Wow, dude. Very glad to have your video pop up in my algorithm. I could've almost said all the same myself - in fact the thought crossed my mind of also documenting my GJ journey as you are actually doing, as I'm almost on a parallel journey as you, almost to a freaky degree. Down to the spousal encouragement! After starting to get burned out on the band I've been in that's been my main musical focus for the past few years, basically effective the start of this year, I've dedicated all my musical efforts to finally pursuing learning to play this wonderful music I've loved for years. So, I feel like in the past few months I've gone through many of the same ups and downs you articulate so well, down to finger pain that I thought would be the end of my playing, period. I don't have two hours a day to practice, but even playing less, I realized I was overdoing it, and have found that a more patient approach has helped my tendons gain strength slowly, rather than over stressing them before they're ready (learned the same thing the hard way rock climbing years ago). In a weird twist of irony, giving myself the space to enjoy the process more than the results has minimized frustration and burnout and actually opened up my playing, I feel. It's so interesting, each of these amazing KZitem teachers have different approaches...Christian seems very technically minded, Denis Chang is very harmonically oriented, Robin Nolan is repertoire and rhythm enthusiast, Filippo Dall'Asta is talented with theory explanation. In time I've found appreciating each of these approaches have their own wisdom, and have started to help me see just even a glimpse of the whole. Finally, interesting what you said about not feeling ready to gig...I felt exactly the same way, but am now thinking that if I keep thinking that way, I'll likely never feel ready, because progress is endless. So, to that end, I've connected with another musician friend who's always wanted to learn the style, and we've agreed to try to gig together by the end of the year. Which has re-oriented me toward learning repertoire, and I have to say, ironically, learning repertoire and rhythm has advanced my soloing more than anything else, as it ties together everything, especially harmonic direction and ear wisdom. So, credit to Robin Nolan on that one, who 's also pointed out, at any jam or gig, you're probably going to be playing rhythm at least 90% of the time. And ultimately my goal is indeed just to play with others, as indeed that is the best learning. If down the road you'd ever want to have a shared conversation as one of your progress reports, feel free to hit me up. It could be cool to chat out the journey!
@justadudepracticing
3 ай бұрын
Go for it! We need more people showing the "journey." That's funny. I've climbed on and off for years. I've been thinking about getting back into it but I just know another finger injury is lurking. Re youtube teachers: I agree. They all offer a piece to the puzzle. My instinct is to sample from everyone (I keep considering Nolan's stuff. I'm in desperate need of some solo pieces.) but the "a little of this, a little of that" approach has never worked for me. Really digging in to one thing seems to be doing the trick though. I'd be down for a conversation. In the meantime, put up some videos if you get a chance!
@lu0nline
4 ай бұрын
Hey mate, really enjoy your videos and open process. As a fellow amateur guitarist who practiced on/off for years, thought I offer some thoughts: The main thing is to take it easy. Sometimes you need to drill hard on something and then leave it before you really "master" them, much to our frustration, but as long as you keep playing more frequently than not, the benefits will eventually show up, and if you go back to practicing those same drills you will then find yourself much more relaxed, which is paramount to play well. In a similar note, I'd be a bit concerned about the pain. The thing I'd think about here is seasons. You actually don't want to have the same intensity in practice all year round. You want to ramp it up overtime, keep it really intense for some time, then ramp it down a bit, and repeat. Not saying you should practice less, just let your practice go through seasons, let yourself revisit concepts. For things that overwhelm you, tackle them for a very short time at first, and do that when you have the most energy- don't leave the overwhelming stuff for when you are tired. For one last suggestion, and I know this goes against your routine of just practicing these recorded 2 hours a day- but maybe picking the guitar up for 5-15 minutes closer to bed time and playing whatever, without thinking it too much, would be helpful. It's good to practice playing in different states of mind, and it's good to practice playing without thinking. Give yourself some space to explore musicality without any words or concepts attached to it. Of course it's easy to write this, and it's much harder to do what you are doing- practicing much more than the average person and posting it here so consistently, so major props to you! Wish you all the best, thanks for posting.
