Griff:
I am a severely frustrated guitarist. I have played, off and on, for decades. I feel as if I am still a beginner. I particularly have a hard time soloing. I hear people complain when someone's solo sounds like scales. Well, that pretty well describes me.
I had a great awakening when you did the February Challenge last year on triplets. I didn't think that I could get that, but I did and it wasn't all bad. That inspired me to learn the opening riffs to Johnny B. Goode. Being able to do that was great.
But this month, I have found something that helps immensely and that is a looper. I bought a Boss RC-3 Looping Station and have been experimenting with it for a few weeks. There are two things (so far) that it has helped me with:
1. When laying down a track, I could not believe how far off my timing was. It's just a fraction of a second, but it really messes up the track. I start with a 12 bar blues riff in a swing rhythm and then add chords and then an open-handed "thump" with the strings muted to simulate a bass drum (sort of.) Getting all three to line up properly is close to impossible for me. I am really working on this and the looper is helping greatly.
2. After I get the 12 bars entered into the looper, I turn off the recording and try to solo over them. Again, I realized how deficient I was at that. But I am getting much better. One thing that I am doing is expanding out of the first position and the top part of the second one, which is where I previously spent most of my time. I am slowly adding the third and fifth positions in because they surround the two that I am most familiar with. I will, at some time, add in the fourth position and have them all.
In all, I am getting my patterns down, learning licks, and getting my music to sound, well, musical.
The looper has been an amazing help for me.Can I suggest that you do a series of videos on using one to improve our playing? I'd love to see some tips about how to use the looper for practice.
There are lots of looping videos on YouTube, but they don't have the Griff touch to them. I have watched literally dozens of YouTube guitar instructors and think that there are only three that are really good teachers and you are one of them. I few videos on looping from you would be much appreciated. I suspect that there are more than a few learners out there that would benefit from a looper as much as I have.
Thanks for your time. And all of the help that you and your courses have given me (especially How to Improvise Blues Solos.).
I am a severely frustrated guitarist. I have played, off and on, for decades. I feel as if I am still a beginner. I particularly have a hard time soloing. I hear people complain when someone's solo sounds like scales. Well, that pretty well describes me.
I had a great awakening when you did the February Challenge last year on triplets. I didn't think that I could get that, but I did and it wasn't all bad. That inspired me to learn the opening riffs to Johnny B. Goode. Being able to do that was great.
But this month, I have found something that helps immensely and that is a looper. I bought a Boss RC-3 Looping Station and have been experimenting with it for a few weeks. There are two things (so far) that it has helped me with:
1. When laying down a track, I could not believe how far off my timing was. It's just a fraction of a second, but it really messes up the track. I start with a 12 bar blues riff in a swing rhythm and then add chords and then an open-handed "thump" with the strings muted to simulate a bass drum (sort of.) Getting all three to line up properly is close to impossible for me. I am really working on this and the looper is helping greatly.
2. After I get the 12 bars entered into the looper, I turn off the recording and try to solo over them. Again, I realized how deficient I was at that. But I am getting much better. One thing that I am doing is expanding out of the first position and the top part of the second one, which is where I previously spent most of my time. I am slowly adding the third and fifth positions in because they surround the two that I am most familiar with. I will, at some time, add in the fourth position and have them all.
In all, I am getting my patterns down, learning licks, and getting my music to sound, well, musical.
The looper has been an amazing help for me.Can I suggest that you do a series of videos on using one to improve our playing? I'd love to see some tips about how to use the looper for practice.
There are lots of looping videos on YouTube, but they don't have the Griff touch to them. I have watched literally dozens of YouTube guitar instructors and think that there are only three that are really good teachers and you are one of them. I few videos on looping from you would be much appreciated. I suspect that there are more than a few learners out there that would benefit from a looper as much as I have.
Thanks for your time. And all of the help that you and your courses have given me (especially How to Improvise Blues Solos.).