Inspired by Andy 7’s thread, ‘where are you, beginners and learners?’, might I develop that thought a bit and ask – what was the last thing you learned? I don’t mean what was the last tune or song you learned, I mean what was the last trick or technicality on your instrument that you discovered? I have only this week realised how to play blues scales on the mandolin, and am trying to develop this into up-the-neck blues solos on my bouzouki.
And I’ll happily admit that after playing bass for decades, it was quite recently, actually in the middle of a number during a gig, that I clicked to something about a ‘run down the sevenths’ : I had always been playing a sequence like C-A7-D7-G7-C with my left hand racing up and down the fretboard… and then in the middle of a blues, it suddenly occurred to me that the last four notes are all on the same fret, and my left hand could take a rest!
I wonder why it took me so long to work that out – have you recently discovered any such little tricks?