latest video: delta blues

here's my fingerpick practice of Spike Driver's Blues, by Mississippi John Hurt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhG_NjpAMHA

i like the fingerpicks.  they take a while to get used to but provide a consistent tone compared to fingers.

dead blog sighting

no post since 2007:

http://seniorhighstyle.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog

delta blues are back, baby!

yeah they're back!  I put on the fingerpicks and am working to get good at them.  Finally, after a few years, I've got the dexterity to begin practicing.  Sometimes I still catch my fingers on the strings, but I'm getting better.  As usual, once I give up something I come back to it a little later.  I also figured out how to improvise a little, especially in G.  I found the scale notes and can move around and make simple melodies that way.  Good stuff!

Had my second lesson last week.  We're working on some music theory (diatonic harmony; adding 7ths to the diatonic  triads) and still working on the "first solo" piece from last semester.

dead blog sightings

dead blog: no entries since 2009:

http://model-discussion.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog

a guy blogs about the weather.

I might keep an eye out for dead blogs.  interesting topic.  what happened?

this one died in 2005:

http://fledthescene.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog

2 girls blogging about music/

more than just guitar

why not write about anything at all?  there's more to life than guitar.  lately i've been reading other blogger blogs, using the "next blog" button at the top.  interesting to see who blogs, why, and how frequently.  i should think of this blog as a record of my activities for the future to read.  something to look back on by myself and my family.

had one guitar lesson this semester.  we're gonna work on solo pieces, pop and jazzy stuff.  this wednesday i hope he brings in the next one.  the current song is "first solo" from a music book.  a nice piece, but not jazzy enough or pop enough.  a little bland.  good for sight reading practice, though.

the fender pawn shop 72, surf green, named Surfy, has had a set up and sounds great.  it will be my school guitar and a main guitar this semester, along with the gibson 339.  the vg strat will take a break for a while.

taking two PLS courses in the first 8 weeks of the semester.  busy!  teaching 3 classes and chairing the assessment team on campus.  fun!

major progress in major/minor pent

yeah, somehow a lot is clicking now.  i'm moving between major  and minor licks with greater ease.  i'm seeing the boxes better, (visualizing).  I can move between the overlapping boxes better, both across and up and down the fretboard.  I can move on that fretboard!  getting the licks to sound better.  so interesting!  that's the under-reported part of blues that I like, the fun of these major/minor shifts.  Overall it gives the blues a lot of notes in a octave.  8 or 9.  the notes are bound by the licks being in recognizable major/minor riffs.

Playing the vg strat for this.  Can't beat the fender strat with 9 gauge strings for blues work.  so, the jazz... that will wait until my lessons start again.  jazz for the lessons, blues for my own work.  can't give up the blues yet, stuff is finally coming together, after almost three years.  2.5 years.  i'll make a video sometime to illustrate what I"m doing.