Hi Herm!

WOW! looks like you had a pretty good practice session. By the way, I LOVE the fact that you practice on an acoustic. I do the same, because nothing strengthens my fingers more than working out on acoustic guitar!

Thanks for posting the videos. I am watching them all and am playing along to them, too. I will comment on each video, a section at a time.

Pentatonic 100bpm: Looks good! Time to move to adjacent patterns.

rh pentatonic 120bpm 1 & rh pentatonic 120bpm 2: I think your own critique regarding the "mistakes" per video is accurate. I really like the way you "catch" yourself and quickly get re-focused.

rh pentatonic 140bpm 2perstring: This one gave you (and me) a little more of a challenge in certain parts. Again, you regained your rhythm and persevered!

rh pentatonic triplets alternate: You tore these patterns up...NICE!

Overall, your right-hand and left-hand techniques look great to me!

lh chromatic singlestring 100bpm: Excellent! Don't forget about Pebber's exercise of descending in the same pattern as ascending. I just posted a video on this in a separate thread: "Single-String Chromatic Warm-Ups." For example, when you ascend in a 1234 fingering pattern, you descend in a 1234 fingering pattern. Same for 4321, and so on, and so forth.

lh chromatic 4perstring 100bpm: Right on the money! (Again, don't forget about going back across the strings using the same pattern as first coming across. If you come across 1234, then go back across 1234. I also got this from one of Pebber's videos.

lh chromatic 5perstring 100bpm: Your own critique about slowing down the bpm's is accurate. No worries,,,it is NOT a race, but you WILL be able to rip these out much more cleanly if you follow your own suggestions!

lh chromatic 6perstring 80bpm: This looked like it presented a challenge for you. I had a little trouble counting out 6 evenly spaced notes between the beats, and then it seemed like you got a little distracted and started noodling. Hey, if I spot it, I got it...meaning that I do the same stuff at times. I always give honest feedback, as I expect honest feedback from Pebber and my peers. So I would advise knocking down the bpm's a little and then building back up to 6nps per 80bpm.

One overall comment about the chromatic exercises (especially your first 2 chromatic vids): If you haven't done so already, I would start working incorporating "piano technique" into your chromatics. That means you keep each finger fretted on one string until it is time to move to the adjacent string. Obviously, this only really works when using ascending patterns (1234, 123, 234, etc).

lh ladders 140bpm: Yes sir! This is why I like trying to play along to a lot of videos that others post, because it exposes and/or reminds me of things that I need to work on,,,,and I DEFINITELY need to work on a few of the more challenging ladder patterns in order to play them at 140bpm. Great job!

rh neuvoclassical triplets 140bpm: Fantastic!

rh neuvoclassical quarters 140bpm: Another bit of a challenge, here. Same for me, too! I would advise kicking it down a few bpm, then work back up to 140bpm.

OK, well I sincerely hope that you found my feedback honest and helpful. After all, that's why we are here! Finally, I would like to again thank you for posting your videos. This helped me a great deal, as well. Keep up the great work, Herm!!!

YES,,,You definitely "get it," Herm! When it comes to playing and learning, there is nothing more "honest" than recording oneself, posting for others, then reviewing everything a day, week, month, year, etc. down the road.

The best part is that even though I don't "know" you, I can be 99.9% POSITIVE that your playing has already improved since posting.

On a final note: NEVER apologize for uploading videos like this! As long as each video isn't 10 minutes long (1-3 minutes is perfect), it makes reviewing and commenting so much easier. Plus, as I noted in my initial responses, your videos actually exposed some weaknesses that have developed in my playing that I am now focusing on correcting. Again, how AWESOME is that??!!

I hope you stick around, Herm. You've got your head in the right place, and you are a clearly an asset to the Forum. Keep at it, my friend!