....aaaaaaand here we are Please tell me a bit about what you'd like to improve or learn and about what else besides our common favorite - Marco Sfogli, you like?
all the best
Cosmin
I have never really practiced different styles and licks. I have just listen to music and played kind of my own way and included things I have picked up just by listening.
The problem is when going fast, there is no colour in it It just becomes alternate picking up down scales, some legato and not to exciting sweeping.
I think maybe I should start directly focusing on techinques and styles. To make the faster playing more exciting, do cooler things on the fretboard so to speak.
That, and also my theory need to sharpen up chords and scales. Ive learned those things on classical but in a more conservative way and of course I have forgotten quite much.
santana, hendrix, clapton were the ones that made me play the electrical, now i tend to like players who are not so famous outside the internet, I liked the players in guitar idol very much, muris varajic, marc playle, hedras ramos etc
I will learn it when I got home, tried to play it yesterday looks good
I played classical guitar which involves reading notes, and knowing the names of the notes.
I played tones of scales on this "examination boards". These tests involved getting a song, on paper, with notes not knowing it, and you had 1 minute to look in through then play it I also went through this one:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/misc-lessons/asturias-part4-isaac-albeniz/
I was about 10-11 then was pushed kina hard then quit. Now I have picked up the electrical (2 years ago) and I have forgotten much of the theory.
I still know the basic chords but need to learn more chords and progressions as you said.
Basic scales: A minor + C major has all the notes named A,B,C,D,E,F,G
F major + D minor has all the notes named A,A#,C,D,E,F,G
I suppose I could re learn all the boxes but I want to see the whole picture more than just knowing the patterns of the boxes.
That's very good Erik! - seeing the whole ensemble rather than just learning things visually is a very good approach, although guitar is a visually appealing instrument and I bet everyone of us feels that way
Well, let's see, first things first - in order to see how the alterations appear in scales and have a good ensemble view, I would recommend you to take a look over the circle of fifths (fourths)
After that I would suggest you take a look at these:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Triads_in_Major_Scale_Series_Part_1/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Triads_in_Major_Scale_Series_Part_2/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Triads_in_Major_Scale_Series_Part_3/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Triads_In_a_Song_Context/
they will give you a very good insight on how a major scale is harmonized using triads.
I think these are a good starting point for understanding what's going on with scales and chords and how they are related.
Let me know what you think after looking at them
all the best
Cosmin
Yes I will check these.
Then I think we should also go through the different scales.
As I said, A minor and C major have common notes, but different "root notes" and different chords being played over.
Then if you go to the next step, F major and D major, you remove the be and add A#. Root notes become F, and in Dm, D.
This Is basic and I want to learn everything behind this, then it must be easier moving on to more advanced things
Yes I have done singing and listening tests, also transcribed a lot of music
We could work on that if you'd like - I find it as the easiest path towards success
Sure thing
Make me a practice schedule that involves theory, ear training, and maybe technical playing but we can involve that later
Mornin' Erik!
here's what I suggest you do until next Thursday:
1) Pick up the circle of fifths - if you understand how it works, go straight to the point
- if you go through it clockwise, you'll notice that the notes go from 5th to 5th (C G D A E B ...)
- C major has no alterations, but they start appearing from G major onwards: G major has one #, D major has 2# and so on
- Apply the major scale formula starting from each root (w w h w w w h) and figure out ALL the major scales contained in the circle of fifths and their relative minors (inside the circle there are the relative minors for each major scale - you cna figure them out by re-arranging the notes in each major scale by simply starting the scale from the relative minor. i.e C major = C D E F G A B C/ it's relative minor Aminor= A B C D E F G A)
- use this lesson http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Triads_in_Major_Scale_Series_Part_1/ as an example of how you should harmonize ALL the scales above.
- that means you shall attach one chord to each step of a major scale after the following formula:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
M m m M M m diminished M
As for ear training try the following:
- play a C note and then each note in the C major scale in turn like this - play one note than sing it than play the C note and so one
- play the C note and then JUST SING - no guitar involved - each note like above and then the C note, then another note from the C major scale
i.e. play C - play D, sing D. Play C - Play E, sing E
play C - Sing D, Play C - sing E
get these through as well as you can and let me know if there are questions
Cosmin
I found a good picture of this circle of fifths. C major, A minor has no flats, no sharps.
Then we go to G clockwise, were we have G major and E minor, one cross (sharp).
I also know the formula of the majors scale.
Then, I also know how to figure out each scale, but how can the circle of fifths help me in this other than I know which keys have certain crosses or flats?
Also cosmin check my PM and tell me what you think!
Hey again Erik,
mastering the circle of fifths will offer good insight on how the scales are built and with the aid if the little exercise I have given you, when we pass on to arpeggios, you will already know what notes make them up as arpeggios are nothing more than chords played note by note.
If you want to play smart and always be aware of what you will play, you have to understand scales and know their notes. It's tedious but it will pay off, trust me I'm suggesting this because you told me you want be aware of what you are playing.
Cosmin just one question
I will have a look at the lessons you linked to.
But do you have any plan for me to "figure" out this circle and the different major scales.
Well I know C major as you know, no crosses, no flats. I know the location of the root notes too.
Then I move on to the G scale. One cross, which is F#. I remebered that when I was a kid I played by notes and we played everything in G major.
Am I going to learn to play from G to G in the G major scale and know the location?
My Idea was to learn this only with the circle as help.
Which is, the difference is that its now F# instead of F, and its a G major scale, the root note is G. Then we go to D, 2 crosses. Now we also have C#, and root note D. And so on.
Or what did you have in mind?
Im on the first lesson which contains root inversion.
So we start of with C-E-G and thats a C major chord.
Then we go with D-F-A which is a D minor chord.
Then E-G-B, E minor chord.
and so on
Do you always follow that formula in all keys?
Major, minor,minor,major,major,minor,diminished,major ?
So If I would try G now instead it would be:
G-B-A, G major, then it would be A-C-E, a minor?
and so on?
I mean we have:
C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
M-m-m-M-M-m-Dim-M
Is it then also in G major:
G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G
M-m-mM-M-m-Dim-M
???
Cool, I see the connection now, will learn all parts and apply to maybe not all 14 but a few more keys to start with
Any theory behind why it becomes like this?
the theory is kinda combing coming back, all the old stuff I learned togheter with new things
But there is very much to learn, forming triads in every key.
Can we set up a learning plan or something? Learning to apply this in every key isnt done on one day!
I can now manage root inversion in C major, I have memorized the chords.
G major will be the next step right.
What do you say?
Hey Erik,
judging a bit after all you told me you are involved into a lot of musical activities, which beats all in-house practicing and if you got 2 hrs to use each day, here's what i suggest:
30 minutes theory
30 minutes ear training
30 min dedicated to rhythm/ jamming
30 minutes dedicated to technique/ phrasing
the last 2 points are to be alternated from day to day, i.e. in one day you can focus on rhythm and technique and the next, on jamming and phrasing.
I shall be giving you different tasks every 2 weeks consisting in GMC lessons based on the things above, how does this sound? Let me know and we shall get to it right away!
Cosmin
We can do that
Alrighty Erik! Here are your first four assignments:
Rhythm:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Rhythm-Right-Hand-Workout/ let me know if this one's too difficult, k?
Phrasing
Since you are a Marco fan, try this one
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Modern-Metal-Solo-Marco-Sfogli/
I chose these two as they incorporate a lot of elements and they are a bit more difficult, but i want to push your playing up! Let me know if they are ok and we can start dealing with them.
all the best
Cosmin
PS; if we have a green light with these, I shall give you a few tasks on legato and bending as they are incorporated in the Marco lesson
Good suggestions!
