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Posted by: Tolek Feb 17 2009, 09:39 PM

Hey Muris!
I´m so excited about the beginning of this challenging training. So, as I´m not a great speaker and I don´t see the necessity of it now, I´ll start with the main things.

About me
After 10 or 11 unmusical years of life, I started playing the guitar. My teacher allowed me to skip some study years as I progressed pretty fast. For Christmas 2005 (or 2006, I don´t remember), I got my first electric guitar. I practised a lot and was inspired by my idol Carlos Santana. Then, for my 17th birthday I got my lovely JEM and practised the whole day during the holidays. This hasn´t changed until now. Until those wonderful time with my instrument, I knew that music plays and will play a big role in my life. But I wasn´t sure about the jobs. I was told that I was difficult to live from music, so I studied intensively mathematics at school which I like, too. After the summer holiday 2008 in Igalo where I met you, you convinced me to focus on music. Well, I changed school and have no serious problems there. At the moment, I am the best in music in my class ( ) and I know that I won´t have problems with living from music. Ideally, I´d like to travel around the globe and play my music for people. If this won´t be possible, I still have my classical guitar diploma, so I can be a guitar teacher.

My Weaknesses
-improvising (you´ve seen me improvising, so you have an idea of the chaos that I´m talking about )
-timing
-technique
-finishing ideas (I started a lot of projects and never finished one)
-sometimes, I don´t feel that I have control over my hands

My Goals
-being that versatile/good to live from music later on
-apply my theoretical knowledge (which is pretty good) in praxis
-to have a certain charisma on stage since I´m performing more and more frequently (I think that only a few tips should be ok which I could try to apply)
-expand my fretboard knowledge (I know what note is on which fret, but when improvising, I am not fast enough)
-play jazz!

Some Videos
Bohemian Rhapsody Solo

I think that my vibrato improved, but it isn´t very confident here. Also my tone control could be better. The good thing were the bends.

For the Love of God

In general, I´m satisfied with the playing. There were a few sloppy notes, timing and whammy bar problems.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Smokon&view=videos


Currently working on:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/w-a-mozart-turkish-march/
I have problems with the fast AP part, but it will be better in a few weeks. I have to get used to the melody/fingering.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/e-minor-melodic-solo/
I started practising this first-class melody in order to develop my vibrato, bends and composing skills. I think that I can play it pretty good now, it only needs some small corrections.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/muris-varajic-alternate-picking/
Now, this lesson is killing me. I can´t go further than 90 bpm. And even at that point, it´s not very clean.

Sometimes, I practise Mojo Oro.

Could you give me the bt´s of the two middle lessons, please? Both at 90 bpm.
Well, that´s it I think.

Cheers,
Tolek

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 19 2009, 01:33 PM

Hi Tolek.

Since I know pretty much about you
I will give you few tasks right away.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/steve-lukather-style-lesson/
Luke's lesson is probably a nice mix of playing all around the fretboard
using few scales, with lots of expression and ideas.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/mark-knopfler-style-lesson/
You're probably asking yourself why this!
Well, this lesson is soooo much about timing,
if you play it just a little bit faster or slower groove wise it won't sound right.
Note, if you're not comfortable with Mark's picking technique
you can play it with the pick, no problem at all.
My thing is to feel the whole thing and get the groove down.

Those 2 lessons are maybe not high technical stuff
but they are VERY demanding when it comes to execution
which just might push you to another level of playing.

Due to your busy schedule (as you said)
I'm not gonna give us any time markers,
no need for video at this point as well, mp3 would work just fine.

Good luck and let me know if you need anything else.

Posted by: Tolek Feb 19 2009, 08:53 PM

Hey Muris!
Glad to read something new in this topic! Those two lessons are really nice, I love them and am very keen to master them. I can already play the Luke lesson, learnt it a few moments ago. It only needs some perfecting. I´m gonna start the 2nd one tomorrow evening, I think.

As for showing my progress, I try to upload videos to youtube and show them to you. And I´ll pay attention on the time, I´ll practise the lessons and try to show videos every week or every two weeks. Thank you for understanding my busy schedule.

Cheers!
Tolek

PS: I forgot to ask you if you could provide me the backing tracks to both lessons? At full speed, please.

Posted by: Tolek Feb 22 2009, 04:37 PM

Hey!
Could I get the BT´s at full speed, please?

Thanks

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 23 2009, 01:04 PM

Backings are on the way.

Posted by: Tolek Feb 23 2009, 01:16 PM

Just got them, thanks.

Posted by: Tolek Feb 24 2009, 01:22 PM

Hey there!
I just completed the first post.
Could you give me some advice on how to expand my chords knowledge? I know how chords are built, but I often don´t know how to fret them. I have no troubles with the standard first position chords nor the barré chords over the whole neck nor with 7th chords, dim,... .

See you,
Tolek

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 24 2009, 02:45 PM

There are many ways to fret chords
so all you have to do is to find notes that you're looking for.
Tell me what kind of chords make you problems and I'll try to
give you an example on how to fret them.

Also, you said you completed first post, what post?

Posted by: Tolek Feb 24 2009, 03:09 PM

I only know a few patterns and I want to learn more. In jazz, there are a lot of patterns that I´ve seen but never remembered. I think that such a chord knowledge should have every guitarist... So, time to start working with that!


The first post of this topic where all the information is.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 24 2009, 03:12 PM

Just give me type of chord you have troubles with and I'll explain it, no worries.

But I still don't get the first post thing tho,
you finished working on those lessons or?

Posted by: Tolek Feb 24 2009, 03:17 PM

9th chords, 11th chords, or just simply a 7th chord with the 3rd in the bass or similiar.



I finished the "About me" section in the introduction post and added a point to "My Weaknesses".
I´m still working on the lessons, they only need some precision at timing and hand movement.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 24 2009, 03:31 PM

Ok, with 9th chords the thing is that you have to play 9th and 7th by all means,
if you miss 7th it'd be add9 and that's not 9th chord.
But you can miss either 3rd or 5th (better if you miss 5th tho)
if you have problems to play all 5 notes.
Per example G9 chord, there are notes G, B, D, F and A.
Try it like this, G note on D string 5th fret, B note on G string 4th fret,
F note on B string 6th fret and A note on high E string 5th fret.
As you can see, there is no D note which is 5th but you're still getting G9 chord.
And if you eventually 3rd then you'll have no idea
if it's G9 or Gmin9 but you'll still have some sort of 9th chord.
Those are major rules that you should be thinking of when you're
fretting 9th chords "in a walk".

11th chords are different story tho and most of a time
it's considered as a slash chord, per example G/A which is the same thing as A11.
Notes of this chord are A, C#, E, G, B and D.
if you take a look how its constructed you'll notice 2 chords inside,
A and G chords.
it's very tricky to play all these 6 notes at once
so many guys just play A in bass with G chord somewhere above, which is G/A.

For more info about shapes I would have to ask you to look
at many websites that provides million of patterns for chords,
otherwise I'll end up here writing whole day.




Got it.

Posted by: Tolek Feb 24 2009, 03:36 PM

Ok, thanks for explaining this so briefly. I already knew those things (some of them ), but wasn´t very sure. I´ll try to find out some patterns.

Why is the 11th chord called slash chord?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 24 2009, 03:46 PM

It's not actually called slash chord
but it's almost the same thing as G/A or what else
so you can look at it that way,
"/" is slash sign and there you go.

Posted by: Tolek Feb 24 2009, 03:50 PM

Ok, I got it now. I thought Slash uses those chords a lot and that´s why they´re called like that!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 24 2009, 04:00 PM

Nope.

