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GMC Forum _ REC _ Blues Licks

Posted by: ClaudioStrat Oct 17 2020, 04:54 PM

Original lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/blues-licks1/

nice lesson, my attempt to record myself.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 17 2020, 08:41 PM

Hi Claudio! Nice to find this one here!

Blues licks are great to train our phrasing. One of the most difficult parts of playing blues is rhythm. The problem is that blues licks usually combine different rhythm patterns like 4th notes, 8th notes, triplets, silence and tied notes. These combinations make it tricky to master.

You have a good technique base here, but there are two elements that need work:

1) TIMING
2) BENDING

Regarding timing, this starts happening with the first lick which is not tight at all. Then, there are some sections that are tighter but this is a problem that appears on most of the parts. At first, it's important to know if you can hear it so please compare your take on first lick with the original and try to identify the timing issues. Once you can hear it, these are some ideas to improve your timing:

- Play along with the original lesson focusing on playing the licks tight. Once you can play them with the same rhythm, focus on other details like notes duration, and vibrato.
- Polish 1 lick at a time. Listen to the original first lick, and then play it. Use the backing track and practice the same lick over and over, as a loop. Record yourself and compare again this recording with the original.
- If you are not familiar with music notation, (check https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beat-Basics-2/) and then dedicate some time to understand the rhythm based on the guitar pro file. Pay attention to silence, 4ths, 8ths, and triplets.

Now talking about bending, I notice that some of those bends are not reaching the correct pitch, for example the ones at 00:18. There is a great exercise that I usually recommend in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNDyI5b3Fh8&t=1s by Joe Satriani. I also recommend you this workout: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginner-Bending-Workout/

If you need any help, please let me know. We can work on these elements at my mentoring program.

Keep on the hard work! Cheers!

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 17 2020, 09:57 PM

First off congrats on completing a REC! Learning these can be a real challenge and it's a great way to expand your musical vocabulary and a great way to learn new techniques. Not to mention a very good way to get used to being on camera. You show a very good ability to memorize and play a long sequence. Kudos! Let's talk about some of the issues that need work as well.

At the risk of repeating what Gabe went into, I did notice that your timing does drift a bit and isn't locked in to the beat. As you continue to work in bootcamp on playing with a metronome, your sense of timing will improve dramatically. Eventually you won't need the metronome as you will internalize the click and become your own metronome. I also noticed the bending to pitch issues. One way to work through this is to play the fretted note that you are trying to bend to, then compare it to the bended note and see if they sound the same. Also as you continue to play, your ear will develop more and it will let you know if your not quite hitting pitch. Al these things will come with time and practice. One last thing I noticed was that you start a lot of pick strikes with an upstroke. There is nothing inherently "wrong" with this, but it's a bit unusual as players typically start with a down stroke. Just worth mentioning as I noticed it as I was watching.

In short, you have a very good start here and it's something you can build on. This is a great lesson as it has so many techniques worth working on in a single REC. Keep at this one when possible and maybe try it again later. For now, as Kris mentions, maybe try one with a little less speed and maybe a bit less tricky.

Todd

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Oct 18 2020, 02:44 PM

YEAH!! Very cool Claudio - congrats for submitting your first REC. Submitting REC takes has the same effect as live gigging for many students, it basically makes you progress fast for reasons you cannot experience otherwise. This is mostly related to the feedback you get, and the fact that you expose your playing to criticism.

Overall I think your playing is very promising - and the problems I see (which Gab described well) are due to you rushing things. So I don't think there are no major issues with your playing - though you will need to hone in on the trickier parts.

My advice is to either to start fresh with a new lesson with a lower pace/difficulty to make sure you have time to think about all the subtle details. Or - revert back to practicing this one at a slower tempo some more.

I will give you a 4 for this lesson, but I have strong feeling that you will quite quickly be able to collect some high grades with a change in practicing strategy.

Again - your playing is very promising and I am extremely eager to see your next take 👊❤️

/Kris

Posted by: Darius Wave Oct 20 2020, 06:36 PM

Hey there Claudio!

Wellcome to REC. I hope you're having some quality time with your guitar. Before going into details please keep in mind everything we say is for your good - to help you develope even faster Sooo...any complaints are just for the sake of you to know what to fix in the first place

Now about the take:

Timing is really a necessary thing to first understand and then apply precisely. Timing decided on how you create the groove with your playing. Your notes are more like "somewhere around" of what Gabriel has played. There are tolls deliverd with the lesson that help to understand how are things working exactly in slow tempo and what are exact rhythm values. The more time you spend of honest analysis, the more you will learn. Going for shortcuts and perparing drafts only ,will not take you any further n omatter how many years will pass. It is not just the time of playing that matters, but how efficiently you spend that time.

I highly suggest to make yourself a competition wiht yoursel....competition on how much details you can capture and recreate that we would have nothing to spot as a difference in upcomming take

Other than that I think your pick grip is to stiff. Sometimes fingers are used to compensate the extra amount of power that came from the pick stroke. It helps to not let it fall from your hand and to not let it stuck between strings. So hold the pick firmly but keep some very little "air" between fingers to let it move

Posted by: Fran Nov 4 2020, 02:10 PM

Almost there, 4.5