Got plenty to do. Would like to take a week of from pre-engineer school and just work on all the things I have to do on the guitar.
I will try, but I cant promise I will have time to record the lesson this month!
Also, the rythm lesson, will it be possible to play it in standard tuning, or will it be more difficult? I guess its possible if the song doesnt use the low E# string
Drop C tuning in the Sfogli style song, why cosmin why?
I am so lazy I dont want to tune my guitar down xD
but I guess I will have to for this awesome lesson!
Did 2 hours theory today since it didnt play well today. feel comfortable harmonizing the C major and the G major scale, starting with G major soon then
Also checking out the different colours of the chords and the theory behind them
also cosmin check out this rythm, Im thinking of learning that dont have a 7 string though..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBjNmGW1Z_8&feature=endscreen&NR=1
Im thikning of using my fender as my drop tune guitar but it isnt as stable as the Ibanez.
Still I got sound issues with my Ibanez, I will record how it can sound and show you.
When you strike a string hard, at some frets on the B and G strings its almost like you hit an harmonic, it is a neck issue I think. It isnt the string height cause it ok now. I think the neck hit a bad poistion cause of the cold, now its warmer again so I will adjust the neck
You can know wake me up inte the middle of the night and I can harmonize the C,G and D major scale.
Whats next, the third cross or the first flat? Continue moving clockwhise or what
Sorry for my english, what is "enharmonic"???
I havent started the lessons yet but I am thinking of drop tuning my Fender and dealing with them
Aha, Yes I know, notes same in practice, but different in theory
Well to be honest I just cant squeeze out any good distortion sound of my Fender, but I will try to make the track justice, more focusing of the theory and technical parts of the track rather than getting a good tone for them.
Cosmin I cant to the 1 1/4 bend on the D string on the marco lesson note dies out on my fender
Also, do I read the tab wrong? do you make some unison bend in the beginning, it doesnt say so in the tab?
0.10 thinnest string, I think the drop tuning ruined my bending a bit but the guitar is in need of a setup and I will only send my Ibanez for that. But I think I will work it out, it sounds really nice actually got a good sound to it.
Well I think I will work it out though, the song involves 30 min of my practice schedule today hope to learn it today, then of course I need more time to get it right 100 %.
Didnt get anything done yesterday but here is my schedule today.
30min Theory
30min IRL teatchers task (working on a song with some cool chords)
30min Learn last part of a song im transcribing
30min Cosmin lesson
After that, guitar free time Where I Will work on my own song.
Looks good Erik! Mate, bending with 11-56's in drop C has developed a lot of stamina and power in my hands so it's not bad exercise, unless you want quick results, which are not possible.
Let me know how it goes
Cosmin
Well I have been told sometimes, "how can you use such thick strings" and Im only using .10 I dont think that thick even, and they at the guitar tech are using .08 cause it made tone bending and colouring much easier.
Well I dont agree with them I like thicker strings, maybe I should use .11 or should I stick to .10 ? When you get used to it you develop more strenght and bending is no problem.
Also cosmin, how do you play scales?
from the loose strings to the 5th fret I got printed in my head all the names of notes I can also read this not easily, when playing classical, jesus you played everything up there xD So there I play from C to C, G to G etc, but also the whole "box" to get every note included in the scale, which is quite an unorthodox way to learn scales, but I dont see anything wrong in playing the box
Hey man lighter strings are indeed better for coloring and articulation but the tone gets nicer with thicker strings 0.10's are very good I think, but for drop C riffing stuff - 0.11 - 0.54 or 0.56 is much better.
Regarding scales, I usually can make my way through the notes, as I pretty much know them all over the neck, the most interesting part is experimenting with patterns and positions this is a neverending journey man, I mean the more you find and experiment with your own ideas, the more able you will be to use them freely.
We can develop this further if you'd like
Cosmin
Cosmin might I suggest a rythm/right hand focus lesson in Drop C instead of Siepens lesson? Since Id like to keep my fender in Drop C for a while, being overcareful with the neck..
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/w-a-mozart-turkish-march/
Hey cosmin, i Had som luck my ibanez got the be brought to my countries ibanez tech and it will be fixed for free
So I will only have my fender for I while and I have to have it in standart tuning all the time so cant finish this lessons this month
So how about we work with the turkish march? Me and my sister (her on piano) will maybe play it live sometime have to learn it!
I have looked at it before but quit learning around 0:56. Not easy there! have to use a metronome, but didnt quite get the rythm and the beat to learn that part by metronome by some reason it became difficult.
I will do a quick record of what I got so far
Coming up tomorrow, I learned the first part like 1 year ago, but that section i mentioned is just so hard, its so fluent, seems so easy.
Have tried practiced it with metronome but didnt get it right!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk9GHrhTiTA"%5dhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk9GHrhTiTA
Hehe I missed that ending C two times.
Well needs to work on this part as well of course but I know have to lay focus on the part that comes right after.
I can play it 100 % but its not clean at all and you loose yourself in the song after a few seconds u know what im talking about
playing it on the 100 bpm track is fine though. So how will I practice this the best way?
I use a kind of unorthodox method I slow down the backing track instead of using a metronome
Right now at 70 % at the hard part going for 75 tommorrow.
Its not like extreme neoclassical speedwise but it is so fluent at that part and requiers some real picking stamina = my weakness.
It may be morning but I cant play turkish march at all today and yesterday night I played the hard part on 75 % speed
Well then there is something called warmup
I will mark in bold where I think I scew up sometimes:
-9-10-9-7-|-----7--------------------------------|
----------|--10---10-9-7-10-9-7-6-7-9-6----------|
----------|-----------------------------6-8-10-6-|
----------|--------------------------------------|
----------|--------------------------------------|
----------|--------------------------------------|
S S S S S S S S S S S
---------------------7-9-8-9-
-----------9-10-9-10---------
--11-10-11-------------------
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
d-u--d-u-u-d
We have in the start: 9-10-9-7---7
-10
You see? econmy picking there is maybe no the best, I should do alternates there instead.
As you can see in my vid I use economy while descending to higher strings.
But I think alternate picking for that part is the best.
Hey Erik! I am not too much of a fan of economy picking, so yes I would go for AP myself, but it depends on what you feel like. What feels comfier for you and also brings out the desired result?
Cosmin
Hi Comsin.
I can get this guitar: http://www.thomann.de/gb/esp_horizon_nt_bk.htm
for only 1000 euros.
It is a new product, how might have a scratch somewhere, but it is in new condition and has all guarantees?
What do you think?
I will sell my Fender and get this one instead.
Hey Erik, the axe looks spiff but, I would keep the Fender, if I could is there any way in which you can keep the Fender and buy the ESP?
Yes its too bad selling it really its a nice american made instrument. But I doesnt play well anymore. Using the whammy bar get it out of tune etc. It feels like my ibanez can do everything better than the fender.Also the pickups are really nothing special its as stock as It can be.
Mate, you know best, so go ahead and sell it if that is your heart's desire
I made the deal for the guitar. Dont know about the fender though
I will record something for the Night collab with the new guitar I hope
Great man! Always glad to have you onboard! How is everything going with the practicing?
Its going well mostly doing theory now when I dont have my IBanez and awaiting my new guitar.
Im thinking maybe I could learn some chord progressions (which I havent learned so much of) meanwhile while harmonising and learning scales and I could make some backings and improvise I would learn much at once then
What do you think
Hey man! Sure thing! for this kind of stuff I TOTALLY recommend picking up famous songs from all the big bands and figuring out the chord progressions. Start with the Beatles hey, why don't you pick up 5 Beatles songs which you like and we can discuss the chord progressions! What do you say?