Posted by: Tolek Feb 26 2009, 10:05 PM

Good evening!
I recorded two videos. Maybe a third one will come tonight. Maybe!
I know both are not perfect, they still need some approvement, but anyway they´re not that bad.


Steve Lukather Lesson



E Minor Melodic Solo



Cheers,
Tolek

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 26 2009, 10:35 PM

That was some nice playing Tolek, well done!!

Regarding your sound,
can you please try to dial midds and maybe even trebs a bit lower next time?
That's not big job I guess and your sound
will be much warmer and smooth after that.

Now about lessons, E Minor melodic Solo
was really played well and in time,
the only thing I would work more here is vibrato,
there are many long bended note where you can apply
that wide and slow vibrato to make your guitar singing in a way.

And as for Luke lesson,
pay more attention to vibrato of course (Luke is well known of great vibrato tho )
but also on timing, specially in middle section over Bb chord,
you should take Ab note as a marker and aim to lay it
right on first beat in next bar, on top of the Fm chord if I'm right.


Good work so far Tolek, now we need to polish everything nicely,
looking forward to next takes!

Posted by: Tolek Feb 26 2009, 10:49 PM

Thanks for that fast reply!

Again, but this time in noob language, please! I´m new in this are, so I don´t know exactly what to do. I uploaded two pics that show my settings in POD Farm:
In Luke lesson:


In E Minor lesson:


I think I know what you mean, but when I do it, it doesn´t sound how it should, imo.

I´m glad you liked them, btw!


Sure, I´ll work on that. How can I improve it? When I try to train it, I do it like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YJ-UqOb4io and try to do some different vibratos (aggressive, wide, soft,...).

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 27 2009, 12:02 AM

I can't tell much from watching those picts Tolek
since I don't use same unit PLUS it depends
a lot from rest of the gear, guitar, pickups etc,
I would just do some tweaking to get more warmer sound,
no big deal tho, it's nothing THAT bad.



Sure, Rick lessons is cool, same as Marcus's lessons on vibrato,
just think more of vibrato all the time,
practice separate notes, both regular and bended with vibrato
and you'll see the improvement.

Posted by: Tolek Mar 1 2009, 02:38 PM

Here´s a new take of the Luke lesson, this time with a much better tone.




By the way, I´m currently listening to "Drunk Funk" and I fell in love with that masterpiece. Due to this, I added to the "My Goals" list: play jazz. I love jazz and tried it once and learnt chords, scales, arpeggios, some rules,... . Could you give me some advice how to develop in that fantastic style, please?

Posted by: lcsdds Mar 1 2009, 03:05 PM

VERY NICE TOLEK!!!

Posted by: Tolek Mar 1 2009, 03:10 PM

Thank you, Muris... eeeh, Monte!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 1 2009, 04:57 PM

It was much better Tolek,
tone and also timing!!

There are small issues after tapping notes
but you'll get it done after more practicing,
those timings are bit tricky indeed,
you could try to pay more attention to GP file
to get those timings nicely, just an idea.

Now, one thing I would like to point at is vibrato,
you're holding your hand way too much in a "classical" shape
so you don't have good and solid stand for powerful vibrato,
how about trying to wrap your thumb more around the neck?

Posted by: Tolek Mar 1 2009, 05:50 PM

1 2009, 04:57 PM' post='346980']

That´s what I was working on.


Ok, good idea. I´ll try that and record another take then.


I just tried out that new position and it feels very uncomfortable and strange. However, I´ll try to get used to that to get a better vibrato as you said.


What about that jazz thing?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 2 2009, 02:37 AM

I know it's probably uncomfortable atm since you've
been doing it in "classical" way for a long time.
But it'll work fine for you, do some practicing and playing
like that until you get used to it, shouldn't take long.

As for Jazz, we might try diving there right now
bit imo it'd be wise to stay a little bit longer on diatonic stuff,
once we get that nicely we can start working on Jazz,
after all, Jazz isn't just a style, it's a final step.

Posted by: Tolek Mar 2 2009, 03:13 PM

Sure, that´s normal. I never knew that it´s better to grab the neck more in order to get a better vibrato. I tried it out and yes, I can hear a difference.


Oh, sure. I just remembered that you explained me that in Igalo. Let´s continue with diatonic stuff!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 2 2009, 11:24 PM

Sounds great, looking forward to takes!

Posted by: Tolek Mar 8 2009, 03:54 PM

Hi,
here are two weak takes at the two lessons.

Knopfler


Luke


Cheers.

Tolek

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 8 2009, 04:06 PM

Hell yeah, Luke is sounding a WAY better,
vibrato is growing nicely and you nailed that tricky
timing part after tapping almost 100%, which isn't easy!

And sound for Knopfler was very cool imo, no need to worry about it at all.
There was some problems with timing, perhaps you need
few more listens to my take to "remember" how it should sound.
Also try not to apply much power in picking when playing
those slower licks, whole Idea with Mark is small or none drive
with lots of Dynamics.
Can I ask for one more take but with just a little bit slower backing,
like you did with Luke?

And for a home work, take Luke backing original tempo
and do some solo over it, use any kind of sound you want
and compose us a nice melodic solo with sweet lick.
How about that?

Posted by: Tolek Mar 8 2009, 04:33 PM

Really? A few parts were sloppy, though...


Ok, I´ll do that.


Sure, sounds great. I´m looking forward to it!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 8 2009, 04:35 PM

I was talking about vibrato and after tapping part only,
I know some spots were bit sloppy but you'll fix that anyhow.

Posted by: Tolek Mar 8 2009, 04:39 PM

Sure.

Posted by: Tolek Mar 16 2009, 04:14 PM

Finally, I had a liitle bit of time and the power to record something. Here´s my own solo over the Luke BT.



The ending was not correct in rhythm.

Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 25 2009, 01:00 PM

That was nice jamming Tolek, well done!

There were some tapping licks and legato one near the beginning
that didn't come out clean enough tho,
so I'm asking for another take when you get some free time
but try to keep it clean, you don't have to shred at all
but go for clean phrases with lots of melody,
think of vibrato as well which is getting better btw.

And for Knopfler lesson, we might try another take
with better timing, it was kind a off on slower parts so you
missed the groove a bit.
You did learned notes nicely and now it's all about
your reproduction of the piece.

Posted by: Tolek Mar 28 2009, 02:10 PM

Ok. After Tuesday, I´ll have a lot of free time because holidays begin.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 28 2009, 02:14 PM

Ok then, looking forward to it.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 5 2009, 02:25 PM

Finally, here is the newest Knopfler take. This time without video (sorry ) because my father hasn´t got a video editor. When I´ll be back home, I´ll try to do a video. This take is slower than the original (3/4 of it). Some licks aren´t clean yet.

 Knopfler.mp3 ( 963.26K ) : 12



The new Luke solo is going to come soon, I think.


Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 5 2009, 08:35 PM

Timing was much better this time Tolek, well done!
Still, you slowed it too much so you could try something
just a bit faster, we lost the groove somehow.

Looking forward to new Luke take!

Posted by: Tolek Apr 6 2009, 11:41 AM

Here´s the faster version of the Knopfler lesson. Still some troubles with the fast pentatonic run.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 6 2009, 03:58 PM

And here´s the Luke Solo. I enjoyed it very much.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 6 2009, 08:33 PM

Much better Tolek!!

No need to worry about fast run tho,
it'll come with time and more practicing,
what would I like to hear more from you
is more vibrato on longer notes and better articulation on same notes,
each note has its own purpose, specially in Knopfler's world,
give them what they deserve.
So think of that no matter what you're playing,
faster runs are ok but those runs don't mean a lot
if you fail to present slower parts nicely, right?