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I feel like my practice intensity has gone down quite a bit since I finished Book 2. I was just playing things I'd already memorized over and over to get them up to speed. Now that I'm learning Book 3 I've had to slow way down. One note at a time again, trying to figure out the phrases. Same with improvising. Half of the time I'm sitting there just thinking. I guess I'm in another season of "slow." I like your suggestion to pick up the guitar for a few minutes and just jamming. The only issue is that after my practice sessions, I have no desire to touch my guitar again until the next day lol.
@MegaGameHunter
4 ай бұрын
Dude, wish you luck on your guitar practice journey, hope you'll kick ass with soloing one day! And also hope your hand will heal properly during those 2 weeks. Cheers.
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
Thank you! One day...
@RichardGascons
3 ай бұрын
Hello dude ! Thanks for your honesty it’s very interesting to have the report of this method you practice. I’m in the same situation as you learning jazz and gipsy jazz with the guitare. I passed lot of times with arpeggios and scales and now I’m trying as you to learn solos and licks. I understand you a lot… it’s very hard ! And so difficult to know how to work when we don’t have all the keys ! What’s the good method ? 😮 For the tendinitis maybe during your holidays you can try an anti inflammatory regime and switch sometimes on an electric guitar which is a lot more comfortable just to rest a little. It doesn’t change anything on learning. I made this two things and it works for me ! Keep going it will make it !
@justadudepracticing
3 ай бұрын
Thank you! I appreciate the ideas. It can be frustrating but I think i'm on the right path. It just takes time. Btw I'm absolutely useless on an electric. If I can't hug the guitar body, I can't play lol
@jz4901
4 ай бұрын
Hey JaDP! Super video! This is exactly the kind of thing that non-practicers don't realize is necessary, and I include myself in that category in many cases! And at some point, people are going to say, "wow you play well, you're really talented, I could never do that!" -- because they don't see all of this work you're doing. This is really inspiring, to the point where I'm going to check out van Hemert's stuff. Recalling licks - this makes sense, it's like language. One language learning technique you could try would be to use flashcards: put the first few notes on the front of the card, and then on the back of the card put the full lick. You can even use flashcard software like Anki to give you prompts, but that's getting a bit technical. Hand soreness - watch out for too much finger pressure, make sure you're not pressing too hard! Pressing hard is a very easy habit to get into, and with gypsy/acoustic it's tempting to really push. Esp with vibrato, which does need some pressure ... I've enjoyed watching Julian Lage with his super light tough, very free. Gaps in knowledge - "I don't know music theory" -- honestly, a lot of music theory sounds more daunting than it is. Take it bit by bit. Your questions are very clear, you'll find the answers soon I think. Super video again, thank you again for posting it! Cheers and best wishes!
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
Thank you! One of my motivations for creating this channel was to show what practicing actually looks like. If I get good, I can say "This is what it takes!" (And if I don't, I can say "Even this isn't enough! Imagine the work good players are putting in...") I highly recommend Christiaan's material. Between the books, videos, Discord, personal/direct/immediate advice, it's hard to beat. Remembering licks: I've had the same though. I considered some sort of SRS for licks but the problem isn't just recalling them, it's recalling them the split second before you need them when the music's going at full speed. Drilling them with backing tracks seems to be working. It's just gonna take a long, long time. Fortunately, it's fun. I had a list of things to work on yesterday but ended up spending my entire practice session on Sweet Sue. Light pressure: Completely agree. This is a tough one. I'm still trying to find the pressure sweet spot. Most of what I'm working on is still pretty new to me and takes deliberate, conscious effort to play but I have a few (more internalized) licks that just seem to flow with the lightest touch. I have a feeling this pressure problem will eventually work itself out. Gaps: Yeah, tackling too much theory at once makes it all seem impossible. My eyes glaze over reading any sentence that mentions more than two bits of theory. Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful comment!
