Heh, oh yeah, my Muppet song is many many many many moons away still... if ever! But it's nice to dream 😃

So, back to reality for me too... I started the next blues lesson! It is the slow blues lesson with the punches. So far it's not very interesting, not like the Muppet punches between Mahna Mahna (I had to look up his name) and Zoot. Ok, speaking of Mahna Mahna, that's another song on my wish list! Oh yes, we said back to reality 🤣

So I do have a question for you. The lesson starts like this:

It requires sliding the middle finger from F# to G, little finger stays on Bb. How did you manage to do that without pain? If I slide in between the keys, it hurts a little, even though I don't have fat fingers. But if I slide down towards the broad part of the white key, my little finger slides with it, sometimes even off the black key. So how did you manage it?

Also, are you going to give up on the Christmas song for this year and try again next year? It sounds like this is something you will be able to master, it just takes a little more time, right?

It feels kind of natural for me, now. In the beginning, it was weird to have the pinky up on a black key, but after 50 bottles of beer it became 2nd nature.
And there isn't any pain. I could play it all day long - the only risk is to get drunk again.

Thank you! I guess bottles of beer is the only thing I haven't tried yet! Good tip(sy)

It's good to ask, then you find an approach from all angles 😂

Sophia OMG I did wonder from a previous comment what your connection to the entertainment industry was. How very amazing!!

    Well, I guess one good thing it did was enable me a little better to see behind the curtain of your Major-General performance, so to speak... and appreciate the extent of its greatness 😃

    6 days later

    I learned all four variations of the blues lesson, but it's not smooth yet. That'll be a few more days I'm guessing. Christian didn't offer any ending; this might be a good time to finally try to include one of TC's endings (I'm reposting that link here, because it took me 10 minutes of scrolling to find it back 😝).

    Oh, I forgot to mention: I also purchased the 8 easy blues pieces 🙌 But I'm not printing it yet, because I don't want to be tempted before I finish this course!

    I am still struggling with my Christmas song... I would be happy to get a recording of the first part only within this week. Don't have much time left, Christmas is coming and I am not at home then.

    It sounds so lush and bluesy when Christian plays it, but he should put a warning on it:

    DON'T TOUCH THIS AS A TOTAL BEGINNER... or similar... maybe it is even for an absolute beginner too challenging...

    Oh I know.. when he plays those tunes, it sounds so great... and easy. Then you try it and you realize how hard it really is!

    That's why I'm not touching anything outside of my method book and blues course just yet. When people tell me I should play this or that or such, I usually stick my fingers in my ears and Lala lalala! Because it's always a lot harder than it seems!

    Edit: unless it's a fellow beginner who knows how hard or easy it really is 😄

    Actually, nobody told me to pick this piece. I just liked how it sounds...

    Heh yeah sometimes that person whispering in my ear is me. I purchased a few "easy" classics books thinking they would be, well, easy. Big mistake 😂

    Yep, we've all been there, Sophia! Some of those publishers should be sued under the Trades Descriptions Act! 🤨 Talk about misleading!

    "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

      Oooooooohhhh but that is "prolonged beginner", perhaps even "eternal beginner" level... May I remind you...

      Nightowl Some of those publishers should be sued under the Trades Descriptions Act! 🤨 Talk about misleading!

      No, not saying sue Christian 😃 Because he didn't make that claim. In fact I don't think he said the word "beginner" at all in that lesson 😁

        Yes - he didn't say the word beginner... you are right.
        It is just... Ehrm.. It is just - he said, one can learn such a song in one week
        I am now done with the 1st 1/3 of the tune, still a lot of errors, timing very unsteady and slow, metronome goes horribly wrong after 10 bars. I am happy if I get this week a recording of the first third, and call it a day piece.

        Believe me, this isn't for total beginners. This is real beginners stuff!

          WieWaldi Believe me

          Oh I believe you! Every time I get a new blues lesson (in the "bloody/lovely beginners" section), I always think when I start it that it seems so easy... pfft why even practice, just record it straight away. Then, two weeks later... my left hand still gets all stubborn when my right hand plays the tricky passage. I think he is just enjoying to be wicked

            I recorded my lesson.... because I want to move on now. I didn't enjoy that one as much (I think that will be obvious) and there are many mistakes, not so rock solid left hand, 3rd variation is only correct once, and the ending... oh boy. I'm so ashamed! It's a good thing the phone had a direct link to the keyboard because I didn't want a PG rating

            Sorry TC, first time I try to apply one of your endings and I completely, thoroughly, miserably butcher it. And then I'm putting it out in the open for all to see, because I just couldn't face spending another day with this lesson...

            On to lesson 16. That will be the last of the bloody/lovely beginners lessons! After that, I will finally join WieWaldi in the total beginner's rank!

              I can see why you grew tired of it - it's not exactly an inspiring piece and there are some really fiddly sections as the piece progresses.

              The first minute went smoothly, then you seemed to lose concentration a bit, but if you're not enjoying the piece it's understandable why your brain might be desperate to wander off somewhere more pleasant! 😄 That's how I was at school, during maths lessons... my brain just refused to operate in such a dull situation! I think you did well to plough through a lesson that wasn't enjoyable, now you can move on and play something more enjoyable.

              "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

              Heh, yes, I felt like saying what all students always tell all their teachers: "I could play it so well at home!" (or off camera)

              But in my case, even that would be a half lie because obviously it just wasn't my type of piece. Of course when Christian demonstrates the licks they sound gorgeous.... so I know that each lesson is a means to an end - and someday it'll all come together. But that day is not today 😄

              Hi Sophia

              Firstly, well done.

              My first reaction when you started playing was - this is slow. I think you'd find the LH easier if you played it all a bit faster. At that tempo it's quite difficult to keep the LH consistent. No doubt that is the tempo advised in the lesson, but if your RH can cope then I think speeding up a bit will help you. That LH pattern can be played and used at virtually any tempo with a variety of rhythmic subtleties.

              Are you using music there, or playing from memory?

              When I learnt to play the blues many decades ago as soon as I could I started trying to improvise around the blues scale, and that's what I'd advise you to start doing asap. If you know that blues scale in C (C Eb F F# G Bb C) and can keep the LH going start experimenting. What you don't want to do, is make all this effort, working through these exercises (written by someone far more talented than me I'm sure) and at the end of it only be able to play the exercises. That's a complete waste of time IMHO. I'm sure the improvisation aspect will appear in the course you're doing anyway, but if it isn't, that would be a big red flag for me.

              The main thing is that you're enjoying it, having fun, and clearly making progress.

              Cheers

              Simon
              All round average Jazz, Blues & Rock player.
              Currently working towards ABRSM grade 8.

                  Thank you Simon! He didn't really indicate what tempo and his demonstrations are all over the place, but the lesson was called "slow blues" so I just picked a rhythm that I thought was sufficiently slow 😃

                  WieWaldi would know a little more about how the course proceeds (he is further ahead than I am), but I definitely think that Christian's aim is to teach full autonomy 🙂 But for this particular lesson, the improvisation is confined to "hit that note, double it, triple it, and make sure you don't miss your chord changes..." I also think he is working on hand independence and getting across what sounds bluesy and what doesn't, before he lets us loose on the real stuff. But that's just a guess.

                  I know, I moan a lot, but I really am enjoying the lessons and I'm sure I will get into full improvisation soon enough. I agree that I should probably get a little more adventurous and just do it. Less moaning, more improvising

                  Simonb Are you using music there, or playing from memory?

                  I have the sheet music, but for these lessons I try to learn them as soon as I start the lesson. So playing from memory here.