Damn that was cute Tolek!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhh, now I DEMAND to hear same solo, same notes,
just add more vibrato, you can't say no,
would be shame to leave this sweet piece just like that!!!!!!

Posted by: Tolek Apr 6 2009, 08:57 PM

Sure. That´s the point that I want to develop.



You´re funny. Aye, master, I´ll do another take tomorrow.


I think I´m ready for a new assignment, don´t you think so? Of course, I´ll still practise the current lessons, but as I have time now, I can practise even more!
BTW, I started today your first lesson on GMC: Pentatonic Substitution. I got it down at half speed and can play it faster and faster.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 6 2009, 09:31 PM

Sounds good!!

As for new assignment, I just wanted to ask if you
have some new lessons ready to deploy but there you go,
Pentatonic Substitution seems like fun.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 6 2009, 09:40 PM

Great! Could you just send me the backing, please?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 6 2009, 09:46 PM

There you go.

 Pentatonic_Substitution___BT_105_bpm.mp3 ( 636.09K ) : 2

Posted by: Tolek Apr 6 2009, 10:03 PM

Many thanks. I´m just trying to record sth, but it doesn´t work.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 6 2009, 10:13 PM

Sth?

Posted by: Tolek Apr 6 2009, 10:28 PM

Sth = something

Here´s the sth, btw. I messed up at the end because I was full of excitment that I played that lesson without bigger mistakes.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 6 2009, 10:33 PM

Just watch out on timing, you played pretty BEFORE the track,
maybe because you slowed it a lot,
looking forward to next take!

Posted by: Tolek Apr 6 2009, 10:37 PM

Really? I didn´t notice any big timing issues. Where do you mean exactly?



BTW, I just listened to the "Happy Head" solo that you did for Monte. That sounds so great and you just played without big thinking. Can´t believe it. How do you do it?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 6 2009, 10:42 PM

Those are not timing issues that jump out,
it's more like playing in a hurry, out of groove,
hard to notice at high speeds but
not so hard at slow tempos.
Playing in groove is another important topic we will discuss later on.



Thanks.

Hard to explain but probably has something to do with my big head,
I upgraded it with extra 2 terabites lately.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 7 2009, 10:14 AM

Now I hear it a bit. It´s in the 16th slide part and in the triplets pentatonic runs, right?
Actually, I don´t know what it means to play in groove.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 7 2009, 12:53 PM

Here are 2 new takes, master!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 7 2009, 02:21 PM

It's actually more noticeable on slower parts but never mind,
we'll come to groove later on.




Thanks Tolek, my audio card doesn't work atm, happens from time to time,
I'll have listen first thing when I reboot my PC

Posted by: Tolek Apr 7 2009, 02:28 PM

Great, I can´t wait for it.


Haha. It seems like your audio card doesn´t want to play my fooling around.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 7 2009, 02:35 PM

And I also wanted to record something, you'll get the idea

Posted by: Tolek Apr 7 2009, 02:43 PM

Posted by: Tolek Apr 7 2009, 04:07 PM

Two more takes. This time pentatonic lesson at 75 bpm and 90 bpm.

I hope that your sound card works as I can´t wait to hear critique and to correct my mistakes. I´m in recording fever.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 8 2009, 10:47 AM

Knopfler is much better Tolek,
there are still some timing issues but lets
have a rest for this one for a while,
you did very good job so far!

Luke was also better this time
but I still miss more vibrato in this sweet melody you've made.
I think we could work much more on vibrato at this point,
what do you think of playing the same thing with using
and focusing on vibrato 100%?
You can apply it on everything, regular notes and bended ones as well.
However it would be good to get a video of it,
that way I could see your posture when playing vibrato
and give some suggestions if needed.

Also, we can try working more intensely on bending,
here's one lesson that I've recommended for
almost every student in my MTP,
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/blues-bending-lesson/ .

Again it would be great to have a video
but Mp3 is fine too until you get home.





Yeah, take at 90bpm was overally better IMO,
there were some sloppy parts over those faster runs,
Em Pentatonic,G Pentatonic and the last skipping part.
But timing was very good and tight compared with
75 bpm take, maybe you still have troubles
to fully understand what I'm saying but believe me,
slower is sometimes harder.
I truly hope that you'll get some recording session job
to do in near future and then you'll realize,
producer will ask for 100% timing and if tune
is in slower tempo you'll have more problems,
that's very common thing,trust me!

Lets try with 2 more takes, both speeds,
think more of timing for 75 bpm (tapping with your foot will help)
and eliminate that noise in faster runs at 90 bpm.
And one thing about your tone, you can try with less gain and reverb
this time for better articulation.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 8 2009, 10:47 AM

Sounds great! Do you know a free video editing software? If yes, I can make a video here. I´m looking forward to learning this new lesson, I love it. What about the pentatonic takes?

But now, I´m going to a drummer friend. See you!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 8 2009, 10:49 AM

Windows Movie Maker?

And for Pentatonic takes, read reply before.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 8 2009, 05:48 PM

Ok, I´ll do it. I´m still not sure about the groove. Maybe you can explain me this when you´re in the chat?



About Movie Maker: I just realized that I won´t need it because today´s my last day at my father´s. Tomorrow, I`ll be at my mother´s and then from Friday to Sunday at my sister´s.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 8 2009, 05:59 PM

I'll explain it to you here in MTP when the time comes,
that's pretty advanced field.



Ok then, good!

Posted by: Tolek Apr 8 2009, 06:10 PM

Sure

Posted by: Tolek Apr 9 2009, 09:23 PM

Could I have the backing for the blues lesson, please?

Just another quick question: How do you slow down or speed up the backing track so that it doesn´t loose its quality? I see BTs at 180 bpm and then the same at 100, 80, 60,... . When I do it in Reaper it becomes so unclean and delayed.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 9 2009, 10:27 PM

And I´d like to know how you proceed when creating a backing track.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 10 2009, 07:43 AM

Yeah, trick is to work in Midi with VSTs, not with audio files,
Midi has no problems with stretching while audio does,
you just change tempo in DAW and export it without any problems.
There are some cool programs for audio stretching like Ableton Live
but even with Ableton you can go like 20-30% of speed down tops,
if you try more you'll probably hear "clicking".
However this "clicking" only appears
when you slow it down, not when you speed it up.

Here's the backing.

 Blues_Bending_Lesson___BT_75_bpm.mp3 ( 982.4K ) : 7

Posted by: Tolek Apr 13 2009, 04:59 PM

Hey Muris! I´m back! Happy Easter, btw.

I just recorded a video of the Luke Solo:


I´ll do some other ones later.

Another topic. Can you give me some exercices for arranging/composing a song? At first maybe, I could do a BT in a style. Don´t know. Just an idea.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 13 2009, 07:09 PM

Once in the chat, you wanted to comment a piece of music by me. Dunno if you still want to, but here it is: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=26544&hl=

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 13 2009, 07:19 PM

Happy Easter Tolek and nice take tho, sounds much more mature,
let me know when you post another one!

As for arranging/composing exercises I guess
I might give you few suggestions after I hear piece of music you posted,
give me some time.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 13 2009, 07:30 PM

Thanks. I still think that I can add some more vibrato at some places. Will do a better take.

OK, I´m looking forward to the exercices.

Btw, I have troubles with ascending runs in the pentatonic lesson. Descending runs work fine, but the others don´t. Any tips?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 13 2009, 07:32 PM

Focus more on ascending runs then,
it's all I can say before I "see" you playing.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 14 2009, 04:12 PM

After a recording blockade, I finally managed to recorded something.

Luke Solo


Pentatonic Substitution


Blues Bending

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 14 2009, 10:34 PM

You've been busy Tolek, very well!

Luke's thing is going nicely
so you might leave it for a while,
tho you can continue jamming over it if you want
and post some new clips if something new
comes on your mind.

