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GMC Forum _ Gabriel Leopardi _ Dalbor's Practice Room
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 9 2014, 04:26 PM
Hi Dalbor! Welcome to our thread for Gab's Army!
Here I will guide you with your guitar practice and composition to help you to achieve your guitar goals. Please give me here all the info that you think can help for this task, as well as your favorite musicians, some videos of you playing and compositions if you have.
I hope that you enjoy your stay at Gab's Army! 
Posted by: Dalbor Jul 9 2014, 04:56 PM
Here I will guide you with your guitar practice and composition to help you to achieve your guitar goals. Please give me here all the info that you think can help for this task, as well as your favorite musicians, some videos of you playing and compositions if you have.
I hope that you enjoy your stay at Gab's Army!
Hi Gabriel !
Im playing guitar for about 1 year and 7 months. I ve started playing it, mainly because of listning metallica albums. After a half year i have formed a band which was playing some mixed up covers. Our first concert was in school and we recorded it here you have link :
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=576014659135645
After 2 more concerts I got an offer to play in Thrashmetal band BeerHolder. When i joined them the band was just starting with composing songs. We play our first concert at October link:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=292524650917517&set=gm.599511440162237&type=1&theater
My favorite musicans are : Andy James , John Petrucci , Victor Smolski , You
, John 5 , Gary Holt , Synyster Gates :3 , Michael Angelo Batio and Marty Friedman And here is my little cover of Cowboys From Hell Solo :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40SvKRSYR8w
It was about 6 months ago i think.
My goal is to understand guitar scales , what stick them toghether and how to compose and use them perfectly in solos
I hope you will help me
Seee yaaaa
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 9 2014, 05:42 PM
Ok mate! Based on your goals, I think that we can base the first part of this work on a Thrash Metal course that I designed some time ago for some special Vchat sessions.
The program looks like this:
Gabriel's Thrash Metal Course:
Part 1 - Tonalities & Scales
Part 2 - Rhythms & Techniques
Part 3 - Structures & Arrangements
Part 4 - Creating a song
Are you in?
Posted by: Dalbor Jul 13 2014, 10:34 AM
The program looks like this:
Gabriel's Thrash Metal Course:
Part 1 - Tonalities & Scales
Part 2 - Rhythms & Techniques
Part 3 - Structures & Arrangements
Part 4 - Creating a song
Are you in?
Of course Im in !
So what now ?
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 13 2014, 04:49 PM
So what now ?
Excellent! We will start with the first part: Tonalities & Scales.
Do you have any suspect about which are the most used tonalities and scales in Thrash Metal?
Posted by: Dalbor Jul 13 2014, 06:30 PM
Do you have any suspect about which are the most used tonalities and scales in Thrash Metal?
E minor ?
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 13 2014, 07:14 PM
hehehe ok, it's a good start. The scales that we will cover on this Thrash course are:
- Pentatonic Minor
- Blues Scale
- Minor
- Phrygian Mode
- Phrygian Dominant
- Harmonic Minor
Can we say that you already know the first 3 marked with bold perfectly?
Posted by: Dalbor Jul 13 2014, 07:18 PM
- Pentatonic Minor
- Blues Scale
- Minor
- Phrygian Mode
- Phrygian Dominant
- Harmonic Minor
Can we say that you already know the first 3 marked with bold perfectly?
Yes !
, so what I must do now ?
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 13 2014, 07:26 PM
, so what I must do now ?Perfect! Learn the Phrygian mode which is the most used mode, after Aeolian, in Thrash Metal Style.
This is a very complete thread to master it: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=48083
You can also use these two lessons to learn licks and to practice the scale over the backing tracks:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/phrygian-soloing-beginner/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/phrygian-soloing-intermediate/
Please check all this stuff and let me know what you think and if you have questions!
Posted by: Dalbor Jul 13 2014, 07:36 PM
This is a very complete thread to master it: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=48083
You can also use these two lessons to learn licks and to practice the scale over the backing tracks:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/phrygian-soloing-beginner/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/phrygian-soloing-intermediate/
Please check all this stuff and let me know what you think and if you have questions!
