Enforcer-jer Mtp Sessions Thread, yeah this is our place :) Options

[enforcer]

I find it humorous that the person who uploaded this is "ILOVEBLACKMETAL"

Yeah, thats not my cup of tea at all. But you're right, you gotta eat!!! I'd rather do that than what I do...

Patience my young Padawan, we will prevail!

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[jer]

Question for ya Can. I'm at work now, no guitar but I've been bringing my lesson print outs and looking that stuff over.

The solo for Sanitarium: What key is that in? How do I determine that? I suppose I could write out all the notes that I'm playing and figure it out that way.... Is there an easier way? Is it useful to know such a thing? To help see scale shapes?

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[enforcer]

Well the first thing about determining the key, is checking the harmony not the melody. The key lies on the background chords more obviously then the solo. Yes, you can check that out by the notes on the solo, but some advanced solos are known to contain some out of scale notes that can mislead you. Now lets check this out:

Sanitorium has this backing arpegio as a backing:


E||-----------------------------------------------------
B||-----------------------------------------------------
G||-------0--------0------0-----------------------------
D||-----4--------5-------7--------0-------0-------------
A||---2--------3--------5-------4-------2-----4---------
E||-0--------0--------0-------5-------3-----5-----------


Take these as chords played as arpeggios so:

G-0
D-4
A-2
E-0

you have here E B F# G

it makes you a Emsus2

G-0
D-5
A-3
E-0

you have here E C G

C major

G-0
D-7
A-5
E-0

you have here E D A G

Em11

D-0
A-4
E-5

you have here A C# D

Asus4

D-0
A-2
E-3

you have here G B D

G


And then another Asus4


So basically you have a chord progression consisting of:

Emsus2-C-Em11 / Asus4-G-Asus4

(Em11 is lacking the 5th and 9th)

When you play this, you will feel a certain tendency of returning to E note. Thats because E is the key of this song. Determination of the key of the song is generally felt like that, but as you can see, it is generally the root of the first chord That first chord is our key to all. It is a minor chord. So our song is possibly in E minor scale. Lets write it down:

E F# G A B C D E

Look to the chords above. You'll see the only incompatible chord there is Asus4, where you have C# in place of the C. That is a sharpened 6th. That gives you a E Dorian Mode. But you cant replace the C with C# in our main part and play the solo from E Dorian because we have a very significant C major chord which is incompatible with dorian, so we are supposed to play that sharpened 6th only (and optionnally) when that Asus4 G Asus4 is played. When you look to the solo you'll see all the notes are from E minor scale, only on 3rd repetition of the chordline, he has a descending run where he plays C# in place of C over the Asus-G-Asus part. And in the end he plays the chords...

This maybe a little complicated, but you asked a complicated solo, where there is a mode change

Tell me if it is not clear ok?

Cheers

Can

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[jer]

Tell me if it is not clear ok?

I'll look at this tomorrow at work.... Tonight isnt going well at all.....

I used my DV cam this time. Getting that up and running as a capture device was pure frustration so by the time I got to playing I was in a crappy mood.... But hey, I think I solved the sync issue...

First I warmed up with the string skipping exercise. It went ok... Pretty sloppy really.

Then the finger independence... That was ok too. Slow but getting more steady.

Then the strumming/arpeggios. I'm getting pretty upset that this isnt coming together yet... Have you seen any progress in the last 3 times?

Then I start ont he AIC Style lesson. The rhythm part is going ok I think, I improved the part that is supposed to let ring. Playing with that backing sucks cuz it starts after only 2 counts. I cant get the recorder going and then click play and be ready to go in 2 counts... (Note to instructors making backings)

The solo is going horribly. I included 3 takes on the video. All equally bad, I cant get the first note bent a whole step before hitting the E&B string notes together. Then when I do hit those notes they are frequently out of tune. I'm bending them a bit unintentionally....

Oh yeah, did I mention I am having tuning issues? Brand new strings, brand new guitar, its driving me up the wall..... All the bending on the AIC lesson wasnt helping matters.....

Back to the solo. Playing it at 115 and it sounds rushed. Gonna have to slow it down. This will be hard cuz there are only 3 backing track speeds. And the GP file doesnt have drums so its useless. Perhaps I'll add some...

I'm noticing more and more that when I do slow down GP files the timing goes weird at times too. That throws me off. Losfer Words seemed to suffer really bad from that tonight.

The last part of the solo section I started with is killing me. Its off the beat, which I am no good at so of course its problematic. I cant tell where the notes go in the beat.... Its wrong on all 3 clips. Very wrong. The whole thing stinks. And there is plenty more to go. Yeah, I'm pretty down about this.

Losfer Words - This was all over the place. No progress made here. I didnt even finish it. My mind was all over the place and I just had to quit.... So much of what I did was wrong. I felt the time of the slowed down GP file was fluctuating.... Maybe is was just me.