As for Pentatonic Substitution,
I see you're having problems with faster runs
but what concerns me is that you are not using
pure Alternate Picking,
maybe it's too small FPS or you do some economy or som??
All in all, play the same thing (even without backing) VERY SLOW,
pick every note loud and clear, good thing is to play unplugged too
so you could really hear if you pick each note equally hard.
Give it a shot, might help!

And Blues Bending was very good too,
you missed to use index on 2 semi tone bends on G string,
you used middle finger instead but nothing major.
Now it would be cool to lay a solo on same BT
using some bends etc, what do you think?

Posted by: Tolek Apr 14 2009, 10:38 PM

Sounds great! I´ll start practising the pentatonic lesson very slowly and play a new solo over the Blues BT.

BTW, I start learning Blue Note in A. I want to play it at a "talent search". And Turkish March as well.

Oh, and I´m using straight AP in those runs.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 14 2009, 10:51 PM

Give us the credits and rock the house!!

Looking forward to new takes,
specially pentatonic Substitution with cleaned runs,
let me know if I can help more.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 14 2009, 11:11 PM

Sure.

One question concerning the pentatonic runs. Should I accentuate the note of every beat or play them in the same volume as the others?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 15 2009, 10:38 AM

Good question, in order to keep tight rhythmic
I guess accenting 1st of each 4 won't hurt,
actually we do that kind of thing naturally.
Just try to play OTHER notes equally if possible.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 15 2009, 10:58 AM

Like this?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 15 2009, 12:23 PM

Accents are fine but you're not keeping pure AP all the time I think,
specially after beginning of ascending part,
what you do is that you play last 6th note in group
with an upstroke (which is ok) but then you continue with an upstroke
for 1st note in next group, that might be easier cause it's less movements
but it breaks your picking scheme a bit and leads to sloppy picking.
Focus on each 1st of 6, play them with accent as you did
AND with downstroke, that should work pretty fine to clean things up nicely.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 15 2009, 12:43 PM

I don´t know why I did it. I was sure I was APing all the time. Not sure if this is correct:

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 15 2009, 12:45 PM

Probably cause you've been focusing more
on fingering an notes, might be.
You don't have to post new take every time we discuss tho ( which is great!! ),
I just wanted to gave you few insights for better
execution of the whole lesson.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 15 2009, 12:50 PM

Could be.
I don´t have any problems with posting a lot of videos. I think it´s a fantastic help for both of us to discuss some issues.

BTW, I have to tell you 2 great things. First, Kris allowed me to be an instructor and student (in order to participate in the MTP, collaborations, etc.) at the same time. I want to be instructor because I want to get some money for my university years. Second, I think I found my university: http://www.bimm.co.uk/brighton/ Guees who´s a teacher at this school? http://www.bimm.co.uk/brighton/images/upload/tutors/guthrie.jpg

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 15 2009, 02:24 PM

That's just awesome Tolek, good luck!

Posted by: Tolek Apr 16 2009, 07:03 PM

Thanks! I just sent my application to Kris... I hope he´ll accept.

Anyway, here´s my solo over the blues BT. I guess there are not enough bends, or? It was also a bit improvised.



I just noticed my funny movements and faces.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 17 2009, 12:36 AM

If you like you can have a look at http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=26587&view=findpost&p=369116.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 17 2009, 11:44 AM

Bends were very fine tho I expected some extra vibrato too,
apply more next time, ok!
Oh, one thing, at approx 0:29 you played repetitive lick
using F#,A, and C notes, that would would perfectly over D7 chord
but you had G7 in progression, go for F note instead.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 17 2009, 11:47 AM

Ok, great!

I´m still working on the pentatonic runs. As soon as I see a big improvement, I´ll show you a video.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 17 2009, 12:05 PM

Great, keep me posted and ofc ask if I can assist more.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 18 2009, 01:45 PM

Muris, what about developing my composition skills? I have two days of holidays left and I want to spend them on music, especially composing. Just tell me what style, etc. and I´ll try to do it in those 2 days.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 18 2009, 03:13 PM

Sure thing, why not!

You can try to make a simple backing , don't bother a lot with arrangement,
focus on progression and lead line of course.
Pick any style you want tho, all works fine for me!

Posted by: Tolek Apr 19 2009, 07:29 PM

Status: I started doing a BT yesterday, but I´m not satisfied with it. I think I´m gonna do a new one on rock style. Today, I didn´t practise much the MTP stuff. Instead, I rearranged Canon Rock which I´m gonna play in the Talent Show (instead of Blue Note in A ).
Tomorrow, school begins, so I´ll have much less time... However, I´ll try to find as much time as possible for music.

Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 20 2009, 12:48 PM

Sorry to hear Tolek but it's not the end of the world!!
Keep me posted tho.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 22 2009, 09:53 PM

Muris, I just recorded my take on "Canon Rock". It´s not really good, I´m tired and didn´t practise some places much, but I just wanted to get some hints on performance. It´s set as private, so only you can see it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKumhVUdRds

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 23 2009, 09:30 PM

Well, the only hint I can think of is to learn it properly
and clean up all tricky parts, like the one when you stopped playing.
Locate those sections and do them one at the time,
sweeping lick in the break must be a lot more articulated (A major I think),
spend few hours just on those 3 shapes if needed!
And watch out on timing, I'm not sure if you can hear
backing properly when you record,
maybe if you set volume of backing bit louder might help.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 23 2009, 09:35 PM

Yeah, I know that a lot of parts new polishing. I tried to make the BT louder and it helps.
Anyway, could you give me some hints on performing? I mean what could I do instead of standing there and staring at my fretboard. Sometimes, I feel so unnatural on stage...

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 23 2009, 09:39 PM

Hmm, well you can't do a lot on performance indeed
until you nail the piece 100%, otherwise you can jump around
and make grins but it'll be sloppy, no doubt!
However if you really wanna see how you look on the stage
when you ARE ready to play what you play
then you could play something lets say "easy" or anything you feel comfortable with,
record it and we'll discus it, why not.

Posted by: Tolek Apr 23 2009, 09:41 PM

Ok, I´ll try to. Thanks!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 23 2009, 09:41 PM

No problem!

Posted by: Tolek May 6 2009, 10:05 PM

Finally, I managed to do something for the MTP.



Not perfect, especially timing and cleanness need a bit polishing, I think. Something else that you see?

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 6 2009, 10:29 PM

Hello Tolek, great to see you with new take!!

I see some progress here, no doubt,
one of the major things I always pay attention at when listening
to Canon Rock is the way how riffing part is played,
many players do not think a lot about that part
and they play it just to get over it and start with main theme.
That very riffing (as any other riffing more or less)
should be played as tight as possible and you've done some work on that
compared with your previous takes, you were late a bit on those
few notes after last D chord (G,F#,E and D I think),
probably string skipping makes you some problems to get on time,
focus on that part and clean it a little.

Ok, next thing I noticed are problems at 1:43 which is kind of B theme,
(it appears again during song and there's also a minor version),
you had same problems at the same place in older takes.
I don't think fingering is the problem, looks more like undefined picking to me.
Here are few advices tho.
As far as I can see you're using kind of AP picking most of the time,
with couple of pull-offs, even hybrid picking, not sure 100%, my eyes aint' that good.
You should play every note with the pick but don't go for straight AP,
there are gaps in rhythmic patters, play is down,then down again,up down etc.
There's s longer note at the beginning of each sequence, play it with downstroke
and then continue with downstroke and AP after that, try and let me know how it works.

