Great.. I still need to understand the theory well.

I did grasp the timing.. need to practice a bit and record.

looking forward to the next assignment.

I went through the replies and that was awesome although the first part didn't make sense to me (too much theoritical) .. I will learn them one by one. I am always thinking in terms of chords/ or what sounds good on a chord and not sticking to a scale. As I said, I still need to learn a lot when it comes to theory. I have been reading a few articles and definitely have learnt intervals, and major scale (and bit of minor scale, I can trace them out given some time) particularly. I have also come to know some modes such as Mixolydian (been doing that a lot), and recently, Lydian and now Dorian.

Can't take all theories at once but few at a time is good. BTW, I am stealing a thread by Emir about playing D major scale all over the neck and been practicing that behind the scenes as well. That was supposed to be secret. ha!

Be sure to ask anything you need about theory, will be pleased to help you!

And here's our next weekly assignment,
it's a AP Lick in key of Am, played over Am, F7 and E7 chords,
kind a blues/jazz feel since it has few chromatic lines,
string skipping is involved as well.
Tempo is 120bpm, try it slow and build up the speed smoothly.

 AP_Lick.gp5 ( 2.32K ) Number of downloads: 11

I m on this.. grabbed the notes at 40bpm.. wow.. long way to go. Not sure if 120bpm is possible in a week.

So, what is the trick here, I see there are so many off notes but it sounds good. Landing on the right note at the beat?

120bpm is the tempo I chose cause it sounds ok,
you don't have to play it at 120 by all means but get as close as you can.

Could you be a bit more specific about "off" notes you mention
so I could give you explanation?

I mean the chromatic notes.. sharps than regular Am Scale ?

Well the regular Am scale was hardly in use there,
we had A Dorian over Am chord instead.
F7 chord provides us with Eb note and as usual tool in Blues/Jazz
we get to connect chord notes by playing chromatic, Eb, E and F per example.
The we had E7 chord that gave us G# note instantly,
we might consider using A Harmonic minor over this E7 chord
but Harmonic minor would hardly sound Blues/Jazzy.
Instead we stick to notes of E7 chord (E, G#, B and D) while connecting few using chromatic,
D,D# and E per example, also we used G note as a passing tone towards G#, 9th note in 3rd bar.

Thanks Muris for explaining.. I will read that again and grab the whole thing one by one. I have to have guitar to understand.

Anyway, here is another development on my end. Hope its good to post here. Couldn't stop from sharing...

I got my G-force to my friend in US (via ebay) and he will be shipping it very soon to me. Can't wait to try it out. ooo.. so excited!

Congrats, I recall how I was excited when I got it.

okay.. now I understood the theory.




Thanks so much. I hope you are 'using' your G-Force and Triaxis.

ah progress.. I am still not yet used to the fingering but I just tried with 70bpm and went well.

80... arrrg struggling at 90.. the last bit.

yeaaa!! did at 90!

yup.. just did it at 100bpm.. cool now its getting pretty extensive!

My brains kind of slow perhaps.. I saw a video on youtube (on speed) that said.. its just not about practice.. or fingers.. its about how fast you can think..

That's very true, muscle memory has major roll
but nothing can't be done without proper brain use.

oh yea.. doing it at 110bpm.. sloppy.

Keep it up, it shall work just fine!

You know what? I just tried at 130bpm.. saw Petrucci on his video gave tips to try on a faster tempo and them come back on the slower, gets a lot easier.

Of course, my fingers just don't move at that speed but definitely thought I would try.. I think I can do up to 114bpm or so.

Oh yeah, pushing things a bit ahead of our current limits
could be quite useful to figure out how our hands should act,
I'm glad you tried it!!
Whatsoever, 114bpm sounds like a fine match, go for it.

I will record a take on Sunday.. been quite busy with work and Saturday is a busy day for me. Hope its okay.

on that note.. I just tried .. and voila.. 120bpm!!! need a bit more practice.. but YEAH I CAN DO IT BABY!!

Of course you can.