Blues Jam in Cm

Something else I recorded the same night that I recorded the recent PF based jam I did is this:
https://soundcloud.com/ballistic_squid/gtgp-jam-cm-squid

Honestly I felt the best about this recording. My friends all liked the PF type jam better...go figure. Like me, they must be suckers for soaring Gilmour-esque bends! :).

The tone I achieved was new. I've figured out how to make my strat sound like it should.

I'll spare you all the analysis...grab a listen if you are so inclined :). Comments and suggestions are more than welcomed.

Happy Holidays to you all!!

I have to agree with you, I like this one better. You sound relaxed and comfortable I found myself feeling the same way in parts. Good Job.

Originally Posted by: haghj500I have to agree with you, I like this one better. You sound relaxed and comfortable I found myself feeling the same way in parts. Good Job.

Thank you for your kind words!! On this one, the tone I was getting out of my setup really inspired my playing. I was sure to save that patch :).

Originally Posted by: maggior
https://soundcloud.com/ballistic_squid/gtgp-jam-cm-squid

The tone I achieved was new. I've figured out how to make my strat sound like it should.

Nice tone, phrasing & use of space. Well done! I love the sound of an mostly clean Strat. :) And all the other Strat tones too. :p

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegelNice tone, phrasing & use of space. Well done! I love the sound of an mostly clean Strat. :) And all the other Strat tones too. :p

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Thanks Christopher! All of the tones of a strat are great, but I never can get enough of a clean tone on the neck pickup. It just oozes tone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and everybody else here that celebrates.

very nice rich, nice guitar playing. really liked it, it just keeps getting better and better...

Originally Posted by: axe2very nice rich, nice guitar playing. really liked it, it just keeps getting better and better...

Thanks a bunch axe for listening and commenting.

You bet, thanks for that floydish track having a lot of fun with it..I'll be posting it soon God willing.lol

Originally Posted by: axe2You bet, thanks for that floydish track having a lot of fun with it..I'll be posting it soon God willing.lol

Cool! Can't wait to hear what you did with the floydish track!

Awesomeness. Listening to it as I post. Definitely don't sound like most blues jam guitarists that I have heard. I usually can't listen past 30 seconds, but there's something about your style that is interesting. I can't wait to see how far you go from here for sure.

How long have you been playing?

Originally Posted by: JeremyRodriguezAwesomeness. Listening to it as I post. Definitely don't sound like most blues jam guitarists that I have heard. I usually can't listen past 30 seconds, but there's something about your style that is interesting. I can't wait to see how far you go from here for sure.

How long have you been playing?

Thank you so much! This has to be one of the best complements I've received on my playing...I appreciate that.

How long I've been playing is actually a bit of a complicated question. I started at 13 over 30 years ago. As a young adult I didn't play or advance much. 15 years ago I got serious and took lessons for a year. After that got married, had kids, no time for guitar...the usual story. In there I played acoustic guitar in the church choir for a year. Three years ago I signed up here and dug into Anders' blues course. I would say that his lessons are what got my lead playing to where it is now. Anders is a monster player, but has a minimalist approach to things that really appeals to me.

Something else that helped me advance was joining a band. Currently I gig as part of a duo...he sings and plays acoustic, I sing backup and play lead and rhythm on electric guitar.

If you want to check out other stuff I've done, you can go to my soundcloud here:
My soundcloud page.

I also have some video from my duo if you are interested.

How long have you been playing? What style of music do you like to play? If you have any examples of your playing I'd enjoy listening to it.

Maggior,

You rock! The story on how you progressed with the guitar is a perfect example of why we feel it is so important to not give up when learning to play an instrument. Now you're in a band! That is awesome.

It's great seeing our members share their music and insight.

@maggior

No problem at all. You definitely deserve the compliment! I wish I could also give feedback to help you out, but unfortunately I'm no master or student of the blues. However, I do play and write metal, which definitely was derived from blues. All respect to the parent genre haha!

As far as the complications with counting up the years of how long you've been playing I totally understand. We learn how to fight through situations to get to play. When I went to college, I put my guitar down for four years to study sax, thinking I needed to "grow out of my metal phase". Well obviously, that didn't work out, so I'm here catching up and getting my career started as a metal musician XD

Checked out some of your music, and I'm diggin Funky Blues! I just connected with you through my band's account called Forsake Me Not. We are releasing our debut single soon, so we have nothing up yet lol.

