mission 12 doubles
mission 12 singles
mission 13

Hi sarge! I'm having a hard time syncing my audio with my videos because I can only do it with my phone and it's taking forever. I can upload the MP3 and you can hear the quality. I have the ability to do it but it's so hard on an iPhone.

Let me know if that's ok. Thanks!

WELL FOUGHT SOLDIER!! The quality is fine In the upcoming lessons you may need to record some of these the same way you record for collabs by synching vid due to the complexity of the bits for the near future, iphone works just fine

Let's Debrief!! (Double debrief actually! I don't typically like to double debrief but I have the same feedback for both and you sorta KAAARUUUSHED it so here goes!)


MEDAL OF HONOR
1.)Great hand synch on both missions
2.)Tight playing with the beat on both missions
3.)Barruutal and Tight Palm Mute on both missions

Soldier, you are really moving along. I can see the work you are putting in and it's paying off!! Your MULTI PICKING is tighter, you palm mute/string control is very good and your hand sync gets better every time I see you play.

BLOOD ON THE FRETS!!!!!! That's how I like it! The only tick is that I see your pick hand starting to "ball up" a bit and rely on your left hand for muting. I"d like to see your right hand stretch a bit and try to cover all the strings for the upcoming licks that won't let you mute with your left hand.

Many of the licks so far focus on one or a few strings. Many of the licks to come will force you to pick every string and push your muting ability. That's in the future. for now.. congrats are in order. You have just joined the very few folks who have EVER made the DOUBLE CHEVRON PATCH.

In short, you just ...

LEVELED UP!!!!!!

Nice, well done, keep shredding






This post has been edited by Bas Cuthach: Aug 17 2015, 01:25 AM

He badged up two missions at once! Rare but well earned

Hi Sarge! Here is mission 14....

Just 1/2hr before this shoot I had one of my wisdom teeth pulled out. The Dental block Novocain still had half my face completely numb and with the narcotics I was feeling pretty good.

3 hours later I was in excruciating pain lol!


Mission 15! I'm this was my third take and my last take never recorded. My hands were on fire during this one. I'm using both economy and hybrid picking. I'm learning to control my legato rolls in time not just flung. I do it during this video but correct myself which is nice to see.




Bas!!! I'm coming for blood!

Hey your pretty highly ranked officer... Congrats man! I get motivation from it! Thanks!



This post has been edited by Jim S.: Aug 19 2015, 04:22 AM

thanks, im looking forward to it, it will be nice to have some players to run with

WELL FOUGHT SOLDIER!! You are really earning the living daylights out of it!! Your technique continues to improve and your aggressive approach is impressive!

MEDAL OF HONOR
1.)Clean Palm Mute
2.)Great Finger Control
3.)Musical Dyamism

HOWEVER!::

Now that you are in the "HOT ZONE" past MISSION 13, these will get more technical and thus I need to be able to match up your picking with the beat. So from now on, in ever future mission, please do not use that jazzy drum beat. I like it It's musical! But it's not going to work for the missions. Just a solid click track, one snare or one drum is what I need to make sure you are playing on the beat. Since you are using the iphone to record, it's difficult to hear you and the drum track. And when the drum track is doing fills, using cymbals, etc. It makes it really tough for me to judge your playing. So from now on, when you hit RECORD just use either a single snare or single click just keep the drums/clicks as simple as possible. Now then.....


you just ...

mission 16
mission 17
mission 18

Hey Sarge! Start mission 17 halfway through. Somehow it took my previous take

This post has been edited by Jim S.: Aug 23 2015, 10:37 PM

WELL FOUGHT SOLDIER!! HOLY CRAP SOLDIER!!!! I really don't often do a triple badge, but you really did KRUSH these!!!! You are on a ROLL soldier!!! Keep it up and don't spare the whip!!!!!!!

Let's Debrief!

MEDAL OF HONOR
1.)Very clean and precise playing
2.)Tight righ/left hand synch
3.)Solid Palm Mute


Let's dig a bit deeper!!!
Soldier, I can see how hard you are working on these and I can appreciate it!!! These lessons are not simple and you are really burning it up!!! Even the dreaded LESSON 17. You are developing very quickly as a player and it's great to watch!! I do see some not great bits creeping in to your playing though.

