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Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 29 2012, 10:59 AM

Attention to the Advanced group ! Your time for Tasks has now resumed. So, no more hiding in the corner of the Temple... time to get those hands working again !

Task 7 : http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bens-Land-Of-Legato-3/

As you've seen from the other groups, it's legato time ! Now, you've got all the info in the lesson itself but I'm here if you need any help. this is all about increasing the agility and stamina of your fretting hand so it will take work and won't happen over night.

Now the nice bit is over...

You're the advanced group so I won't expect to hear any complaining that it's too hard. If it's too hard then there's always the intermediate group.. that's why I made 3 groups !

If you're thinking the Sensei is harsher than usual it's because he hasn't been getting enough donuts...



Now, make me proud and remind me why you are the advanced group !!

Deadline is next Thursday 5th April

Posted by: dark dude Mar 30 2012, 02:30 PM

Just about got the notes down, now to injure myself

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 30 2012, 03:21 PM

That won't be necessary sir, I don't want no injuries !!!

Posted by: dark dude Mar 30 2012, 07:06 PM

"I had to stop punching things"

Yeah, not so sure about that

Posted by: maharzan Mar 31 2012, 03:43 AM

Wow, this is a pretty darn stamina sucking lesson. Tried first part and I can't even do that part fully.

Thanks for making this relive.

Posted by: Cem Mar 31 2012, 12:49 PM

Posted by: dark dude Mar 31 2012, 03:03 PM

Posted by: Dinaga Apr 3 2012, 05:46 PM

I have exams right now so I won't have much time for guitar, but I am practicing these lessons. I don't think I'll make it to the full speed until the deadline, but when I do I'll post a video response.

Damn... I thought legato was my greatest guitar strength and now I see it isn't much of a strength really

Posted by: Ben Higgins Apr 4 2012, 08:37 AM

No worries Dinaga, it will be good to have your take whenever you can do it

Posted by: maharzan Apr 4 2012, 12:01 PM

I have been doing it. Yep, this one really takes everything. I am trying it at 100bpm and when I reach the end, my left arm dies.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Apr 5 2012, 01:50 PM

Hail, disciples of The Temple of Guitar Bushido.... how are thee ??

Posted by: dark dude Apr 5 2012, 02:11 PM

Will be posting what I can muster later today

Posted by: dark dude Apr 5 2012, 08:31 PM

My 7 days work, there are still improvements to be made:

No update on the Modal Madness task, I haven't had enough time to make progress on it this week.

Posted by: maharzan Apr 6 2012, 03:27 AM

I am nearly there. I am noticing that my pull offs are ok but hammer ons are little fast so theres inconsistency. Trying to slow down and learn.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Apr 6 2012, 09:02 AM

Hey, you're actually living up to your name on this video and looking very dark...

That's a damn good show of stamina and dexterity right there.. I can tell you one main place where you're going slightly wrong though which will help you transform it. You're cutting the first note too short so it makes the second note of each sequence sound as if it's falling on the 1st beat each time, throwing the rest of the lick out and making it complete too early, do you hear what I mean by that ?

You've nailed the shapes.. just that pesky timing. Seriously, for a week's work - nice one



That's cool, Chandra, I hope it's going well. As always I look forward to your takes

Posted by: dark dude Apr 6 2012, 12:35 PM

Here's a little fact, the darker the video is on these tasks, the more takes I've done, the more stressed I am

First note is relatively too short, okay, will work on that, cheers.

Posted by: Dinaga Apr 13 2012, 12:37 PM

Dark dude, that was a blastin' take! Congrats mate!

I'm returning to this one as my exams will be over tomorrow, can't wait to finish this lesson.

Posted by: maharzan Apr 14 2012, 09:39 AM

I am at this point where no matter how much you practice it never seems to improve. Heres a sloppy take:



I really need some tricks to really improve and be able to play it smoothly.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Apr 14 2012, 10:37 AM

Hi Chandra ! Ok.. when I'm feeling overwhelmed by a technique I will break it down to just a couple of things I can practise in isolation. If you're hitting a wall then there will always be a reason why. With this Task, it has to be because of your left hand articulation so we know where to focus on.. I would pick just a couple of shapes (or all of them if you wish) and just cycle them in one location without changing strings. Just focus on the timing of the fingers and the cleanliness of the notes.

I would either set yourself a number of reps for each shape and have 3 sets of reps with a rest in between. Or set up your metronome and do the shape constantly for 30 seconds or 60 seconds, rest then do 3 of that.

Whichever helps you to focus on quality repetition of these shapes. I would spend as long as I needed to until I felt I had the motion comfortable before trying the whole thing again.