And of course sweeping part, you really need to clean it up,
or play something on your own, why not!!
If you still wanna play those A arpeggios then loop the section,
go very slowly, watch your picking hand and fix all errors that might appear,

Then tapping at 3:37, you wanted to play something very fast
(not sure if original Canon Rock has this part) but your sync wasn't that great
so it sounded very nervous and you swallowed lots of notes.
You could try to play something in triplets there or any other fine grouping,
just construct it nicely so every note would sound nicely.

I hope this helps a bit, keep'em coming, good work Tolek!

Posted by: Tolek May 6 2009, 10:37 PM

Thanks, Muris. Very helpful!
Here´s my version of it in GP:

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 7 2009, 06:22 PM

Ok, I had look at your modified version and I did
some editing.
First the hybrid picking part, there are some fast A arpeggio pattern shapes,
I edited that so now you have A, G and A arpeggios,
this is less shifting for your left hand and even gives
more color to the section cause you play 2 different arpeggios
and not just one.
And I wrote picking pattern for section right after that,
not entirely but just few bars so you could get the idea.

Tapping part 152-155 bars is really too fast to play
if you want it to sound nicely,
you can really try something with slower note values,
there are many options but let me know if you're running out of ideas!

 JerryC_Canon_Rock_modify_Muris.gp5 ( 28.33K ) : 9

Posted by: Tolek May 7 2009, 09:08 PM

Thanks, Muris, that´s great! However, I don´t see a logical reason to use economy picking here. AP works well... Just tell me a reason, I´m curious.
Running out of idead? Me? Never.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 7 2009, 10:05 PM

Economy?
No, I wrote typical AP patterns for all notes that are connected,
I putted 2 downstrokes ONLY when there's a gap between notes
so that way you have downstroke for every first note on each beat,
that's the idea and it works much better for sync and coordination.

Posted by: Tolek May 7 2009, 10:19 PM

So, actually it´s EP on certain places only. OK. I´m just getting familiar with the picking and I nearly finished the new tapping section.

OK, finished. I arranged it so that there aren´t many big position shiftings.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 7 2009, 11:41 PM

No Tolek, there is NO economy picking there at all,
where did you get that idea??

Oh yeah. tapping section sounds so much more doable now, well done imo!
Btw, I couldn't see that you changed those arpeggios after I edited them?

Posted by: Tolek May 8 2009, 07:09 PM

So, what is economy picking? It´s picking with as less motion as possible right? When you do an downstroke on B string, you do an downstroke on E string, as well. Correct? Kind of sweeping...
Oh, holy cow! I just realized it. I´m so stupid, sorry! I thought it was EP just because there were consequent 2 downstrokes.
The tapping section is much easier to do now. And I didn´t change those arpeggios because they sound good. I could do x varitions on it, but I like your version.
I´ll post a take as soon as possible. I don´t think that I´ll manage to do it this week or next week. Maybe next weekend... Monday, I´ll have 2 concerts at school (Gary Moore - Still Got the Blues, Metallica - The Day that Never Comes,...) and then on Wednesday one in Luxembourg City with the school orchestra (Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody, Those 2 thick chicks singing "Raining Men" , ...) and on Saturday anotehr concert. So, program is full.
Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 8 2009, 11:32 PM

There you go, it's 2 downstrokes on the same string.

Best of luck for your concerts and everything,
hit me when you get something new!

Cheers

Posted by: Tolek May 10 2009, 02:17 PM

Quick update. But only on the tapping part and Mojo Oro.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 10 2009, 03:45 PM

It was damn funny even with first accident but second one got me totally.

Happened to me many times tho, I always use headphones
except when I'm recording videos.

You learned notes nicely for Mojo Oro
but there are some problems with picking,
you hand looks like you were playing economy
but you used AP of course.
IMO you need to free your hand more,
give more space for every single pick, feel each pick,
move hand even more, make wider moves.
I know it takes some time and you won't be able
to play a lot fast that way (if you move a lot)
but it's good method to get your hand well balanced,
let each note gets the same amount of attack, kind of.

Try it, see how it works for you.

Posted by: Tolek May 10 2009, 05:05 PM

Ok, here´s the whole first lesson without BT. Is the picking ok now?

And what about the the new tapping part? I think it´s much better.

BTW, I think I should buy wireless headphones or monitoring speakers.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 10 2009, 06:43 PM

I think you can still try with wider movements,
less gain, even a clean sound and wider movement,
that would be best overview of what's going on with your picking.
Oh, and btw, you seem to anchor your picky and even ring finger on the pickguard,
my advice is not to do that a lot.
If you wanna/need some kind of a stand for your picking hand
then IMO it's wiser to set top of your palm slightly on the bridge,
position similar to one when you play palm muting but just without muting.

And yeah, tapping part in Cannon is much better and articulated now!

Posted by: Tolek May 15 2009, 09:21 PM

As you know, I´ve been playing at school on Monday. Here´s the result.

Gary Moore - Still got the Blues



Metallica - The Day That Never Comes

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 15 2009, 09:55 PM

That was very nice Tolek!!!!

I won't comment Metallica's song atm
cause there was much more going on in Still Got The Blues.
You played main theme very well and that one mistake
you made was nothing major indeed, it can happen to everyone.
Now the solo.
Hmm, imo you should have played longer one cause that very solo
needs more time to expand nicely, I guess you had
time limitation as well for each song, not sure.
There was the moment when you made title "bad solo coming on", true.
True just because you played it badly (tho you didn't)
but bass played played wrong note (A instead of D)
and that ruined you mood and concentration, no doubt.
He also played few wrong notes in verse, C and B instead of F and E but never mind.
And the ending, your band mates sabotaged you a lot,
they weren't following you and your ritt. at all,
they played last chord on their own instead to listen and wait for you to conduct them.

Cudos Tolek, you did well despite of everything!

Posted by: Tolek May 15 2009, 10:02 PM

Thanks for the comment, Muris!
I noticed that the bass played wrong notes and I didn´t want to play much in my solo because my teacher said already that the Metallica ending was too long. Indeed, we weren´t really together at the ending. Our first rehearsal after long time was the same day.
This school term, we´re going to play Final Countdown and Song 2, maybe. And some more songs. It´s a lot of fun playing with others. The drummer from the Metallica group and I found a band and on Sunday, I´ll go to see a friend in order to check how she sings. The drummer found a potential bass player, maybe. So, not much and I´ll play in a band. Then I´ll post some more videos from gigs.
BTW, how was my performance/stage behaviour?
And what does Cudos mean?

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 15 2009, 10:07 PM

Yeah, camera was focusing mostly on her btw
but maybe you need more "moving" with the groove.
do not do it planned tho, just let music takes you and it'll happen naturaly.

Cudos or kudos is a way to give appreciation to someone.

Posted by: Tolek May 15 2009, 10:11 PM

Yeah, she´s the singer, so very important during verse, etc.^^ Ok, I´ll try to move like at home, here I´ve got no restrictions.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 16 2009, 12:04 AM

Do not think of the audience a lot, play like for yourself.

Posted by: Tolek May 16 2009, 11:02 AM

Actually, when I play I forget that there´s the audience and I´m not nervous at all. It could be because of the lightings - I don´t see anything at all.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 16 2009, 12:57 PM

I do something similar, I also do not see the audience that much.
Once a friend of mine came in front of me to say hi
but I didn't notice him.
Later on I had to explain to him that it had nothing to do with him.

Posted by: Tolek May 16 2009, 01:11 PM

This evening I´ll play with the school orchestra at a school party. I have a solo in Bohemian Rhapsody. BTW, I still have to upload it.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 16 2009, 03:10 PM

Have a great time at the party and
let me know when you record Rhapsody!

