September 2023 Member “Can’t Quite Nail It” Challenge Consolidated

[Don D.]

This month’s Challenge focuses on the lessons where you’ve tried to learn something but haven’t nailed it to your satisfaction. The comments people made when they posted their videos are included (only from the original post).

The Active Melody member challenges are open to players of all skill levels. Thanks everyone for leaving friendly and encouraging feedback on each other’s submissions and thank you Brian for keeping us motivated!

Thanks for your patience, I had a busy week.

Welcome to anyone on your first Challenge!

Garry E.

Hi All,

Speed is my nemesis! I’ve chosen a lesson I really love (EP161 – James Burton Style) and although I have worked on advancing the tempo all month, still couldn’t get it anywhere near Brian’s.

Here was my 7 Step approach:
1. Print out the TAB and learn the lesson
2. Notate any left and right hand fingering on the TAB
3. Use the SoundSlice Feature starting at 50%
4. If there are any difficult phrases I practise those specific phrases before I restart the SoundSlice
5. Advance by 10% on SoundSlice each time I can play the lesson confidently
6. Once I am at 100% using SoundSlice I then download the MP3 BT into my DAW
7. Practise, Practise, Practise!!! Upping the Tempo on the DAW until I can get to a desired speed.

The most important step for me is physically notating any fingering so that each time I play the lesson the fingering is exactly the same and therefore there is a better chance of playing each phrase correctly.

Looking forward to hearing everyone’s approaches.

All the best! 🥸🎸🥸

Garry

Guido

EP531 – Boogie Woogie style lead by yourself – is for sure the most difficult acoustic lesson in AM I tried to learn and play until now.

In general, I struggled to keep consistent my flat picking and play in time (at a slowed down tempo of course).

There are two parts that was particularly difficult:
– the long lead run in bars 5-8, that I struggled to memorize;
– playing the correct rhythm part in bars 12-13 with a legato between the bars with fast sixteenth-notes. I ended up to always play one beat more or one beat less in the 13th bar and I’m afraid I’ve messed up also in my recorded rendition.

I attached the extract of the tab of those two parts.

I tried first to play the piece on my Gibson Dove, but then I tried to play it on my new Hartwood Villanelle Parlour, and I found that was a bit easier to play on the latter probably because of the shorter scale.

Note about the guitar: I wanted to have a travel guitar, and eventually I decided to buy this inexpensive guitar, because she looked nice (it’s more a mini guitar than a real parlour anyway) and because the few reviews I found in internet was positive. I didn’t expect very much from it, but in my opinion she sounds pretty decent and has also a decent basic Fishman pick up.

Thanks as always for watching and looking forward to hear your renditions.

Mark T.

Hi AMers. Brian asked us to describe a lesson or technique that we particularly struggle with – I focused on a Technique that has been one of my struggles for many years: FAST STRUMMING

Looking forward to seeing what other people struggle with 😂😂😂 – I could’ve worded that better, couldn’t I 😁😁😁

Best wishes all ♥️😎

Manfred M.

Hi AM folks,
for me the challenge this month was quite easy. It’s not so hard for me, to find one of Brian‘s lessons, I‘m struggling with: there are a few. I decided for EP069 – Slow Minor Key Groove.

This is a lesson which I tried again and again in the last two years, but so far I haven’t come to a really good result. The problem areas are the timing, a smooth change from rhythm to lead, the muted strums and some fast runs.

I played it as good as I can at the moment. I slowed the backing track down to 90% to get a reasonably good result and it went better than I have assumed.

I already recorded my video 11th of September (two days after Brian’s challenge announcement in only two or three takes), because I‘m travelling in Greece in the second half of this month. But I‘m glad this challenge animated me, to pick this lesson up again, because I like it very much and now I will try to keep at it, til I can play it properly.

I‘m looking forward to see what you all are struggling with. Because of my travelling I will watch all her videos no later than the following week.

