now fender surfy is the one

yeah, the fender known as surfy, the surf green strat, is my go to guitar for my blues work.  it's got the sound, the comfort, and the ease of use.

workin' on kind hearted woman blues, crosssroads, and "from four until late." the idea is to do the intro, then the head twice, then improv head improve head improv.... etc.  that's my format for the RJ songs.

Kind hearted woman

Working on RJ's Kind HeArted Woman Blues.  Using a simplified form I got in a Hal Leonard book.

37 blues backing tracks.. the set list

yeah, those blues never go away!  so, now my semester plan is to NOT leave the blues and go to jazz and not use what I've studied for 3 years.  Finally, not gonna do that again!  So, I gathered up my blues backing tracks onto one ipod.  37 tracks.  Figures out the keys for all of them, and they will be my set list.  Gonna play and play and play those 37 tracks.  Jazz will come back in 2013 or so, after I've mastered those blues tracks and have "performance worthy" songs ready to go.  Blues!

new jazz book

got a great book at the library.  "Jazz Standards for Easy Guitar" by Hal Leonard publishers.  60 standards in EZ format -- a little too easy.  I will learn them, do some chord substitutions, and there you go.  then add some improv to it -- still working on that!

so, how to use 9s and 10s.  Start with 9s for the day's practice, and later, after you're warmed up, move on to 10s.  Good for the muscles.

Gibby now in the lead

OK, after a few days of practice with the Fender, the Gibson doesn't feel so bad.  I got some more strength, I guess.  So now the 339 comes roaring back as the #1 git box.

Yesterday I learned a jazz blues comp 12 bar from freddym.  Great transitional device from blues to jazz.  I found some jazzy tones around the fifth position major pentatonic box, so I'm gonna try a two track jazz blues number sometime.  make a youtube video.  Freddym has great lessons -- lots of chords and clear explanations.  Also making good progress on Autumn Leaves.  So that's two jazz pieces (heads), a jazz blues 12 bar comp, and a nice chord progression from an earlier lesson, plus a list of lots of chords.  yeah!

Gibson v. Fender

Really it's a matter of string gauge.  I just like 9 gauge strings more than 10s.  Easier to fret.  I tried to make my Gibson my go-to guitar for jazz, but the Fender is just easier to play.  Gibby sounds better, though.  Typical dilemma.  So, I'll use the Fender pawn shop 72 as my main axe now.  Someday I want to put 9s on Gibby and see how that feels.  The 339 is a better guitar, so I'd like to have that as my main one.  The scale length doesn't matter so much, I'm comfortable with either one.

Great Source for Jazz Lessons

Here is my new source on YouTube for jazz lessons:

Freddym223

Better than the other one I got those songs from.  This guy has a great lesson on jazz chords.  He has lessons on many jazz standards using his set of moveable chords.  Seems to be a very good system.  Gonna focus on Freddy M and see where it takes me.