Cosmin
Yes I can pick out a few songs, just a question.
Well soon I will get my new guitar and my Ibanez back, which one should I use for drop tuning for your lessons?
The Ibanez will have thinner strings than the ESP I think.
Anyway Im kind of careful with the neck, tuning it down and up again doesnt it hurt the neck?
Usually, the one having a fixed bridge is always better to downtune I don't like using floyds anymore, frankly
My new guitar will have a fixed bridge I have never played a guitar with a fixed bridge before lol
anyway cosmin will have to interupt my praticing to work with my new songs + mixing them.
I will need to be done before april the 30th. The most important is to get a decent mix, not a pro mix of course but im leaving them in for a test, so I might redo the songs properly later with some more inovative guitar playing. I wont rush them though.
Hope you can help me, your mixing skills will be more than enough to help me I guess. Its just some basic mixing that needs to be done
hey Erik!
I usually don't use any secret ingredient but here's what I do:
- take care to make all the tracks defined and audible in the mix (recording as clean as possible will help A LOT and taking care that the volumes are balanced among themselves)
- add compressions to the guitar tracks
- double the riff tracks
- add reverb or delay on the melodies or solos
That's pretty much what I am doing
Hope it helps mate
Cosmin
Okey well I have done some things to my track you mentioned above
I will have to add and EQ in reaper though it would be good for the tests I dont know how to use one
I think the tube helps a lot man, that little AMT machine has done a big deal of recording for me and I never added any EQ on top of the actual tone from the recording.
I have no connection to AMT whatsoever in terms of endorsement or dealing and all that, but I really recommend it, both stage and home
Cosmin
Is there a compressor and sustainer built in reaper?
And what AMT?
Hey Erik! I have no experience with the Reaper, but I found this:
and this
http://mixingtips.org/forum/mixing-tips-%28general%29/side-chain-compression-in-reaper/
regarding the AMT:
http://amtelectronicsusa.com/productpagess20.html
Cosmin
Hi cosmin. Been in germany for a few days.
Can you help me out with my new song idea? I attatched it to this post.
Its supposed to be a happy instrumental rock song, with a real summer feel.
I have some ideas regarding the rythm and the starting solo line.
I dont know what chords I should use though and in the rythm you can hear the playing between the chords I am not really sure how to get them to fit in could you help me out?
Then the song should change between that and some chords that are picked, and I could play some pentatonic over that.
Cheers
cosmin?
Hey mate, didn't forget about ya I was thinking that, you could do something a bit Satriani oriented, as a feel I'd say, I took my time before answering this as I wanted to come up with some ideas for ya
I'll think of something and be back with some ideas, k?
Cosmin
okey thanks comsin
Well the most difficult thing would be to choose a good chord progression.
For example in a marco sfogli song i transcribed, which has some satriani influences, he used:
E, D, C#, C# playing the notes (D,C#,A) E(hammering on an A note), D, C#, A, B.
Then he played some pentatonics over two chords.
Very cool progression, but I dont know really which one.
He played in E. So we have I=E, IV= A VI=C#, B=V, but D doesnt belong?
Then, do you need to play only the chord notes, or can you play any notes in the E major scale togheter with that chord?
I want to play the E chord, then B-G-A-B
Hey Erik! You can play any note belonging to the E major scale if the progression is based on chords harmonizing the E major scale. Now the note choice depends on you
If we stick to this idea, the progression you suggested E B G A B should have the G#minor chord rather than the G chord. G#minor is formed on the 3rd step of the E major chord.
Basically, you should first start with a melody and a chord progression This one for instance (the chord progression above) - what sort of a melodic theme would you come up with over it? If you want that summer feel (Satriani's Summer Song for instance ) you should try something super catchy.
My suggestion is: record these chords and make a loop out of them. Then start singing all sorts of lines in your head until you find one which you are satisfied with. NO NOT stop at the first idea this will be the nasty part as it may seem that it can take forever, but trust me, this is a sure footed way to get your melodic sense and compositional skills sharpened
Would you like to try this?
Cosmin
Thanks for a informative answer!
I use power chords with added octave. you cant really do minor power chord.
I start of with E and move to B, sound good. But I dont know about the G#minor since i can use power chord there.
-------------------------------------------
---------12-9--10--12-------------------
-9-9--------------------------7---------
-9-9--------------------------7-------G#minor?---
-7--7-------------------------5---------
---------------------------------------
Can you use C# chord instead or something? Or shall we pick another key
I think I want to use D major instead now that I think of it
Hey Erik, of course you can play a minor power chord - I mean I like to call them like that - check this out:
D-------7---
A-------3---
E-------5---
you can look at this as a minor power chord - if you add distortion the 5th doesn't matter that much, so we can exclude and replace it with a minor 3rd have you tried using these?
If we would switch to the D major scale your progression would become D A F#m G A nothing bad with this but if we stick to the E B G#m A B in the E major scale, you can use open string chords which would suit the 'summer feel' purpose way better than the D major
What say you?
Cosmin
Okay lets go with e minor. I have an idea using open strings, playing them, using only two chords and playing pentatonic over it. The backing will change between those two forms. Well Im sometimes bad explaining in english, I will record and show instead.
So then a G#minor power chord would be G#,B,G#?
D--6---
A--2---
E--4---
And wait, one more thing.
I had a D in my progression, I wrote the wrong chord I think.
Should be E, D, C#m,A,B something like that,
Hey mate - yes, the G#minor chord looks like that. You'd help loads if you'd show me what you mean, because out of what I understood, the whole progression was in E major not minor
let me know
Cosmin
Of course, in the Key of E Major
So I did som recording, you here the first chord, E and then G. The third chord???? I dont know which one, nothing really sounds correct hehe.
So to these chords I need a third one, with a similar variation between it.
Well, you see in my progression, I skipped one chord And went to play E, D, A as an ending!
Baam baam -di da di di, baam baam di di di di, (skipped chord) bam, bam bam. What is that chord supposed to be?
And of course if necessary change the chords a bit, but I want to keep that idea.
Also, in the end of the file I added another backing idea, My idea is to switch between the first and second idea. I just use E and D in the second, I can play some pentatonics over that, kinda of rock. Maybe I will do them open instead.
Well I might not be the easiest student to work with here
But I hope you understand now
Hey mate I tried it and I would play it like this:
E (lick) D (lick) D/ C#
E D A A/G# A
I think I'll try and record a version for you
Cosmin
Thanks Cosmin! I am really so bad at Chord progressions.
However Its going well with the other theory work I am working on, hope we can start on arpeggios and a month or somth
cheers
So I am back again Now when the tests are over I can start focusing on guitar now again.
It would be very cool if you made a recording, would help a lot
Hey Erik, welcome back mate - sure thing here you are
What do you think?
Cosmin
Thanks a lot cosmin! That will certainly help me! Did you use the chords? E (lick) D (lick) D/ C#
E D A A/G# A
cheers
Nono Dsus4 was taken like this:
------x
------8
------7
------7
------5
------x
That C# chord cosmin do you take it like this?
G--------6--------
D-------6--------
A-------4--------
E--------------
No no like this:
x477xx - it's a D/ C# k?
Hey Cosmin, time to start practice serioustly for me now, I have lots of time for guitar now.
So we were working on theory remember? Well I have learnt the first 4 # up to E major, and im beginning on the flats, thinking of learning up to the 4 th. I have not started singing the notes yet, shall I start to do that?
I can come up with an effective methode to learning the names of the notes. The most effective one is reading notes, I did it when playing classical, but I only played up to the 5 th fret, so the notes above I dont know very well, I have to think to know them.
What methode did you use?