Cloughie (Brian)

Ciao from beautiful Milan!

Bit of a quick hit this month as we’re traveling so I only had a few days to learn and record this. Enjoy.

Bill

I chose EP502 “Gypsy Jazz/Western Swing”. I really love these styles. The biggest challenge for me is playing over the chord changes up to speed. I definitely did not play it perfectly or note for note to Brian’s recording. A few flubs, but luckily the chords change so fast you are onto the next bit.

I’m off this weekend to California on vacation and then going to the Redwood Coast a music Festival next weekend. Some fabulous guitar pickers on the lineup there…should have lots of inspiration!

Hopefully I’ll get to watch a bunch of submissions on some downtime.

Don Patton Jr.

Hello AM members !

For this months challenge I am using EP511 a fingerstyle Blues . One of the problems I try to work through is to keep a steady and consistent thumb 👍 bass going. This lesson was a great exercise I’m trying to do just that.

I think I kept the thumb playing maybe 70% of the time…still need the other 30% for consistency when playing fingerstyle.That will always be my challenge to improve on the thumb bass.

Alan O.

Vincent K.

Hi all,

For this challenge I tried to play EP347. It is one of those lessons I struggle so much with. First of all the speed. Playing at Brian’s speed is just impossible for me. I played for hours and hours but could not get a descent take. So this one is at lower speed. Even then not easy because I also struggle with playing Rhythm guitar. So difficult for me to get the right timing (improve your timing). It looks so easy when Brian does it: just go up and down with you right hand. And then this lesson also includes a combination of Rhythm and Lead (the blues fill licks). Struggle – struggle struggle—-

Of course also a lot of fun and I learn to get better.

Werner

I fell in love with EP 502 Gypsy Jazz Lead the first time I heard it.

I had a hard time getting the speed I needed – and I didn’t really manage it. But still – a tribute to the German jazz guitarist Joscho Stephan.

David H.

When I first heard this song – EP487 – I said to myself, this is so cool, I have to learn it. Little did I know that it would take 7 months to finally get a decent recording of it. The most troublesome parts were at the following time spots.
:31
:38
These 2 were similar in that they are quick triad slides. But trying to get them to sound right was a stinker for me.

:41
But the real problem child is this run beginning here. Seemed to take forever just to get the note sequence right. Then going from 60% speed to 100% took forever plus infinity. And of course the timing between the notes is really tricky. If you are not careful it just sounds like a boring run of notes. I practiced this every day for at least 15-20 minutes, drove me and my wife nuts.

Regrets? Not one bit!

Marc V.

EP 347 Rock Rhythm with Fills

Many thanks Brian for selecting my challenge suggestion!!!

First tried this over a year ago and gave up on playing it with backing track.
Actually submitted as a challenge then playing it without backing track.
The backing track on this one is awesome.

My goal for this challenge was to revisit it and play it with backing track as well as explain the difficulties in learning this piece.

Bob Utberg

Tisket! Tasket!! A green and yellow basket!!!
Let’s break all the teacher’s rules . . . and have some fun!!!
Hey gang and welcome to September: Fall/Autumn (in the Northern hemi of course – how’s Spring Garry and Steve so far?)

As Yinz know, I dig the Blues. One song in particular I have had an absolute blast learning and playing is Mary Had a Little Lamb. First “composed” by Sarah Josepha Hale in 1830 and then the Great Buddy Guy made it into a FANTABULOUS Blues song 138 years later in 1968! Stevie Ray Vaughan covered this Classic Blues tune in 1983 with Double Trouble.
I am learning (and STRUGGLING mightily with parts of) this song in the style of SRV. It is a fun combo of 12- and 8-Bar Blues. The Intro, Verses and Outro are a good challenge. I’m getting those parts under my fingers here after several months of study.

