TOPIC: Things I'm tired of....

Things I'm tired of, and what I'm going to do about them...

I'm tired of botching up endings to songs (or not having an ending at all). From now on, all the songs I practice on are going to have endings with tag licks (need to come up with a tag lick for key of C)

I'm tired of not being able to play a song on a moments notice. It seems that I need about ten or twenty seconds (or longer) to think about it, what key its in, and how it goes, before I can start playing. No good. From now on, when practicing, I'm going to dive right in and start playing within 1 second of deciding on which song.

I'm tired of not being able to participate very well in the "circle" songs because I can't play them fast enough. Let's face it, the circle songs go fast, and its hard to keep up at 120 or 140 BPM when you've been practicing at 80 - 100 bpm – forget about eye contact or passing to the next player. I suspect this may be why many are hesitant to make eye contact during those sessions. From now on, SPEED matters. I’m going to be pushing myself to play the songs faster and faster during my practice sessions.

Good Luck with your goals Palkan....I've had the same goals for 2 years now Let me know how they work for you.....

Good positive venting Palkan22,
I too am working to improve in that area. To get a better feel for developing tag licks, I'll play licks throughout the song while playing backup. Careful not to "color it up" too much though so as not to step on the melody while the lead's play'n. Throwing a lick in here and there boosts my confidence for when I really have to be the front man. How's your scale practic'n go'n? Keep it up. My goal is to play the G, A, C, D, and E scales in three positions. Having been playing the G scale so much lately, it helped me put some feel in Amazing Grace when we played it as a group a couple of weeks ago. So, maybe you should start wearing out the C scale in at least two positions and play 'em 'till your fingers bleed... and often. I guarantee it'll help;) . I'm certainly at the bottom of the picking order when it comes to playability but, I've certainly found that repetition does pay off. Another issue you brought up that I need work on is being able to play a song at the drop of a hat. I have my techniques that get me through in a pinch but, are not condoned by Fretmentor. That is ......................., got it? The best way that I'm tackling that cheat problem sheet is to hum the melody while playing rythmn and try "stepping in" with the lead at different parts of the song. Uwe Kruger said that you should strive to be able to hum any lead that you play. That's where I got that idea from. Until then, I didn't really care for George Benson's style of playing. I think the humming melodies technique is going to help me though.

Back to the scales- it's helping me with my speed tooB) B Cool

Good ideas there, George, and yes, I need to pound on those scales more. I can fly thru the G and not too bad on D but weak on the C. I'm finding that if I push myself on speed, it becomes more automatic, despite the mistakes.