Also regarding harmonizing, the most important thing maybe is learning the names of the notes that make the certain chord up rather than the position?
And the lessons, I should work with them right? So I go with my ESP for drop tuning then.
Also I will work on my new song, but that is free time
cheers
Aloha Erik!
Let's take them one at a time
Singing the notes is crucial my friend, it'll make a huge difference in time so YES, DO START RIGHT AWAY!
About learning the notes I liked to know what I was playing so I simply broke down the passages i was learning, be it chords, melodies, riffs, whatever and analyzed them on the neck - in time, I realized I knew what was where
Regarding harmonizing - YES! That's the way to do it positions help you in the visual direction, but knowing the notes will allow you to play those chords everywhere
Now, with the lessons, sure man! Can't wait to see some drop tuned meanness from you
let's rock!!
Cosmin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYM864IOTs8
marco sfogli on jamtrackcentral
Oh yes! I've seen it dude! it's possible to have him in Romania for a clinic this year! Let's keep our fingers crossed!
How cool is that?? It's the same thing here man... I mean even guitarists don't know him that well
So Cosmin, what that Satriani-esque you had in mind?
I have a few ideas myself, but Im sure your will be very cool Could you please show me soon
I would need to finish a first version of the song to next wedensday where I will play it
hey Erik,
I'll try and send somethin' your way tomorrow
Cosmin
Hey Erik sorry for the lag, I was thinking to come up with something more than just that part
Tomorrow i am going to play my new song, which will only be some kind of beta version, with only the two backing idea I made.
I am working on some other ideas and your ideas will certainly help me and be good.
After that Im going to practice some right hand, one of yours drop C lessons.
I also know I should learn your Sfogli lesson But I started working on Andromeda recently, which is such a techincal challenge in both playing and transcribing. The fast part is explained by some guy though and tabbed.
Maybe you can help me out. How do you even learn this? haha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqOomFjGfGg
Is it even enough to "start slowly"
I dont know, seems so hard to learn. I think I got a decent technique though. Ive managed to learn things by going slow and raising tempo but this, I dont know haha
Hey Erik I would suggest you to start slow with easier stuff, as Andromeda is some piece of work!
I think it would be easier to build up to that point where things are coming more natural to ya, rather than trying to assimilate very difficult stuff with far less results then the other way around. I love that song, but I think it's a bit too much for me too at this point who knows, maybe next year?
I use kind of my own technique, but other player use it as well, combining alternate and economy picking. Its going well I think, for me it does.
My sweeping is also decent, came very naturally to me.
But is there any lessons on GMC that I should be able to play in order to even start learning this?
Maybe you can give a few examples.
No matter what I will learn the first 2 minutes of the song which actually is my favorie part, before it goes into insane shredding mode
ok man, I think the first 2 minutes are relatively ok to tackle! Well, regarding Marco oriented stuff - you need to find things combining alternate picking and a lot of articulation to get the right premises.
You know what let's start with my Marco lesson - it's not difficult and not easy enough not to pose a challenge
What do you think?
Cosmin
sure i drop my guitar and post a rec take
I made it through the first minute of the song though! Such a joy to play that song, even though my timing is off haha.
But that 1:10 lick, seems playable but what a lick: Check this out I tabbed part of it it like this for you:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------9---10---11----10--9---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------9---12-------------------------------------12---11---10--9------------------------------------
--9---11---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ive seen this usage of out notes (or what is it) in his songs. Can you explain how this works? It doesnt really sound out.
I can focus on praticing Cosmin
I got your tasks, alex tasks, my new song.
And loads of stuff, very difficult stuff I am trying to learn, I cant focus directly on learning one thing, I jump between them, and I always end up improvising over a cool backing track, which is fun but doenst really give much.
Think I need some help structuring my practicing.
Cheers
Hey Erik I am glad you have brought this up man. I noticed in time, that you tend to get involved in quite a few musical directions, but somehow you end up without too much achieved.. Am I being wrong? If yes, please tell me and if no, here's what I suggest:
1) Make a list with all your musical activities
2) Set a daily time dedicated to music (including everything - practice, rehearsals, writing etc.)
3) We'll make a schedule for you and results should appear as long as you decide to FOCUS on things and aim for final results which are tangible at this level and then move on
what do you think man?
Cosmin
No, you are completely right, check out "ElHombre guitar mentoring" In Alex feather forum, check my latest post there, I wrote down the entire situation there
Broheim, you are in a big pot of soup
Hmmm, this is getting a bit difficult, because you will have to focus on somethings at this point and leave others aside for some time, now the question is, how many of these can you leave aside and how many are compulsory?
I understand that you have 3 hrs a day, right?
My Own tasks: Here is where I end up and acheiving nothing. Transcribing and learning both Andromeda by Marco sfogli and She goes by, Muris varajic. Also doing some work on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYM864IOTs8...feature=g-all-c
what to focus on?
It's a bit obvious that these are some things that you could leave aside for some time - I know you want them, but you need to build up your strengths for them
Theory
New Song
Alex tasks
Cosmin tasks
The theoretical part has been covered out of what I am seeing by both me and Alex so I would ask you to make a little list, very concise, stating what you have learned with each one of us, so that I may know where you could go from here.
Alex's tasks are his so, he knows very well where to take you
As for mine - let's focus on the Sfogli Lesson and Modern Metal lessons, ok?
Exchanging ideas for a new song are never bad, as I strongly encourage creation
So, aside from this, after finishing with these we can focus on stuff which will build up your chops so that you can tackle those difficult lessons we have left for later, ok?
Check out mad's, Spasemoonkey's or Opetholic's thread - they are good examples of people who focused and achieved always
what say you my friend?
Cosmin
I learned the Marco sfogli song this morning, finally managed to focus I cant do bends on the high E string, tone dies out, so I had to do that bend on the 22th fret. Well I should have dropped another guitar for this but I think I can still manage with the Fender.
I decided, after learning your modern metal solo, the next step would be marcos 80s style lesson which I am halfthrough, so I deal with it then. Then the next step should be the petrucci lesson. I guess I can play these and post in the thread and you can grade 1-10 like in the REC zone
Howdy Erik! Shoot a vid and post it here in the thread so we can discuss on it then it's off to the REC zone with it
let's rock!!
Cosmin
Hmm I need to raise the string height on the fender so I can do bends on 1 st string. Need a tiny 1mm tool for that.
Can do the video today but hopefully tomorrow
Okie dokie Erik! Go for it and let me know when it's done
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dDWd57TNaI
Here you go
Hey Erik, managed to see it
Ok, well, it's ok, meaning that the timing is generally good, but there are several notes which you are missing. A little bit more slow practice, could get this take a big fat 10 in the REC zone shall we aim for that?
So, first goal, reach all the right notes in good timing and make them sound out!
Cosmin
I bet you are thinking of the part after the first bend, I didnt really get the tab and neither by listening.
Then is missed a note before the slides too i know
So I will try not to miss any notes and keep the timing good so, I post the next take in the Rec Zone and see what happens
Then maybe we could discuss some theory behind the solo
Hello So I posted the vid, I used the same sound settings as in my previous take, but forgot to drop the volume level of the backing track, so a little quiet. Also that 0.09 lick wasnt 100 % this time either.
I can surely check this things out, but I passed and Its time to start with some metal metrics now
Hehe, indeed, it's time, but don't neglect things just because you passed I will make a special grading system for you alone you won't pass until you get a 10! How about that, Mr.Erik?
Cosmin
Hey Cosmin I decided to go with the Iced earth style by ben higgins, exactly the workout my right hand needs.
Then I will do all the metal metrics
And also I need to set up a theory schedule or Ill end up doing nothing
My progress so far:
Learnt the first 4 crosses (up to e major scale) and the first flat.