IT IS THE BEAUTIFUL SOLO THAT IS TRIPPING ME UP IN PARTS!!:) Stevie is the Master at blending eighth notes and triplets (all kinds of triplets – 16th, 8th and quarter note), and those lightning fast 16th note runs where he can play them straight or swing them. That is what makes SRV – well, SRV! When you hear a song with him playing, you know it INSTANTLY.

So for Brian’s Challenge, I showed how I can play the solo at 80% with a few bad notes (yet, I rushed the darn thang for sure). Then, I play it at 90% (which currently my Mach One for this tune – my comfort zone and almost breaking point). Then, at 100%!! As you can see, at 100%, some of the licks are just out of reach for me! FOR NOW!!! NEVER SAY NEVER my friends!
Thank you for watching and I will tune in for all of your “struggles” this weekend!
Take Care,
Bob

P.S. If Yinz ever ride a bike (pedal, e- or motor), please PLEASE wear a good helmet! I am here on screen today thanks to my helmet after a very nasty Mt. Bike spill only 4 days ago! See that yummy “road rash” on my inner left elbow? You should see the rest of me. Especially my left rib cage! Ok, that’s my Safety Tip of The Day! Oh, except “look three-both ways before you cross the street”. My Dad always said that me growing up!

Geoff

I know speed is probably one of the biggest struggled for many and it is for me too but speed is not something I focus on too much. I just find all the repetitive practicing associated with trying to get faster a little too tedious for my taste.

One of the things I have really struggled with since picking up the electric guitar is handling 1 tone bends. I think I am a lot better a semi-tones but I am still poor at doing the full bends. This is one of those great BB King style lessons Brian put out and, no matter how hard I tried, I just sounded ‘off’ on account of not hitting the bends the way I hoped.

André M.

Hello AM friends, sadly our cat and doggie passed 3 weeks apart. So very emotional times. I will do a tribute for them later.
I haven’t played since last challenge. Hope it will not show in this challenge.
In the first video it’s the 2023 challenge, and the 2nd one was done in 2020.

I don’t know if musically it is better but in 2023 the video and sound are much better in my opinion. So here is 2023

2020 version

Serena C.

Hi everyone!
For this submission I’ve picked EP454 which I’ve been struggling with for the reasons I’m explaining in the second part of the video (from 1:11) after playing it. See you in your submissions!

Mike D.

EP 379

This lesson has always been a little tough for me, I’m off again with the timing. Probably should have done the slower track. I feel more comfortable just improvising like the last few minute.

I do like the gospel blues lessons and the backing track is great.

Michael L.

It took me a while to decide how to approach the challenge this month. I learn from the all the lessons, but I don’t often spend time trying to master them. I thought back and there were a few I had worked on focused on playing the changes, but also had some fast or tricky lines in them. They are:

• EP369 – Acoustic Blues Lead
• EP287 – Western Swing
• EP401 – Visualizing chord changes

I spent the most time this month on EP369, but in the end I settled on EP401 to record because it needed the most work. There are some fast alternate-picking lines with tricky fingerings and challenging rhythms. I’m playing this at Brian’s tempo and it’s right at the top end of what I can do, but hey, I couldn’t play these lines at all when I first tried this lesson.
I really like just a couple of acoustic instruments together, so I played the rhythm track on this one too (EP369 also features a rhythm track, great practice). I added a simple high-hat click on beats 2 and 4 to keep the tempo.

Challenges:

• Speed – of course, quick alternate picked lines and flying left-hand fingers
• Alternate-picked double-stops – picking each note individually or alternate-strumming the two notes together, in tempo, and with some flow (EPs 369 and 287 feature these)
• Rhythm – I need to spend more time on plain ol’ chord changes to make them cleaner, especially when also changing location on the neck or the hand position changes a lot
• Expression – playing with feeling at all tempos, but especially when pushing it. It’s real easy to sound mechanical. Tommy Emmanuel has some thoughts here. The whole video is worth watching.

Alan L.

This was a tough one to choose something for. Not because I don’t struggle- I do! But typically when I can’t “nail” something I’ll either A) slow it down enough where I can or B) modify the part to match my current ability level.

