Dinaga's Insane Lessons Hunt!, With small, achievable goals to success! :) Options

[Dinaga]

Hi and welcome to my Insane Lessons Hunt!

I've noticed that not many people post REC takes of Insane (Level 9 and Level 10) lessons, which is of course, reasonable because those lessons are so hard. It needs months, maybe even years for a regular guitarist to learn those lessons, and it's hard to stay motivated for so long!

That's why I started this topic: I want to learn some of the 'Insane' lessons - Because I'm nowhere near that level, it will take some time. But to keep my motivation I am going to post my slow success by recording myself playing the lessons at lower speeds, starting at 50%. Whenever I feel some noticeable improvement (for example, nailing a specific lick I couldn't do before or being able to play the lesson 10% faster), I'll post a new video, so that progress can be seen.

And the final goal is of course, to finish the Insane lesson and then laugh at the previous lame attempts. But until that, let's go slowly and precisely.

Some of the quotes that inspire me in my journey are:

"Anyone can be motivated to practice all day long, but few can find the motivation to practice every day." - Kristofer Dahl
"Speed is a byproduct of precision" - Todd Simpson
"The Only Opponent Is Within" - Ben Higgins
"That Floyd Rose guitar was a complete waste of money" - Father

Of course, it would be awesome if others joined this as well! It doesn't have to be level 9 or 10 lesson, just pick a lesson that's currently too hard for you and you think you'll need more time to learn it, so you can make smaller, achievable goals and post your progress here. We can give feedback to each other and constantly improve!

For now, here's two beginner attempts at Muris Varajić's lessons:
*Oriental Shred at 50% speed (yeah, I know I messed that diminished run in the ending, will improve that! ) and
*Mojo Oro - Part 1 at 60% speed.

[JaxN4]

Great Idea, I commend you on your attitude....

This will be a great thread.

Good Luck

[Gabriel Leopardi]

hey Dinaga!! This idea is brilliant!!

Having a thread like this will give us an extra motivation to continue working on those lessons that we find difficult and need weeks or months to master them. The quote that Steve Vai said in a video posted some days ago is also inspiring: "Don't stop, Keep going"

When I'm working on difficult lessons I use different approaches to master them. One of them is to isolate the more difficult parts and work on them as a loop over metronome. Another thing that I do is obviously to use the slower tempo backing tracks. And the third thing that I do is to create exercises that could help me with something that is being difficult for me. I usually create variations of the licks that allow me to play them in a repetitive way.

As many of you know I'm working on this lesson.... LINK so I will post a take using a slower backing.

Once again, great initiative Dinaga!

[Dinaga]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you like the idea

When I'm working on difficult lessons I use different approaches to master them. One of them is to isolate the more difficult parts and work on them as a loop over metronome. Another thing that I do is obviously to use the slower tempo backing tracks. And the third thing that I do is to create exercises that could help me with something that is being difficult for me. I usually create variations of the licks that allow me to play them in a repetitive way.

That's great approach! I too do the isolation and loop smaller parts until I get them done. When I learn all the parts I usually play the whole track on slower tempo because it makes the routine much more interesting. But the variations trick you use is a very good idea, I didn't come up with that before!

Yes, I saw you were working on the Extreme Neoclassical lesson, and I think it's one of the very few lessons here which is actually level 10 Good luck mate, I'm sure you'll master it well! I am really looking forward to see/hear your take on slower speed, no matter what it is, because this is such an awesome lesson!

[Gabriel Leopardi]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you like the idea



That's great approach! I too do the isolation and loop smaller parts until I get them done. When I learn all the parts I usually play the whole track on slower tempo because it makes the routine much more interesting. But the variations trick you use is a very good idea, I didn't come up with that before!

Yes, I saw you were working on the Extreme Neoclassical lesson, and I think it's one of the very few lessons here which is actually level 10 Good luck mate, I'm sure you'll master it well! I am really looking forward to see/hear your take on slower speed, no matter what it is, because this is such an awesome lesson!

Curiously the part that I find most difficult at fast tempo is a part that doesn't have fast notes but some string skipping. I'm talking about this type of ideas:

  F                                              
  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S S  S  S  S  S  S  
------------------------------------------------|
----13-12-13-10-13----13----13---13----13----13-|
-------------------12----10----9----------------|
------------------------------------12----10----|
--8---------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------|


  G#dim                                          
  S      S  S  S S  S  S  S S  S  S  S  S  S E   
------------------------------------------------|
--------12-10-12-9-12----12---12----12----12----|
----------------------10----9-------------------|
--9------------------------------12----10----9--|
------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------|

The skip from strings 2 to 4, only playing 1 note on each is what is giving me troubles. It's weird because I can play the Gilbert style three notes per string skips..