I have not done much theory lately but should get going now.
Trying to get a good memory of the notes location.
I mean, learn the scale and shapes, but know your roots, using scales with same notes, but they all have a different sound of course and its displayed by connecting certain notes.
What I would like is help with a structured schedule, maybe not that you tell me what to do each day but, a few times a week.
For example, move on to the second flat, learn the scales, sing notes, harmonize it, and continue learning names of notes.
Something like that, what kind of theory work should I do the following days?
Howdy Erik
until next Monday, I would like you to take care of the following theory tasks:
1) Set the metronome at 70 BPM - quarter notes - and chose ANY note that comes to mind - G for example.
Start the metronome
Place your index on G at every quarter note in a different spot on the neck.
Increase speed how fast can you get? Use this technique with all the notes and then...we'll move to intervals and chords
2) Take the F major scale and harmonize it using triads and then 7 chords - do you know how to use the 7ths?
See where all the F root notes are and start harmonizing from each spot where you can create chords and if you want to go really one step beyond - harmonize using arpeggios, for the F belonging to the B string.
For the F on the G string, you can use either triads or 7th chords without the 5th
After this, we shall tackle harmonizing the F major scale by using voicings of these chords
SOLDIER can you handle the tasks?
Cosmin
Sure cosmin, is just just add the 7 th note of the F major scale and harmonize using arpeggios?
I harmonize them now using triads, going throw the previous scales aswell, learning which notes make up a certain chord.
Should help me to learn the names as well.
Also going through scales shapes isnt bad, I do that too
When you learn the names of the notes, and the shapes it certainly will help.
Learning only shapes doesnt get you too much, but learning note names and arpeggios chord tones is very good combined (I guess) what is your opinion?
Most clearly YES it is tedious work - I used to practice in the following way - play arpeggios at a slow tempo and say the note names out loud and for scales as well. I got bored with it pretty quickly though and I was silly enough to - I was 20
I stuck with the good one, only I didn't take so much time to perfect it - if I did, I would've been dreaming the fretboard in any position PERIOD!
Well, to answer your question - for diminished it will be C Eb Gb, but for instance you can have C M7 - C E B excluding the G, if you are in a context where you can use only 3 strings to play your chord
Usually, the 5th is neutral, so it can be omitted
I think Im getting a good grip of this now
Knowing what notes make up a chord is vital. A good practical ability I got from this was on the piano.
Know I can play piano chords easily.
On the guitar I already know most chords, the basic ones, not knowing the notes I play.
But when moving on to difficult chords, like you know these jazz chords its vital to know what notes make up a chord
So you said you stuck with the good one, its that kind of the methode im using now?
If we would harmonize the E major scale.
The I chord would be E Major, the II F#minor, III G#minor, IV A Major etc ?
When we harmonize the E major scale we get the D dim chord. But you can use the D major chord with E
For example, E-D-A how come?
I have another song I want to do. I should finish the ones im working on, but I would like to start it.
Im satisfied with the melodies and structure i can come up with, but as usual I dont come up with any good chords.
My intentions is to do a song in a minor, combining with a harmonic minor.
The intro/main riff is kind of done.
The verse is a quite done, i will do a chorus too and record.
Also working on this one:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/rock-ballad-solo/
That 0:44 lick is so hard
Also bens iced earth but my right hand just dont like that gallop
Made a little recording for you
Im kind of happy with the main riff and the phrases. Just got to come up with some better arpeggios, and some cool chorus riff.
Well its an instrumental song, more a melodic one than a riffing song, so the riffs are not supposed to be the coolest you ever heard, but it still needs another good riffing idea I think.
Hey Cosmin I need help with a lick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYM864IOTs8&feature=g-all-c
1:36.
A legato lick. It look like from the video that there is no plektrum used at all in the beginning of the lick.
Thanks It seems really hard to get any sound out of it without using the pick.
And its really hard to use a pick the lick is to fast
Got some ideas for the djent collab im kind of happy with I will also try to use som diminished licks.
It was a really nice experience, im glad i saw that collab. It took a while to get use to the track ( never played djent or made a djent solo ) but now I got some things to use
Hey Erik!
Looking forward to hear your take man I'm glad you guys are enjoying the track - I am developing it for my next PRS demo
Hey cosmin, made a final take for the collab.
I will probably improve the solo ending and diminished licks a little and put on youtube outside of the collab, if its ok with you
also tell me when you have checked out the legato lick
cheers
Howdy Erik! Sure man, tweak it and post it on YT if you'd like
I will tackle the lick on Tuesday when I get back in town, I am leaving to the mountain house. I am having the laptop with me and I will be on the forums to answer stuff, but I will not be having my guitars with me.
Glad you made it on the collab man!
Cosmin
In the meantime I work on some theory, speed excercises and a cool fusion song
Alright! I hope to manage sorting it out soon enough - tricky little bastard that lick Not an easy one for certain!
hows it going cosmin Im thinking of joining the pop collab with a synth sound i created
nope no summer holidays for me But im going to balkan in the autumn my girl got family relatives there
croatia to be precise
Oh, close, but not close enough
So, today is the last day for the collab entries, will you be joining, Erik?
Yes im gonna record today, cause today is finally rain day and the temperature will drop
I didnt thought that romania was so deep down south and close to balkan I might visit Belgrade to but its also a bit away from bucharest, if bucharest would have been in east romania we could have had a jam haha
Btw, I am learning this now, working on the riff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilzfGT9jcTM
I will record myself playing the riff, so you can say how accurate I am
Okay, this one I am really going to learn and record a video, I wont learn it halfway, no more of that
Hi there cosmin, Im at the european dragrace championship, and I have just witnessed a new world record
Anyway I am almost done with the riff, and I am trying to figure out the key.
First I thought E minor, the riff is not dropped, and starts on the E, and has a F# and a C# in it. And no G#...
But then it uses a B, and a Bb! (or A#). So it must be some phrygian dominant?
I am not so familiar with those scales, except for E phrygian dominant which I used in the Djent Collab.
I know the song got phyrigan dominant in it in the melodic playing, but I dont know about the riff
Good day to you
A little recording of the riff
Just quick played with no metronome or backing track. I play full speed until the ending riff variation (when drums come in).
Then I play it slow, Since I didnt get it right! three notes I cannot find! The first palm muted ones are wrong! they sound right but wrong in the slowdowner and when I play along!
Mate - first - the tone is incredibly accurate I have listened for several times but I don't think there's anything wrong with the notes that you have picked up by ear. What I would like you to do:
Please record the whole phrase at a slow tempo backed by a metronome - the speed should match the highest tempo at which you can play that last passage at. The last note is a pinch harmonic in the original recording and that might be one of the reasons why you think that it sounds wrong in the way you sorted it out?
Let me know
Cosmin
forgot to mention, I made a deal for an Axe FX ultra
I got it at a good price too, a very good investment for me
It doesnt have the tone match like Axe FX II. It modifies your cabinet so that you can get the same tone.
So I know what amp marco uses, and I asked a guy with a FX II to caputre the tone, I got the settings, then I had to do some tweaking on my cabinet and got really close
I just have some problem getting a good lead tone, some wah in there right?
Here is some playing, got the main riff corrected know and started working on the lead
Hey Erik, sounds like a sweet deal mate!
The riff is almost as clean as it should be, but watch out on the leads mate - timing as a bit faulty and some bends are a bit off, but enough to be perceivable.
