Home › Forums › Active Melody Member Challenge Response Submissions › May 2023 Challenge Response – Serena C
Tagged: May 2023 Challenge
- This topic has 31 replies, 31 voices, and was last updated 10 months, 2 weeks ago by cloughie.
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June 2, 2023 at 9:26 am #344160
Hi everyone!
This is definitely my longest and most spontaneous submission. It’s completely improvised on the first take, I had just made few previous tries to see how I could use these two rectangular neighboring boxes of the Am pentatonic scale. Backing track by Quist is made of A7 and D7.
You don’t need to listen to the end, and please feel free to say if it’s too monotonous, I won’t feel offended, your ears will be very useful to me 😉
This weekend I’m travelling with my family, but I’ll come and see your videos asap
Enjoy the challenge and the weekend!
SerenaIf I wasn't making mistakes I wouldn't be the kind of player I want to be. Perfection is dangerous.
It's all about taking risks, sometimes you get to some place, sometimes you get to a different place. (Brian May) -
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June 2, 2023 at 9:49 am #344172
Not at all monotonous Serena – I would say I found this meditative & very nice to listen to. I felt you were responding to what you hearing in the backing track & developing a ‘story’ as this went around. You didn’t just repeat, you developed and embellished in different ways & then went back to a familiar from from earlier. Very sophisticated. Think we may have the same guitar?
Gary
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June 5, 2023 at 3:49 pm #345329
Thank you so much Gary! The guitar is a Strato model by Harley Benton
If I wasn't making mistakes I wouldn't be the kind of player I want to be. Perfection is dangerous.
It's all about taking risks, sometimes you get to some place, sometimes you get to a different place. (Brian May)
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June 2, 2023 at 9:50 am #344173
Sweet improv over a Quist backing track…very nice indeed.
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 -
June 2, 2023 at 11:11 am #344193
Liked very much your improvisation/composition over the Quist’s BT, Serena! Your improvements in the last period are really impressive: particularly those bends and vibrati was brilliantly played! Not a monotonous rendition at all, you’re telling a story with your guitar in a pure bluesy way, and I enjoyed to listen to it! Great job!
Guido
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June 2, 2023 at 11:42 am #344203
That was great thanks for sharing. Repetition is key to good blues phrasing. Not monotonous at all, good use of repetition while expanding on the ideas and developing the whole solo.
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June 2, 2023 at 11:42 am #344204
Great improvisation with that track well done and very clean 😊
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June 2, 2023 at 12:31 pm #344230
Nice improvisation of yours, Serena. That’s what matters; with this you will develop your own music. Well done.
Play guitar just like you live; don't get bogged down in theory, it's just a tool without feeling.
Wilfried
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June 2, 2023 at 1:38 pm #344262
Serena, this was great! You found some excellent licks in those boxes. I like how you varied the speed of your licks… some fast picking for a few of them. And you created some multi-octave runs. Really good!
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June 2, 2023 at 1:57 pm #344272
Lovely sound from that strat Serena
I enjoyed the improv , lots of feeling, Nice runs and lovely bends
🎸 Vincent 🎶 🇳🇱
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June 2, 2023 at 2:05 pm #344277
Good job improvising, Serena. Timing and execution are spot on.
James
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June 2, 2023 at 2:20 pm #344285
Great improvisation! I didn’t think it was monotonous at all and was glad I listened to the whole thing. Happy picking!
Alan
Alan
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June 2, 2023 at 4:09 pm #344339
Everybody is using Quist this month. You did a great job establishing a groove and then letting yourself move around in it, discovering the subtleties of bends, hammer-ons, repeated licks, etc. Safe travels. And, yes, it was repetitive in places. So what? Good things bear repeating.
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June 2, 2023 at 7:08 pm #344370
Isn’t it fantastic Serena when you can get ‘lost’ in the music and you ‘lose track of time’. Definitely not too long and ‘Wow’ one take, very impressive. Lyrical lines, bends, nice phrasing, really well played! One of your finest for sure! 👏👏🌟👏👏 Keep on pickin’ and all the best! 🥸🎸🥸
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June 2, 2023 at 8:05 pm #344395
Nice improv Serena! Good use of repeating motif and then changing it up. It’s hard not to repeat when just using 4 notes, I ran into the same thing this month and cut mine off after 1.5 minutes 🙂
Good job! -
June 2, 2023 at 8:22 pm #344409
Impressive for a first take.