Posted by: Tolek May 16 2009, 10:14 PM

Thanks. I just came back. The concert went are pretty well. We started jamming over Smoke on the Water during a break which was absolutely amusing. I also practised Mojo Oro when I didn´t have my musical notation. Video is coming soon.

Posted by: Tolek May 21 2009, 07:39 PM

Hi Muris!
Today I started recording a new song called "Dreamin' ". I know that there are still some small issues and mastering problems, but I´ll do that later when the whole song is finished. I hope you like it.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 22 2009, 12:55 AM

Very interesting progression Tolek, nicely done!

I couldn't locate or hear the main melody tho,
perhaps cause tune is still in building process but nonetheless,
try to come up with something catchy
and it won't be a problem since progression is really
asking for a sweet line.

Btw, the structure is 6 bars, pretty uncommon (not wrong) solution,
did you do it purpose and do you plan to make things
more natural later on by using 8 bars structure or som?

Posted by: Tolek May 22 2009, 07:25 PM

Thanks, Muris!

I was actually just jamming and dreaming. Later on, I noticed that it urgently needs a structure because playing over and over again over the same progression is boring. Just a quick brainstorm for the structure:

-Rhythm Part alone
-Kind of a chorus (catchy melody line)
-Verse (jamming over a different progression)
-Bridge (going to V degree in order to create a tension)
-Chorus
...repeating the concept from above...
-Bridge (which doesn´t go to V degree this time, but modultes to Dm e.g)
-Chorus in another tonality
-Short break after the highlight
-Chorus (with a cool ending that I´ve prepared )


About the untypical 6 bars structure. I just feel that those few chords are enough, more would disturb me. So, I don´t want add any chords, just create another progression for the verses and bridges and minor part.

Any other suggestions?

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 23 2009, 03:10 AM

Structure you listed seems fine to me, it's pretty ordinary one and will work nicely.
As for bars tho, you don't have to add any more chords if you won't,
you can simply extend one or 2 chords per example to get 8 bars.
No need to do that for every part, maybe just for bridge... or even chorus only!

Posted by: Tolek May 23 2009, 10:40 AM

Good idea! What do you think, should I use different progressions for chorus and verse? Or the same, just change the arpeggiating a bit?

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 23 2009, 11:18 AM

Well that's hard to say from this point cause I don't know the melody.
However there ARE some examples when chorus and verse have same progression
but you have to very wise and well experienced composer to point at the chorus.

Posted by: Tolek May 23 2009, 11:50 AM

Hm, well, I´ll try to find a cool chorus melody over the current progression. Then, I think I´ll do some changements to the progression and apply it to the verse.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 23 2009, 02:18 PM

That;s another way to do it, yeah.

Posted by: Tolek May 29 2009, 12:04 PM

Update of Canon Rock:

Posted by: Tolek May 30 2009, 02:21 PM

Hey Muris, what about developping my technical area? I wanna play PG stuff, it works, but it´s not really clean. Actually, I wanna get some AP and tapping chops, like Monte. What do you recommend?

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 30 2009, 02:47 PM

That was much better indeed Tolek!
And you nicely applied those 2 strings arpeggios I suggested, good work!
You have it pretty much under your fingers but there is some extra control
over whole piece missing and I believe you can fix that with playing this tune more.
You might also try with less distortion to get better overview of your playing
and every single mistake that you eventually make,
it will specially help on those sweeps were you have some struggle with,
lots of distortion is cool but it also covers if we are sloppy which ain't that good.



How about we go straight to some of my PG lessons?
You can pick which one you like and let me know of backing you prefer.

Posted by: Tolek May 30 2009, 03:21 PM

Ok, I´ll practise Canon Rock more frequently.


As for PG lesson, I chose the newest one. Just practising the first part until that run. Backing at 45 and 70 bpm would be cool.

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 30 2009, 03:34 PM

Here it is Tolek!!

Let me know if you need any assistance whatsoever.

 More_Paul_Gilbert___BT_70_bpm.mp3 ( 2.47MB ) : 2

 More_Paul_Gilbert___BT_45_bpm.mp3 ( 3.85MB ) : 1

Posted by: Tolek May 30 2009, 03:36 PM

Thanks.
Actually, I need now some assistance. I´m feeling not really comfortable with the guitar. Dunno why. Should I make a video or do you have some spare time for live support via MSN?

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 30 2009, 04:37 PM

I believe a quick video here in thread would do the job.

Posted by: Tolek May 30 2009, 07:26 PM

Here it is:



There are a few wrong notes, but hey, I just learned this lesson. Pretty cool that I remembered it so fast. Tomorrow I should have memorized the whole melody.
Look at the 2nd part (riffing). There are big stretches and I have so small fingers. I have to lean forward in order to fret those notes. If I had to play this upright, I´d never play this cleanly. Any suggestions?
Edit: OK, just tried to play it while standing. I nearly broke my arm.
Edit: Just tried to play at 130 bpm with you... I HATE YOU!

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 31 2009, 12:47 AM

Fine job Tolek, that was quick!!

About those stretches, we can't do a lot about position,
that's as highest on the neck as possible if we wanna stay in same octave
for whole riffing part.
But what you CAN do is to somehow swing your left hand a little,
as you can see there are always 2 notes on low E between notes on A,
that's the moment when you can swing back to more comfortable position
without keeping your pinky on the neck.
And if you wanna play it standing I suggest you to move your guitar
in a "narrow" position, just like many players when they play wider stretches.

And thanks for slightly overdriven tone, it was very nice!

Keep working, it's going great so far.

Posted by: Tolek May 31 2009, 11:21 AM

Wow, why didn´t I get the idea with the pinky? So simply but effective. Thanks.
Btw, I´m always playing in a narrow position when standing. Otherwise I can´t play anything but riffing.

Coud I get the 100 bpm backing track, please?

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 31 2009, 02:25 PM

Here is 100bpm!

And about those runs,
try practicing as I told you in chat, runs only
and then add bar before and after runs to cover both 16ths and 16th triplets.

 More_Paul_Gilbert___BT_100_bpm.mp3 ( 1.73MB ) : 1

Posted by: Tolek Jun 8 2009, 09:07 PM

My performance from Friday.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 8 2009, 10:52 PM

That was nice playing Tolek!!

You were kind of insecure at the beginning or perhaps
you couldn't hear backing nicely so you were out of time a bit but no big deal.
Hybrid arpeggios came out top class btw!!

I believe you're still struggling with this tune
and to be honest it isn't kind of tune to relax a lot and play,
there is something going on all the time and you really need to be focused.

But you did it good tho it can be better, you know what to fix,
thanks for sharing Tolek!

Posted by: Tolek Jun 8 2009, 10:59 PM

Thanks for the comment, Muris. You are right, I didn´t hear the backing very good sometimes. And my guitar was too low for me. But all in all, it was fine, I think.

I just have to play it more often and do some technique exercices, then this piece will be perfect.

Btw, I got an invitation to play on the school party of my old school after this show. Everybody wants me to play now. My career in Luxembourg started.

Have a lot of fun in London. My family and me are thinking about you on Saturday! My mother and me are going to watch the show, as well.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 8 2009, 11:04 PM

That's brilliant Tolek, that's how it starts actually, well done!!!!!!!!!



It's always like that, put some extra effort and things will be as they should.



Thank you very much!

Posted by: Tolek Jun 23 2009, 08:44 PM

Little update on Dreamin. I found a progression for the verse and have some structure in it after recording everything again.
The lead melody is fixed now, but I didn´t play it that good. This is only a test version.

