A Pretty Hirsute Affair
Published: Fri, 01/13/23
Like any self-respecting cartoon dad, I opposed the dog notion on strictly logistical grounds: I would, I knew, wind up walking her the most, and so, incidentally, scooping up the majority of the even less appealing organic detritus a dog creates all on its own. And yet, I have come to totally groove on my gig as chief dog-walker. Among other things, dogs are cool with doing the same things over and over, and in fact look forward to it. This is a good fit, as I am the kind of human who will happily wear a trench in the ground by walking, year after year, to my favorite half-dozen spots in the neighborhood, completely oblivious to any new eatery that might waste its time hanging out a shingle within a half-mile radius of my home.
So, repetition – I'm a fan. And yet as improvisors, whether fluent or fledgling, we can be profoundly skittish about repeating ourselves. "I need more licks!" is the general mood, when in fact there is plenty more mileage to be gotten out of whatever licks we already know. In today's Youtube lesson, I explain how to create compelling eight-bar call-and-response solos from just a few small pentatonic ideas. Check it out at the link below:
The Pentatonic Secret: Use Repetition To Create More Interesting Solos
Tomorrow's Soloing From Scratch workshop will provide you with the exercises, licks, practice tools and tab to help you build your right hand coordination, grow your vocabulary of licks and start improvising. It also comes with a two-week trial of the Fingerstyle Five membership. You can learn more and sign up at the link below:
Soloing From Scratch, Volume 2: Alternating Thumb Blues In Drop D
Saturday, January 14, 10:30am Central
More soon,
David