Inroduction - Mike Connell Options

[Mike RR24]

Hello all. My name is Michael Connell and I am 46 years old. I an=m currently living in El Paso, TX.
I started playing guitar in 1980 when I was 15 and played on and off until about 1983. I played throughout the years but never really got very good and did not learn anything new. 2 Years ago I picked up the guitar again with my wife and we started playing together. My wife knew nothing and I only knew what I had learned in High School. Pull offs, hammer ons, slides and muffling was good. Oh and the pentatonic scale I knew. Since 2009 when we started playing again I learned pinch harmonics, blues scale and a few Metallica songs and AC/DC, Pantera etc... Metal and rock stuff as we both love Metal and Rock. The fact that my wife loves it also is awesome. I never get questioned when I want to buy something... ha ha... Anyway we are really serious about going all the way. We really want to gig to experience the rush one day but it's not why we are doing it. We are doing this because we love it. If we are not working we are playing guitar. She has really learned alot and is really impressing me because I thought it would take her a while to even learn anything. We want to increase our speed and play better. I'm kind of at a loss cause I'm not sure what will help in that. I know playing and practicing is good but I'm not sure playing song's and not really doing exercises is the right way to learn it. I'm open to any suggestions and challenges. I need to sign up my wife also soon on this site. Anyway I joined a week or so ago and I love the content here and plan on staying and learning as much as I can. I'm looking forward to soloing for I've wnated to for years. We have been learning Symphony of destruction Solo but are not up to speed or phrasing it correctly yet. Also were looking into Marty Friedmans stuff.. Hanger 18 etc... It's hard but so much fun. Thanks for having me.

[JaxN4]

Hey Mike, Welcome to GMC. There are similarities in our history with guitar, I picked it up a long time age played a bit but only now am I serious about it and making something of it. This is a great way to move forward with your playing, there are so many styles and lessons at every level, the Instructors are awesome, and help alot. This place is so interactive it's hard to find something like this anywhere else, being surrounded by like minded ppl. Good Luck in your pursuits and I hope to see ya jump in on the REC program in the near future....Cheers from Australia

Hello all. My name is Michael Connell and I am 46 years old. I an=m currently living in El Paso, TX.
I started playing guitar in 1980 when I was 15 and played on and off until about 1983. I played throughout the years but never really got very good and did not learn anything new. 2 Years ago I picked up the guitar again with my wife and we started playing together. My wife knew nothing and I only knew what I had learned in High School. Pull offs, hammer ons, slides and muffling was good. Oh and the pentatonic scale I knew. Since 2009 when we started playing again I learned pinch harmonics, blues scale and a few Metallica songs and AC/DC, Pantera etc... Metal and rock stuff as we both love Metal and Rock. The fact that my wife loves it also is awesome. I never get questioned when I want to buy something... ha ha... Anyway we are really serious about going all the way. We really want to gig to experience the rush one day but it's not why we are doing it. We are doing this because we love it. If we are not working we are playing guitar. She has really learned alot and is really impressing me because I thought it would take her a while to even learn anything. We want to increase our speed and play better. I'm kind of at a loss cause I'm not sure what will help in that. I know playing and practicing is good but I'm not sure playing song's and not really doing exercises is the right way to learn it. I'm open to any suggestions and challenges. I need to sign up my wife also soon on this site. Anyway I joined a week or so ago and I love the content here and plan on staying and learning as much as I can. I'm looking forward to soloing for I've wnated to for years. We have been learning Symphony of destruction Solo but are not up to speed or phrasing it correctly yet. Also were looking into Marty Friedmans stuff.. Hanger 18 etc... It's hard but so much fun. Thanks for having me.

[Azzaboi]

Rock on Mike! Welcome

[Adrian Figallo]

welcome dude!

[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi Mike! Amazing history! It's really cool to know that your wife also decided to play guitar and to study it seriously! From my point of view both learning songs and practicing exercises are important things to improve our guitar abilities. The first one is more amazing than the second one but both are different for me... so it would be great if you can divide your time and create a good routine based on techniques, theory and songs. Enjoy the site and count with me if you need some help.