But I have been thinking I struggle a bit with keeping swinging, syncopated parts on the beat, and play with precision. So I chose EP409/VG30 (Jam band/Jerry Garcia style) as my submission. Here’s my one-take recording, plenty of mistakes to look at 🙂

Laurel C.

Hi Fellow Am’ers, I did not want to think too much into the long term struggle for this month’s challenge as the options would have been overwhelming and defeated the purpose … but will instead acknowledge the ‘Struggle is Real’. I have addressed the guitar briefly at the start of video as I think it is a major issue. I have had two guitars that I just could not play and let them go. Even though I did play the guitars I have now for about 10 mins before I bought them it is not until you actually have them that you start having issues. The lesson I have chosen to do was for the May Challenge, ep501. I had worked on it but did not make it for the deadline, so this was an opportunity to complete it. Same progression, different melody. Although I practiced on the electric unplugged (the struggle with the interface hasn’t resolved) I have had to play the nylon acoustic with a pick for the recording, that was a leap for adjustment. It has made me question whether you can lower the bridge bone as it always seems so high.

Brad V.

Hi everyone
Ive had two songs on the go EP225 and EP427, this challenge was a good oportunity to work on EP225 and get it a bit more playable. It was also a good chance to play around with the video and audio recording side of music. (PS the intro to the video was done in the carpark before a park run this morning, I wasnt driving!). Thanks.

Here is the video 

Lights (Meelis)

Hello my friends! Found little bit time in this morning to put on the video between my gigging nights in this weekend again. Drove all night (the driving wheel was mine tonight).
O.K. This lesson is iconic for me. There is all the complicated things for me “in one” I struggled a lot. First: hammer ons. They seems to be easy, but never were. As you see I didn’t get them completely anyway, should been work even more.
Second: quick chord changes all over the neck, the next difficult thing to me.
Third: Chord slides and soloing using the CADGE system.
So, take look at this, and happy challenging!

John H.

This is as fun lesson especially if you are looking to color or add texture to your sound. This is my biggest challenge (there are many) however, I especially like the fact that you can add complexity with 6ths, ninths, diminished chords and arpeggios when playing a traditional 1,4,5 blues or rock tune.

Martin W.

Hi folks ,my submission for this month I went with EP 317 , I first tried to learn this approx 3 years ago for a monthly challenge having failed miserably at the time I completely abandoned it! Looking back I made the mistake of trying to learn it to quick and getting it up to full tempo
( it doesn’t work! )
This time I slowed things right down and concentrated a bit more on accuracy and didn’t worry about speed too much , ( Brian plays this one at a fair pace ) I was quite happy with the tempo I achieved and felt a bit more relaxed with it .
Look forward to listening to everyone’s submissions this weekend.
Martin

Andy Wright

Hi everyone, here’s hoping you are well.

For my challenge response I have played EP026. I really enjoy the slide, it so expressive and fun. I have been playing this for quite a while and I have found there are quite a few things to bear in mind when playing the slide which definately is not as easy as it looks. What I am not quite satisfied with, which needs constant attention, is staying in tune when sliding onto notes and trying vibrato. Getting the ‘voice’ and character of slide guitar is quite tricky even though the notes are quite simple. Trying to keep the notes and the slides clear and defined whilst avoiding buzzing. And all the while keeping the thumb on a strong, straight beat. I really enjoy the challenge and fun of slide guitar.

JoLa

Hello Active Melody friends!

Ah, the struggles! There are plenty of them for me but here’s the biggest one, I’m sure it’s quite common.

I’m grateful for this challenge because admitting to it (I play guitar and I have the (lack of) speed problem) and recording the video with the plan how to address it makes me now accountable. Not trying to be a shredder any time soon but I definitely need to work on it!

