How Fast Are You? Options

[Cosmin Lupu]

I was wondering how fast (in hours spent) are you on nailing a GMC lesson, by this meaning:

- Understanding what you are playing - technically and theoretically
- Being able to execute things with flow and as good as possible at the slowest tempo available (slowest backing track)
- Bringing the lesson up to the original speed, keeping the execution as before - clean, in time, tight and expressive
- Recording the lesson for a REC take?

You'll probably pick your maximum level for certain for the involved difficulty but by this I'm trying to figure out how everyone's clock is ticking

[thefireball]

I usually spread out the practicing over a few weeks.

[derper]

Since I'm generally dealing with something a bit tougher, and won't always have a ton of time to spend on it, I'll usually take a few weeks as well.

[Cosmin Lupu]

I am making a little experiment here so as many answers as possible would be awesome thank you guys!

[GrindGuer]

Well, I'm working on the lessons proposed by Ben (Intermediate tasks) and I need the week to be able to play the lessons full speed. I don't make any video right now, because it is more time to spend and it's time I’m not using to practice. As I have a job, a wife and a child, I don't have so much free time to spend every week, so I have to be productive.

[Ben Higgins]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to answer this as well ?

For me I would say that I learn and memorise the whole piece really quickly (that's the easy part) but it takes me weeks to get it good !

It also depends on how much time I get to practise it and whether I neglect it for a week or two because of other things. I've still got a GMC lesson that I've been wanting to record for weeks now but I'm still not really ready !

[Cosmin Lupu]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to answer this as well ?

For me I would say that I learn and memorise the whole piece really quickly (that's the easy part) but it takes me weeks to get it good !

It also depends on how much time I get to practise it and whether I neglect it for a week or two because of other things. I've still got a GMC lesson that I've been wanting to record for weeks now but I'm still not really ready !

Why, of course you are and I think it's the same for me mate

[derper]

Let me expand upon my original "short answer", as well as link to my thread I just started which also serves as an "answer" to this question. http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=43321



When I hit a GMC lesson, it breaks down into 3 parts (for me).

1. Memorization: For me, this is takes a bit. I have to memorize each part individually. The "Vivaldi" lesson is fairly short, so with my random efforts to work on it, I got the whole thin memorized within about a week. That's a week span, and maybe just an hour or less here and there. I play each "part" individually, slowly, and to a metronome.

2. "Glue it together"!: Now that the notes are memorized, I have to play the parts all together, slowly and to a metronome. Knowing all of the notes is really only half of the battle. During this "stage 2" you start to uncover the little things, such as changing position, hammer on's, slides etc...and how they can affect each other, when played in time (slowly even).

3. Crank it up to speed!: My favorite part. Now that I'm comfortable on the notes (part 1), AND I can play it through all parts at a slow speed (part 2) it's time to ROCK it up to full speed!


Finally, "how long" it takes me to get a piece up to full speed depends also on how much time I can dedicate to the piece. Sometimes it may take "a month", but I'm only sitting down and working on a piece about 3-4 times with dedicated effort. Sometimes it takes "2 months", but I don't touch it for weeks at a time. I'm sure it's the same for most of you. I love GMC, but I have 3 bands and a full time job, so many times I have to put the job and band work first. Bummer, because I love the stuff I work on here at GMC!!

[spacebran]

Wow, and I thought I was slow at learning these lessons! I generally take a few weeks to learn as well.

[Cosmin Lupu]

The process may seem slow but, as long as you nail the lesson from each and every perspective, I think it's worth the effort and I think that putting it all together - point 2) in derper's presentation is the most focus demanding

[steve-rec-freak]

Hi,

First I search for GMC Lessons covering all the techniques/sounds I want to learn/develop, which leads to a VERY long Bookmark list. .

I try to play and practise up to 4 Lessons one after the other every evening for about 1 Hour at least. I love to have the opportunity to switch lessons at any point. But more as four lessons at once has been proved to be inefficient for me.
Balance Is the Key - as always.

The Time I need to master a lesson varies. For example : I have a lesson bookmarked that I try to master for almost since I have been here. But to play as precise as possible (and a lesson appropriate to my skills ) I would guess that I need approximately 3-5 days.
I break down the lesson the same way as -derper- described earlier :

derper Posted Mar 5 2012, 12:57 AM


When I hit a GMC lesson, it breaks down into 3 parts (for me).

