, i.e. you hear something original, or even a lick that was not part of the constructed solos - maybe from some other BGU solo, STOP, grab your guitar, and figure it out and write it down!! Add it to the mix of what "works". You just heard something that probably fits really well there, and is a big step towards the ultimate goal.
Keep practicing this until you gain fluency in hearing where different licks fit against the backing track. The advantage of doing this in your head is that you are training your mind to think ahead, without the distraction of having to be playing something at the same time. Eventually, your brain will allow you to multitask these together.
4. After having some success with steps 3, pick up the guitar and start working on putting the hearing ahead together with actual playing. If you get lost, just stop playing but continue and pick it up where and when something comes back to you.
Realistically, this will probably be a long term project, so you can certainly work on other stuff and use other methods concurrently with this approach.
There are numerous accomplished players on this forum that have progressed to or beyond this point. I would love to hear from them what method got them over this hump - something more detailed than "it will just happen in due time". I'm sure for some people it does, but I can't help but believe that there is a methodology that can accelerate the process.
 

HotLks

Blues - it's in me and it's got to come out.
Welcome Dave!

The best way to become more free-flowing and spontaneous is to immerse yourself in Blues music. Give your brain plenty of food for the task. Your brain will make the necessary connections between what you hear and what your fingers know to do. Get your fill of what you want to express and it will come out as you become technically proficient. Hopefully, you've spent a good portion of your life listening to Blues. That is the resource your brain will draw from as you learn to express yourself in your new language through your guitar.

You hear it first with your inner ear then send it out to your fingers.

See you down the road! :thumbup:
 

Aussie Dave

Blues Newbie
Many thanks, O_G Blues & HotLks,

I'm pretty immersed in the blues & you're right, I probably have a lot of stuff my ear/brain already knows which I could use.

I also really like the humming approach, to train spontaneity. I know most really great guitarists listen to their internal singing.
 

Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
You'll often hear me liken learning to solo to a young child learning to talk.

When my kids were in elementary school, particularly kindergarten through about 2nd grade, they often learned poems that they had to recite in class.

At first I wondered why, but I realized it's how they learn - repetition and imitation. You'll learn soloing in much the same way.

In the old days, BB King would go to the club and watch someone play all night. Then he'd go home and try to imitate what he heard and play it 100 times over until he got it right. Nowadays you don't have to figure it out for yourself, but you do have to imitate and repeat for a while until your brain and fingers connect in the way you want.

I know it's not the answer that makes the most sense, but I can PROMISE you that when you're ready to improvise spontaneously... you will just do it. One day you'll be playing and you'll have an idea and execute it off the cuff. You may not even notice... or you might I've seen it both ways.

The BSCK is perfect for this type of repetition and imitation, and it does it in a way that still allows for you to make something that is uniquely your own so I think it's a win/win in that regard. And with the blueprint, the phrasing is handled for now so it's one less thing you have to think about.

And when you're ready to get off and do your own thing, you'll have technique and experience to lean on from having imitated and repeated things that you know sounded good.
 

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
You'll often hear me liken learning to solo to a young child learning to talk.

When my kids were in elementary school, particularly kindergarten through about 2nd grade, they often learned poems that they had to recite in class.

At first I wondered why, but I realized it's how they learn - repetition and imitation. You'll learn soloing in much the same way.

In the old days, BB King would go to the club and watch someone play all night. Then he'd go home and try to imitate what he heard and play it 100 times over until he got it right. Nowadays you don't have to figure it out for yourself, but you do have to imitate and repeat for a while until your brain and fingers connect in the way you want.

I know it's not the answer that makes the most sense, but I can PROMISE you that when you're ready to improvise spontaneously... you will just do it. One day you'll be playing and you'll have an idea and execute it off the cuff. You may not even notice... or you might I've seen it both ways.

The BSCK is perfect for this type of repetition and imitation, and it does it in a way that still allows for you to make something that is uniquely your own so I think it's a win/win in that regard. And with the blueprint, the phrasing is handled for now so it's one less thing you have to think about.

And when you're ready to get off and do your own thing, you'll have technique and experience to lean on from having imitated and repeated things that you know sounded good.
Griff, that all make perfect sense to me. I have a concern. The current three courses that I am doing is the Major and minor Blues Shapes, Building a Better Blues Solo, And the Blues Solo Construction Kit - Shuffle. I actually have not started this threads Slow Blues chapter yet. So when I look at these 3 courses they are all great and I am working on riffs rifffs riffs. I find that they are influencing my free jam playing. So I find these past months of working these courses very beneficial. It is still difficult to remember the riffs themselves as much as I think differently and my fingers just work differently. So here is the question, of these 3 courses the Building a Better Blues Solo does not conform to the BSCK structure. In fact no part of it conforms to the BSCK structure. I should say that it is a really great course. I guess it wasn't really a question as much as I'd like your thoughts concerning this. thank-you. :unsure:
 

OG_Blues

Guitar Geezer
mtman,
I would never be so bold as to answer on Griff's behalf, so I also await his response and view on your observation, which is something I have also questioned.
I suspect however that the answer might be as simple as the fact that there are many avenues to the same destination, and no single solution is either the only solution or the most correct solution. They are simply different means to a similar end that complement one another. I find that when I improvise, I tend to repeat myself to a degree (as Steve's course suggests), but I try to vary the repetition in the manner of Bob Murnahan's Tore Down course. I do think that this mimics the way we sometimes converse vocally, saying something and then repeating the same idea in different words to help or more clearly make the point. So I think it's all good.
I am hoping and waiting for the day when, as Griff suggests, all these different lessons magically and seamlessly come together. There are periods of time when it seems to happen, but it can disappear just as quickly, so for now I savor those moments and just believe that they will eventually become more the norm. Suffice it to say, as a result of Griff's materials, I am WAY WAY WAY ahead of where I was before, and that is gratifying.
From your comments, I think you are on the right path too!
Tom
 

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
Tom, Yep!! I agree. BBBS is really a great course in that it's opening up new riffs and new fingerings. Last Fall when I was playing the open jams I did not have the knowledge I do today or the skills but even then I would repeat the occasional lick. So when I practice these licks I think about how I would improvise with them. I think I would find it difficult to play the longer licks in the BBBS, catching the timing right as I repeat them 3 times. I think that it will be much easier to play one of the licks once and then perhaps repeat part of it following with an answer and move on. The other thing that I am finding is that I am setting a motif with these longer scripted licks to play under and it's difficult to improv on my own outside of that theme. I am good at application based knowledge. I am not good at memorization based knowledge. I guess this might explain why I went into facilities engineering and not medicine or some ologist based profession......... I designed a lot of facilities infrastructure but when I look at a flower? To me it might be red or blue........ o_O
 

Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
Tom you're right on the money. There are definitely more than one way to get to the end goal... and while BSCK is good because it's guaranteed to work, it's certainly not the only option.

With the BBBS stuff, most of those licks are longer, and you might actually notice that they'll take up 2 positions in the BSCK blueprint. I suspect if you were to really dive into it and let the BBBS licks stretch across 2 or 3 positions you'd probably find that the rest of it works out pretty well.

And if you were to play the licks 2 or 3 times in a row like Steve often does, it might take up more space. But in the grand scheme of things I think you'd find you could get back to the blueprint pretty quickly and it would work out.
 
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