My practice time has been somewhat irregular but I always think on how to improve that. I just recorded this(these) video(s) yesterday and finished the edits and now I’m ready to enjoy all your submissions!
Also – make sure to send the best wishes to our Keymaster Brian, who for the first time in history of Active Melody, had to call out sick yesterday! 😷❤️‍🩹🙏

San Luis Rey (Mike)

Most of the lessons give me trouble at some point so this months challenge is a no brainer. I love this weeks jazzy lesson but the backing track seems a little fast for me and I don’t know how to slow them down a few bpm’s. So here it is with all the miscues and no track.

Juxi

Hello my friends!
“Post a video of a lesson that you’ve been working on for a long time, but struggling to nail to your satisfaction.”
I decided on EP 289 – one of my favorite lessons, that I never was able to play very well, but which I loved since joining AM.

Things I struggled with:
1. playing clean barré-chords: That is a problem I face very often, but EP 289 was especially hard for me, due to the placement of my pinkie. I am rather content with my performance in the video, however the tone is hiding some of my sloppy playing and in one case (B7 chord) I simply played the chord without using my pinkie.
2. Speed: Always is a concern. My sisters and brother often complain that I only play slow songs. My answer: these are the only songs I am able to play. Fortunately, EP 289 is a very slow song. I did not match Brian’s speed, but I achieved the speed of the video tablature breakdown, which is slightly slower. A goal I do not often reach, most of the times I slow it down to 80 or 90 percent.

All in all, my challenge response went better than I expected, which kind of contradicts the challenge. However, I had already given up on EP 289 and would not have tried it again, but for this challenge. So, thanks for the idea, Mark.

Bruce D.

OK, the September Challenge!

But first,
Get well soon, Brian!

This month’s challenge was to find a lesson that you struggled with and/or gave up on. I have a lot of those, but I picked EP178, Santana/Dorian mode. It’s a great tune, but one I could never quite put together. The licks come fast and furious, and I put it aside a couple years ago. But because it’s a Challenge, I got to work on it a lot just for this.

So now it’s back on the list, much improved but still in need of some practice. It’s not just the notes on this one, but getting the timing right is tough. It has several stops, and I missed one or two, either early or late. But here it is, big fun, got to crank the overdrive up to 11 and have at it . . . Here ya go!

Marie Jarreau

I knew I’d be a bit late getting to the Challenge.
The weather has been much nicer, lending opportunity for long awaited community events to gather and visit and be outside. Even more events filling the hours of beautiful weather today – so my submission will be a modest offering.
Welcome Autumn!
Here in Deep East Texas the trees will be donning their Autumn colors in coming weeks!
Now for the music challenge. I am at a point at which I’m really wanting to focus on some finger picking. To that end, I’ve just begun to get the fingers of my picking hand to work independently of each other.
Well – I’m gettin’ there!
I thought this a fitting Challenge offering for September focused on something we’re struggling with.
I’ll do three pieces here, without the comfortably-standard strumming. Indeed, uncomfortable “warts” are included so beware. Really! :o)

– The first of a trio of tunes is one of my original works that I’ve been “strumming” since its creation: “Loblolly Pines Lullaby.” Written here in Texas for the beautiful and graceful tall pines of the same name.
– Another is a short bit I’d learned many years ago and not sure who the artist was, but it’s a soothing bit of music – when played “comfortably.”
– The last piece is the tune I used in the last Challenge, which focused on my getting the fingers of the LEFT hand to work independently: EP-528.
Short works to keep the picking hand engaged and interested. :o)

Richard G.

Hi everyone, I intended to post my problematic fingerstyle version of lesson EP484 but I’ve over-reacted from a Covid/Flu vaccine and my temperature is hovering where it shouldn’t be, but I know it’s all for the greater good. See you next time …….

”Slappy”

What is my biggest issue to get over… the man in the mirror for starters. but going from picking a lead to that Chet Akins picking with the harmonic thirds… yep that one of them. hope you all enjoy this little vid.

Tom D.