[Gitarrero]

Welcome to GMC!

[Chris Evans]

Hi Mike and welcome to GMC!

[Ben Higgins]

Hi Mike, we've already spoken quite a lot but this an official welcome to GMC !!

Good to see that you've introduced yourself. I think it's brilliant that your wife is also learning so you have a constant mirror of encouragement in each other

As Gabriel said, the ideal guitar learning environment is a balance of song related playing and exercises. Exercise will allow you to narrow techniques down to focus on ther correct execution, wheras playing songs kind of lifts the pressure off a little bit whilst still utilising and improving techniques.

I developed a lot of speed in my right hand by just playing rhythm.. eg. metal and rock riffs with a combination of chords and bursts of alternate picking. I have a lesson in the works which combines this but, in the meantime, I would definitely reccomend checking out this lesson http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-...t-Hand-Workout/

Stuff like that really helped me develop a relaxed way of speed, because it was allowed to develop under a relaxed way of playing, eg. rhythm. Generally, when we play riffs or strum chords we are more relaxed than when we sit down with a metronome to tackle an alternate picking exercise. This is because rhythm playing is something we can 'already do' so there is less pressure.

For the fretting hand, if you're comfortable with pentatonic shapes etc then I would recommend acqainting yourself with 3 note per string shapes as these can be applied to any scale and used all over the neck, not to mention strengthening your fingers and freeing them up.

I've got a legato series which might do it for you but it also may be a bit too intense to start with. It would be interesting to hear some opinions from other members on any lessons that helped them free up their fingers ???

This post has been edited by Ben Higgins: Jul 22 2011, 09:41 AM

[Ivan Milenkovic]

That is awesome man, very cool that your wife and you are enjoying playing guitar together

If you need any help at all, feel free to let us know. We can make you some lesson plans, suggestions, or just general things that you can find on the site to make things interesting.

[nikeman64]

Hey 46 year old Mike, this is 46 year old Nico,

Welcome to GMC man !! If you are very motivated and looking for improvement, you will definitely love this place. Get into the REC program and receive the feedback from the instructors. These guys are pro's and we can learn so much from them. Everybody who takes this thing serious, no matter what level you're playing, will make progress, period !!!

The fact that you can share this exciting adventure with your wife is so cool !!

Good luck man, see you around

Nico

[Mike RR24]

Hey 46 year old Mike, this is 46 year old Nico,

Welcome to GMC man !! If you are very motivated and looking for improvement, you will definitely love this place. Get into the REC program and receive the feedback from the instructors. These guys are pro's and we can learn so much from them. Everybody who takes this thing serious, no matter what level you're playing, will make progress, period !!!

The fact that you can share this exciting adventure with your wife is so cool !!

Good luck man, see you around

Nico

Thanks Nico. I appreciate it. That's what I always tell my wife, If we practice and want to learn it, theres no way we can not improve. I saw the REC and it made me nervous. The only song we really know most of is Seek & Destroy by Metallica.
We don't or have not attempted the lead solo either... damn that sounds fast !!!! We probably are not perfect on our timing either. I'll talk to Laura and see if she will record it with me so at least you guy's can see our playing ability either way.
Thanks for making me feel at home. Everyone has been so nice here. I never knew a place like this existed.

[Bogdan Radovic]

Thanks Nico. I appreciate it. That's what I always tell my wife, If we practice and want to learn it, theres no way we can not improve. I saw the REC and it made me nervous. The only song we really know most of is Seek & Destroy by Metallica.
We don't or have not attempted the lead solo either... damn that sounds fast !!!! We probably are not perfect on our timing either. I'll talk to Laura and see if she will record it with me so at least you guy's can see our playing ability either way.
Thanks for making me feel at home. Everyone has been so nice here. I never knew a place like this existed.

Hello and welcome to GMC Mike!

You are going to love it here. Hey - you shouldn't feel nervous about the REC. You can choose ANY lesson from the archive and record a video of you playing it. It's best to choose something doable for start. Recording yourself playing will be a great step forward as you'll get to both practice for the actual video but also see your playing from a completely different angle.

[quadrium]

Welcome to GMC man