I hear you 12B!! I'm embarrassed by my so-called chops compared to TGS!

Truthfully, i am actually more impressed with her phrasing than her chops.
Not that I am saying anything negative about her chops, but that there's musical maturity in her phrasing, that isn't common at a young age.

i've seen a few videos from this contest, and a lot of it isn't musical, more of "look how fast i can run these scale patterns!" TGS went and played music, and burned down the stage at it.

Stick with it, you have a future for sure.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Brava, TGS! You do Texas proud!

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

Wow, thanks for all the encouragement!

As far as being young and a girl, I know it's weird. The kind of music I like is typically favored (and played) by guys in the their 50's or older.
I was actually thinking that maybe I won because of having the least experience and/or because I'm a girl but the judges took me aside afterwards and made sure I knew that there were no bonus points given for being young, and no bonus points given for being a girl. In a way that's scarier, since I have no unfair advantage, but I'm really glad they told me that. If I won just for being a teenager or a girl I'd definately have a problem with that.

I agree 100% about the chops/phrasing thing. The chops sounded a lot better when I was practicing at home. I felt like I was rushing it a lot when I played last night. I wasn't really relaxed with it like I was at home. I've really got to stop rushing things when I play live. I've been doing that quite a bit lately, it's becoming a very bad habit.

I've really been focusing on phrasing in the past couple of months. I started to notice that when I played a solo, it just sounded like I was playing filler notes or trying to bang out as many notes as fast as I could. I think I really became aware of space, and how sometimes you can actually say more by not playing after I heard Jimmie Vaughan play. He really makes every single note count, and I wish I could learn to do that. To be able to play something without being caught up in licks and stuff is really a lot harder to do than it sounds, because I haven't been able to do it yet. I still find myself just going for "fast" sometimes.

And if you had asked me a year ago what make a guitar player good, I would've said that the most important thing was to be able to play very fast and that any music other than metal wasn't cool. To actually get myself to slow down and think about the music was something that only happened very recently.

So I'm really glad that you could hear that I was working on that.

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What he said.

Youtube's brutal, ain't it? I didn't forget anything and that bunch of notes was a diminished scale run over a diminished chord and I know what that means. I missed a lot of those notes, and I know that's sloppy. And yes, you can play octaves in blues. I actually got that idea from a SRV song, and last time I checked SRV was a blues guitar player. Other than that, yeah I know I need more practice. Which is why this was an amateur competition, not professional. And I'm not 14... Though it's cool they think I'm younger than I am.

The poster of that youtube comment is a friend of one of the contestants who completed in the finals, so I can understand where he's coming from.
The only thing that really bothers me is the "for sure not blues" part. We're living off unemployment right now and our A/C went out about a month ago just in time for the hottest part of summer. We can't afford to fix it, even if my Dad had a job. If that's not blues, what is? It's probably just because I don't look bluesy enough or something. I have a hat like Stevie's, but I didn't want to wear it because of that whole "poser/clone/vaughannabe" thing. And musically, anyone who's never heard of mixing jazz and blues is either ignorant or a total purist.

But yeah, I know where I'm at. Winning a contest doesn't make me think I'm suddenly the next big thing. I don't think that at all, and I'm totally humbled by the fact that I could even get up there and play at all. If anything, the more I play guitar and the better I get at it, the more humbled I am. It's kind of weird I guess, but it's true.

Sorry, thinking out loud again. And please, if you comment back, don't start a war. It doesn't bug me that much, and I really just had to get my thoughts out straight. Writing helps me do that.

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kenwagman is a jealous fool! Where did he come from? Don't pay him no mind TGS!!

I saw that comment as well, and I hope you don't let it discourage you. I considered responding, but I didn't want to start a flame war. It provides a bit of insight to know that he is a friend of another contestant.

The bottom line is that you've acknowledged and are, no doubt, already working on the areas you feel are ripe for improvement. I liked your little jazz exploration. Although it may not be traditional "blues," it didn't feel out of place to me. What the hell is the "blues" anyway? Stevie Ray Vaughan sounds nothing like W.C. Handy, but they're both "blues" artists. The blues is what you feel while you're playing, and sometimes it takes you out of the pentatonic box.

So don't let the critics get you down. You've got something real, and forget anyone who can't see it.

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

Heh... I enjoyed the diminished runs, myself. It's a shame that your critic will probably never venture any further "outside" than that. And as for the business about the octaves... pfff. Yeah, that's right, no blues player has ever heard of them. I'm pretty sure I saw you put your hand over the neck in some fancy new-fangled fashion, too! Who would do that... what, Jeff Healey? Who was he? Oh, right, well, he was blind, it doesn't count. Plus, he played a Squier.

Wow TGS! That's some serious blues mojo you got there. I surely hope that you'll win. I'm like probably twice as old as you but I don't even have the chops as you've shown on the video. I'm in the shred school mold and I've been ridiculed in the past for not being well-versed in the blues. But I think that there should be a voter participation from the audience, you have one vote from me.

TGS don't let that fool get to you.

Your playing is definitely on par with other winning clips i have seen.

Unfortunately you will run up against people like that all the time, you are doing the right thing by just letting it run off your back. not worth the effort, and really when the insecure losers lash out, it usually means you are on the right track.
SRV took a lot of flack for 'not being bluesy' too. Your runs fit your piece. This was just sour grapes. i can't believe someone from Texas would get on you for a diminished run, that kind of play pokes it head out pretty often in 'Texas Blues'

Mondo is right about Jeff Healey too. he played a Squier. he was to me like Jimmy Vaughan was to you. if you aren't familiar with his work, you should check some of it out, I have a suspicion it would be right up your alley.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

That was a huge shock to me, I can't believe any purist could be so... pure. Or stupid. Or both.

I saw a video of Jeff Healey playing with SRV on youtube right when I was first starting to listen to blues, and I liked him right off the bat. He's definately one of my blues heroes. And it's so cool that he played a Squier, I have that in mind whenever I play mine. If it's good enough for him, it's more than good enough for me. Even if there are people out there who are thinking "a purple Squier! That's no blues guitar!"

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Blues guitars!! I hate when people say stuff like that, to try put people down. if you look at blues recordings, blues guitars seem to be 'whatever people could get their hands on'

Healey used to play all over canada all the time when i was starting out. I worked in bars where he played. he was as nice a fella' as he was great as a player.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I know, I hate that too. Do you have to have a sunburst, black or white guitar to play blues? Does it have to have certain pickups? That's actually one of the many things I like about blues, you can play it on anything.



That's so cool! I really wish I could have seen him.

Oh, and I didn't mean for that $%&#^$& thing to come up. Apparently the Texas slang for the words "who" and "are" put together sound like another word entirely.

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Don't let the critic get to you. He sounds like someone that is upset because you advanced in the competition and either his buddy did not, or he himself did not.

So don't worry about him, just keep doing what you are doing and remember to enjoy the ride! Don't forget that this is supposed to be fun! Enjoy every minute of it!

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2009 Fender Strat MIM
2002 Squire 20th Aniv. Strat
30 year old Les Paul copy which is currently in the process of being rebuilt.