September 2023 Challenge Response – Bruce D.

[Bruce D]

OK, the September Challenge!

But first,
Get well soon, Brian!

This month’s challenge was to find a lesson that you struggled with and/or gave up on. I have a lot of those, but I picked EP178, Santana/Dorian mode. It’s a great tune, but one I could never quite put together. The licks come fast and furious, and I put it aside a couple years ago. But because it’s a Challenge, I got to work on it a lot just for this.

So now it’s back on the list, much improved but still in need of some practice. It’s not just the notes on this one, but getting the timing right is tough. It has several stops, and I missed one or two, either early or late. But here it is, big fun, got to crank the overdrive up to 11 and have at it . . . Here ya go!

Just focus on the notes you DID get right . . . Frank Vignola

[Bill]

You are well on your way here Bruce. If I could make one suggestion would be to just dial the gain back a tad bit to get more of the “bloom” Santana gets. Otherwise sounding very smooth with those runs.

[AndréM]

Excellent take Bruce.
You got the fast run pretty well done.
Tough one.
Well done.

AndréM

AndréM

[Garry]

Wow! 🔥🔥🔥 Bruce! You’re cookin’ here! Yeah, I’ve never heard you play so fast, you are the real deal. 👏👏👏🌟👏👏👏 Speed was to my ears really great. Thanks for sharing this one, I might have to have a look at it too. Thanks for the inspiration. Keep on pickin’ and all the best! 🥸🎸🥸

[Guido]

Wow, what a great rendition, Bruce! Played at a fast tempo, spotlessly and soulfully at the same time! And what a great Santana’s tone from your guitar! Pro level rendition, definitely an inspiration for me too!

Guido

[Vincent K]

Not easy this one Bruce

Well done

Thanks for sharing

🎸 Vincent 🎶 🇳🇱

[Don Patton jr]

Hi Bruce!
To my 👂 ear that sounded fantastic!
Clean picking, good tempo and your lead lines were spot on… nice 👍🙂

Don P

[Serena C]

Inspiring submission Bruce! I think your timing is really good, and this piece is so fast, congrats!

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)

[Juxi]

😂 that last look…
Very impressive spread-sheet, Bruce. This is a good idea, I often forget which lesson I still want to play or used to be able to play.
Awesome performance on the Santana lesson! Played with a lot of feeling and skill! Enjoyed it! However, I am sure it would only have been half as good without the hat 😎👋🏽

Bluesige Grüße
Juxi

[JoLa]

Oh my gosh, Bruce!
I consider this lesson THE toughest one on Active Melody and you are so brave for trying to tackle it! And that you did quite exceptionally, I was indeed impressed when I watched you breeze through that insanely fast lick! I guess persistence really does pay off in the end, we just gotta stick with it and keep coming back to the tough parts over time. Your sideways look at the end cracked me up, that just showed how hard it must have been for ya 😉

By the way, I love your spreadsheet! I attempted something similar but it just grew bigger and bigger and I stopped updating it because it was just too much work, lol. But I should restart it because it is good to keep everything organized.

🎸JoLa

[John H]

Well done Bruce. Very hot. I am not detecting a whole lotta trouble. The stretch from about 4:45-4:59 really smokes. Very impressive. Excellent rendition.

John

[charjo]

You were really flying at the 4:50 mark, Bruce, surely inspired by the elegant hat. Enjoyed your improv add on. I don’t think I’ll ever put Brian in my videos. Man, he played the heck out of that one.
John

[Mike D]

Ive got to review this lesson again ..you tackled it straight on !! Well done.

Live on planet Earth ? You got the blues.

[Tom D]

Man Bruce, you picked a smokin’ lesson. Very aspirational and very challenging. And your version is great. I enjoyed it a lot and will add this to the list of lessons you gotta try. Cheers, Tom

[Anonymous]

Great job Bruce! You really nailed the feel on that one.
That sounded ridiculously difficult to play with the backing track.
Not just the tempo but highly syncopated. Wow.
You seemed to hit most of the pauses and reentries with the band very well.

Great work

[Michael L]

Hi Bruce, you perfectly described the struggles we all go through. You’re SO organized with your spreadsheet! That’s great. This is not an easy lesson, and you did a very respectable job with it. It’s a great one for this challenge because one could likely spend years on it perfecting this style and feel. I enjoyed this a lot.

[Martin W]

Hi Bruce , always like your energy and enthusiasm for these challenges,
You’re well on your way with this very tricky Santana composition and you nailed that fast lick!👌
I think most of us had a lesson revisit this month , your spread sheet is a fine idea to keep track of things .

Martin

[Andy Wright]

Well done Bruce, I enjoyed the passion and feeling in your playing. I may try that one myself.

[Manfred M]

Wow, Bruce, so glad you picked up this lesson again. Because you really nailed this one. Now I know, how to handle this lesson, try to play it, give it up and wait for two years and play it like you do. That‘s my plan now.

Take the chance to meet your AM friends on Zoom
The next Meetup is expected to take place in November 2025

There will be a detailed announcement here in the forum in good time.

I look forward to meet you.
Manfred

[Bob Utberg]

Carlos is in the HOUSE!! Love it Bruce! October 13th is in 10 days! I’ll NEVER forget your trib to the Maz and how we beat the Yanks in Game 7!!! Well done here my friend

Bob U. (aka Bobby Ut)

[JoeD1]

I thought you played it very well Bruce. And with some serious speed too! The bends were spot on too.

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

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