@jz4901
4 ай бұрын
@@justadudepracticing Hola. You know, re "if I get good/if I don't" -- of course there will be talented players, and then the super gifted whom we try not to hate too much, but there are a million factors that affect progress: a good teacher, good role models, good environment, good habits/system, etc ... I've practiced long and hard in the past, but never made good progress in certain areas because I just had completely wrong ideas about technique, playing, etc ... and never really found my own thing. That's where a real-life teacher is invaluable. I hope you have one that can give you insight on your stuff. Re licks not coming out -- some more thoughts -- I don't mean to sound preachy or like I'm teaching you, these are for me as well: I don't think that reproducing a particular lick is the goal, but rather drawing some kind of thing that you like from it and making that happen. Remi Harris talks about this in one of his vids (he's super!): finding the parts of the lick that you like, and then working with just that, and see what you come up with. The licks provide the structure, the starting point, on which you hang your own ideas. Unless you want to just quote licks, which I think can be fine. Several years ago, I was reading about a jazz musician who said he would practice the hell out of stuff, but he would never see it in his own playing until about 6 months down the road. Maybe that's the time required for it to bake for him. He always said it was 6 months. So maybe as you keep working on things, you'll see the subconscious kicking in for your playing further down the road -- you're certainly laying the groundwork for it. The pressure problem -- one trick you can try is to set a timer that goes off in say 5 mins or whatever, or a random timer, and when it dings check your pressure, do the inventory from top to bottom, face neck shoulders tricep bicep elbow wrist, even legs etc. Lots of posts out there about relaxation. Cheers and thanks again, I'm always interested to see such deliberate work. Best wishes!
@vntgmike
4 ай бұрын
This is awesome man! Your progress is motivating me to keep practicing. Good luck!
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
Nice! And thank you!
@jordanflowers5872
4 ай бұрын
Im on a parallel journey with practicing about 2 hours a day, and also am developing tendonitis. Its a real bummer. I havent figured out what works yet but a couple things i have tried, lower string gauges, plan on taking my guitar to get a setup, then rest. In the interim while i rest I am doing ear training on a little midi keyboard I picked up. Giving myself a week and then we will see what happens!
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
That sucks. Sorry to hear you're dealing with it, too. It's amazing that some people can practice 6+ hours a day for years without injury.
@samnewlin9423
4 ай бұрын
In order to develop your theory knowledge you should learn your scales and arpeggios. It’s not gonna be nearly as enjoyable as playing licks, but then you’ll be able to understand how those are created. Arpeggios and Scales are the building blocks
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
(I thought I responded to this already, but it looks like my comment didn't make it.) Yeah, I'll to get back to arps one of these days. It's been far too long.
@samnewlin9423
4 ай бұрын
The altered scale is the 7th mode of the jazz melodic minor scale. So if you want to play b altered you would go a half step up and c melodic minor. You can play the altered scale over the V7 chord in a 2 5 1
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
Thanks for the info! I'll have to look up the melodic minor scale lol
@NicolasBaptiste-euphocat
4 ай бұрын
Hey ! Sorry you feel this way… but I think it was a bit predictable 😬 following a book of licks is a tool, but it’s definitely not the only one ! Especially when your goal is to play actual music. About the flow I think a great exercise is the « arpegiator » on tunes like All of me for example. You play at a steady pace the arpeggio of each chord and try to move a little as you can when you switch chord / arpeggio. And secondly you’re wrong about not having enough material to play with others ! Be open about it… and even if you play just a few chords on a few tune, you’ll be able to feel the actual stuff going on ! You’ll learn a great deal by listening to others. And it will probably also boost your motivation.
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
Thanks for the advice! My motivation issues were totally predictable. I knew I was stepping onto an emotional roller coaster when I started practicing consistently. Oh, I definitely have enough material; I just don't have quick enough access to it. But I'll get there eventually!
@vntgmike
4 ай бұрын
3:22 interesting 🤔
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
I'm serious. It's some tasty stuff.
@instrumentalmike
4 ай бұрын
Hey man, just came across your channel. I think it's freakin' awesome that you are attacking learning gypsy jazz so intensely. I've been playing Gypsy Jazz for 12 years and guitar totally for 20. I give gypsy jazz and music theory lessons. I can help you move along in all of this and answer all of your questions. If you are interested just let me know and we'll exchange information! Check out my channel for some of my videos playing gypsy jazz! Good work man. keep it up!
@justadudepracticing
4 ай бұрын
Thank you! I checked out your channel. Man, you're a great player.
@instrumentalmike
4 ай бұрын
@@justadudepracticing thanks man! Keep up the journey. Gypsy jazz is the best! If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.
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