Try playing all of this slower and PERFECT - send me as many takes as you wish, ok? I'd love to be able to boast with you being able to play this tune
Cosmin
yes I will need to pratice in a slow tempo it also went a bit better after sleeping on what i learned Im at the legato lick now, I got all notes in there but I think its played a bit different from how I play it.
the goal is to finish it before winter, I planned to play it on a winter concert on a music school, and also open up a new youtube channel with it
sorted the lick legato out what a nice lick. There is a hard descending lick later, and not to forget, the madness part which also is the best part of the song!: )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilzfGT9jcTM
2:09 2:35
Well up to 2.22 this sounds like Satriani and Petrucci are jamming together Legato and AP so well separated In my opinion, the part starting at 2.22 is more difficult, because of the way the formula is constructed. Pay more attention to it and see that you get a good grasp on its pulse - the accents will count A LOT!
Here is a lick that is done in the song before the verse starts again.
I found it familiary, and its a typical "excercise" pattern he uses But its got intresting note choices, so it sound cool, first I fought it was just EVH picking, you know, picking several times one a note playing in a scale, but its more complex
High E----(15----12----14---15--14---12)--x4----18----14---15--18--15---14 (x2)---19---15---18----19--18---15--(x2)--23
I remeber doing this patterns with a metronome while back xD, now I got to do it again
Aaaaah More like the Petrucci type of lick
Make sure you practice it with a metronome mate, it sounded a little shaky in this recording, ok?
Cosmin
Yes of course
Regarding the theory work its going well. Still some work to Do to get around every mode in every scale.
But what should've deal with now? Arpeggios? I am familiar with some major and minor shapes, but there is more to learn
What do you say?
Erik, have you eve tried to build arpeggios based on more complex chord structures? It's kind of the same thing
Start by adding a M7 to the major shapes that you already have In this way, you won't have to learn new shapes, just ADD a new note to the shapes that you already know
Try to go through them using 16th notes, 8th notes, sextuplets all the rhythmic subdivisions
What say you?
Cosmin
sounds good But I will need some asstiance, and more direct orders what to do each day / week
Mate - first task:
1) Find all of your 3 note C, G, D, F major arpeggio shapes
2) Add a M7 to each shape
3) Play them using 16th notes at 70 BPM
Step four, after you send me a recording
Deal?
Cosmin
deal
Btw got to say, making that deal on a that demo-product esp horizon was the best thing i have ever done!
amazing guitar... I thought my Ibanez was so good now I cant barely play it!
Low action, great control and sound with 0.10 gauge
I am glad you like it man! Congrats Show me some pics, will ya?
And also, maybe a little movie with arpeggios, based on your latest tasks?
So, Im going to play major 7th arpeggios?
Or do you mean add the minor 7th note?
Yeah but is M7 minor or major seven?
Or am I getting it all wrong now..
For example, you want me to play a C Major arpeggio, thus meaning we have 1st, 3rd and 5th note.. and then I add the seventh note in the scale and play a major 7th arpeggio?
Cosmin, I could only find 2 shapes that we really useable inte the 3 note major arpeggio
I have a book, which went trough some 2 string, 3 string arpeggio etc, but I didnt really find anyones that were really useable.
I choose to start with the 3 note arpeggios.
I attatched a file, 2 arpeggios shapes played in C and D
I got a few more shapes though not that I think of it, but still, only these to I can play in a fast way!
Hey Erik, these sound very good, but mate, it's not about playing them fast It's about knowing where the notes are and inventing more approaches to using them. For instance, take one of these two which you have found and try to think them in 2 octaves and go through them in groups of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 notes/ beat.
It doesn't have to be fast - we are aiming more phrasing possibilities here, rather than speed
What say you?
Cosmin
Okey cosmin, with two octaves u mean playing the same arpeggio one octave higher or lower right?
I got a vid coming up today, i will play some three note Arpeggios using 16th notes, then on tuesday i will do the same but with major 7th Arpeggios
I am actually finding a lot of useable shapes now
And i havent added the m7 yet so, the vids gonna take a while
Great man! Looking forward to the ideas you will have now New arrows in the quiver, my friend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSq1kWVLoYs
Here is a vid
Covering four shapes, all that can be built on using the m7 note.
Howdy Erik! The shapes are usable and you can find a lot of contexts for them as they are right now - but I only see and hear major arpeggio shapes, no m7 or M7 and I also wanted to discuss your right hand technique which is slowing you down a bit due to excessive movement. You should work on executing the shapes slower and regarding the right hand. you should restrict the movement to up and down only, when sweeping, rather than moving it sideways as you are doing it now
Please let me know if you would like to develop the topic
Cosmin
so got a vid coming up soon, im going to play major arpeggios, major 7th arpeggios, and minor arpeggios?
You wrote: " but I only see and hear major arpeggio shapes, no m7 or M7"
M7 is the major 7th but what is "small m" 7?
Im going to get an arpeggio vid up soon, but just a question
How do you pratice scales or modes?
There are several ways, either u can think of them as you usually do with pentatonics, in position, start on the root note on 6th string and u got this position etc.
Or you can learn in boxes and ignore the root.
And several other ways..
how do you do it?
We can say that, I dont really think, "Here I must play a C lydian scale". I think more, here I will play a scale with a F# in it, and have the root as C. An then do some cool lydian licks I konw
Well I dont know really if this is the best approach, what do you say?
Neither way I just have the sound of the modes in my mind and use certain notes against certain chords or certain notes in a particular context. This is the natural way to use modes
We can develop this idea a lot, since I love it
Cosmin
Sure Cosmin, but that I think is something that will have to come over time but we can of course work on it too.
Also, im at a very hard alternate picking sequence in Theres hope.. can you help me map it? I managed to find a video of marco playing it, but the camera zooms in on his guitar face while he plays it lol
By "map it" I mean finding the best way to play it.
I will find all the notes in there and show you with vid and tab.
Erik, it comes over time for certain, but you need to pay attention to it and all that it comes down to in the end regarding modes would be these things in this order:
1) Learning the theory
2) Training your ears
3) Applying the knowledge
About the AP part, send the materials and we'll discuss over them
Cosmin
I almost got everyting in there now, will do a vid and some arpeggios too
Alright! Let me know when it's ready
Okay tommoroww i will finish it, too many excuses, to lazy I have been
But I got to finish the song before this comes!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08Dxmc_tCEM&feature=youtu.be
Wow Dude! ReMarcoble is coming out!! How cool is that?
Mate You keep straying that's your problem. Do I have your word that you will keep constant focus and we can have discussions on your tasks each week, with recorded vids and everything?
Cosmin
Yes Cosmin, now I got the time, and my shoulder injury is gone.
I have uploaded the lick, I think I got some notes wrong in the end, but it sounds good to my ears, so I think I can go with that. Well this needs to be mapped better if its to be played fast, well I can map it better of course, but Im not so used to harmonic minor soloing, so I leave it to you Well as u can see I have chosen a stupid horizontal apporoach to it
TAB:
---------------------10-------------------------------10--12--14--12h14p12-s10---------12----10-------------------------------
---11---12--14---------14--12---11---12---14--------------------------------------14----------------14--12---15--14--12-11
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--12--11---8---7----8--7--5---8--5---7---5---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------7--11--7--9--7----6--9--6--7--6----7-6-4-3-----------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9-8-5-4--5-4-2-1-------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7-6-3-2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Erik! At a first glance, there's nothing wrong with your approach. The harmonic minor mode involves some stretches here and there - for me, it's somewhat desirable to stretch my fingers rather than have to cross strings But hey, I got BIG hands It doesn't have to work for everybody in the same way.
Do you feel relaxed with stretching out on the fretboard?
Cosmin
Yes I do, I originally played clasical guitar and the teatcher made me strech out under the threat of a swiss army knife
Got long fingers, so yes I belive im good at it.
