My Blues jam track
Hi David,
The jam track that you use when you play My Blues on your video lessons, is different than the Pete Schmidt jam track that you provide as a download. The guitar part is outstanding, especially during bars 7-8 of choruses 3 and 4. I like it a lot more and would like to use it. Is a full 5 chorus copy available?
Thanks
As a specific example, when you play Chrous 4 of My Blues at the end of your Chorus 4 lesson video, start listening at 3:22, which begins bar 8. I hear a descending guitar riff that begins at the beginning of bar 12 during the shake and extends through the 1/8 note rest. This guitar riff seems to be very different from the one on my jam track download. I thought that maybe John Garcia made a custom jam track because it sounded like his guitar work. But if you say it’s the same, then it must be my ears. Maybe you added some delay, reverb or EQ? No biggie, thanks for checking.
Thank you for being specific... it helps. This is the same jam track, I just used a different portion of the jam track for my example at that moment (I assume, I didn't check, but it is no doubt the same jam track).
Yes, that explains it. I listened to the bar 8 portion for each jam track chorus and you played Chorus 4 over the jam track for Chorus 3, and it was enough of a difference that I noticed. Thanks for taking the time to help me sort this out.
During the Ryan Walker video called Intro, a prelude to his playing My Blues, you offered Ryan a choice to either play along to the "original track" or the jam track. What is this original track? I didn't know that we had a choice.
Good evening HarpKat. When a private student comes to me to play a song I'll ask them if they would like to play with the original track (the one with me playing on it), which is easier, or with the jam track (the one without me), which is more challenging. If Ryan were to perform this song soon on the bandstand, or prepare for an LOA submission, the next step would be for us to check him with the jam track, which is one step closer to playing with a band. You notice in the video I stated that if he were to want this song to be in his repertoire that he would need to memorize it (and assumed play along with the jam track). So, for you, you choose which songs you like and will continue to play. If you're doing LOA, then you need to play it to the jam track, this way I know you can play it with the band.
Hi David,
If you're saying that Ryan is playing over top your harmonica, then that's pretty amazing. I practice that way sometimes, of course, but to overlay your harp exactly is difficult, and Ryan does it perfectly. Isn't that harder to do than playing to a jam track? Also, wasn't it said in a previous lesson that Ryan was going through the LOA program?
No, playing along with the original track is the way most musicians learn... if you get off in your rhythm a bit, or mess up the notes, you know it right away and you adjust to get back on. For this reason it's the common way most learn. The challenge of playing to a jam track is that there's no reminder like this, so you have to have many reps (sometimes 100's) until you can confidently play it accurately. Everyone has a different learning style, so maybe yours is to listen, stop the music, then play yourself... that's fine.
Ryan's lessons (as did Joe's) predate the LOA program. Ryan is on his own time going through LOA, and he's about to send me LOA-L1. Ryan is interested in teaching, so the LOA program will be very valuable to him.
Interesting to know. Because you mete out Ryan's lessons a few at a time, it gives the impression that they are being made in the present time!
The lessons are in real time. The last lesson (Lesson 30) he came in on Monday... so just four days and it was posted on the site. But he's been taking lessons for a couple of years, this is why his lessons started before LOA.
Hello HarpKat. It's the same jam track... I have not made any changes from the original. Just in case I goofed and used a different jam track for the lesson video, I double-checked right now and I'm using the same one. Am I missing something?