Posted by: maharzan Apr 14 2012, 10:50 AM

I have done that for 2 weeks. The thing is when I do it as a whole, the fingers get numb and doesn't move.. I am sitting and practicing just one position time and often so I can't really say I haven't practiced much. When I slow it down, I can hear the notes clean and when I do it at speed, it sucks. I was thinking of recording 3-4 days ago but gave enough time so I could do a better take but as you can see, it hasn't improved much which gets frustrating.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Apr 14 2012, 11:03 AM

When do your fingers start going numb and sluggish ? Is it when you start doing the whole thing or is it part of the way through ?

It sounds like it's an issue of stamina. Did you try several takes before the one that you uploaded ? It happens to me when I'm recording a difficult solo. After a few takes, my fingers feel like lead and I get frustrated.

Maybe you need to practice the whole lesson but not all the way through. Do it and see how far you get before your technique deteriorates. You might just need to push the stamina for a week or so.

Posted by: maharzan Apr 14 2012, 03:40 PM

Yea, stamina is the issue. When I first started it was pretty bad. But now I do feel its improved a bit but not that much. I have rest 4-5 mins before I can try another take without much pain. It always pains at the last part though. I did record like 2 hours before this take. I think this is the best take I took, the previous ones were worse.

When I do parts, I can do it well. I will try it for few more days and see where I can be. Thanks for the suggestions Ben.

Posted by: maharzan May 11 2012, 08:29 AM

Just so to update. I have been practicing this as a warmup exercise daily with intense practice yesterday/today. Good news is it pains very little now. Doing it continuously still pains but I can do 1 run without pain, relax another 2-3 mins and try again, not much of a pain. I have been practicing really slow so fingers don't jumble up and to get clear / precise notes, its not there still but its been better. If I record this, I will forget about this so I will practice more and record, perhaps a better take. I love this as it has really made my left hand stronger.

Thanks Ben.

Posted by: maharzan May 26 2012, 10:18 AM

Hey Ben,

Just wanted to post the progress. i have been practicing is almost daily and while I saw the pain slowly going away with now not that much of a pain I still need to work on each note ring. Closely analyzing, it seems that when I am pulling off its fine but when I hammer on the ring and pinky finger comes down almost at once so those notes aren't evenly spread. I am trying it slowly to improve and it seems to work but at full tempo, its coming back. I will try this further and hopefully improve that timing too.

Cheers!!

Posted by: Ben Higgins May 26 2012, 06:21 PM

Hi Chandra, that's a good observation that you made. I didn't notice that before so it's good that you found this so you can correct it.

Another thing that I think I'm hearing is this - the last note of each shape doesn't always sound when you switch to another shape or another string. It's like the little finger isn't playing the note fully so it's getting lost.

I'd be interested to hear a take with a slower backing track so I can hear and see your finger movements more easily. Only if you have time though

Posted by: maharzan May 27 2012, 03:49 AM

Yea Ben. True. Its not only on this lesson but I have noticed it on most lessons I do. I guess, the transition between strings is "slow" and I tend to move "fast" to other string and as a result, the last note kinda gets forgotten. I will try another take and correct this.

Posted by: Ben Higgins May 27 2012, 10:05 AM

Yeah, it's just a small thing.. you've got really good finger shifting and position etc, so it's just this small silly thing that's holding you back a bit.

Posted by: maharzan May 28 2012, 03:39 AM

Hi Ben,

This one is at 100bpm. Think I m getting it at this tempo.

http://soundcloud.com/nazraham/legato-100

Posted by: Ben Higgins May 28 2012, 10:04 AM

Yo Chandra ! It still sounds a bit strange and I can't quite work out what it is.. I'm not sure if it's your 3rd and 4th finger having trouble working together or if it's just your 4th finger because even the shapes which use 1st, 2nd and 4th sound a bit awkward, so I'm thinking it could be pinky control !

I could be wrong.. it could be timing trouble with the 3rd and 5th note of each shape, regardless of what finger you're using. You're hitting the 1st note of course, then hitting the 2nd note with your pinky. It could be the note after that.. then you have the 4th note which is 1st finger again, then the note after that (coming back up) could also be a problem. So it could be when you're going between the 1st and the 4th finger - the notes between ?

Whatever it is, it will be just a small habit that your fingers have developed which you can change

Posted by: maharzan May 28 2012, 10:15 AM

Thanks Ben. I will find out. The 3rd/4th fingers definitely has problems. I probably need to try a clean tone take to find this out.. will see if I can record it at 80bpm to see how well I can do it. I am going to get this down, not giving up on this one.

Posted by: Ben Higgins May 28 2012, 10:20 AM

Yeah, set it really nice and slow and study each finger and see if any of them find it difficult to keep exactly in time and have trouble with staying with the correct note value. If one of the fingers rushes more than the other or is a bit delayed then the chances are that is the one that is lacking control