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.

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

This will be a great thread.

Good Luck

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!

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..

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.

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

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

Cheers,
Dogukan.

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!!

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

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



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



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.



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

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!

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.

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

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!

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



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.

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.

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!

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

Great mate Well believe me, I found many lessons here which are level 5-6 but I couldn't do them! On the other hand, I found some level 7 lessons which were easier for me. I guess it's all about which lessons suit you better and which techniques you know better than others. So numbers don't really matter at all



Thanks man, and it is really true that less can be more! When playing something at high-speed you can't notice all the tiny details! And sometimes it is even harder to play something slower! Like sweep picking for example, it's easier to do them ultra-fast than at medium speed, at least for me.



Ahh Maiden! Love that song! Thanks mate

I have two more Insane lessons in my pocket, so I'll post my starting slow takes these days. After that has been done, no more new Insane lessons until I get those "big four" on their knees!

That is awesome man, I just checked out this thread and I think you are doing an amazing job here Keep rocking, I have lots of respect for you. "Speed is a bi-product of precision" is Guthrie Govan's quote!

Thanks a lot for the very kind words, my friend I am really honoured to have respect of such a guitar virtuoso!

Hehe, I didn't know it was Guthrie's quote, I just saw it in Todd's Practice journal over and over so that was my reference And it is a very wise quote too!



And... Here's another lesson: Mojo Oro part 2 at 60% speed. It feels and sounds really unnatural to play it at this speed! The staccato notes sound weird and I swear, this is easier to play faster than slower! Technically it's not really complicated, but the main problem is that if played over and over, there's a chance of wrist injury because it's played near the neck so the hand is stretched a lot. This lesson is the reason why I injured my wrist a few days ago. I guess this take could be better (especially the ending) but this is just a starting point. Next checkpoint is probably a clean 70%.

Great take Dinaga!! I had never heard that Muris lesson before, and it's killer!! I noticed how the 3rd and 4th fingers are all curled up tightly in his picking hand in that vid....interesting.

Best of luck to you on this journey!! I think you can get it there. I'm betting you can get it up to speed before I can get Muris' "Country Picking Advanced" up to full speed!! But I'll keep trying at that one anyway. Although, now I'm interested in giving these Mojo Oro vids a shot in the upcoming weeks also!!


Keep it up, and NO MORE INJURIES!!

You are too kind. Thanks so much man. I don't think I can get it up to speed that fast. Transitions from 50% to 60%, and maybe 60% to 70% will be easier but it is a whole world of distance between 80% and 90%, or 90% to100% I remember practicing Ben's Defining Armageddon solo for weeks on 80% and it still eats up all of my endurance and stamina at 100%

Can't wait for your Mojo Oro takes, mate! It will be great to hear it. And as for injuries, now I stop playing whenever I see veins popping out on my left hand

Oh, and here's a new video: Oriental Shred at 60%! It was not so hard to speed up to 60% once I learned 50%, but now I feel a lot more confident while playing this piece. The worst part about this lesson (besides memorizing all the notes ) were the grace notes, but once learned, it's really no biggie. I also improved the last diminished picked arpeggio. All in all, there's still a LONG road to go, but improvements are made, and my motivation is high!



Stay tuned for more.

Great new take on the Oriental Shred.... at first it doesn't seem too difficult, but then it hits you!! There are certainly some subtleties that really make that piece difficult I would imagine. But it looks pretty solid at that speed!

It may take me a week or two to post a Mojo Oro vid. I've got some other musical commitments this week, BUT I'm gonna try to also dig back into that country advanced pickin' and post a vid here, since I can do that faster than learning a new piece. I ran it a bit yesterday, to refresh my memory since I haven't worked on it REALLY hard for a few weeks, and was surprised at how far back I fell by not staying on it! BUT, if I run it at 90bpms to get it SOLID, I should be able to crank it back to 110bpm in no time, and hopefully to 120 shortly thereafter. I'll try and post a 110 take by the end of my shift, but that depends on my customer traffic.

Though it's not "insane", I've been focusing on Stephane's "John Scofield Lesson" recently and am almost ready to submit my first official REC vid on that!!

Keep up the good work, and hopefully I'll be able to submit a vid of my "progress" shortly!!

Really enjoying this thread Dinaga !

And yes, I remember your take of Defining Armageddon very well.. I was highly impressed !!

Finally.....I had the time, and the means to submit a video of my "progress", or lack thereof. More specifically, I am now "re-working" on this run, meaning it has been a few weeks since I've worked on this riff. Today, I spent about 10-15 minutes (after warmups! ) at only 90bpm, to ensure I could actually get through every not cleanly. I really hate working at 90 bpms for this riff, as is feels "sluggish" and silly to work that slow. 100 is my "bare-minimum", but I have to EARN IT!! So, after a little bit of annoying practice at 90, it was time to crank it back to 100. Still, 110 starts to actually feel better, but then I get sloppy on a few key parts, so I'm stuck at 100bpm-land for a while until I can EARN my spot at 110!! I think I was at 110 before, but probably not clean enough.