1.)You are starting to ball up your right hand under picking stress. This reduces the amount of the hand available to mute strings and requires the left hand to pick up the slack when muting.
*This is a very common technique and isn't "bad" or "Not correct" as such. It just limits certain things that you can play cleanly. I would suggest you focus a bit more on the right hand and see if you can make it spread out a bit more to cover more of the bridge for muting. This will help in the MISSIONS you are about to fight through.
*One way to force your hand to do this is to pull a GEORGE LYNCH and force all your right hand fingers straight out. At first this feels IMPOSSIBLE. But your hand will adapt so that only the parts hitting the bridge stay extended. TRY THIS IN YOUR NEXT MISSION!!!

Here is a quick picture to demonstrate what I"m talking about.


Keep this in mind during your next MISSION. For now, GOOD NEWS!!!!

you just ...




This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 23 2015, 07:46 PM

That lesson 18 was sick yo, your badge says 17?

Hey thanks Bas! It was a surprise to see a jam mission. There are a few other licks from the lessons I could have incorporated and mixed better. I'm proceeding with lesson 19... The tap. I have some familiarity with this style of tapping but am excited to slow it down and gain control of the beat. My tapping is not very strictly even so this next lesson will be great!

Sorry about that I'll fix your badge Soldier!! Well fought!! It's so rare to do a triple, my fingers wouldn't let me do it. I fought through it though. Your new badge is up!




This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 23 2015, 07:47 PM

Thanks Sarge! I'll try and flatten my hand and get closer to the strings!

Ps I fixed the audio in mission 18

This post has been edited by Jim S.: Aug 23 2015, 11:50 PM

Sounds like a plan SOLDIER!!!

Sarge these missions are killing it. Coupled with the auto sped up snare track and good concentrated practice I'm finding such joy. I'm excited to out do myself and discover flaws in my technique.

Last night I worked on mission 19 "tapping" and while learning it I found position shifting to be the real challenge with left hand strength. I found the hardest position shift and I just looped it and sped it up until my hand nearly fell off. Blood was on the fretboard last night!

Glad to hear you are EARNING IT soldier!! But don't killer yourself!! You can't stay in the fight if you are wounded and laying in Medical Tent!!

I'm very happy to hear that these Missions are motivating you to fight harder and get better an I can see the results!!! Keep at it soldier! There are many, many, mine fields along the way that will serve to show you where the gaps in your technique are. Just like you mentioned, that's a good time to isolate and loop until you work through it.

Once you can do that, you can put the entire bit together and play it smooth. BINGO!!!! Well done Soldier!! Looking forward to your next Mission!!!

Sarge

Mission 19


I did make progress with mission 20 but I want this to be a bit special and really push my abilities. In mission 20 I'm going to have a benchmark video on picking and hybrid picking to see my top speed on each of the 3 locks on mission 20. Also I plan to walk up the shapes of the pentatonic. I don't ever want to play the standard shape ever again. I am sick of it!!!!

Here is the first lick of Mission 20. I get pretty fast for me




This post has been edited by Jim S.: Aug 31 2015, 04:09 AM

WELL FOUGHT SOLDIER!! These are two VERY different missions and you are doing quite well on both. Let's focus on 19 for our Debrief as you are still knee deep in 20!


Let's Debrief!

MEDAL OF HONOR
1.)Precise hand control
2.)Clean pattern shifting
3.)Solid Palm Mute


This lesson is quite stressful on the hands until you get to the point where you can actually lighten up on the touch. Initially, you may notice your hands want to clamp down which makes it hard to shift to the next position. The Mission is designed to train your hands to strike lighter and focus on the finger tips rather than the entire hand. From the look of if, you GET IT!!!!
Nicely played Soldier!

you just ...

LEVELED UP!!!!!!





As for the next mission, you seem to be quickly getting it down!! Just like the previous mission, try to use as little left hand pressure as possible, keeping your wrist loose, and focusing on the very end of your finger tips. This will allow your hand to glide over the pattern.

You are really doing well on these soldier! KEEP IT UP!!!

Sarge



This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Sep 3 2015, 12:58 AM

Sarge! Mission 20


It's split into 3 videos of all the work.

Well fought Soldier!!! Welcome to the wonderful world of running Pentatonic scales in wacky ways!!! Being able to add open strings and being able to slide through the various positions of the pentatonic scales can really open up great avenues for solo work.

So then, Let's debrief!!
MEDALS OF HONOR

1.)Solid understanding of the mechanics of play and musicality of the scale
2.)Tight repetition
3.)Clean Strikes combined with strong legato

Congrats Soldier, you just ...

LEVELED UP!!

Your playing is getting better and better. I can see that you are getting tighter control and more reach. You are more than ready for the FIRESTORM That awaits you in the Advanced lessons Soldier!!! You are already close to your THIRD CHEVRON BADGE @ Level 26! KEEP IT UP!!

Sarge