Ok thanks im gona reply you as soon as i will end
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 14 2014, 03:08 PM
Great! Some tips and ideas for new scales:
- Record yourself: It's very useful to record your guitar jams and practice to be able to listen it after your practice to check what things you should improve. It's difficult to listen to our playing while we are practicing because we need our attention on other things like right hand movement, left hand movement, timing, the notes you have to play, etc... It's also good to monitor your progress and be able to compare your playing with your own playing the previous day, week, month or year.
- Practice over chords, progressions and backing track to see how the notes of a scale sound in a musical context. This is much more helpful and effective than playing the scale without it.
- Learn licks from a solo or lesson using that scale, analyze them and the chords sounding in the backing, play them, and create variations. Write down or record your favorites and start your own library of licks.
Posted by: Dalbor Jul 19 2014, 10:03 PM
- Record yourself: It's very useful to record your guitar jams and practice to be able to listen it after your practice to check what things you should improve. It's difficult to listen to our playing while we are practicing because we need our attention on other things like right hand movement, left hand movement, timing, the notes you have to play, etc... It's also good to monitor your progress and be able to compare your playing with your own playing the previous day, week, month or year.
- Practice over chords, progressions and backing track to see how the notes of a scale sound in a musical context. This is much more helpful and effective than playing the scale without it.
- Learn licks from a solo or lesson using that scale, analyze them and the chords sounding in the backing, play them, and create variations. Write down or record your favorites and start your own library of licks.
Im ready lets go !
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 20 2014, 01:21 AM
what do you mean by "ready"? Have you worked on Phrygian mode? Do you have some recordings? Some favorites licks?
Posted by: Dalbor Jul 20 2014, 08:02 PM
Yes I were practicing it over backing track and made guitar solo fir my band
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 21 2014, 03:31 PM
Excellent! This lesson is also a good complement for mastering the scale, and gives you great ideas for arranging and improvising: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/phrygian-mode-harmonized-with-triads/
Let's explore Harmonic minor scale now! Here you have a good article about it, where you'll find all the theory behind it.
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=49966
This is a good lesson for reference and to use the backing: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/harmonic-minor-for-beginners/
More harmonic minor lessons: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/search/harmonic+minor/
Posted by: Dalbor Aug 2 2014, 08:13 PM
Let's explore Harmonic minor scale now! Here you have a good article about it, where you'll find all the theory behind it.
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=49966
This is a good lesson for reference and to use the backing: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/harmonic-minor-for-beginners/
More harmonic minor lessons: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/search/harmonic+minor/
I ve practice that mode a lot i have to say it really reminds me Marty Friedman solos. I have record myself many times and played with backing track. Soon i want to make an a guitar solo over a backing track playing all new modes and scales to let you hear my progress
. Im going on a vacation now so ill be out for about 2 weeks so dont be worried if i wont be at Guitarmasterclass. Im ready for the next one Master !
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 3 2014, 07:12 PM
. Im going on a vacation now so ill be out for about 2 weeks so dont be worried if i wont be at Guitarmasterclass. Im ready for the next one Master !Hi Dalbor! thanks for your update and congrats on your hard work. I would really like to hear some samples from you playing. Marty Friedman is an amazing guitarist, very personal, very unique. He uses obviously a lot of harmonic minor as well as other modes and oriental scales. He has some really cool techniques and improvisation tricks that makes him sound even more exotic. We can analyze his style then!
Are you going to bring your guitar during the vacation?
Posted by: Dalbor Aug 17 2014, 08:27 AM
Are you going to bring your guitar during the vacation?
I couldnt take guitar with me :C , Ill be home at 18 th August. I can wait to play , 2 weeks without guitar makes me sad. I reallly wanted to look at some Paul Gilbert licks , he is totally awesome guitar player.
Also i have question :
I want to take a part in really small guitar contest in my town. Goal is to cover a song . Tuning for it is Drop B. I want to write some harmonic and solos for it. I looked at scale generator and of course all scales all transformed by standard tuining. How can i find scales already transformed to B drop ?