[Dinaga]

Curiously the part that I find most difficult at fast tempo is a part that doesn't have fast notes but some string skipping. I'm talking about this type of ideas:

  F                                              
  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S S  S  S  S  S  S  
------------------------------------------------|
----13-12-13-10-13----13----13---13----13----13-|
-------------------12----10----9----------------|
------------------------------------12----10----|
--8---------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------|


  G#dim                                          
  S      S  S  S S  S  S  S S  S  S  S  S  S E   
------------------------------------------------|
--------12-10-12-9-12----12---12----12----12----|
----------------------10----9-------------------|
--9------------------------------12----10----9--|
------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------|

The skip from strings 2 to 4, only playing 1 note on each is what is giving me troubles. It's weird because I can play the Gilbert style three notes per string skips..

String skipping is a beast! I practiced his song "An Old Modern Time" and it's a string-skipping night mare! The fastest I could go is 120 bpm (the original lesson is 158 bpm). This is a bit older recording, and the quality is bad because I filmed it with phone camera and no DAW:



I should probably return to practicing this one again. It sounds really good, especially for neoclassical fans.

[Alex Feather]

Great idea!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!!

[quadrium]

Great thread man! I'm also working on some insane lessons I will post my progress here also

Cheers,
Dogukan.

[derper]

I actually started a similar thread, though it was just my quest to learn a Muris vid as well as I possibly could. http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=42524

Muris' Original vid http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guit...cking-advanced/


Well, it's only "technically" a level 8 lesson, but I certainly consider it to be INSANE!


I totally support you on your quest Dinaga!! And I can relate, somewhat. I personally find it more beneficial for myself to tackle something very difficult such as a Muris lesson, and work, and work, and work on it until I get just 5% faster!! As opposed to spending an afternoon mastering something that is "easier" for me, which becomes more of a practice in memorizing notes and patterns. But on a side note: I do, personally, need to also start busting out some REC vids of more mid-level skill to finally start racking up points!! I always end up working hard on something just a bit too difficult to get it totally 100%, so I drop vids to the Practice Room for help and suggestions. Both are helpful, but I need to "balance" and also work on "achievable" vids to perfection!!

Well....you have inspired me to see if I can get that Muris lesson a bit closer to speed! So far, I'm 110-120bpm at best, and Muris is at 155bpm!!

[Gabriel Leopardi]

String skipping is a beast! I practiced his song "An Old Modern Time" and it's a string-skipping night mare! The fastest I could go is 120 bpm (the original lesson is 158 bpm). This is a bit older recording, and the quality is bad because I filmed it with phone camera and no DAW:



I should probably return to practicing this one again. It sounds really good, especially for neoclassical fans.

that's a great tune!! Is is a lesson here?? because I can't find it...

[Dinaga]

Wow, this has huge potential! I can't wait to check out your takes, mates! Together we will own those hard lessons!

I personally find it more beneficial for myself to tackle something very difficult such as a Muris lesson, and work, and work, and work on it until I get just 5% faster!! As opposed to spending an afternoon mastering something that is "easier" for me, which becomes more of a practice in memorizing notes and patterns.

This is so true mate! I find the least interesting part of learning the lesson memorizing the notes, patterns and left hand fingers! It's the speed bust what makes you go nuts and overwhelmed with joy

Well....you have inspired me to see if I can get that Muris lesson a bit closer to speed! So far, I'm 110-120bpm at best, and Muris is at 155bpm!!

All I can say is GO FOR IT! Just don't overdo it, last night I wanted to play those Insane lessons faster and I wanted to record one more - Mojo Oro Part 2 at 70% speed, but I failed and I injured my left wrist. Now I can hardly play because it hurts and I have to recover, which sucks because I want to learn the Guitar Bushido lesson in deadline. Don't do the same mistake as me.

that's a great tune!! Is is a lesson here?? because I can't find it...

Nope, it isn't here, but just look it up on Google and you'll quickly find it.

This post has been edited by Dinaga: Feb 1 2012, 07:54 PM

[DeGroot]

I had been thinking about how I'm going to eventually approach some of the more lengthy solos and advanced lessons. It is helpful to see how others are going about breaking them down. Not to mention these lessons sound interesting and challenging even at half speed!

