August 2024 Challenge Response – JoLa

[JoLa]

Hello everyone! Here’s a little composition I put together for this challenge. It includes a few ideas that have been circling in my head for a while, I think they could qualify as riffs or hooks 🙂 I recorded it while on vacation in San Diego, our favorite place to go to get away from the heat 🙂

🎸JoLa

[Jennifer D]

Ooh yes really like that! Thank you so much for the little trip to San Diego too!

[Tremelow]

Great foot-tapping finger-snapping riff, JoLa! And such a nice setting! I never even came close to San Diego, but the view makes me wannt jump on plane. Enjoy your vacation 😊

[Mike W]

Excellent composition Jola – the motifs definitely qualify as riffs/hooks. It was a cool melody, but for me it was the rhythm that made it such a compelling piece – reminded me so much of Stan Getz. Thanks for sharing the holiday pics – looks like a great place to relax.

[John H]

JoLa
You sure make fine music on your guitar. 😎 Seriously, this is pro level. What a rhythmic and tight groove with accentuating harmonics. Very impressive JoLa but no surprised. That is one lovely city San Diego. I appreciate the jazzy influence. I think you probably had a blast creating and playing it. Thanks for sharing as always.

JH

[Alan L]

The progression and voicing of the main riff is so tasty, and executed with great groove. The fill licks are so good, and the secondary parts make for a very interesting and enjoyable musical journey. Well done! 😀

[Catherine Arsenault]

Excellent composition Jola loved this and have a great holiday 🥰🇨🇦

[ranja]

Way cool!
Loved it.
Ron

[Paul S.]

You do this slap style work really well. This piece had a lot of cool little touches like the harmonics that were a bonus to the main theme. The video production and view were amazing, too, but I don’t think of San Diego as a place to get away from the heat. Looks beautiful. Enjoy your break if you are still on it.

[Jeff]

That was so awesome! Blown away by the jazzy flamenco feel. Your touch is marvelous.

Too old for rock and roll but too young to die

[sciencefiction]

Very cool and laid back, JoLa. That hook at the beginning had me pulled in from the start. Whole composition had me thinking bossa nova. Great playing as usual!!
Larry

[charjo]

I hope the neighbours threw some money in your guitar case. That was such a catchy tune. Beautiful, Jola.
John

[Michael L]

Hi Jola, great composition with so much creativity in it. From harmonics to single-line licks and chordal rhythm. I really enjoyed it. San Diego looks great, and I’m sure the ocean breeze beats the desert heat right now.

[JoeD1]

Well I’m glad you stopped those ideas from circling around in your head and got them recorded! This was so smooth and relaxed. Expertly executed too! I loved the way you threw in those harmonics! But did you have to show us what we’re missing by not being in San Diego?! 😄

Joe

The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge

[sunjamr]

Lovely performance, Jola – sounds kind of similar to Bossa Nova. You managed to keep the motif flowing throughout, and that makes my brain feel like it’s kind of hooked…..

Sunjamr Steve

[Don Patton jr]

A great acoustic composition building around your motif or hook of the song JoLa !
I liked your harmonics and various chords used in your progression…well done and great view from your balcony 👍🎶🎵

Don P

[AndréM]

Very nice composition.
Has a jazzy feel to it.
Nice view.

AndréM

AndréM

[Dieter]

Excellent jazzy picking and ideas.

Dieter

[Manfred M]

Thank you for this musical picture postcard, Jola. You have quite a groove going in San Diego. I could listen to this all day long. Uplifting and groovy! And the harmonics in between gives your composition a special spice. I would call it „Escaping from the desert heat“ because it sounds light, loose and airy. And thanks for the long view at the end. It‘s like a little vacation.

Take the chance to meet your AM friends on Zoom.
The next Meetup will take place in May/June

There will be a detailed announcement here in the forum a few weeks before..

I look forward to meet you.
Manfred

[Guido]

Well, JoLa, while I’m dreaming California (I can only dream about it), I can console my self with your beautiful acoustic composition!
Very well crafted and refined, with so many interesting musical ideas, rhythms and playing techniques involved. Brilliantly played, with a great tone from your guitar through the pickup system: I guess it’s a Taylor, they for sure have a wonderful amplification system. Enjoyed very much to listen to your piece of music with a background of very nice pics and videos!

Guido

[Mark T]

That was a great composition, JoLa, with a wonderful hook that you kept returning to – really enjoyable 👏👏

Also, must thank you for including the video of beautiful San Diego at the end – just what’s needed on a dull and grey afternoon here in the U.K 👍🎶😎

[James B]

Love your original song, JoLa. That cool repeating riff is an ear worm for sure. You’re the only one who loves that percussive slap style more than me. Really cool. 😎

James

[Bill]

That’s some sweet playing JoLa. Reminiscent of some Clapton acoustic work, on The Story of Us film with Bruce Willis. Also takes place in California, must be inspiring there!

[JoLa]

Wow, I never knew of that movie so thank you for mentioning it, Bill! Love the main title song, all these years of listening to Clapton and how come I never heard it before??

🎸JoLa

[Laurel C]

Your favourite place to go and your favourite style. I loved it, the first time with the scenery and second time with my eyes closed. That is when all those nuances and harmonic details were really appreciated as to how good your composition is. Great work Jola 😊

[Liam Innes]

Hey Jola.

Very catchy tune you’ve came up with there.

Your technique on the acoustic is very impressive.

It’s only a true musician who has ideas circling around in the head that just have to be put the strings.

Well done.

Liam.

“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. “

[Martin W]

Cleverly put together returning to the central motif , love those harmonic touches wrapping up each phrase. You’ve mastered that percussive slap to perfection it’s a big part of your playing.
Ha , I’m not the only one that takes a guitar on holiday , it does look a quality place with your video at the end .

Martin

[Gary W]

Great stuff Jola! I figured out your progression & played along with you there – great fun. That sequence really meets the brief & is a real ear-worm! Also, loved the final section, the harmonics and the way the pice felt so complete. Very well played.

Gary

[Juxi]

Great and creative why to implement these beautiful pictures in your video, JoLa. It looked great!
And it sounded great, too. I liked the percussive slap, which gave your composition the right amount of groove. 👍🏽👍🏽

Bluesige Grüße
Juxi

[Patrick F]

Oh yesss! Good vibe, nice riff! And nice place, the paradise is a good place to play guitar!

[Martyn in France]

Nicely played Jola, you are developing into a really excellent guitarist. It’s the kind of groove you could play along with. So I liked it all but the river traffic at the end was equally interesting.
Martyn

[satellite]

Thanks for the post card from San Diego! Your composition was very cleverly put together, a strong Bossa Nova feel, as Steve said with that intricate riff interspersed to great effect.

[Pap]

Jola, nice composition and well played. Very relaxing. The pics of San Diego are beautiful and bring back memories from when I lived there. Cheers. Pap

[Tom D]

Whoa! Very beautiful composition JoLa. It has that appeal where it sounds so good you think you might know it. Then you’re surprised by the balance and expression of bass, melody, and harmony parts. One thing not surprising is your timing and percussive effects were rock solid. I admire how you always sound like you. Masterfully played from start to finish! Thanks for sharing SD! Cheers, Tom

[Scott M]

Bravo Jola Bravo! 👏👏👏
Beautiful composition delivered flawlessly with boatloads of feel. Your percussive fingerstyle technique is so good. Something I continue to work on.

Scott

[Jonathan Amos]

Nice little upbeat number and well played. Good video too.

Jonathan Amos, Matsuyama, Japan

The farther one travels the less one knows.

[Author]

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