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 17 2014, 04:14 PM
Well, this is tricky because you have to relearn the scales, mostly what happens with the 6th string that it's the one that is different. if you visualize the caged system but having in mind that now that the open chords have different names there shouldn't be a problem. But of course, you need practice.
This is how the caged system looks in drop D:
You should use the same shapes but transpose it to drop B.
Now D is B, so everything is a minor third down.
Posted by: Dalbor Aug 17 2014, 08:37 PM
This is how the caged system looks in drop D:
You should use the same shapes but transpose it to drop B.
Now D is B, so everything is a minor third down.
Super cool images , im defenitly use them. I also found that one http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_scales.php?qqq=FULL&scch=E&scchnam=Harmonic+Minor&get2=Get&t=5&choice=1
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 18 2014, 04:23 PM
Fantastic tool mate! Now it's time to re-learn the fretboard. It can be tricky at first but the main differences are the lower string and that everything has a different name. The shapes in the higher strings are the same, you just have to identify the notes on the fretboard with this new different tuning.
Have you chosen the song for the competition?
Posted by: Dalbor Sep 25 2014, 04:11 PM
Hi Gabriel here is my progress Im ready for new part https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L2KM9i3M9g&feature=youtu.be
Posted by: Dalbor Sep 25 2014, 08:34 PM
Im ready for new part here is my progress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L2KM9i3M9g
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 25 2014, 09:12 PM
Hi Dalbor! That's a really cool video with a lot of solo ideas! Your tone is very good, but it would have been better if you put your guitar louder in the mix. I like your soloing over this backing track because it sounds like a song. There are main melodies that are repeated and also some faster licks and passages. It's a interesting solo that could become a real instrumental song with some structure work. where did you get the backing? Is it your composition?
There are some strong moments that are mostly the melodic sections that could work as verse and chorus. This ideas are brilliant! However there are some others, mostly the faster, that need more definition, some more direction. It seems that you say, "ok, here we go fast" but there is not a expression idea behind it, it's more like a random jam.
The next step would be to work on rhythm & technique. What can you say about your current rhythm and soloing abilities? which do you think are your strong a weak points?
Posted by: Dalbor Sep 26 2014, 03:23 PM
There are some strong moments that are mostly the melodic sections that could work as verse and chorus. This ideas are brilliant! However there are some others, mostly the faster, that need more definition, some more direction. It seems that you say, "ok, here we go fast" but there is not a expression idea behind it, it's more like a random jam.
The next step would be to work on rhythm & technique. What can you say about your current rhythm and soloing abilities? which do you think are your strong a weak points?
My Bad soloing abilities are :
*Weak Blues soloing Licks
*I should train my Alternative picking more
*I m not good in arpeggios ( Its really cool if you have some exercises for this
)My Good are :
*Sweep picking
*Tapping
*Metal licks
*String skipping
Thats my bad and good sites
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 26 2014, 03:29 PM
Cool, some of your strong points are techniques that are very important in Thrash Metal music. However your weak points are also VERY important. What do you mean by "not good with Arpeggios"? Technically or it's a musically?
Posted by: Dalbor Sep 26 2014, 03:35 PM
Technically
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 26 2014, 04:19 PM
I assume that you reffer to play them with Alternate Picking technique... because you said that Sweep Picking is one of our strong points... something like this?
Posted by: Dalbor Sep 27 2014, 12:12 AM
Yes !! Btw i love petrucci
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 28 2014, 09:12 PM
Ok, so let's start working. About Thrash Metal Rhythm, it would be good if you give a look to this guitar pro file where I wrote all the most used rhythm patterns in Thrash: 
Rhythms.gp5 ( 8.86K )
: 75
You can use those ideas as a loop to train your rhythm playing. And to compliment this stuff, it would be good if your give a try to this three lessons based on Teutonic Thrash Metal bands: Click http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/search/teutonic/.
