Popeye

Nice job Wim.....I kept waiting on the vocals!

Respectively Doug- Every time I post on the forum, it is always with a point of view and a prospective of my experience and lessons learned. It comes from the heart to help others. There are hundreds of ways to skin a cat, or sing a song. The journey to get to higher levels is through PPP. Please look for the positive and good in a post. Look for the good in all that you seek to learn from and you will find different paths to follow. Enjoy your journey and have fun making music, at whatever level you are in your journey. Help others and you will learn more about yourself! Take care. Mike

Let's think about this for a minute......... 1st- you are learning to play a new instrument and you are already taxing your capabilities and feel overloaded. 2nd-You have your brain thinking about the LMG video you have been playing. 3rd- your trying to remember what Steve said on the weekly video and your foot is trying to tap to the beat of the song. 4th- Your left hand is trying to play chords or melody on the fretboard and your right hand is strumming, arpeggiating picking or your finger picking. 5th- You may be trying to read music notation. 6th- Your trying to read the music sheet word (lyrics). 7th- And then you want to sing it out loud on key and in pitch in time......and you want it to sound good? It is great to have a goals. OK- I think you see a pattern here......in order to do this many things at the same time, you have to get pretty good at all of these things independently and then put them all together with technique, soul, rhythm and singing from your heart. Learn to crawl, walk, skip and then run! So- (1) take one song and learn it by heart....all the words and the beat and the rhythm of the song before you even try and play it on guitar. You don't have to read it, you don't have to see it, you just know the song by heart! ROTE RECALL! (2) Left hand- Know all the chords, melody, riffs! you can play them without thinking about it. ROTE RECALL! (3) Right hand- know the picking, strumming! ROTE RECALL! Practice doing all three of these at one time until it is all done by ROTE RECALL! You have attained the ability to play a song and your feeling confident Play it in your room for several weeks and then ask your wife if she will listen to a song. If she stays through the whole song and your get that beautiful smile at the end, you might consider that you have succeeded. Feel free to play it in public, OH and then you will have to add nerves, jumping knee and twitchy fingers to get through the song. Oh- did I mention that you have to remind yourself to breath while you are doing all of this! NO PROBLEM! I love learning to play guitar. It is so much fun! Back to my music room! Enjoy and don't give up!

R.I.P. Jorge. Being from California and growing up 3 hours north of San Francisco, I was a big fan of Carlos and Jorge Santana. Carlos obviously made the big stage, but Jorge stayed in the Bay area with his band and stayed true to his Latin Roots music. I never met him, but got to hear him play. Way to young to leave us!

DOWNLOADED.......good quality and tempo & key is in the track name. Thank you for the tip.

Diane- Thank you for sharing your heart & life "These Days". You are a gem! This is what your thoughts evoked in me. This is a crazy world that we are experiencing. The average person has a normal routine and a system that life revolves around with a small variance once or twice a year. This virus has provided a major pothole in the road of life and has had a great impact on each and every person in the world. Some more than others depending on the circumference of influence that the virus has had on them and their families and friends. I find myself in a unique situation because my life up to February 2020 has so many parallels to this virus. How, I was in the Military for 20 years and my routine was anything but normal. Long 12-16 hours days aboard ships for weeks and months on end. Isolation in small communities and aboard ships, where not seeing anyone outside of your 50 -100 men crew for 90-120 days was the norm. Living in close quarters. I was a Captain of a Tug with a crew of 6 men for the next 26 years and again, you are sequestered within the confines of an 87ft tug, working, eating, sleeping alongside the same 6 men and isolated for a minimus of two weeks to 30 days. The extreme was 90 days. Today, with this virus, these living conditions feel like a vacation, with the exception of the mental stress and strain of a silent killer lurking out in the night/day waiting to take another victim with no conscience as to the loved ones that are left behind or the pain and economic upheaval. Things do not make sense. We see and hear humanities reaction. Some with don't understand, some we agree with and yet, humanity will prevail. I try to make my day more meaningful as I process the mental gymnastics of this threat! I internalize so many feelings and thoughts and the introspective nature pulls out the past mistakes and the "I Wish I Would Have", or "IF Only, or What If" (IF is the biggest word in the dictionary! A reflection of life as I take the time to stop and think and be quiet within my soul! 1. Not taking life for granted. 2. Time is a precious gift. We all have the same amount to use. Give generously! 3. Taking time to smell the roses 4. Quit running the race and enjoy the journey 5. Reaching out to old friends and saying hello 5. Staying closer to family and making sure that they know how much they matter and how much I love them. 6. It is never too late. 7. I have my faith, my family, my friends and my health. (and my guitars and a love of music with my guitar family:) Life is good. Thank you Diane. Your writing always makes me think and feel! You have a gift and a friend always. Take Care and be safe! Mike

Very nice guitar Ron. I won't pick a PRS up......I'm truly afraid I'll buy it! ENJOY!!!! Mike

Congrats on the new Tele guys. I have a Frankenstein Tele put together by Greg Voros and it is my everyday guitar! Again Congrats.

Concur Steve- Thank you for making it all possible!

Neil- Excellent playing of rhythm and melody on this song. The smooth timing and melding of lead and rhythm was well done. Nice clean crisp recording. Great job!

Nice work Wim.....I enjoyed your play!

Simira- Don't worry about the language. It will grow as part of your music journey! Everything guitar is a disease that spreads with knowledge and experimentation! GAS or Guitar Acquisition Syndrome along with Amps, Pedals, Strings, Mics, Recording devices, Music stands, music seats, picks, tuners, DAW, ............etc. You can see the pattern developing here! Oh yah and music books and training materials.

Fender EC Tremolux 12W 1X12 Amp- Tube amp based on 50's 5E3 Tweed Deluxe with Tremelo with Eric Clapton's specifications. Great tube amp with the rich lows and smooth range of mids and highs. Great for Blues and 50's & 60's rock and roll. It will crank and growl like a lion roars or play like tame kitten! All around great home amp and small venue gigs.

Well- that sucked all the air out of the room! 😇 P....P.....P

I guess that I started playing as a teenager and did the self taught program, learning open chords and picking up a song here or there from an other self taught musician. It was driven by a love of music as well as a desire to learn and conquer a new discipline! Over time it was a challenge to put in the time and effort balanced with life, marriage, kids, career, self destructive thoughts and poor teaching technics (Self Taught). I never took lessons and it was and has always been about the journey. It is a part of my life and will continue to be until my family pulls my cold fingers off the neck! I WILL NOT GIVE UP!! I have even concluded that I must have a real hard head or a morbid sense of self inflicted mutilation of my ego! But alas, life continues and I have multiple guitars, equipment and lesson plans to prove that the journey continues. Besides that, I just have fun with what I can learn!

Good job Neil..........I remember that song from my youth. Had not heard it in ages. Keep up the Journey my friend!

Great teachers and I use there teaching tools. Great stuff to think about!

Really nice WIM! Great actually!

Oh Man Diane......You hurt my one feeling! :)

Congrats on the new Tele......Enjoy the New Year with your new Fender!

Fun and informative history of ES-335. I had to laugh because I am one of those guys that had to have a Strat, a Tele, Gibson LP Standard, and Gibson ES-335. Comes from growing up with all the music of the 60's.

Hello Maria- Life goes on and we flow with the river as it winds its way through the countryside. Glad to see your back and that you are continuing the guitar journey. Take care. Mike

Hey Diane- Thank you for keeping all of us home bodies tuned in and up-to-speed with the Retreat. I always enjoy your guitar editorials.