Goldsmithexile1960 Spot on. I regularly tell people to treat their 3 string like a percussion instrument, get that right hand rollin'. And Miles is the absolute best person to listen to when it comes to phrasing. Him and John Lee Hooker for the blues guys. Have you heard that thing they did together? The Hot Spot.

LearnCigarBoxGuitar Yes, I first heard The hot spot several years ago, and still listen to the tracks occasionally! I first heard R L Burnside jumper on the line around 1992(?) or so, the same time I first heard Napoleon Strickland fife and drum picnic band. At that time I didnt "get" that blues wasnt always compressed into a conveniently packagable 12 bar format. It was more recently, hearing the roots blues raw grooves of eg Moses Williams or Lonnie Pitchford, that I realised that the blues sound can be an elastic evolving groove. Have you checked out Red China Blues? Miles Davis wields that wah trumpet like a sabre. The chakka guitar to the centre right of the mix (Cornell Dupree??) is a perfect example of what you are describing in your video, constantly improvising, but still maintaining the pulse-and it never becomes boring monotonous or stale. Cheers, Jonathan

Goldsmithexile1960 Wow, that's quite a list. A few are familiar and I know Burnside of course but I'll check them all out, thanks.re

RocketRadioShow1 Cheers Rocket, and thanks for the share

Thanks for your comments, and the question, it's not an uncommon one. If you're tapping away without noticing and you feel like you're in time then the temptation is to keep doing what you're doing, if it's natural then don't mess with it perhaps? It does help though, especially when you start looking at more advanced stuff like this, to break it down a little. A bit of pain in the short term can definitely lead to some long term gain. As with everything else that you are learning start from what you can already do. Without your guitar just tap your foot and count to four over and over again. Then clap your hands and tap your foot at the same time, then just clap when you count 1, then 2, then 3, then 4, then 1 and 3, then 2 and 4. Be proficient at this before you get your guitar. When you've got it pick up your instrument and do exactly the same thing, playing just an open string bass note on the 1, then the 2 etc. Then play two different notes alternately, gradually increase the complexity but only after you've mastered the previous step. This is the basic premise of learning anything and why structure is so important in your learning.

Put a mirror in front of your monitor/screen and watch the reflection. Boom left handed version!!

Good on you Geoff. Love it when the prodigal returns,

+PC Betts No mate, it's Pat Curley from LearnCigarBoxGuitar.com. Cheers

Yep GDG

Shane Cooper thanks Shane for your question, always the best way to go when things aren’t working for you. This video is about a concept, how to phrase your riffs, that’s your riffs not mine. It’s not about me showing you what notes to play which is why I’m not doing that. It’s a more advanced lesson for people looking to improvise. Like I say in the video, don’t copy me, that’s not what this particular video is about. Its about improvising so you’ll need some solid technical and musicianship skills before you even come to this lesson. It’s more suitable for people who have already finished my courses. This is one of the problems with learning from KZfaq, you just happen across a whole stack of videos that are out of context and aimed at players with different needs.

Always happy to listen to constructive feedback. What exactly are you looking for from a lesson on phrasing?