Tonight wasnt good. The arpeggio exercise is not really any better than before I dont think. I played through it about 15 times. The AIC Style lesson is off to a poor start. Losfer Words isnt going anywhere. I cannot even dream of playing it up to speed. I didnt even get to Sanitarium....

Its one of those days.

Oh, and I filmed in widescreen and movie maker (which I use to recode it to a less than 2 gig file) squeezed it back to full frame, so its kinda off.....

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[enforcer]

Hey buddy,

Well I dont know its this video you are actually talking about or there is another one which is total disaster? I strongly disagree with you this being a sucky night:D

I will post detailled comments tomorrow, but rest assured, this is not a disaster, you maybe having a bad night, there is no problem about that. Maybe you slept less the night before or overslept etc, this are the things that reduce your focus, so you may make mistakes thats normal.

By the way, I see here that you made a great improvement on strumming exercise, in last video you had hard time passing from some positions to others while playing chords and your timing had some issues, there are none here apart from a single F playing near the end.

On losfer words you only made some errors, that doesnt make you a total disaster, as I mentioned before, just lack of focus. On 5-4-0 part which is very long, you got bored and you forgot to enter the open string part: same reason, and in the end you played 2 times the main riff in place of playing it 4 times thats all so these things arent problems. You widened your vibratos which is cool and add to that a better sense in timing on them.

I see your tempo feeling has improved greately lately, maybe that is why you think some problems exists. Yeah you have timing issues, especially when you are not focused, but everybody has that, that is the inheritence of being human, your sense of time is relative. With time and practices with metronome this flaw can be compansated for. And also there were really some problems with GP in losfer, if you use RSE try to turn it of and see if this will solve your problem.

For AIC lesson, that problem is the most normal thing in the world, this is the second time you are playing that exercise, plus, it contains a solo. The fact that you are having problems is very normal, we will work harder together and you will overcome these problems thats all.

So dont feel overwhelmed and such, just try to relax for tonight, sleep well and tomorrow before beginning the exercise session, try to clear your mind. Put your Judas cd on, listen to your favorite song and get in the mood. You will nail those exercises, thats not because you must, but because those problems must break, and they got no choice versus a strong will and dedication.

Later Man!

Can

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[jer]

Thanks man I needed that.

And you are right.

I came back to Losfer as you were writing this and took another swing at it.

I also changed some things. This time I took the midi from the GP file and put it in Sonar. I then used the simple cakewalk TTS-1 synth that comes in sonar for the drum/bass/guitar sounds. Its not that cool but it works. Why did I do this? TO GET AWAY FROM GPs JERKY TIMING ISSUE WHEN SLOWING IT DOWN!

PROBLEM SOLVED.

Steady time all the way thru.

I also recorded the guitar part in Sonar and sync'd it with the video I captured with my DV cam in Vegas.

The video/audio are 1000% better than anything else I've done. (production-wise)

I love it. This is a huge load off.

Also, while playing it I did it all with headphones on. NOW I CAN CRANK IT UP!!!!! That helps me feel it. This is IRON FREAKIN MAIDEN, Its gotta be loud!!!!!

The results are FAR better.

Not perfect.

But better.

I also upped the tempo just a tad.

That helped too.

My night is better now.

Video on the way up.


Edit: Language.../skennington






oh man, even censored language gets edited? These moderators mean business!

Its all good. I'll make a note of that.

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This post has been edited by skennington: Jan 23 2009, 05:27 AM

[enforcer]

He he he, thats right now we are talking

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[enforcer]

Now, deeper comments:

For strumming exercise, you are doing pretty well, just I will repeat the previous comment about the strumms, you should let ring every string individually. I know that is a very short time indeed, but you should try to stay in every string that little same time, thus playing that strumms more uniform. Thats all about that, you may speed up a bit, playing it a la metronome for example... You can speed up on this if you want buddy, I think you'll do just fine

Alice in Chains exercise, that is going well, sure you couldnt repeat the first time stride, but thats because you are playing solo now, and you are better in rhythm playing. Keep going on this. If you wish you may isolate the solo part, play it seperately slower with metronome, than when you nailed that you may combine the rhythme and solo parts.

Final Losfer is going very well apart some minor mistakes. That is not an issue, but you should work on the outro too. On this take you were more focused, and motivated that made the difference. All on all great playing. If you wish you may try to play the solo of this, if you got bored of Losfer, I may give you a new solo, now that sanitorium has only lack of speed you may want to play another solo if you wish...

