Wim VD1

Nice rendition, Neil!

When I watch Tommy E. play this, I always get a smile on my face. So I hope I can pass the good vibes this song gives me on to all of my guitar friends here. Wim.

Congrats, Mike. I'm looking forward to your next video recording to hear you play it! Wim.

@V7#5b9 Welcome back, Gerard. Good to hear from you again! Hope you are doing fine. Wim.

Welcome to the forum, @Oasis! I would recommend indeed that you do the Learn and Master Guitar course first. You should be at an intermediate level before starting Steve's Fingerstyle course. Take your time to build good fundaments and enjoy the journey. Wim.

@3rdwaverider That's different indeed. I had to listen a second time before I even recognized the Beatles song in it 🙂 . But it is a very original approach and I liked it. Thanks for sharing. Wim.

Thanks for this, Neil. I think we all should spread a little joy these days, just like you did with this song. I do notice that you have really progressed in your playing. Your latest recordings all sound "in the pocket" with great timing and feel. Wim.

Rock solid playing, @NeilES335! You are building a nice repertoire. Wim.

My dear friend Mandy, Allow me to express my deepest condolences for the loss of your husband. My thoughts are with you. Wim.

That's beautiful, Mike.

"Tears in Heaven" is on Eric Clapton's soundtrack album "Rush" for the 1991 film of the same name. This is my attempt to cover this all-time classic in a solo fingerstyle arrangement. Wim. https://soundcloud.com/wim-van-damme-401299565/tears-in-heaven-ec

Thanks for you kind words, Neil. I think @ShadowBoxer86 was the first one to complete the whole L&M cycle 😀. Steve has released some great new resources over the past months that I have not started yet. It's time to take a closer look at his triads lessons now as well. Take care, Wim.

@Gran Gran I would like to add one more thing to the good advice you have already received from my guitar friends here. Especially when it comes to buying an acoustic guitar, let your ear guide you. Before buying my steel acoustic string, I made several visits to the local guitar store and took the time to try out many guitars. Now there was something about the sound of the one I finally took home. For some reason this guitar could "sing" in a way that moved me emotionally. And now about 4 years later it still has the same effect on me. The instrument itself inspires me to play. Wim.

The advantage of knowing the five (CAGED) shapes for each arpeggio is that you can stay in roughly the same position on the neck when playing over a chord progression. And it gives you more flexibility as for one and the same chord or arpeggio, playing at a different position on the neck will give you a different voicing. I agree it is a big task to memorize them all, so you need to decide if you want to put in the necessary work. Wim.

That's a busy schedule, @Limatje. Respect! I tend to work on fewer items in parallel. A couple of excercises and a song or two. My practice is dictated by the songs I want to learn. If a specific scale or technique is used in the song I am learning, then I do some specific exercises on that scale or technique. This works for me and keeps me motivated. Wim.

I do pay a lot of attention lately on fretting hand technique to avoid string squeaks. In an attempt to further reduce the unwanted finger noise, I am now trying out D'Addario Flat Tops. These are not real flat wounds, but strings that have been polished to have a semi-flat surface. I must admit I had to get used to their sound initially. Compared to the Elexirs I had on before, the sound is a bit less round and warm. But after playing them for a few weeks and making a first recording with them for the current monthly recording challenge (Queen's Love of my life), I think they are a good compromise for me and I will keep them on. Wim.

I was not aware, but it makes a lot of sense. Steve starts and finishes the whole Learn and Master cycle with the same song "Paulette". The L&M journey ends where it started.

Thanks, Limatje, I will check it out. Travis picking is really a next level challenge to me. But it gives such a rich sound. Wim.

Thanks, William. Lesson 5 contains some of my favorite songs of this course: Malaguena and Lagrima. And the unavoidable Canon in D of course . Enjoy the rest of the course! Wim.

After 10 months of fun, I finished the L&M Fingerstyle course today. It was for me the final one of the 4 Learn and Master DVD courses (L&M Guitar, The Song Hits, Blues Guitar and Fingerstyle) to be completed. Due to Covid 19, I suddenly had more time for guitar practice, so this course came at the right time. With some side steps, primarily into some other Blues and Rock courses, the total L&M cycle took about 5 years. Learning and playing songs was and still is my main goal, and with this Fingerstyle course finalized, numerous fingerstyle songs and arrangements are now within reach. The course is great and covers all possible genres of fingerstyle. I especially enjoyed the classical guitar session, as this was completely new to me. What I want to do next is to dig into the Merle Travis style a bit deeper. There is an introduction into that style in session 8, but I want to spend more time and learn more of the "Freight Train" type of songs 😀 Wim.

After watching the fingerstyle arrangement of this song by Gabriella Quevedo on Youtube, I wanted to learn to play this song (The guitar friends here that are into fingerstyle should definitely check out Gabriella Quevedo's YouTube channel). Gabriella is however using a weird tuning (B F# C# F# A C#), and I wanted to stay in standard tuning. So I had to figure out my own arrangement in the end. Anyhow, this is my solo acoustic fingerstyle version of "Love Of My Life" from Queen. This is also my little graduation project from the L&M Fingerstyle course, that I am about to finalize. I tried to incorporate several of the techniques from the course in this arrangement. Hope you enjoy it. Wim. https://soundcloud.com/wim-van-damme-401299565/love-of-my-life-fingerstyle

Hey Mandy, you got cat class and you got cat style! That's a fun performance and you played it well. I was picturing the Aristocats dancing around on your tune 🐱🐱🐱. Wim.

I obviously agree with the article. Recording is an important element in my guitar learning journey. Wim.

Hello Ron, my short answer is: yes, you should learn all the notes on the fretboard 😀 Personally, I used another method to get there, as explained in earlier replies in this thread To me, the "3 notes per string" is another way to play major scale based runs that is especially beneficial when you want to play fast legato style. Although these 3NPS exercises were part of my practice schedule for months, I have not really used the legato technique in the songs and solos I learned so far. But never say never... Wim.

Challenge accepted! Back to my practice room. Wim.