Original lesson: Blues Shuffle Minor/Major 3rd by Javier Aviles

long time no rec :)

Hi Renan, good effort with this amazing lesson. You played the whole thing at tempo and kept the timing in the whole take. You've learnt each lick as it is and played it very close to the original. However there is still an extra value needed to make this take a top level one. What I'm talking about? Expression details. This is a list of things that you should have in mind in the next days of practice:

- Tone: Your tone is lacking some presence or treble. Try adding some db to your treble EQ and also experiment adding a tube screamer pedal (or emulation) before your amp to give the sound more definition and nice sustain.

- Micro-bends: You are missing most of the micro-bends played by Javier, mostly every time he plays the minor third and bends it close to the major third. (for example at 00:05 in the original lesson).

- Vibrato: Your vibrato tends to be weak in most of the licks. Just compare the first lick in both the original and your take and you will notice the big difference. Practice the lesson doing an exaggerated vibrato to get used to the strength needed to play vibrato in blues.

- Definition: There are some fast sections that are not sounding precise. Those parts where you have to move fast from one part of the fret board to the other and play a fast lick. Work on this sections because you lose a bit of clarity and groove.


As you can notice, these are mostly details but you need to work them because the soul of blues is feeling. You have to work on it. I recommend you to practice over the original lessons trying to emulate Javier's tasty playing.

Keep on the good job!

This is very good, Renan.

Timing is excellent.. tone is clean and tasteful.

Gabriel mentioned the micro bends. He is correct, you could just bend them a fraction more to get that ambiguous territory that lies between a semitone.

Sliding.. this is mostly good, however watch out for unwanted string noise like 0:31. This can often be kept under control by making sure that the picking hand is covering the strings just enough to stop any unwanted strings vibrating. Other than that, try to avoid hitting other strings with the fingers on your picking hand. It's easy for em to say this, I know.

Hey mate

I think Gabi pretty much picked up all the details and suggested solutions to you - yes, it's all about the details and they usually make the difference.

Please take the time to record over the original and observe Gabi's suggestions regarding the microbends, vibrato and playing definition. Isolate the parts which are troublesome and slow them down in order to be able fix the details.

Your general approach on this lesson is a good one, but now it's time to make it shine and in the mean time, if you wish to work on your vibrato in a separate context, I totally recommend Ben's lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bens-Vibrato-Odyssey-5/

Keep rocking!

Cosmin

Pass: 8