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First of all id like to say im really excited about this whole program and cant wait to get started now on to business.

Name: Tom or Tommy

Years playing: 3 months

How many minor pentatonic positions can you play?
I know all the 5 positions however if you mean play as in improv with them or make licks out of them then none really ive only used them to work on my alternate picking by running up and down each position.

Do you use a metronome?
Yes i always use a metronome to practice.

Can you improvise?
No i havent done any kind of improv stuff really maybe once thrown on a blues backing track and tried to play some lead over it with the A minor position but thats about it.

If you could improve one thing with this program, what would it be?
I have alot to learn but i guess in general to learn some basic lead techniques and then be able to use them to improv with or just knowing fret board better able to locate notes quicker etc.

A word in general about my influences and playing/goals:
As i havent been playing for very long i havent had a chance really to be influenced by any guitarists etc however i admire players such Alexi Laiho, Mustaine, Joe Perry and Randy Rhoads. I mostly listen to metal such as thrash, glam or metal-core however i also like bluesy rock kind of bands like Aerosmith when im trying to relax.

Atm ive only done chord rhythm work ive had a friend show me some chords and barre chords so i can play them no problems mostly its my lead work that i need to develop i can alternate pick albeit slowly and i do hammer-ons im confused how to do pull-offs properly and also when it comes to bending im unsure what note im bending too. Id also like to start learning some basic theory, anyway enough rambling i look forward to getting started with whatever you decide to throw my way ive taken a semester off from uni to work a little so i have a fair few hours free each day so im able to practice from 2-3 hours a day.

This is my only video ive recorded it was for the application for the mtp its my first proper go at any kind of lead stuff i only did 1 take and didnt practice it as to give a true indication of where im at so its embarassingly bad but i guess we all have to start somewhere itll be good in a couple months to see the progress.

Thanks a lot for this info Tom!
First, let me congratulate you on your achievement, you've only been playing 3 months?
That's great!
Your technique is quite clean and I think you are on the right track!
I think what I would like to do with you is to help you build your musical vocabulary with new licks and bring you to a new level of comfort with your instrument.

I'll post your first assignment later tonight.

I'm excited for you! :-)

Thankyou for the kind words .. i was just watching some of your videos and i know im in good hands very inspirational. Im looking forward to making a start on whichever assignment you choose!

All right, let's start!
This first assignment might seem a bit difficult at first, but I think it is a good source of educational content.
The goal here is to give you an opportunity to use the first two positions of an A minor pentatonic scale and make something musical with it.

Assignment 1 - Musical pentatonic

This assignment is based on the Lick Construction Class lesson.
The whole lesson is written using only the first two minor pentatonic positions. We're working in the key of A.

Before you start, make sure you have the following positions memorized well..

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I will post the backing track in a couple hours when I get to the office...
Once you are done, upload either an mp3 or video of you playing over the track...
If you could get this within a week, that would be great!

Let me know if you need any help!

Ill make a start on this now i will definitely have something up within the week! If i run into any problems i will be sure to post here.

Excellent!
I'm looking forward to hearing it!

Oh, and I forgot!
Here is the backing track!

Click to view attachment

How is everything going man!
Dis you have any trouble with the lesson?
Feel free to ask me if you need any help at all!

Hey so far so good ive been memorising the box shapes and just noodling around in them, ive practiced the licks individually just gotta put it altogether now hopefully should have it recorded in the next couple days. I take it when doing recordings a clean sound would be preferred? Also ill try record with reaper and sync it with the vid this time so fingers crossed things work out.

Great!
No, you can ue some distortion, no problem!
Just try to find a sound that fits your taste over this.
Can't wait to check out what you did!
Let me know if you need anything!

No worries will do, atm im struggling to remember all the licks when played as one piece so i might make a cut of me playing the individual licks and post it tommorow and ill keep working on trying to connect it altogether.

I must admit working through this piece has been good practice for doing bends they are slowly becoming easier just gotta work on hitting the right note when bending.

Great to hear! :-)

Hey how are things i finally managed to upload something. I recorded all the licks individually just so i could put something up mind you they were done at 4 in the morning after i got home from working the nightshift so mind the mistakes i was like a zombie i feel probably my biggest problem with this was sense of rhythm when it comes to chords and strumming i know how to keep rhythm to a metronome with varying strumming patterns etc however with lead and picking notes and throwing in bending im unsure of how long to hold each note for etc so my timing and tempo is probably way off either way something to work on

Im going to continue working on this and get a vid this time up of me playing the whole piece hopefully in the next couple days as after listening to it there are areas i feel i can improve plus its been a good exercise, either way if you want to also choose the next assignment ill take a look at that and start work on that as well.

Thanks for the upload!
Good job on memorizing these licks, you have a big chunk out of the way!

Here are a few things that we should work on.

First, I think your guitar might be a bit out of tune, make sure you tune anytime you're about to record something...

You're right, the rhythm placement is the big problem here. Part of it is because the backing is a bit too fast for now.

Let's focus only on the first lick.

I recorded that 1 st lick on a very slow click (40BPM)...
Listen to the rhythm of it several times and try to play over it.

Here is the click for you to record that first lick.
Focus on the rhythm, the rest will fall into place after that.

Let me know how things go!

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

This has helped alot with Lick 1 ill upload my take in the morning! when i manage to wake up that is

Haha!
Excellent! I'm glad this is helping!

Hey okay so here is lick 1 it is out of sync with the click as ive hit something which has thrown the latency out was running perfect before :-/ still its still not perfect but im slowly starting to be able to count it out in my head/feel when i should be playing notes.

After watching this im now motivated to practice as much as possible

There's some improvement!!!
Keep working on that first lick.
Also, are you in tune? I don't think you are... :-/
Keep at it though!
Try to get something recorded in the next couple days and I'll upload a parallel exercise that should help you!

Hey mate hows it going sorry havent posted in abit it was my bday last week so went away for the week and uni is coming up to exams so starting to get hectic which would explain my lack of presence here. Anyways ive been using the pentatonic workshop lesson series to work on my alt picking and legato as well as your beginners metal rhythm lesson. Here is another take on the first passage hopefully its a little better :-S

No problem man, and Happy late B-Day! I hope it was fun!

Your new take good Tom, your rhythm placement is so much better than when we started working on this. I'm very pleased with your progress.
Do you think you could try to record over the backing the whole thing maybe by the end of next week?
If that is not realistic, just go as far as you can and play along the backing.

Great work!

Also, let me know if you need a slower backing than the one you have.

Hey thanks im glad there is some progress.. end of next week that shouldnt be a problem it will be a good challenge i think i have backing tracks at 60 and 80 bpm so ill prob try with 60 should be fine with that either way ill let you know

Off topic but how things on your end been keeping busy? .. any new lessons your working on and such?

Great!
Things are great here, pretty busy too!
I started working on a Sweet Home Alabama lessons and on various other musical projects...
Thanks for asking my friend! :-)

Oh, I forgot...
Here is an important topic with new MTP requirements for you to read...
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=31054

I'll take care of the new specs later today! :-)