Work on them technically but also analyze the scales and tonalities used to compose the different riffs. You can find it by yourself, or you can use the lesson's texts where I explain how I composed each one.
And now let's choose some exercises to work on your weak points:
Blues:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bens-Blues/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Blues-Dynamics/
Alternate Picking
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/move_your_little_finger!/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Linear-Shred-Zone/
What do you think?
Posted by: Dalbor Sep 29 2014, 04:13 PM
Rhythms.gp5 ( 8.86K )
: 75You can use those ideas as a loop to train your rhythm playing. And to compliment this stuff, it would be good if your give a try to this three lessons based on Teutonic Thrash Metal bands: Click http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/search/teutonic/.
Work on them technically but also analyze the scales and tonalities used to compose the different riffs. You can find it by yourself, or you can use the lesson's texts where I explain how I composed each one.
And now let's choose some exercises to work on your weak points:
Blues:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bens-Blues/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Blues-Dynamics/
Alternate Picking
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/move_your_little_finger!/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Linear-Shred-Zone/
What do you think?
Cool gona work them
and post about my progress thanks !
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 29 2014, 05:26 PM
and post about my progress thanks !Great!
Posted by: Dalbor Oct 28 2014, 09:45 PM
Hi gabriel
I made some blues guitar this month and get some good licks witch really helped me with playing solos or just lead guitar with backing track.
(Ben s blues really helped me)
Now i would like to train some Yngwies licks becouse i think that they push my speed up to a limit.
Also my band changed ,now our genre is Heavy/Alternative metal.
And i hope to study some John petrucci licks
I made an track for contest. I was wondering i if you can look at it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVvk85oy3X4&list=UUSVYopaCi0CNyUmwL_AtuoQ
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 29 2014, 06:07 PM
Hi Dalbor! Thanks for the report!
I have to say that you are taking the right road with your practice. Learning some blues is always helpful to practice dynamics, vibrato, bending and also to incorporate new licks and phrase to our guitar vocabulary.
Malmsteen and Petrucci are two interesting guitarists to analyze. Malmsteen is very intense, and it's great for training sweep picking, bending, vibrato and alternate picking. Petrucci is more complete, he goes from very technical stuff, to melodic phrasing and also uncommon chord progressions and rhythms. What are you planning to learn? Some GMC lessons? Some cover songs?
Any audios from your band to hear?
I checked your solo for the contest. I like the ideas happening there. Your melodies sound tasty and there are also many neoclassical oriented licks. I notice that your alternate picking needs some practice at high tempos. Your licks don't sound totally clear, and you have some little timing issues that makes the double guitar licks sound less consistent. Try to focus on AP and timing, isolate the most difficult licks of this solo and use it to adjust your technique.
Posted by: Dalbor Apr 19 2015, 05:04 PM
Hi Gabriel !
Its been a while since we chat(something about 4 months). That time I was concentrating on my band , guitar and school. Also got my picking and tapping techniq grow by learning certain licks from guitarmasters . I also broke down some of your awsome compositions like 40 Power Metal Bands in 1 song .
Im writing to you because there is a guitar competition in which I want to enter.
There are 3 categories sorted by age , im in the last one(16-18)
Every musican has to play to backing tracks in which there are parts for guitar solo.
Goal is to write best solo and play already given riffs best as possible.
I was wondering that you can check out my entries and see if its stable.
Also i would be super happy if you could show how you would play it
Here is link for tabs and scale proposiotions ( Dreamscape and Ice- Maiden)
http://www.bfge.pl/files/media/pliki/Baltic-Sea-Electric-Guitar-Festival-2015-Competiton-Pieces-18.03.15-Revision.pdf
And here are my entries :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qZcN7B5qhE solo (0.45-1.17)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi2puobpAv4 solo (0:55-1.45)
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 20 2015, 01:29 AM
Hi Dalbor, nice to hear from you!
This competition is very cool because it includes great tracks to work on, and cool notes to know what and how to work on it. So more than a competition I would call this great workout.