1. Memorization: For me, this is takes a bit. I have to memorize each part individually. The "Vivaldi" lesson is fairly short, so with my random efforts to work on it, I got the whole thin memorized within about a week. That's a week span, and maybe just an hour or less here and there. I play each "part" individually, slowly, and to a metronome.

2. "Glue it together"!: Now that the notes are memorized, I have to play the parts all together, slowly and to a metronome. Knowing all of the notes is really only half of the battle. During this "stage 2" you start to uncover the little things, such as changing position, hammer on's, slides etc...and how they can affect each other, when played in time (slowly even).

3. Crank it up to speed!: My favorite part. Now that I'm comfortable on the notes (part 1), AND I can play it through all parts at a slow speed (part 2) it's time to ROCK it up to full speed!

cheers,

S.

[coffeeman]

I'm taking about one week, as Ben says the easy part is to learn it, but it takes me a lot of practice to take it as the original.

[derper]

Obviously, it can vary per lesson as well. The first lesson I started practicing, I may NEVER get up to full speed! (Check Muris': "Country Picking Advanced" to have your face-melted!)

Right now I'm working on Cosmin's Vivaldi Winter Arpeggios. Still a rather "intense" piece, but it just fits more within my current skill set. I'm about 6hrs total into practicing it, and can probably submit a rec under 10 hrs total practice time, me thinks. We'll see....

[Cosmin Lupu]

Obviously, it can vary per lesson as well. The first lesson I started practicing, I may NEVER get up to full speed! (Check Muris': "Country Picking Advanced" to have your face-melted!)

Right now I'm working on Cosmin's Vivaldi Winter Arpeggios. Still a rather "intense" piece, but it just fits more within my current skill set. I'm about 6hrs total into practicing it, and can probably submit a rec under 10 hrs total practice time, me thinks. We'll see....

Gabe! Gabe! Gabe! Gabe!

[Sam Young]

Considering I only started playing yesterday... probably not very fast!

[Cosmin Lupu]

Considering I only started playing yesterday... probably not very fast!

Oh cool man! You are fresh and untainted let's see how it works for you - would you like to pick a beginner lesson which you like and we can go through it together?

all the best

Cosmin

[Ben Higgins]

You are fresh and untainted

Not for long !!!

[RobinDutchZHero]

Well, also very new, so not sure. But, what I do now is, I've picked 3 lessons and learn them all at slow speed. That means really little step by little step, to remember all the notes. Really, to a stranger this must look like I can't play at all

Then, I try to speed them up a bit. I'm busy with these 3 lessons now (they're Todds, lessons 4, 5 and 6) and play them every day for like an hour in total. I have to say that I play a bit faster now. Sometimes I need to stop for my fingers to get some rest.

I think I will be ready for record in one more week maybe?

But really I'm maybe not so ready for this question after all

[Cosmin Lupu]

Well, also very new, so not sure. But, what I do now is, I've picked 3 lessons and learn them all at slow speed. That means really little step by little step, to remember all the notes. Really, to a stranger this must look like I can't play at all

Then, I try to speed them up a bit. I'm busy with these 3 lessons now (they're Todds, lessons 4, 5 and 6) and play them every day for like an hour in total. I have to say that I play a bit faster now. Sometimes I need to stop for my fingers to get some rest.

I think I will be ready for record in one more week maybe?

But really I'm maybe not so ready for this question after all

Hey Robin of course you are ready - everyone of us is learning at his own pace, so this question is directed towards all of us looking forward to seeing your progress and if you need help, I'm here for you

Cosmin

[thefireball]

Cosmin,

I tend to tackle the lesson as a whole. I don't completely master all the parts, but I want to feel like I am progressing. To stay motivated, I just move on to the next section. Sometimes I have to come back to something later. Or maybe sometimes I will learn the "cool" part first. As in your Djent - Time Signatures lesson, I learned the rhythm part before the alternate picking part. It was really cool.

I might say that I use my ear the most in learning a lesson, and the tab to reinforce what I am hearing. To learn with your ear...I would say that is a very good thing. Right? We are musicians after all. \m/

-Brandon Burch