Learning an instrument definitely takes some persistence...over time. My attitude has been slow and steady wins the race. As long as I keep moving forward, I'm happy :).

@Jeremy - I just followed you back. I look forward to what you put up there...I will definitely check it out. I enjoy metal but suspect that style of playing will never be in the cards for me. I was a teen in the 80's, so the dawn of EVH, Satriani, Vai, and all the other monster players from that era discouraged me from playing. It's all great stuff though!

To go from being a metal guitarist to a sax player...wow! I'll bet you learned a lot about melody and phrasing by learning sax.

Regarding the stuff on my soundcloud page...some of the stuff I'm most pleased with are some of the covers I've done. Carnival and Superstition stand out for me because I really wasn't sure what to do with each song. With Carnival I struggled to learn the original solos and for Superstition I kept hearing SRV in my head...and I ain't no SRV! LOL. In each case I sat down with my guitar with the attitude that I would at least try and see what came out. Somehow what I thought were some pretty cool things came out. Goes to show that it's pays to go out of your comfort zone with some regularity...and make sure you hit record beforehand because some great stuff may happen :).

Ya I kind of regret studying sax but at the same time I don't. I learned a lot of great stuff, and the transfer between the two isn't really a bad transfer.

Thanks for following back. I saw that yesterday!

All those guitarists you listed are scary indeed haha. Vai is definitely my favorite to listen to. I really love his album from 1980 (I think that was the year). I can't think of the exact name of that album right now, but it was called something like Passion Warfare or something? lol. Such a weird album yet so cool to listen to!

Maggior what are some tips you would give those who have difficulty staying motivated while learning a new instrument?

You seem to have the motivation factor down!

Originally Posted by: Guitar Tricks AdminMaggior what are some tips you would give those who have difficulty staying motivated while learning a new instrument?

You seem to have the motivation factor down!

The tips I have to provide are all things I've learned here from various people that I've managed to internalize for myself.

1 - Have some reasonable and attainable goals. Short term ones are important and some long term ones help also. A short term goal could be to learn a technique, learn a song, learn certain chords, etc. A long term goal could be to gig, jam with other musicians, learn a difficult song, etc.

Write these goals down. This is important because you will be motivated by the fact that you are attaining them. Seeing progress in yourself helps propel you forward for further progress.

If you miss a goal, don't beat yourself up. Replan and adjust. Life happens and can get in the way. Figure out why you missed your goals and reset them accordingly. Maybe they were too aggressive? Maybe your long term goals have changed?

2 - Keep it interesting and fun. Focus on music you find interesting. Try to make any exercises musical. Rather than use a metronome, use a drum beat or a jam track to practice scales. Lots of apps for your phone or your PC can be found to help with this.

3 - Try to focus on the journey. Take pleasure in the skills you have acquired and make music with them. So you haven't attained Satriani level knowledge of modes and scales and overall greatness...that's cool, but I bet there are some things you can do to make music that is fun for you. Focus on that!

4 - Don't fall in the comparison trap. Find your own voice. Define your own sound and style. I believe that each of us has music in us to express. That is *your* music, not Satriani's, SRV's, or EVH's. I found it interesting in the recent GT magazine here that David Gilmour said that he tried to play EVH's style back in the day and found he just couldn't. Did Mr. Gilmour give up playing because EVH came on the scene and could shred up a storm? NO! I dare say that Gilmour still had quite a bit left to say on his guitar in his own voice. His voice on the guitar ain't too shabby either if I say so myself :).


It's a constant battle for me to stay motivated and I find I need to remind myself of the things I've listed. Each and every one of them I need to refocus on occasionally. Doing so keeps me motivated, moving forward in my playing, and most importantly it keeps it fun!

Awesome advice! Thanks!

Originally Posted by: JeremyRodriguezYa I kind of regret studying sax but at the same time I don't. I learned a lot of great stuff, and the transfer between the two isn't really a bad transfer.

Thanks for following back. I saw that yesterday!

All those guitarists you listed are scary indeed haha. Vai is definitely my favorite to listen to. I really love his album from 1980 (I think that was the year). I can't think of the exact name of that album right now, but it was called something like Passion Warfare or something? lol. Such a weird album yet so cool to listen to!

Passion and Warfare is a fantastic album. "For the Love of God" is some of the best guitar music ever written IMO.

I'll bet learning sax has benefited your playing on guitar in some way.

Incredible and thoughtful tips Maggior! It is so great to see our members supporting each other.

Motivation is so important when trying to learn anything. Thankfully learning guitar is fun!