 Dreamin__test.mp3 ( 1.61MB ) : 7


Update on PG lesson. I just practised some runs of this lesson and it´s getting pretty clean and fast (100 bpm). However, I have no video yet because I can´t play the lesson entirely at that tempo (not clean enough). Getting fast is difficult!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 25 2009, 11:56 AM

Nice new part in Dreaming, I liked Em chord a lot,
you should definately use it more often in this progression,
it gives some nice dimension to the whole piece!
Now, I hear that you tend to play F note every time
when Gm chord appears which is kind a reasonable,
you want to switch from D to Dm key entirely.
BUT you can also try with F# note, it won't sound wrong,
the only alteration there would be Bb (which is played in chord already)
so you'd get Gmmaj7 chord, that one sounds nice too.

100 bpm sounds cool for PG tho, give it some extra time
and bump the thread whenever you record a clip
or need some extra advice!

Posted by: Tolek Jun 25 2009, 07:55 PM

Thanks. I know of course what I can play, but thanks for your help anyway.
I plan to use that E min chord (actually it´s a Em #6 or C#m7/E chord for me) in the modulating part (D Maj -> D min). I´ll think about what else I can play there.


Ok. I tried to play it while standing and I´m feeling a bit more comfortable than some time ago.

Posted by: Tolek Jun 28 2009, 08:20 PM

Hey Muris!
Do you like this composition?
 Oriental_Rock.mp3 ( 643.06K ) : 37


I thought of reapplying for a teacher at GMC when I composed this piece. It´s not well played, tho.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 28 2009, 09:25 PM

Very, very interesting groove and melody Tolek,
keep it grow!
Not so well played as you said but it's still in composing phase
so it can pass.

Posted by: Tolek Jun 28 2009, 09:31 PM

Thanks, Muris. Actually, I planned to keep it that short and make a lesson out of it. However, I started thinking of developing it even more and make a song out of it, like Dreamin.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 28 2009, 09:33 PM

Sure thing, lesson would be cool as well
plus you never know how tune is gonna develop.

Posted by: Tolek Jun 28 2009, 09:35 PM

Yeah, that´s right.
Man, I´m looking so much forward to the holidays. Then nothing can stop me composing my songs! Just thinking about this freedom is awesome!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 28 2009, 09:53 PM

Composing is a blast, I can tell you that.

Posted by: Tolek Jun 28 2009, 09:57 PM

Yes, I had a few of those pleasant composing moments where I could sit down and write endless melodies that sound good. Yesterday was my last one (Oriental Rock thing ). You know how to get them more often? I personally can do it best at night. I think this is because nobody disturbs me...

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 29 2009, 12:52 PM

That's inspiration, hard to set a rule, it's very personal,
some people need to listen to something in order to be inspired,
you seem to like the night cause no one disturbs you etc.
Of course, you can't compose if someone disturbs you.
Now, you could use one of those hotel signs on the door
so you could compose even during a day,
"Do NOT Disturb".

Posted by: Tolek Jun 29 2009, 02:07 PM

Good idea, I´ll take such a sign from my next hotel vacation!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 29 2009, 02:42 PM

Hell yeah.

Posted by: Tolek Jul 12 2009, 05:37 PM

Here´s my attempt at the backing. Not very good yet. There is one wrong chord, I think... Can you say what chord is correct?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 12 2009, 11:33 PM

There are few mistakes but we'll fix that asap.
Let me remind you,
this is very popish song so you can add lots of flavors to each chord,
per example for B chord you can add9, C#m could be C#m7
and that F# chord you played at the end of each chorus and verse phrase
is actually E/F#, not F#.
As for bridge, you missed first 2 chords, those are F#m/A (or A6 if you like)
and then we have G#7.

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Jul 16 2009, 07:05 PM

deleted as per toleks request

Posted by: Tolek Jul 16 2009, 07:07 PM

Thanks, Marc!

(I asked him in the chat to do this)

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 16 2009, 07:23 PM

Ahh, got me confused, ok.

Posted by: Tolek Jul 16 2009, 07:25 PM

I believe. I have to finish my take tomorrow... We´ll drive away to Igalo. Unfortunately, we can´t pass through Sarajevo because of my father´s gf´s visa. Did you buy that flight to Tunis?

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Jul 16 2009, 07:26 PM

cool song tolek, i like it...i might steal your idea and use a sitar in my song if you dont mind

Posted by: Tolek Jul 16 2009, 07:28 PM

I´m glad you like it. Just go for it.

Posted by: Tolek Jul 17 2009, 03:13 PM

Yaaaay, it´s finished!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 18 2009, 02:23 AM

Good job Tolek, the tune has real attitude!!!

I was just wondering tho and maybe you noticed this too,
this section when you play a solo ( that's also ending section)
reminds a lot on Pachebel's Canon in D.
Have you done it on purpose or?

Posted by: Tolek Aug 3 2009, 02:05 PM

Thanks.
Yeah, it was on purpose.

Just got back from Poland. No Igalo... There were problems on the serbian frontier. I´ll post a description and some pics in another topic.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 3 2009, 02:07 PM

Ohh, what happened??

Posted by: Tolek Aug 3 2009, 02:40 PM

My father´s girlfriend from Moldavia needed a visa, so my father called the embassy in Frankfurt and asked for a visa. They said that we can buy it on the border. That was a lie.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 3 2009, 02:49 PM

So the people at Moldavian embassy told you
that you can buy visa on the border??
Man, that was very, very unprofessional.

Posted by: Tolek Aug 3 2009, 03:01 PM

That was a serbian embassy. Actually, it was true, but about 6 months ago.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 3 2009, 03:09 PM

Ah right, you needed information from them.
But still very silly to give you invalid info just like that, feels soo bad.

Posted by: Tolek Aug 3 2009, 03:13 PM

Yes, indeed, that was really shocking. We were waiting 3-4 hours to pass the border (after driving 12 hours) and then we were rejected... Nobody said a word for 15 minutes. We decided to go to Balaton (lake near Budapest) where we swam and lay in the sun for a few hours. After this we drove to Poland to some friends and family. From there we made a little tour through Poland (to see polish mountains,...). It was pretty cool, though. However, I´m glad to be back, near my JEM.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 3 2009, 03:16 PM

Home sweet home it is!

Posted by: Tolek Sep 10 2009, 12:29 AM

Here I am again. As you may know, my subscription is still inactive. I can´t pay for a new one yet... I thought that you´d like to hear something new from me. Well, here it is.
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=30411

Posted by: maharzan Sep 10 2009, 01:13 AM

cool.. welcome back Tolek.. This forum has been dead quite a long time. Should be great to see some guitars finally!

Hope you had a great vacation!

Posted by: Tolek Sep 10 2009, 12:36 PM

Thanks Chandra. I´ll try to be more active here. Welcome to Muris´ MTP, btw. You´ll learn a lot with him; he´s a great teacher.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 10 2009, 12:45 PM

Great to have you back Tolek, even partially for now!

I'll check your work asap and lay down some comments, maybe advices if possible.

Posted by: Tolek Sep 10 2009, 12:52 PM

Thanks. Good to hear that you still want me. Take your time.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 10 2009, 12:53 PM

Nicely played Tolek, sweet tone tone, dry OD.

I noticed one thing tho, right at the start of main theme.
Notes are D, D#, E - C , E - C, E - C.
You played all 3 E-C by keeping E to ring.
It was ok in first 2 times,both are over C chord.
But 3rd time you have F chord
and when you keep E ringing this F chord cannot be heard nicely imo.
So my only advice here is to play last E separate from C, don't keep it ringing,
everything else was really nice.

Posted by: Tolek Sep 10 2009, 01:11 PM

Wow, such an detail! Thanks for finding it! I´ll clean this up when I make a video for youtube.