Greetings AM Guitarists:
It’s not often that I play electric lead parts, mainly due to a left ear sensitivity. Still I like taking it on. This is a take on the cool ep508 Chicago Blues, with a short ep536 Jazz part, and short improvised lead.

And while I often play with clunky ear muffs for ear protection, I have a new, more discreet, approach so I put my face in the video … guitar faces and all:-). I play it without the backing track as it’s easier on the ear. The struggles show up in the usual spots of accuracy in playing the fast licks, trying to actually play fast, or in doing things like playing vibrato at the top of a full bend, keeping time, etc. Used the approach of breaking licks down into bite size chunks, paying attention to intended rhythm … & then trying to connect parts.

THANK YOU for listening and any comments. I look forward to hearing your stories and guitar playing. Take care. Cheers, Tom

charjo (John)

Hi members,

Didn’t think I’d make it since Brian and I both got our first taste of Covid in the same week.
I learned a valuable lesson about struggling, ie. sometimes it’s not worth it!
The fast lick at 30s of this video has eluded me for months. Brian picks every note and I was determined to duplicate that at full tempo. I tried every possible picking combination using alternate and economy picking but it didn’t sound right and was choppy. Finally, yesterday, I decided to implement one little pull-off. I don’t think anyone would notice but me.
So the moral of my story is, when the struggle is too much it may be time for the workaround. I nailed that lick but of course there was no world in which I was going to also get the second difficult lick😒.
The struggle continues.

Adam H.

Hi Folks,

I seem to be on this journey to improve my rhythm since starting AM a year ago. I tried to capture my struggles with a simple percussive finger-style rhythm here -played on both acoustic and electric guitars as they seem to produce slightly different rhythmic accents (or I do on them). There are a few mistakes, but the main idea I am curious to get feedback is on the technique. My goal was to record the lead for EP 484 after recording the rhythm track, but I never got there as I felt that my rhythm track wasn’t solid enough. I talk a bit at the beginning (as that was another challenge I was aiming to overcome), sorry if too long! I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Livio M.

Hi AM frends
This month I did something very short, which I had already tried years ago without being able to finish it in an acceptable way. This time I finished it in 3 days, it’s not perfectly fluid in the shuffle, but I can acceptably keep to the beat albeit slightly slower than the original. I believe that frequenting AM was fundamental to the success. Hello everybody.

Patrick F.

Hope you will enjoy, always a pleasure to be a part of this community! Very good inspiration to see you play!
See you and thanks Brian!!

David G.

I really liked EP508 when it came out and I’ve been working on it since then. I came to settle that my maximum speed was 80%, mainly due to the fast lick in bars 7-8. Funny thing – as I prepared for this post I seemed to work the solo up to 90% speed (most of the time). My achilles heel is that lick in 7-8. I played with picking patterns a bit and again I can almost sometimes nail it at full speed. Now for this post I recorded myself with the backing track that includes Brian’s guitar so that I could highlight where I need work. I think I’m close but still messy although after watching the video it doesn’t seem that I’m as far off as I thought. At any rate here it is:

Dermot M.

Humble apologies Brian and AM friends for this slightly later than usual entry and also for lacklustre audio quality. At least it is very short!!

I had the hairbrain idea of relocating all my computer kit at the week-en to a different part of the room. I thought it might take a few hours – 2 days later I’m still sorting some stuff out. Hence, the poor audio!

When I tried to record yesterday nothing worked, but I have it sussed now I think!

Anyway -One of the big problems for my guitar playing is trying to apply barer chords further up the neck.

Not sure if Brain has covered 4 note 7th chords but here is me trying to learn them on the middle four strings with diatonic chords in the key c. (I make a reasonably good job of playing the root notes in C ;-)))

Kinda works until I get to the G7 barre shape and then – well see for yourself. Tips and suggestions welcomed!

Maybe I just need more practice at throwing these shapes in but atm it is contact struggle.

Looking forward to watching all your submissions.

Don D.

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