Nothing monotonous playing the blues.
I was waiting for those bends around 1:38.
Well done.AndréM
AndréM
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June 2, 2023 at 10:43 pm #344443
Play whatever you want as long as it is with as much soul as you have here. Loved it. To many technitions don’t understand, it’s how you play, not what you play. Thanks for sharing a piece of your heart.
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June 3, 2023 at 1:47 am #344484
A spontaneous improvisation in the first take, Serena, this is so well done. And i know, what you mean, Serena. I also thought looking at my video, before i have posted it, isn‘t it too boring, what i have produced here. But i think, we are too self critical. Watching your video, i can only say, it‘s a pleasure to watch you, expressing yourself with your music and playing. It‘s like getting know you through your music. The opposite of being monotonous.
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June 3, 2023 at 3:14 am #344497
Hey Serena,
Nice notes.
Monotonous would not spring to mind.
Enjoyed that.
Liam.
“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. “
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June 3, 2023 at 10:40 am #344617
Serena, you have really improved a lot since joining AM. Incredible 1st take. Great timing and your bends are right on the tones. Very creative. Nice submission. Cheers. Pap
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June 3, 2023 at 11:25 am #344653
The way you immersed yourself in the music is something to be proud of, Serena. Your one take of improvisation had this pure raw expressive quality that you may not be able to replicate (that happens to me a lot). There was nothing monotonous about it, I believe the repetitive phrases are necessary for expressive playing. The longer you played the more naturally the music was flowing, you really got into it and did I, the listener! Great job and congrats on being able to pull it off in one take, I’m impressed!
🎸JoLa
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June 3, 2023 at 12:07 pm #344675
That was very, very impressive Serena. Terrific blues, wonderful timing, great dynamics. That’s one to be really proud of. Certainly not monotonous. It’s amazing to think that you placed that very expressive over just two chords.
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June 3, 2023 at 2:56 pm #344763
Serena
Pretty impressive. Spontaneity, can be liberating b/c there isn’t much expectation. Your performance gets more confident and warmer as you go along. You are making great strides. Fun to watch!John
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June 3, 2023 at 4:56 pm #344806
Really well played, Serena! I love seeing how our AM members progress as they submit monthly challenge responses, and in that respect, you are a superstar. Your skill level has skyrocketed during the past year. Your phrasing is excellent, your dynamics are great, your rhythm is spot on, your fast runs and slides are as good as it gets.
Sunjamr Steve
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June 4, 2023 at 3:55 am #344892
Absolutely excellent Serena. You hit all the right chord tones with perfect timing and left some beautiful spaces, letting the solo breathe. You can be really proud of what you are achieving here on Active Melody.
Martyn -
June 4, 2023 at 9:46 am #344964
Big tip of the hat to you. Your development is as a player is remarkable and this shows you understand what goes into making soloing work. Congrats to you!
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June 4, 2023 at 1:15 pm #345028
You mix it up very nicely Serena! Good bends. And you hit the “key” notes on the changes (the 3rds and 7ths). Nicely done. You highlight the chord with your solos. Great one! B
Bob U. (aka Bobby Ut)
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June 4, 2023 at 4:38 pm #345100
Very cool improv Serena. Your note choices kept interest and your tone and use of “expressive tools” like the bends and vibrato were really well done. You were really getting into the music and shared it with your listeners. Thanks. Tom
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June 5, 2023 at 3:35 am #345197
Well done for nailing that on the first take. Despite your concerns you told a story here by building a theme and then exploring it so it wasn’t boring at all. Great bends and vibrato in there too. Enjoy the hols.
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June 5, 2023 at 3:19 pm #345319
Hi Serena, I’m with the others , very impressive off the cuff improv, you work those two boxes well hitting those chord tones and letting a few beats go by , I think mission accomplished.
Martin
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June 7, 2023 at 9:52 am #345538
Hi Serena
Beautiful piece is absolutely not boring inspired and error free. I think the duration is due to the spontaneity and security you felt while playing.ciao Livio
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June 10, 2023 at 4:14 pm #345676
Nice. That’s a great way to get really comfortable with position 4 of the Am pentatonic scale & really explore how landing on different notes sounds over the different chords.
Be kind to yourself (especially when you're trying to play this instrument!)
Brian Clough“Got a lotta sinful ideas but they seem kinda sensible” Jim Casy the ex-preacher in The Grapes Of Wrath
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