Wim VD1

Mandy, thank you for your nice words. When playing this for my wife, she asked me if I was playing it slower than the original. Now I can tell her I play it unhurried. I like that word 😀. Wim.

Greg, Thanks for your kind words. Your encouragement means a lot to me. I only play live for my family members, but I am happy to share my recordings on this and some other guitar forums. It might sound silly, but it makes me proud that my recordings have been played about 5000 times in total by now on soundcloud. I realize I sound like a teenager chasing "likes" on Facebook now 😀. Wim.

Ron, thanks for sharing your progress report! You played it well and I enjoyed it. Wim.

I am now working on the the L&M Fingerstyle course and had this song on top of my to-do list for the holiday season. Wim.

@Nutty 1 Hi Mandy, I would suggest to broaden the scope a bit and add also Rock to it. Is that ok? Wim.

Happy New Year! Let's get ready for the next challenge 😀 Wim.

I just started the L&M fingerstyle course some weeks ago, so that will be my main focus in 2020. Happy New Year, everyone! Wim.

Ho ho ho, Mandy, your submissions always put a smile on my face. Nice playing, singing and recording again. Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas, Wim.

Ron, I would love to hear you play it for the monthly recording challenge 😀. Wim.

Hi Ning, Growing calluses has never been a goal on its own for me. I even dislike thick calluses on my fingertips, as they can cause unwanted string noise when changing chords. I would suggest to just focus on the L&M course materials and exercises, and the calluses will come automatically. Wim.

Congrats, Danny. May your new Tele give you lots of musical inspiration! Wim.

Playing a new lovely guitar in the sunshine, to me this is as good as it gets! Nice playing, Maria, and a great tone you get out of your new Martin. Wim.

By now, I have listened to all 100 episodes of this podcast, and I find it interesting and entertaining. It covers a wide variety of topics for guitar players of all levels. Wim.

Hi Neil, As far as I can tell, only few of the people who finished L&M are still active on this forum. I do hope that @Texaspackerfan and @ShadowBoxer86 share their stories on how they progressed as well. It's about 15 months now since I completed lesson 20, and I did struggle with the same question on what to do next. I decided to take a deep dive into the blues and started the L&M Blues Guitar and Griff Hamlin's "Blues Guitar Unleashed 2.0" courses. I finished those over the past months, together with some additional Classic Rock and other blues related lesson series. The biggest satisfaction now comes from being able to play complete songs. I can't sing, I am not in a band, and my fingerstyle skills are very limited. That is why I am looking for instrumentals that I can play by myself with a pick, and want build a small repertoire of that kind of songs. What I do experience lately is an increased speed in learning. Songs that, in the past, would have taken me a long time to learn, now only take a couple of days. So that's cool. Although I am not gigging, I do like to share some of my music on soundcloud. It's always rewarding to know there are people listening to my music and even willing to write a comment. I still plan to start Steve's fingerstyle course soon. Fingerstyle is just one of those fundamentals that is still missing in my skillset and that I really want to learn. So I am quite happy with what my left hand can do, but not so much yet with what my right hand can 🙂 Wim.

Hi Maria, I am sure you will not regret that purchase. if you make practicing major scales part of your daily routine, you will notice pretty soon that your fingers start finding the notes of a melody more easily. Take care, Wim.

@NeilES335, I like Sandra Sherman and her "Grrreetings from Austria", and I have subscribed to her YouTube channel. She has some nice lessons on chord embellishments in Jimi Hendrix style as well. I'll see what I can do on the B.B. King jamtrack. I might study his style a bit more in depth and then try to put together some lead "in the style of". @Oldjock, I love blues with Jazz influences as well, as long as it does not sound too complicated 😀

Yes, Neil. I learned and recorded the Song Hits arrangement now about 2 years ago as a kind of L&M graduation project. It took me several weeks to learn it. I did however not play it much after recording it, because I went back to learning the blues. It's a challenging chord melody and I wish you lots of fun learning it. Wim.

@sleepingangel, Maria, when it comes to learning the major scales, I think it is better to start with Steve's Major Scale Mastery Fredboard Workouts. These will teach you most of what you need to know about major scales. The 3 notes per string scales from Session 17, are some additional patterns with the same notes from the major scale, that are also interesting to learn, but more as basis for fast legato playing (with hammer-ons and pull-offs) Wim.

@NeilES335 Congratulations on finishing the course, Neil! That's a major achievement. There is indeed still so much more to learn, but the foundations that you built by completing L&M are rock solid and you have all the skills now to really enjoy the instrument and be a musician. I look forward to listen to your recordings! Also, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for what you are doing for our guitar family here on this forum, sharing your knowledge and supporting all of us with valuable feedback and comments. Wim.

Welcome back, Maria. I am happy to read that the angel is awake again 😀. Wim.

Well done, Mandy. Great choice. Wim.

Hey Danny, Thanks to you I am getting to know some country classics! Great song and very well played. The is some fast picking going on. Thanks for sharing and keep them coming. Wim.

It's my goal to go beyond playing pentatonics, so I am working on the natural minor scale now. I was looking for some songs in a minor key to learn to use this scale and found a nice one on the ActiveMelody site. It contains a typical walk down that can be played on a minor chord and that might sound familiar from Michelle (Beatles) or Bang Bang (Cher and Nancy Sinatra). For sure a fun one to learn. Wim

A thumbs up for you, @Old Guy! Wim.

I am also working on minor scales and chord progressions in a minor key as I want to take the next step and move away from using primarily pentatonic and blues scales. The first one for me to focus on is the natural minor scale. It's the minor pentatonic scale with the 2 and flat 6 added to it. By changing the flat 6 to a major 6, you get the Dorian mode. That mode is the next one on my list. Wim.