Let's work on this! I'll give you my first thoughts about this videos and you can work on the things and share new videos. I'll be here to monitor your progress.
Dreamspace:
I didn't read the rules but I think that it would be good if you can improve your guitar tone. Is it possible to use a daw to record and mix guitars with backing? Your tone is weak and lacks low frequencies.
The rhythm section sounds good but I would play it with more dynamics, making accents sound more aggressive and other chords a bit less. When doing this I try to go with the drums, and accentuate snare and kick, this makes my rhythm sound more groovy and connected with the drums. So give this more aggression and dynamics.
The melodic section has nervous vibrato. I know that they asked to use wide vibrato on the notes, but it's important to let the note sound and then add vibrato that grows gradually. It could be even wider than what you did, but less nervous, more natural.
The guitar solo has great things. I like the composition, and how it's played. However, I feel that it needs some rhythm variation, mostly in the second half. You play mostly the same note values and it becomes predicable after a while. Use longer notes, faster notes, bending and more vibrato.
Ice Maiden:
Great track! I love the mix between Maiden and 80's shredders. Your guitar tone fits better for this one but I still think that it could be more defined. Be careful with timing on the alternate picking main melody, there are some issues there.
About the solo section, I think that once again your solo is lacking more rhythm variation. I think that some influence from blues and classic rock could bring good things to what you currently have. Add vibrato, and bending.
Posted by: Dalbor Apr 29 2015, 10:40 PM
This competition is very cool because it includes great tracks to work on, and cool notes to know what and how to work on it. So more than a competition I would call this great workout.
Let's work on this! I'll give you my first thoughts about this videos and you can work on the things and share new videos. I'll be here to monitor your progress.
Dreamspace:
I didn't read the rules but I think that it would be good if you can improve your guitar tone. Is it possible to use a daw to record and mix guitars with backing? Your tone is weak and lacks low frequencies.
The rhythm section sounds good but I would play it with more dynamics, making accents sound more aggressive and other chords a bit less. When doing this I try to go with the drums, and accentuate snare and kick, this makes my rhythm sound more groovy and connected with the drums. So give this more aggression and dynamics.
The melodic section has nervous vibrato. I know that they asked to use wide vibrato on the notes, but it's important to let the note sound and then add vibrato that grows gradually. It could be even wider than what you did, but less nervous, more natural.
The guitar solo has great things. I like the composition, and how it's played. However, I feel that it needs some rhythm variation, mostly in the second half. You play mostly the same note values and it becomes predicable after a while. Use longer notes, faster notes, bending and more vibrato.
Ice Maiden:
Great track! I love the mix between Maiden and 80's shredders. Your guitar tone fits better for this one but I still think that it could be more defined. Be careful with timing on the alternate picking main melody, there are some issues there.
About the solo section, I think that once again your solo is lacking more rhythm variation. I think that some influence from blues and classic rock could bring good things to what you currently have. Add vibrato, and bending.
What do you think gab ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOjGzUoa2fY&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk6IM8oKzcE&feature=youtu.be
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 29 2015, 11:44 PM
Videos are private!
Posted by: Dalbor Apr 30 2015, 03:21 PM
Fixed it , now its ok
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 30 2015, 04:12 PM
Hi mate, the compositions seem to be really cool. The problem is now being able to play all those licks right. You need to polish each lick, each part to make it sound tight, clean and with the required feeling. I feel that many licks are a bit over your current level, but this is a great excuse to practice the more you can to polish your own licks and compositions. It's the best way to develop your own voice.
So in other words, good job with the composition, now it's time to polish this and once you can play it tight, I'd like to re-check the phrases.
Deal?
Posted by: Dalbor Apr 30 2015, 04:21 PM
So I will polish and learn to play this tight it as you are saying and then show my results ?
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 1 2015, 03:10 AM
yes, that's the next step now. It's a lot of material so you should be organized and isolate the trickier parts. If it's necessary you'll have to create variations and exercises to be able to play the most difficult parts. If you feel that a lick or some licks give you more problems, let me know which ones are and I will give tips and exercises to master them.
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