Sophia ...And we're completely poisoning poor Kaydia's thread.... she must think she landed in the madhouse.

You are right - we have this thread for the quack quack...

After the turtles have finished teasing the cats (and rabbits), I want to say I am stuck in the Blues lessons. Only 5 more days and then there are the recitals. Meaning, I have to get the Country Blues flying and learn the Frisco Blues, too. Both are very easy, don't expect something special. Only thing, I still don't know what Blues is for which forum.

But at least, I get the first two in the 40-ish pieces a year challenge. *proud*

      WieWaldi I get the first two in the 40-ish pieces a year challenge. proud

      Nice! I'm looking forward to hearing them.

      I learned the left hand of Hit the Road Jack and I'm slowly adding the right hand blues scale. I think we'll both be a total beginner for a long, long time 😝

          Oh yes. The total beginner state will be there for a long long time. Especially if I spend time learning pieces instead of attending the course. On the other hand, a successful 40 pieces a year challenge will be graduate me one level higher as well. 🤩

          Wait - you aren't a total beginner anymore. You are already beyond. 😼

          Sophia I learned the left hand of Hit the Road Jack and I'm slowly adding the right hand blues scale.

          You know what? It cost me 10 minutes to re-learn the left hand and 10 more for the RH chorus + verse. Ok, not as error free as in my video, but still. Twenty minutes to get it goin again. 💪

            Whooo hooo! I am error free with just the left hand. Just before I had to take a break, I started to add the right hand, nothing but the blues scale.

            Today I went back to that briefly, but the left hand loses track quickly. I can't wait to add actual smooth licks because the blues scale isn't very pretty with the pattern.... but first I need to cement it a little further before moving on with more complicated stuff.

            Right. On that LH, the BS sounds like BS.

            6 days later

            It might be not useful now. But I don't wanna be alone with that:

            I just jammed along the good ol' Blues shuffle LH in C, and then a melody appeared in my head,
            I tried it - wrong.
            ......I tried again - better.
            .............Tried again - perfect!
            .....................And it sounds!!!
            Okay, it is just a small line, but I feel like

            <Hoping, I remember tomorrow>
            And the recital pieces are calling!

              WieWaldi So have you begun improvising now WieWie?!? Impressive! That means that you're now a composer! 😃

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

                  • Sophia

                  • Post #589
                  • Edited

                  Oohh that's fantastic! WieWaldi, the famous composer. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

                  Edit: wow, beaten by Nightowl by mere seconds 😂

                    WieWaldi that's amazing 👏. Thanks for sharing. You may not realise but you guys are a big motivation source to me.

                    On the blues course, I think I will count my lesson two done. I am giving up the strange slide thing for now:

                    Because swing and the syncopation is hard enough. And my fat fingers end up pressing extra keys when I attempt to slide.

                        hebele Sliding is fun. And it makes the sound so living.
                        The down-slides are easy - don't skip it. Get used to it.
                        But the power slides (up-slides, or side-slides from white to white key) are a skill that needs a lot of practice.

                        Btw - we use this thread as motivational source, too. And for entertainment of course. 😀
                        If you record your lessons and share them here, it is even more motivating. Go back to original post and you find all lessons of Sophia as YouTube! So nice being able to see, where she was half a year ago.

                        Awwww - back then everything was so relaxed, but now she's on my heels like a fire-red Ferrari in the mirrors.

                        Nightowl So have you begun improvising now WieWie?!? Impressive! That means that you're now a composer! 😃

                        Sophia Oohh that's fantastic! WieWaldi, the famous composer. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

                        Oh - you are so darn right, my lovely friends!

                                That is absolutely brilliant WieWie! 😁 You and Sophia are both so clever with all the tech stuff. Mind you, I have recently overcome a tech challenge myself - I have managed to connect my laptop to my dumb TV, using a cable, so I can now watch all sorts of stuff on my TV - including this message board and any videos you upload! I feel very proud of myself for this achievement!

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

                                • Sophia

                                • Post #593
                                • Edited

                                WieWaldi Awwww - back then everything was so relaxed, but now she's on my heels like a fire-red Ferrari in the mirrors.

                                Haha, not so much now. I am still only 2 licks into lesson 1. The Ferrari is a little more relaxed at the moment!

                                hebele On the blues course, I think I will count my lesson two done.

                                Congrats @hebele - can't wait to hear the result someday 😃

                                Edit: I struggled with the sliding too. At first it feels weird, it even hurt a little. But then suddenly you will "get it", so I agree with WieWaldi: just stick with it and soon it'll feel very natural!

                                      Sophia Hahaha, you can't fool me. I know it is just a pitstop.

                                          Hehe... well... gotta keep you on your toes...

                                          No worries - I am doing as fast as I can

                                          • Sophia

                                          • Post #597
                                          • Edited

                                          Well........ I learned another lick in the blues course. And then Christian finally went to teach us an actual part of Hit the Road Jack Chris... ok, only two bars, but still, kinda fun to play. Addictive in fact! So that means I'm about 1/3 into the lesson. The Ferrari is warming up again...

                                            WieWaldi Yep, you were right about that WieWie. Sophia is moving back towards her usual supersonic speed again! It's clearly something in her rocket fuel blood.

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

                                                Nightowl I know, It can be frustrating from time to time. It really feels like you are driving a beige family estate wagon, listening to Bob Marley and enjoying the landscape slowly passing by. And then you hear a load rooooooaaaaarrrr. A red dot appears in the mirrors and under usage of the headlamp flashlights, this point gets bigger and bigger until it becomes the shape of a fire-red Ferrari and then you can read the numbers plate: "Move away - Sophia is coming!"...!!! 😱

                                                Maybe you can be a bit more relaxed. From your perspective, you see a red dot in front of you. This dot is already near the horizon. And it gets smaller and smaller, the roar gets more and more subtle. And after a while you forget about that tiny red dot that starts to fade away. Out of your vision, out of your mind. 🌴😎🥂