Well I thought for example this:
-9-8-5-4
instead you play
9-8-5
-------9
That seams easier
Praticed 4 hours today and now going away to jam with a band
So I have regained my foucs
So tommorrow we can talk about praticing I hope
cheers
Hey Erik, well, it's up to you mate. Have your goals and aspirations remained the same?
Yes
The thing is I want to learn much new stuff.. and end up doing nothing
Well in the end its up to me, I always ending up doing my own stuff, but learning new things and essential things Is so important for you
In the end its up to me, but can you help me?
Erik, of course I can help you - the only thing that will make the difference is you being consistent and not wanting to skip from here to there all the time. Variation is a great thing but it gets just like taking a bite out of the roast and immediately wanting ice cream, without finishing the roast and understanding its taste.. Do you dig, mate?
Yes, lets start building a schedule. Well maybe we should not think som much about time, more getting things done. Time is not a problem for me.
Well right know I got your tasks, teatchers tasks, alex tasks. Excercises
Im learning jazz by my own, and a few songs, I can give you exact info of what im learning but lets start from here.
Rythm is something that I should include in my schedule.
Alex is learning my fusion, and you are learning my theory, and rythm I think also you could help me with.
Alrigthie, we'll stick to theory and rhtyhm!
For theory, I was curious if you are acquainted with the Circle of 5ths?
For rhythm - I will think up a series of lessons emphasizing on important rhythm aspects and present them to you - I would like to have full tempo recordings of each and every one, so that I will make sure you got them under your thumb!
Deal, Hombre??
Cosmin
Maybe not so easy with mentoring many people, but yes I am familiar with the circle of fifths I did theory at young age, and way back in the thread you helped me refresh my memory
So we went on to arpeggios remember
Well, since you want to focus on rhythm, let's see...
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/heavy-progressive-rhythm/ - this one will prove worthy of tackling if you want to play more prog oriented stuff as I know you like
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Progressive-Metal-Heat/ This one as well, only more with a modern twist
What say you? Is 2 weeks enough for these two to have a solid take from you?
Cosmin
Sounds nice got my ESP in drop C right now
Learning "remarcoble" by marco, bought the album today, a lot harder to play than I thought that song
Im not a riff guy (since thats what I want to improve) more the lead type.
But that riff seems doable to me, altough I wont be able to learn it in a day as I thought haha (It sounded so easy on the record)
Now I have a string question:
What I want, strings that can be used for both drop C and standard tuning.
Well I know you should use kind of thick special strings for drop tuning.
But 0.11 will do with both standard and drop C tuning right?
Since I like to have my guitar in drop C is it possible to trade Max drop B lesson for a similar lesson? You have done many drop C:s right?
Also Im using amazing slowdowner sometimes to play along instead of a metronome
Yes I will go for that one
Btw at 80 % speed on remarcoble riff
But I just cant do the 3rd variation of the riff, have to practice it a bit more slowly
Think I might give you a recording of Metal metrics and Wallmans lesson this weekend, going well
Also I just managed to play the remarcoble riff att 100 %, altough I could only pull it off at that speed once haha
So have to go back to 90-95 % a couple of more days
I put on 0.11 strings, cleaned up the fretboard and did a little service look nice, but playing whise strings feels hard and thick.
And i get an harmonic sound on the g string, when its not played, so a little dissappointed
Nothing is going so well at the moment thanks to the guitar.
I always get an issue after I do my home service hehe..
But I will try to get som decent records, I was going to show you some remarcoble riffing today, but I will spare your ears that pain cosmin, the whole record gets an disturbing harmonic all the way.
And my playing was not good either
Hey Erik, try to relax a bit mate. I deduce that the string buzz may occur due to the fact that the strings are more tensioned now and the guitar was not setup for this sort of gauge, initially. I recommend you to take it to a tech to set it up, otherwise, frustration will get the best of you.
When the guitar is properly set up, your playing will also improve because you will be motivated. Bad sound or bad response from your instrument can bring you down...
The faster you solve the issue, the better!
Cosmin
Taking your guitar the tech in sweden equals taking your car to the mechanic
Do you have a clue cosmin? what happens when you change to a thicker stringe gauge.
I want to try to lift the string height
The guitar Dont stop Me from learning tough.
But i will mainly work on my new song now.
Its good to focus on creating something on your own and assemble what
you learned.
But as soon as i fix the guitar i Will record the lessons
Ok, Erik, but take care and don't stray Otherwise you will end up asking me to start things all over again!
Yes Cosmin I agree, but this month I think I will mainly work on my new song
Im going to have it recorded in a studio and probably get it on youtube too
Turns out it was the tone control causing the trouble!
Well it could still use a setup, but Im leaving it to the warranty tech next week
Well it doesnt sound that bad, and not that its fixable I feel a lot more motivated and will give u the 2 recording this weekend
Managed to get Metric 4 up before leaving the guitar in
I'm on it as we speak
Hey Cosmin, good feedback, it was what I expected, it needs to tighten up a little, I will work on that and u can give me another drop C lesson when my guitar is back.
In the meanwhile lets work on some theory
Here is an assignment I found on the internet:
demonstrate any of the following (in any key)
Triads – major, minor: chords (all five CAGED shapes) and arpeggios (2 octaves, root on E
and A)
• Sevenths – major 7, dominant 7, minor 7, half-diminished, full-diminished: chords and
arpeggios (2 octaves, root on E and A)
• Pentatonic scales – major and minor (all five CAGED positions)
• Scales – major, natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor (2 octaves, root on E and A)
• Modes – all 7 modes of the major scale – Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian,
Aeolian, Locrian (2 octaves, root on E)
• The harmonised major scale to four note chords in the key of C. I.e. Cmaj7, Dmin7, Emin7
etc. (to be played as both chords and arpeggios)
Could you explain a little about the assignments?
For example, I have never understood "CAGED" and what is meant by "2 octaves root E and A"
Well explain a little about the assignments then I can try to do these things in a sound file
cheers
Hey Erik! This looks great
CAGED means a system that provides shapes for chords that are easy to remember because of the chord positions of C, A, G, E and D in the first positions (using open chords).
For instance - play C major in the first positions and then transpose that shape up the neck to a root that you need to play and presto - you have a C shape - it goes the same with the rest. Please tell me if it's still unclear and we can sort it out
About two octaves having the root on A and E, it means play the arpeggio shapes starting on root notes found on the E string and then on the A string
Please let me know if everything is clear
Thanks Cosmin, that sorted it out
Just a question, do you know a suitable progression for Lydian mode?
Cheers
And that is in A Lydian right I have never done a lydian progression altough I have praticed playing a lot of modes
I am going to play mine in C Lydian.
So Im just guessing its in the key of A lydian, in that case that would be a I-II-VII progression?
Or am I wrong
I was thinking of having 4 chords in there, wondering what the 4th should be i will expermient some
So guitars back hand me another drop C lesson will you
Check out my new song, the last part which is lydian.
Well its just a test record and timing is a bit of cause of the sound I used had much delay.
I used the progression you mentioned, I think it got a bit thin to play over, what do we do about that? The part starts after 2 main riffs.
Also now that Alex mentoring is closing, can you help me with fusion player or is there any other mentor that can help me?
Cheers
Hey Erik!
I am not that much of a fusion player so I'm thinking that it's better to stick to the stuff that we started with for now at least I had a question about the track though - what did you mean about getting 'thin to play over'?
It sounds spacy and it could do a good job in a fusion song out of what I am hearing
A new drop C lesson - hmmmm, how about this one?
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Alter-Bridge-Style-Riffing/
It has some interesting shapes involving groups of strings which will test your accuracy
Cosmin
Well Im not used to the keyboard yet so I noticed now I pressed to less on the keys.