Thankfully, my phone (at work....mattress sales!!) didn't ring until the very end of this take!!



I've got a LONG way to go, to get to 155. But I smile thinking of how much I'll improve by the time I reach even 130!!

**Side note: I wish I knew of one other person working on, or that has worked on, this same lesson. I SWEAR it's the most difficult "level 8" video out there!! I would love to see how far others have gotten. Perhaps I should search the "REC" forum and see...

Hey man congrats! That's a great take and you're doing awesome! No reason to be annoyed, the most important thing is that you have control, and speed will come! I enjoyed this, and as you said, you'll drastically improve even at 130 bpm! No pain no gain

And I totally agree that speed has to be earned, every time I sit to practice, even if I could do the lesson really fast, I have to warm up a lot and play at lower speeds before I crank it up That's why I usually suck when I play these lessons in front of other people, because I'm not warmed up and they expect me to play at original speed right away.

And it's hilarious that you've got all your equipment at work... that's the spirit! You're allowed to do the recording there?

And here's a Rocky montage clip for everyone willing to participate here - nothing is as motivating as this!
When we achieve our goal we can all yell with great satisfaction: YO ADRIAN, I DID IT!

Thanks!!


As long as I get up and do my job when a customer walks in, I'm free to play guitar on the clock!! Which is the main reason I keep this job! If I ever end up in a GMC funny, I can already guess it'll be a scene of my customers coming in to shop for a mattress, right while I'm nailing a vid at full speed!!


I'll keep it up on the Muris vid. I searched the REC forum, and no one has submitted a REC of that lesson yet. I may someday become the first. If there are any instructors out there open to the challenge, I would love to see/hear from one of you while getting it up to speed!! Anyone? Anyone willing to put those shreddy chops to the country test?

Loved the video Gabe ! I love it how you just play guitar at work

You didn't think I'd give up on this quest, did you?

I'm back with the Oriental shred lesson, this time at 70% speed!
Now it's getting serious. While I was comfortable with the 50% and 60% takes, this one was trickier.
Each next 10% take will be a huge achievement, but it will also take longer to master.
But we're getting somewhere and that's important!



I hope there will be more of your entries here so we can conquer insane lessons together

Let's keep this thread alive!! I actually intended to work on my "Country picking advanced" lesson for a while today, and attempt to send a take at 120 bpm, but the day got pretty busy, and the owner AND boss both came in and dropped ACTUAL WORK on to my plate!! What the?!! I'm used to chillin', playing guitar and helping a very occasional customer. This WORK thing isn't for me!!!

Haha well what can you do! Another day, another chance!
Looking forward to your next take mate, shoot it when you're ready, on "occasional" days

So... LET'S DO THIS!
The boss can take away your day... BUT HE WILL NEVER TAKE AWAY YOUR FREEDOM!

Wow, how did I miss this thread? Awesome job Dinaga and all who are trying this. When I was "mastering" lessons last year, I also took very similar approach, just trying to push myself to next difficult lesson here and I eventually tried a level 10 lesson as well. I also wanted to do Neoclassic but couldn't go past 140bpm (not clean). I thought I was spending too much time on "speed" (which was the major reason I left guitar for about 12 years as I couldn't do a simple song) and instead tried focusing more on accuracy, melodic stuff. I have less time to practice but since Bushido's tasks, I am back to speed which feels a little hard and energy consuming. But it feels good. I will try to get back. I can hardly play guitar for 15 mins now (with my baby taking most of my time).

Good work all. Loving the progress.

Sounding good D-Master ! I love that T shirt !



How dare he ? That's outrageous. Everybody knows that nothing is allowed to hinder guitar practice.




Yeah it's a bit like getting fit isn't it ? I know the feeling, I'm going through it now but it feels good !

Thanks a lot, Shredmeister Sensei Ben! Haha, I love that T-shirt too, when I saw it I knew I HAD to buy it



Thanks man! I'm glad you like this idea! Well, the baby is the first priority of course, when I have one I'll surely devote most of my time to him/her too

But it's interesting, when you are not allowed to do something, or when you have limited time to do it, you find it even more compelling! For example, I like playing guitar but it's the exam time when I find it most enjoyable, because I should be studying for my exams

And I agree, it's a lot frustrating when you hit the "speed brick wall" and feel like you can't progress no more, but then I realize that every take which is played properly from start to end is in fact perfect take! It's a lot better to hear something nice at 70 bpm than the exact same melody played dirty at 120 bpm.

Hows your hand Dinaga?

Hey mate, sorry for not replying earlier! I just saw this post. My hand is getting better, thanks for asking my friend!

Well, as you most know, last month I was recovering from my hand injury and I didn't play guitar at all. Now I started playing and I think it's getting better! My hand still hurts but I'm taking pauses between my playing and I try to plan my schedule more wisely. I learned a lot from this experience and I'll talk about this in more detail later

Now for the fun part - the next video! Here's Oriental Shred at 80% speed. Please ignore the dumb faces and head movements I make, it's because this lesson is so damn groovy I always mess up the ending, but I will learn it separately for the final 100% speed video, I promise

Awesome job on this whole concept, Dinaga

Just like to say, I've been stalking this thread for a while so I might as well have a go myself..