Now, lets talk about the real and only important problem here: buddy, generally you are not using your pinky much. Now that is a problem. Look your main theme playing on losfer. You generally play all the shapes with your first 3 fingers and you hide your pinky, maybe because you dont want it to get in the way of the other fingers You are able to use every finger, so it is really a mistery to me why you dont want to use it. Maybe its because of these vibratos... You may inconciously think that your pinky is weak and you dont want it to get involved but there is a way to solve this, when you need to make bends or vibratos and/or bends you may have your pinky supported by your ring or index finger, there is no shame about it, as they are behind your pinky they wont affect the sound and that will give you a stronger grip. And also around 12th fret and beyound you have a habbit of anchoring your thumb over the fret board, this greatly reduces your finger reach range, so sometimes to reach other frets you need to move your hand, an extra motion of left hand which costs you some time. Thats about it, you need to anchor your thumbs on the back of your fretboard, use your pinky to increase your reaching range, to allow you play further without having to move your hand much. But maybe thats because you have hard time reaching lower strings too, if this is the case, try to shorten your strap a bit, and carry your guitar higher. I know it doesnt look very cool up there, but looks isnt our priority here, if it makes you play easier and better, I suggest you do it. Not up to your neck ofcourse, just a little up to provide you a better playing stance.

I am glad you solved the video problems, last video sync was great and also you can hear yourself clearly, just try not to hurt your ears, these are your most precious assets.

And also about that tuning problem, you may have some intonation issues there, you can check it using a tuner, tune perfectly the open string, then pick the 12th fret, if it is not in tune, you have a intonation problem on that string. (perform this on brand new strings) If you are confident with messing around with your guitar, I may describe you how to adjust your intonation. If not try to get that baby to a local luthier

Try to solve that pinky problem, I dont think you have a problem in using it, but you dont want to use it, if you want I may give you some exercises about that.

I am looking forward to your exercises for tonight, and also you may give some little breaks after each individual exercises, to clear your head, that may improve your overall effectivity of practice session.

You are doing great, I totally feel that you are doing your best, and this will get you better. Take care!

Cheers:)

Can

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[jer]

E F# G A B C D E

Look to the chords above. You'll see the only incompatible chord there is Asus4, where you have C# in place of the C. That is a sharpened 6th. That gives you a E Dorian Mode. But you cant replace the C with C# in our main part and play the solo from E Dorian because we have a very significant C major chord which is incompatible with dorian, so we are supposed to play that sharpened 6th only (and optionnally) when that Asus4 G Asus4 is played. When you look to the solo you'll see all the notes are from E minor scale, only on 3rd repetition of the chordline, he has a descending run where he plays C# in place of C over the Asus-G-Asus part. And in the end he plays the chords...

This maybe a little complicated, but you asked a complicated solo, where there is a mode change

Tell me if it is not clear ok?

I think I follow you. All the notes played are from Emin. And the song starts on E. And has a minor tonality. All 3 of which support the Emin key.

EXCEPT that C# that shows up.

But whenever that C# is played the lead line over the top of it, if there is one, alters from straight Eminor's C to the C# so it doesnt clash.

Is that correct?

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[enforcer]

I think I follow you. All the notes played are from Emin. And the song starts on E. And has a minor tonality. All 3 of which support the Emin key.

EXCEPT that C# that shows up.

But whenever that C# is played the lead line over the top of it, if there is one, alters from straight Eminor's C to the C# so it doesnt clash.

Is that correct?

Yeah buddy,

the only thing that differs between the natural minor and dorian is the 6th, so when solo turn to E dorian (the part Asus4-G-Asus4 part) if you dont play C of natural minor it doesnt clash.

You are correct.

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[jer]

cool.


In regards to my video, you do feel the Arpeggio/strumming thing is getting better steadily?

When upstrumming I know my strumming speeds are not consistant..... And I find it hard to keep my fingers from muting strings accidentally on certain chords.

Got any tips? You havent commented on form or posture much, aside from keeping my thumb behind the neck more often, so I'm assuming thats ok.

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[enforcer]

cool.


In regards to my video, you do feel the Arpeggio/strumming thing is getting better steadily?

When upstrumming I know my strumming speeds are not consistant..... And I find it hard to keep my fingers from muting strings accidentally on certain chords.

Got any tips? You havent commented on form or posture much, aside from keeping my thumb behind the neck more often, so I'm assuming thats ok.

Yeah your fingerings are great and your posture is getting better, actually I am making exercise with the same posture right now

well only tip to get a clear unmuting sound is pressing the frets with only your finger tips, not inside part of your fingers and as I told you before keeping a convexe finger posture, check out this post of mine to see what I mean by convex finger posture:

an early post

you see it on the 3rd and 4th pics.

Apart that you are doing great on strumming arpeggio exercises, making mistakes is normal, the thing is, trying to not repeat them ok?

Cheers

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[jer]

The night got away from me.

I'll be practicing and posting a vid or 2 tomorrow morning.

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[enforcer]

Ok buddy I'll check them out in a few hours...