By thin I mean it feels like just playing over a groove of drums Compare it with the main riff with bass.
So maybe I will just have to try to do a better recording or double record it with 2 different sounds.
Also remarcoble is going great but now I am stuck on the string skipping dominant tapping.
Well there is no Marco song easy to learn. Remarcoble looked easier on paper compared to andromeda but is almost as hard
it sound so good when u play the riff, but when i unmuted the backingrack in the record my playing sounded like shit
Just cant do the big stretch run variation and palm muting on C strings sounds a little wierd might be the strings but I got the basic rythm and structure of the riff, have you had a go at it? kind of hard in the beginning, hammer on 3th to 5th fret while playing the C string, its in my muscular memory now atleast
And have you heard the song called "The forest" great progressive fusion track, best one on the album, learning it too.
The heavy parts sound diffcult, and if they do and its a marco song, they will be next to impossible atleast for me
Well, I haven't had the time to tackle any Sfogli songs, but I only need to listen to them to figure out that they are a mean amount of work Tell me, how does the Alter Bridge riff feel to you? Should I be expecting a great REC take soon?
Hello Cosmin I am now back.. its been a week or so
Well now I am done with all non guitar related work so now im going to play all day lol
Well, then, where are those takes?
coming up
I will use mornings for all theory work and tasks.
Then on afternoon evening i work on my own stuff. So I will do the arpeggio video and the drop C lesson soon.
My new fusion song almost ready, then after that I will be working on a progressive metal song
Sounds like a good plan mate - looking forward to hear the fusion song as well! What sort of exercises have you decided to work on for theory?
I pratice scales, modes, arpeggios most things.
Well I will continue with your arpeggio learning methode which you described a while ago.
When i pratice scales, for example i pick a key, starting from C major, moving up the flats and sharps, then i pratice every major mode within that scale, knowing which modes belong and remembering the notes in the scale.
I can work with more methodes I rembered you had some good methodes for praticing scales by singing for example
Haha asian scales mind sharing some intervals of those
Just sharing a quick idea for the new song.
Tempo got a little high maybe 170 bpm
Guitar dont sound to good but dont worry, i will get new strings tommorrow, will be easier to do gallops and tighter playing then too
Hey matey, not bad at all It could be a little tighter if you were to ask me and regarding the drums, you could start with a snare and bass drum pattern (snare on beat 1 bass on beat 2 snare on beat 3 and bass on beat 4 - this being one bar) and only then, when the riff develops go into the double bass drum pattern that you have already used - if it's the way in which the song begins It won't sell you out to the listener If you dig what I'm saying here - you don't give him all in one shot!
Yes, I just picked a cool drum groove to practice some ideas.
I dont know how to program the drums they way you said, but I am armed with the drumkit from hell atleast!
Here is some remarcoble riffing at full speed!
Its not exactly super tight, and sound is bad cause of strings, but I think I can handle the concept of the riff.
The variation on second time, tab, I cant do att full speed as you notice!
Just wanted to show you a little riffing, complete riff I can give you after I get my thicker strings on friday!
I have but not advanced drums for metal songs!
So i have not worked with kicks and snares, doublekicks and stuff.
I do think I got the software for it tough, ez drummer, drumkit from hell expansion
Great that you can help me, I will have some questions for you when I will start working on the song
Also, I did do that remarcoble take with a metronome, and with the backing track, but now I also see when listening timing is a bit of att some places, its strange, cause it feels very good when you play that riff
Hello back again
Well i changed strings and i still have that harmonic sound when playing..
are you sure it is cause the guitar is not used to the thicker strings?
Will a guitar setup solve it? What do you say
A guitar setup will always take care of the issue Imagine that someone who has the right experience will always figure out what's what in far less time and the axe will be prepared through. At least this is what I'd do
And this is really getting on my confidence since im about to change strings on my new guitar for the first time, will it sound rubbish to you know..
Well i took it to the tech and they couldnt guarantee a setup would fix it, instead they tought it was the tone control so I got it fixed on warranty but it wasnt that
Pffff- mate, this is difficult to figure out for me, because I can't see the guitar and I have no clue on what could be wrong with it... Anybody else on the forum might have encountered a similar issue maybe?
Yes I know
I will have it setup after the winter.
But praticing is going good, I feel really motivated.
Its just when it comes to drop tuning I feel a little less motivated cause of the guitar.
But no worries, I can still pratice and it doesnt sound that bad, so now I will start working on your drop C lesson too.
Hey hey Well, give it time and after fixing the axe, things will get into place - but how about the Remarcoble riff? I'm curious to hear that recording at slow tempo with the metronome on?
Yes I think I will do some slower takes today, it wont sound good but I will try to get a decent sound
Here is some riffing.
120 BPM then 135. Original is 158.
I made an "honest" take, I was already warmed up so just picked up the guitar and now I post the first time recordings.
Well as earlier mentioned I just cannot do the picking variation that is 2 times in the intro.
Its not problem doing it just like that, but to do it in the song doesnt work out!
That happens kind of often, a lick you can do easy, but not put into a song togheter with other licks.
Guitar sounded better today, tell me what you think about the guitar sound too
Hey mate
Well, I think you have to work a lot more on this as the timing doesn't seem to be perfect at neither tempo and some of the parts are kind of blurry. I want to be honest with you man - if you can't play a lick in a musical context, it's like you can't play it at all...
Please try to record yourself at slower tempos - regardless of how slow and play everything in the riff in perfect timing and tight as a knot!
Post recordings more often, do it here! And stay focused, k? The tone isn't bad at all, it's just that you need to control the strings in order to avoid the unwanted noise.
Cosmin
I agree with you cosmin. There are no shortcuts to mastering that riff. Its a very cool heavy riff that you want to play, and that makes you rush it.
Well soon im going to start to work on my new song.
Well its not going to be a typical song structure of it, what do you think of that?
By that, Im not going to write a typical metal song that has intro,verse,pre chorus, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, outro in that order you know.
The melodic lead playing will consist of both rythm and solo playing
I think it's a very good idea I got a student in Romania who does this a lot - check out his stuff. His main issue is that his head is WAAAAY over his hands - by that, I mean that he hears wonderful music inside his head that his hands cannot yet play and this is what I am working on with him - helping him hone his skills so that he can play what he hears in his head:
good video, even some bass tapping deserves more views
on sunday i will be recording my song so thats what im dealing with now.
Also both my guitar work well so after that I will get back to praticing!
Only one question.
Well I was working a little on my next song and when recording metal drums which I have never done before.
I noticed u got for example 4/4 signature.
Then u within in that metal 1/2, 1/4 1/8 backbeat stuff and so on.
Well if you set the tempo and u have the same time signature, well It shouldnt matter what note values the drums play?
Hey Erik, if I understand correctly, you want to set a certain tempo and a time signature and variate the note values within this context, right? That is possible and it the pulses you will get will create a wide range of dynamics within a song. My suggestion though is to adapt the drums to the riffs you come up with first and see what you get
Okay cosmin Im going to work on it now.
Ive been really sick so it has taken som time but here it is, my new song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ughKLJk1h2c&feature=youtu.be
Hey Erik! Hope you are feeling better now man! This is very nice and I can see you put a lot of practice and effort into it! Congrats! Was this the first recording or you did several before shooting this one?
I did a few recordings before this one and i also had to edit the jazz part a little, there is a greg howe vibrato in the song but its not shown on the video
Got it! Well, let's hope that this is the beginning of a whole series of videos - anything else in the making, perhaps?
Yes 2 new songs in the making. Also I will cover some lessons and songs.
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