[derper]

Sorry to hear you injured the wrist! That's horrible. Do you incorporate a warmup routine before practicing, especially fast and difficult runs? If not, I would highly suggest it. I actually did a thread with a video showing 2 of my current favorite warmup runs (http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=42583). I change them up frequently, but as of this last year, I finally see the vast importance of warming up.

1. You reduce risk of injury
2. You really can't just pickup a guitar and rip like Muris. By warming up first, you really give yourself the ability to play faster, smoother, and with better timing and accuracy. Well, for most of us. Maybe Muris can pick it up and do the "Muris", but I'd be willing to bet he warms up every time!

@DeGroot: Don't be too intimidated by a killer lesson vid!! With patience, they can really be broken down and achieved, even if only at lower speeds (such as my vid). My main suggestions are....
-Break it down into parts, as opposed to learning the ENTIRE thing first.
-Play the parts to a metronome, at a slow enough speed that you can potentially play it PERFECTLY!! Of course it won't be perfect at first, but slow it down enough that you CAN achieve that. THEN speed it up a bit.
-Once you've finally learned ALL of the parts that make up the whole lesson (it can take days or weeks for tough vids, be patient and work on different things as well, so you don't get bored and overwhelmed) THEN you can work on putting them all together. Usually, you will need to slow down just a bit, from the speed you play the individual parts at, when you put it all together.
-Focus on how the parts "glue" together! Playing the parts individually is the first step, but now making the position changes and getting proper feel and timing is part of the practice!!

Keep running at slower speeds until your fingers know the notes inside and out, to eliminate any "micro-pauses" (thanks for that tip Ivan, and the other instructors as well!).

Hope that helps.

[DeGroot]

Thanks for the suggestions derper! That sounds like a real solid way of going about it.

[Ben Higgins]

Hey Dinaga.. I love this thread - great idea !

I too have often looked at these level 9 & 10 lessons and think 'is anybody actually trying these ?'

I'm currently working on a level 8 lesson. Since I've been here at GMC I've never learnt a whole lesson (I did learn Extreme Neoclassic and could play it slower but never stuck with it..). However the other day inspiration came out of nowhere and I decided I was going to learn this lesson (you'll find out what it is when I post it !)

It feels really good to be a student of guitar again !

[Cosmin Lupu]

Hey Dinaga.. I love this thread - great idea !

I too have often looked at these level 9 & 10 lessons and think 'is anybody actually trying these ?'

I'm currently working on a level 8 lesson. Since I've been here at GMC I've never learnt a whole lesson (I did learn Extreme Neoclassic and could play it slower but never stuck with it..). However the other day inspiration came out of nowhere and I decided I was going to learn this lesson (you'll find out what it is when I post it !)

It feels really good to be a student of guitar again !

I think I should try this idea too it sounds like a challenging thing and it can't bring anything but good to me,right? I'll pick one and let you guys know how I'm faring with it!

[Dinaga]

@Ben & Cosmin: AWESOME! Yayyy, this thread is going to be full of crazy lesson takes I'm so excited

Sorry to hear you injured the wrist! That's horrible. Do you incorporate a warmup routine before practicing, especially fast and difficult runs?

Hehe, yeah I always do my warm-ups. The problem is when you get too excited and just can't stop playing even when you know you should take a rest.

[gregc1]

Love the idea Dinaga. I'm definitely in to try it.

Right now I've been working on Marcus Lavendell's Evening Blues (among Ben's guitar bushido tasks and a couple others) which is only at level 5 but has sections that are over my head, mainly the tapping stuff. Maybe I'll finish that one then pick a level 7-8 lesson that I will have to grind it out with for a while.

Look forward to seeing what everybody is doing and watching everybody's progress.

[El Fortinero]

Maybe i am a bit crazy but i liked much more the oriental shreds at the speed you did it. You can notice much better the phrases....you are a brave man Dinaga, keep them coming!

[HungryForHeaven]

Dinaga, this is an excellent project! I have been thinking for a long time of starting a "practice vlog", but as with many other things I think of it has stayed only a thought.

It will be very interesting to follow your hunt for insane lessons. I would also like to add a quote for you to bring on your quest of becoming a Guitar God:

"I've got to keep running the course
I've got to keep running and win at all costs
I've got to keep going, be strong
Must be so determined and push myself on"

Best of luck!

H4H