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[jer]

ok, I warmed up with the prescribed lessons.
Then did a video of the 1st 2/3 of the AIC solo. Its slowed way down. Not sure what the BPM is exactly cuz after I put the stuff in sonar its not lining up with the same numbers. But I dont think that really matters. The point is its slower. I'll get it down and then speed it up slowly.

I'm having a tough time with it. Its speedy for me. I'm just a slow lead player of the highest order.

Anyway, here is is. Shaky for sure, but getting there slowly.

The arpeggios. This I do feel is getting better.

Sanitarium. I did like 1000 takes of this. This is the best I could get. I started making new mistakes. I think due to concentration. I had been at it over an hour and my mind was starting to wander....

I'm gonna do a video of Losfer Words later today and the AIC stuff again.

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This post has been edited by jer: Jan 24 2009, 04:39 PM

[jer]

Here is Losfer Words - Week 2 Day 3

Some mess ups... Dumb ones for a wandering mind. Each time it happened I was trying to think of something else.

Whats the next part?
Is my daughter going to yell to me from the basement while I am doing this?
Is the camera on?
Did I remember to hit record?

Now I know why there are producers. So all the performer has to do is CONCENTRATE AND PLAY!!!!!

Anyway, I tacked on the end part. I played it fine 3x before hitting the "suck button".

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[enforcer]

Man, really I didnt have much to say, your progress is obvious, so there is only two words I can say about the whole:

Pinky! and Thumb! Anchoring the thumb on the back of the fretboard while you are not bending notes is not the priority here just a suggestion, but you must use your pinky! Watch your videos, you are only using your first three fingers And you dont use your pinky (you use sometimes but very very rarely)

Try to use it, and also keep your fingers near the strings at all time, never put them away from the keyboard too much. Thats because when you need to use them when they are needed, you must recover from that distance, and putting them far away reduces your reaction time...

Other than that, all the faults there is caused by lack of concentration you are right. But for just the ending riff of the losfer, you need to work on that lick hard.

The way you are working on AIC style is the correct one, you'll nail that in no time, I am sure of this.

Keep up the good work buddy, its getting better and better...

Later man!

Can

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[jer]

I got in about 90+ min today. Half on the Strumming/Arpeggios and half on the AIC Style lesson. I only video'd some of the AIC stuff. I set GP at 75% and looped the part of the solo I am working on.

Here you can see how it went. This is 5+ minutes of the same part looped and looped and looped.

Very hit or miss....

And NO I didnt use my pinky. Its all only 2 frets apart... Didnt make sense too. I did try to keep my thumb back there though.

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[enforcer]

Yeah, that is an excellent way to nail this. How about other lessons?

Well I think I have to explain the pinky thingy You say that its only 2 frets apart, so it doesnt make sense to use it. That is reasonable, and you are right. But think like this. We are working on these exercises to help you to auto memorize some cross string leaps, fingering positions etc. That means, tiny fragments of this solos will form your base licks inventory to use later as building blocks of improvised solos, other tunes even your own songs... So yes, you might find it unnecessary to use your pinky because it is easy at 12+ frets. But think like this, you play a pattern there, what about playing that same pattern from the 1st fret? There is a 2 fret distance which is considerable from that position, so you will need to play it with pinky. So you will play same pattern of notes, using a different fingering there, as we want to rely on your muscle memory, that will be inapplicable, you will need to make exercises about the same thing again. That is why I suggest you to use the same fingerings for same sequences all around the fretboard like tabs like 5-7-8 fingered with index-ring-pinky, 5-6-8 fingered with index middle pinky and 5-7-9 fingered with index middle pinky wide...

Now, for tonight I would like to have a video of Strumming arpeggio exercise with the speed you can play it clean and right. A final take for Sanitorium solo, and string skipping exercise. Because I plan to give you new exercises for new techniques...

Later man, take care

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This post has been edited by enforcer: Jan 26 2009, 12:20 PM

[jer]

I squeezed this out before work this morning.

I used the original song as a backing. I am on the right, the backing is on the left. Very easy to hear me over it this way. I'm a touch louder than the backing too.

I'm pleased. This is the first session I played it up to speed since I started. All of a sudden its possible!!!!! I did about 9x thru this morning. This was the last one.

Not perfect, but ya know? NOT BAD EITHER!

I'm pleased.



Tonight I'll do the strumming one as a final. As well as the string skipping exercise. Thats coming along well. Since its used as a warmup I havent been video-ing it.

Honestly I dont see myself getting the AIC lesson up to speed this week. But I want to keep going on it.



I just realized that the youtube audio is mono...

Here is a wav of the audio if that helps.
www.jershangout.com/files/uploads/temp/sani-jer-final.wav

***ACTUALLY IF YOU HIT HQ IN THE YOUTUBE VIDEO IT IS IN STEREO!***

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

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This post has been edited by jer: Jan 26 2009, 01:17 PM