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GMC Forum _ REC _ Soul & RnB

Posted by: Sack Oct 23 2020, 04:31 PM

Original lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Soul-Guitar-Lesson/

Hi GMC! Now that I'm listening again to it, I don't feel proud about my bends here and especially for the one at 00:24 :( Beside that I tried my best to get it sound clear all the way, I hope it's ok! I loved working on that piece and I sure will keep it in my bag!

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 23 2020, 07:00 PM

Hi Sack! Great job here!!

I think that you already noticed the things that need work here, however I must say that I've really enjoyed the feel and groove of this lesson. You look and sound comfortable playing these licks and rhythms, and you only sound uncomfortable when bending. The best you can do to polish it, is to isolate the licks that include bends and work on them as exercises, and why now, work on any other GMC lessons that focuses on this technique. Stephane has some great ones, Ben and Darius too.

Going even deeper with my analysis and very strict, these are 3 elements that you could review.

- Pitch/Tuning: It's very small, but I hear some little pitch issues here and there. Maybe it's related to your guitar, or strings. Nothing serious but I said that I was going to be deep and strict with my analysis!
- Articulation: Some notes are cut too early. Compare the licks with the original. It will give the whole solo a cooler vibe.
- Tone: What about adjusting a bit the EQ to make is sound warmer?

Again, I'm trying to be very specific to make my feedback the more helpful possible.

This is an 8! Keep on the great job!

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 23 2020, 09:46 PM

This is a big step forward from the last rec imho well done!! You have a very good sense of the piece. It makes use of a variety of techniques all packed in together and you do a good job of navigating all of it without stumbling. Also your use of hybrid picking is effective here as well. I can tell you are grooving along with the piece and it makes it enjoyable as a listening experience and that's the key to any performance. If it sounds like a player is struggling, it's very hard to enjoy the music. You clearly have spent time in the woodshed to get familiar with this and it shows in your playing! I did notice, as Gabe mentioned, a slight tuning/intonation issue on the high E past the 12th fret. I'm not sure if the guitar is a bit out of tune or if the intonation is causing it. If the intonation is not set properly, notes might be in tune below the 12th fret and then seem out of tune above the 12th fret. Just as a rule of thumb, it's important to tune with a tuner before each and every take. It's a bit of a pain, but even non musicians can tell is something is a bit out of pitch. They can't put their finger on it, but it will take away from the listening experience.

I thought your bending was much better than the last vid. The bend at 39 looks to be good but almost sounds a pinch flat. This could be back to intonation. I could tell that you've been working on your bending to pitch and while it's much improved, it still could use a bit of polish. For each bend, move the fingers up to the note your aiming for to get that not in your ear and then try to bend up to it. You can even use a tuner for this to see if you are hitting the not as a fretted note and as a bend. If you are trying to bend up to a B for example, on the E string, just fret the b note you are trying to hit. Make sure it says B on the tuner, and then bend up to B from the original position. It should read B on the tuner again. If it reads something else when you fret the note, the guitar is either out of tune or needs intonating.

Huge improvement here and congrats! Solid 8 from me!

Todd

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Oct 26 2020, 10:29 PM

Very nice!!

What strikes me first is is also that your sound would benefit from a little bit of added warmth...which probably means there is nothing too serious to comment on.

When listening more I hear how well you do the ending ritardando at 01:06 - however then it also strikes me that Steph is pretty much playing slightly behind the beat all the time, but you are not. If you could catch this laid back kinda vibe, you would sound godly!

Killer playing mate, you get an 8 from me.

Posted by: Darius Wave Oct 30 2020, 03:41 PM

Hey there!

I feel like your getting some better control over dynamics. You found a sweet spot of the soft and sensitive touch. The notes that are in contrast, cut through with their presence and attack. I still belive there is more headroom to extend the variety of strong attack articulation but what you show us today is on the very good way already.

Unfortunately (as probably expected) tehr are some details that uncover the fact you are learning. Mainly it's control over pitch when you bend and vibrate, but there is also a pitch issue when you play octaves - this may occur due to fingers pressure or imperfect tuning process. When there are critical points like this, it is worth to recheck these particular frets on you tuning device. Tuning guitar is always a compromise.

as for vibrato itself, be more carefull with your index finger. Your hand looks very good and the source of motion is correct but it sound liek you do not release the bend enough, to make it go back to "zero" and vibrated note sounds "up with the pitch".

Still it's all very pleasant to listen.

Posted by: Fran Nov 4 2020, 02:13 PM

Pass: 7.75