When to Move On?

[MatthewAschbacher-Smith]

Hey Everyone-
New to posting here, but love this as a resource. I'm finally getting close to finished with BGU (getting close to finishing solo 6 now); I've already purchased 52 Rhythm Fills & Variations, and have an eye on Blues Gig In A Box; but want to make sure I have this material down and am ready to move on.
I know there are a lot of questions about how long to stick on a lesson and really get it down, versus when to move on, and that's what I am questioning now. With all of these solo's I can:
-Play them fairly well with Griff and just the jam track.
-Count them out as I play them more slowly.
-Move them to other keys.
-When I look at the licks, understand where each note comes from, and the idea of mixing the major/minor scales.

What I cannot do:
-Count out everything as I play full speed.
-Recognize where I am in the progression and identify if I want to play major or minor in real time. For Example, when playing through the solo, I have the notes and the timing memorized and can play effectively, but I cannot think while playing "this is bar 5, a C7, so I want to play the minor scale."

Do I need to spend more time going through the material to really have it down to that level; or if I continue on to other curriculum's, and practice the way Griff says, will that start to come more naturally just through increased experience and repetition? Does it become more intuitive?

Sorry for the long posts, but I would really love to hear some thoughts from people that have gotten beyond this. Thanks-

 

[Jalapeno]

It's been a few years since I completed BGU but I'd move along. Counting is important while learning the solos but as you get up to full speed you shouldn't need to count all the subdivisions of every beat. I generally only count the quarter notes once I'm up to full speed and then as I transition from knowing the solo to owning the solo I try to limit the counting to licks that start on a difficult off-beat like starting on 2-ee-and-ah. Also the more you listen to blues without the guitar in your hand you'll develop your ear to hear where you are in the 12 bar progression when it is in your hand. Use active listening and listen to a lot of 12 bar blues to develop your ear. At least, that works for me. If you get lost listen for the V to IV to I (bars 9 & 10) which is the easiest section to recognize.

Hope that helps.

Eric

 

[jmin]

First of all...CONGRATULATIONS! Making it through BGU requires a lot of work! Your question is timely for me. I'm working on ABGU and am about done (?) with one of the lesson solos, but not sure how done. I completed BGU Solo#6 about 2 years ago and posted this: BGU Solo 6 jmin. My main factor for determining if I can move on or not is my recording. If it's close enough (?) and I'm fairly comfortable (?), then I move on.
I always try to make sure sure I get as much as I can from each lesson, but it's easy to become obsessed with it. Of course, on some courses (MMBS comes to mind!) I pushed too hard just to get a recording done and missed some of the points in the lesson!
It sounds like you got a great handle on what you're learning and playing. I think as long you know there are more lessons coming, you can move on knowing that you'll get plenty more to practice! Good luck!

 

[sdbrit68]

I am generally working serious on one course, right now penatonic mastery, and playing two or three other courses. I find if I only stick to one, practice isnt as much fun.

So I do the hard one for 45 minutes, then something more fun like lessons from the masters or classic rock speed building, it just works for me. Later on, I go back and revisit things and suddenly they are easier

 

[MatthewAschbacher-Smith]

Thanks all of you for the thoughts; always nice to hear from someone who's been through, and beyond, these lessons. I think Im going to move along, and just keep trusting that the curriculum will get me where I want to be.

 

[Many Moons]

Well done on finishing the course. That is something I've never done!!!

I think the Slow Blues Supplement would be a good way for you to proceed. Once again, well done.

 

[OG_Blues]

Probably 7 or 8 times out of 10 when I pick up my guitar, after a few minutes of playing I say to myself "It's time to move on - to a different hobby."
I think I might be good at video games. My grandson can teach me - for free.