Originally Posted by: maggiorThat's awesome! It's a great feeling to get into a groove playing with others.

Definitely invest in a pocket digital recorder. It's always great to be able to listen back and the recording doesn't have to be studio quality made out of the soundboard. You can get something like the Tascam DR05 (http://www.amazon.com/TASCAM-DR-05-Portable-Digital-Recorder/dp/B004OA6JW0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388332957&sr=8-2&keywords=tascam+dr-05) for ~$70. I got it to record my daughter's piano and choir recitals. I also use it for some guitar practice.

When listening to the playback, things you thought were bad were actually fine or not as bad as you thought. You may also hear some things you thought were fine but could use some work. It's hard to really listen while you are playing in the moment, especially if what you are playing is challenging.

Keep up the great work - it sounds like you are really progressing!

Yeah, I've quite frankly been missing the whole idea of playing with others. It felt great to do it again. I guess it's true what I've read. Playing with others is addicting!

I'm going to see what possible options I have for a pocket recorder. It'll come in handy quite often, I reckon. Especially now that I'm playing with others again and on the way to starting a band.

To be fair, though, I did hit a handful of bad notes... okay so maybe more than a handful. It doesn't really matter much, though. He liked how it sounded, I liked how it sounded, and that's all that matters. I did manage to save a few of the bad notes by sliding into a better-sounding note, which somehow made even the out-of-key notes that I hit by accident sound like I intended to play them. It probably also helps that I just played by the most important rule of Rock-Music as far as I care to learn: If it feels right, do it! Some people may disagree, though, but to me, this will always be the most important rule.

I don't really care what scale(s) I use in a solo or melodic lines. I just play something and if it sounds good, I go with it. That's how I managed to come up with a sort of "theme" or "melodic motif" for his song, in my first attempt, even though I had only heard him play it once before. It just sounded right to me, somehow. Turns out that I was using a scale I've never learned! And until just now, I didn't even know there was a thing called "D Bebop Dominant". But apparently, there is...