Btw, I talked with Emir about music universities 2 days ago. Unfortunately, I can´t study classical and electric guitar at the same time as it is a completels different profile. The current program for the e-guitar course is music from 1920 til today, so my main interest. I decided to go for e-guitar, but take my classical guitar with me. I don´t know where to go yet. Maybe ICMP, maybe Brighton. All in all, I´ll have to play an audition (the exam). Emir said I´ll have to play a song (like Manhattan by Eric Johnson which I just started learning, or Tender Surrender by Steve Vai, so something a bit complicated to show more musical knowledge) and scales... I´ll ask my guitar teacher (yes, I subscribed for e-guitar classes ) to hand out the patterns for major, minor and modes. But first, I have to pass this final school year.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 10 2009, 09:34 PM

You're welcome.

As for guitar studying, there's always a sort of sacrifice in life,
often happen when studying as you can see.
But if electric guitar is your prime goal atm then go for it, why not.
I mean, you can always play and practice classical guitar,
with or without official classes or teacher.
Then later in life (many have done it) you can finish your classical studying
if you really want or need it.

You mentioned patterns for major, minor and modes, need some help there or?

Posted by: Tolek Sep 10 2009, 09:41 PM

I thought this, too. I mean, I started playing on classical guitar actually and I love classical music as well, so why should I leave it? I´m gonna practise it besides e-guitar.

If you have all the patterns, you can send me them. Would be reeeaaaly kind. Emir showed me one:



BTW, just listened to the Pianist again. A masterpiece. Love it.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 10 2009, 09:53 PM

Ahh, those shapes, looks like caged system,
to be honest I never really understood whole purpose of those shapes
except that it's maybe a bit easier way for beginners to relate scale with familiar chord shapes.
And I'm even not sure if there are any more patterns than 5,
I think caged system works with 5 patterns only, not sure really,

Imo it would be much better and more profitable to focus on scales all over the neck,
play them over every single string to figure out interval relations,
chords made of that very scale and everything.
After that all those shapes and patterns become very relative
since you get a bigger weapon in your hands, the whole fretboard.
Then you can create your own pattern and shapes in a way,
you have full arsenal at hand.

Let me know if you need any help with figuring out scales/modes,
I'd be glad to help you with that.

Posted by: Tolek Sep 10 2009, 10:09 PM

Yes, that´s the CAGED system. I never read about it, so I don´t know how it works. I know the whole fretboard and could play every scale, but I´d have to think a bit. Plus, I´d play it in my way, not in the way that I´m supposed to play (CAGED system).

Another little problem: I´m writing a song. I´ll show you what I´ve got until now:

VERSE
=====

It´s been a long time
I haven´t seen you
and I miss you so much (oh oh)

I know it´s much too long
but I´ve had my reasons
for not coming to you

 sea.mp3 ( 1.4MB ) : 7


I don´t know what I should write in the chorus... I´ve got an idea for the melody, tho. Can you hear that highest note that the synth strings are playing? That is going to be the base for the melody line. Can you give me an idea what I should write? BTW, it´s about the sea that is the text.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 10 2009, 10:20 PM

That's what I would do as well
and there is NO way to tell how one should play a scale.
At the end, scale is just a playground and if you play it note by note
in a solo or make a composition that way it would probably sound
too predictable, not to say boring.
Learn where all notes are, learn to play it in all possible way
including caged system if asked.



Ohh, you need help with lyrics here or?

Posted by: Tolek Sep 10 2009, 10:22 PM

That´s what I want to be able to do. However, I have to focus on the CAGED system this year is it is asked in the audition and I want to pass!!


That´s right.
Btw, I started singing and I got much better.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 10 2009, 10:31 PM

I see.
I would really love to help you with CAGED but I never really used it.
I hope you can get more charts on the net IF there are any extra.
It has few major lacks indeed, think of all 7 modes
and how you cannot actually play them all if you follow CAGED.
Imo it's kind a pointless but people use it and even ask for it on auditions
so I won't say anything further.



Hmm, I really don't have lot of experience with lyrics, specially not in english.
I DO song a lot in english, probably a lot more than in bosnian
but I never really wrote a lyric in english.
But as for light motif you might write about how great it is,
how independent it is, how it affects our lifes and everything else.
You can pretty much glorify it only,
hard to say or find bad words for sea!

Posted by: Tolek Sep 10 2009, 11:05 PM

Ok, we´ll forget those charts. I´ll ask my future guitar teacher if he´s got them.


Just started with the chorus. Thanks.

Do you have an idea what I could write in the other verses?

Posted by: Tolek Sep 11 2009, 08:38 PM

Here´s a video of me doing the audition for university. I was unprepared. That´s what they ask.

I just learned the 5 positions of a Major scale in the CAGED system. I know that I played the C Mixolydian scale not in the CAGED way.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 12 2009, 11:26 AM

Good work with audition test tho there were few possible errors
so lets try to fix that while we have time.

First of all, I noticed problems with D major pentatonic,
you used position that looks like 2nd position when you play minor pentatonic.
That shouldn't be hard one but there's easier one whatspever,
place your fingers as you if you were playing Bm pentatonic 1st position
but start from D note ofc, not B.
So you would have D note with pinky and you would still be covering 2 octaves,
going up to note D on high E string, 10th fret.

Then you were asked to name triads in harmonized C major scale,
you gave notes correctly but maybe you should also NAME triads,
C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major and B diminished.

And finally blues 12 bars progression.
Rhythm part you played wasn't that great.
Actually you played 10 bars of 5/4 signature.
Not sure how that happened, you were probably confused by something.
Here's one version tho:
I / I / I / I / IV / IV / I / I / V / IV / I / V /

I'm sure you do understand this progression and bar thing,
be more focused and it'll work.

Posted by: Tolek Sep 12 2009, 11:39 AM

Oh, how easy! Thanks a lot for clearing up!



Ok, that´s even easier.


Ok, I´ll work on this. I actually never learned this blues progression. It was just playing something that I thought was ok. I´ll learn how to blues now.


Thanks!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 12 2009, 11:43 AM

You're very welcome Tolek, keep me posted!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Oct 10 2009, 06:58 AM

We have some news regarding MTP so it would be great to check them out
and prepare for new "timing".

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=31054

Posted by: Tolek Oct 10 2009, 05:11 PM

Just read it again. As soon as Kris answers my message, I´ll be ready to reactivate my account and to rock with you. However, I´m not very satisfied with the new rules. As you know, I´m pretty busy (final class at school, a lot of preparation for a big number of exams, going to music school,...) and sometimes don´t have the time to work on the assignments. I was really satisfied with the system we had in the MTP because I could manage my time and post a video how and when I wanted. Now, I´ll probably take in worse takes and I´m not gonna learn as much as before. Even so, I´ll try to do my best and get the best results.

News from my side: I started taking guitar lessons. My teacher asked what I´d like to play. My answer: Jazz. Now, I´m learning different arpeggio shapes, how to improvise using those shapes and pentatonics.
Concerning our MTP, do you think we could complementarily work to this? I mean: learn how to create and work a theme/motive and all the improvisation concepts,... .
What I noticed this week was pretty depressing. I completely lose control of the timing when I improvise. I think it´d be useful to work on this, too.

See you soon and greetings to Sanela.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Oct 10 2009, 06:59 PM

Jazz and improvisation in general sounds like a good idea for weekly assignments
but we'd still need regular monthly assignments for REC.
Let me know when your account is ready so I could open new thread.
Regards to you and yours.

Posted by: Tolek Oct 14 2009, 03:31 PM

Ok, cool.

However, my monitor is not working. At the moment, I´m at my dad´s, but only for a few hours (that´s why I can write now). I have no idea when I´ll have a new monitor. I´m gonna write to you when everything´s ok again. Cheers.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Oct 14 2009, 04:07 PM

Ok, let me know when thing are fixed.