A couple days ago I decided to get to work on a level 9 lesson that had always interested me.. it's the Yngwie Malmsteen Style Solo by Emir Hot. This will obviously take some serious time and practice, but I hope to one day be able to get it down cleanly at full speed.

So i guess I'll join you on this one.. will post a take at some point of it at a slower speed

Great job Dinaga!! So awesome to have you back in action here at GMC as well. I went through a pretty serious (skateboarding) hand injury myself last year, so I have nothing buy sympathy for anyone going through that. Especially while working on a killer lesson like this!!

I think you encouraged me to practice my "Insane Lesson" and post a vid from work today! I don't have my interface here, which is the only drawback of my KB37....a bit too "big" to bring to work. It's already cool that they let me rock guitar and mini-amp in between mattress customers, but setting up a midi keyboard interface at work might be pushing it a bit too far!! Eventually I'd like to get a smaller interface (UX1/2 or, doesn't a guitar POD work as an interface too?) so I can get good recordings at work.



Also, for any others out there "stalking" this great topic.... I would encourage EVERYONE to hit a lesson that is "insane" to them!! Heck, I've seen level 5 and 6 videos that are "INSANE" to me!! And GMC is all about pushing yourself, at all levels. So although this started out with more advanced "Insane" lessons, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing players hitting a tough lesson at any skill level....whatever you consider to be an "insane" lesson!! The spirit remains the same.....practice, and push yourself to to continue on a difficult lesson. It's a different experience, as Dinaga has mentioned, working hard to go from 80% to 90%, than tackling a "challenging" lesson that you KNOW you can get down! Focusing on an "Insane" lesson pushes you to focus on the very minor aspects of that piece, in order to improve even in the slightest. It's the difference between winning a sprint, or a triathlon! Both require skill, but just being "fast" won't win a triathlon!!

Thanks a lot for the support mate I'm glad that you like this idea and please do post your videos here! I'd most certainly like to see and hear your own lesson hunts It doesn't matter at which speed you start, what matters is the progress!



Thanks a lot Gabe! Your constant support really means a lot to me and that's what this thread is really about, encouraging ourselves to become able to play lessons which were too hard for us in the beginning. Everything you said is true - numbers don't matter, a lesson can have higher difficulty ranking but be easier than some other lesson. I didn't know you had that injury man... I'm glad you're all OK and rockin' today - can't wait for your next video!

I am glad that you guys find this idea interesting and I will post a detailed summary when I finish a particular lesson. I will write there the reasons why I took the lesson, how I practiced it, what aspects of the lesson were the hardest to master and everything else I find helpful I also plan to take up a next Insane lesson when I finish these ones - but not before I complete these three! I won't tell much about it now, but I'll just say that it's even harder than these lessons and will be quite a challenge!

Cheers my friends and rock on \m/

Also, I didn't post it here (I made a separate thread), but I've been working on Cosmin's "Vivaldi Arpeggios" lesson, so I'm only working on 2 right now. Life always seems to interfere, but I'm at least practicing enough to "stand still" as opposed to fall back! I have a feeling I'll get plenty of time today, so I'll post a current vid of both here if I get a chance!!

And the hand has "recovered", but will never be the same.... Oh well, we keep rockin' like Django and Iomi!!

ARGH!! I left my stereo cable (usually in my Parker case) at home, plugged into my interface!! No vids today, but I'll practice quietly to an online metronome (forgot that too!).

Heeeeeeeeeeeey, Diniga is back !!

Welcome back my friend, it's good to see you !

D-man welcome back we missed you!

Thanks a lot my friends. I missed you too!

been stalking as well,and Emir recorded this slow for me, thought if you ARe learning it , this might help http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...mp;#entry450274
the link is in post 6

Well I can safely say that this period is probably the hardest period for me, guitar-wise.

My hand injury still hasn't gone away, so I have to be careful with my playing and schedule. It's really on-and-off situation - sometimes my hand hurts, then it gets better and then I play too much again and the pain returns.

When I don't play at all it doesn't get better, when I play moderately it gets better, and when I play too much it gets worse. It's hard to find the border between "to little playing" and "too much playing"!

I guess these last few months have been a big transition for me - from regular to more advanced stuff and human body doesn't cope with it so well. Anyway, I can't live without playing so I'm trying to reduce my playing but still enjoy my passion. If anyone has some good warm-up advice I'd really appreciate it.

Meanwhile, here's Mojo Oro at 70% speed. This lesson isn't really about the speed, it's about ENDURANCE. I can play the main riff a lot faster than this, but the problem is to play the whole thing without losing strength in the process. So I can already assume that getting this one at 80% speed will be a very hard task. But if I manage to do it without losing any limbs, I think I'll level up greatly when I'm done with it

Cheers my friends!

Mate, this sounds solid! I can't wait to see the next level!