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Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 4 2016, 10:01 PM

Hi Wyverex! Welcome to your mentoring thread.

Before we start, I'd like to know a bit more about you.

- How many time have you been playing guitar?
- Favorite guitarists, bands and musicians.
- What are your guitar goals?
- How would you like to you see yourself in 5 years (related to music and guitar)?
- How many time can you play guitar each day?
- Do you have playing live experience?
- Which are your strong and weak points with guitar?
- What do you know about music theory?
- Can you record videos of you playing?
- Share here audios and videos that reflect your current playing.

Posted by: Wyverex Aug 5 2016, 09:32 AM

Thank you for having me :-)

A couple of years now, on and off. For a time I only played acoustic fingerstyle without any teacher, then I did basically nothing for a few years. About 1.5 years ago I started to take private lessons. I've been playing electric for about a year now.

I started making music about 15 years ago and went from drums to bass (both in several bands) then to piano and finally arrived at playing guitar. So I know a bit of everything but I never had the feeling that I became good on any particular instrument.


Mark Tremonti, Alter Bridge (& Creed), Shinedown, Poets of the Fall, Tommy Emmanuel, Ludovico Einaudi (pianist, but is still an influence for his beautiful melodies)

I'm really into Alter Bridge at the moment!


I would like to be able to play what I hear inside my head (where I always have the feeling that I lack the technique to express it). I would really like to be able to play Alter Bridge songs and in their general style. I want to have a band again and write own songs again but this time on guitar.


I try to play at least an hour every day. If I can, I play more but usually it's around that. For the last few months I've been extremely motivated and would like to spend my whole day playing, but sadly that's not an option. I have to add that about half of my playing time is devoted to what I do with my private teacher.


Several gigs on drums and bass. Guitar more in a private setting, like parties.


I think I have quite a good feeling for melodies and how to integrate with other instruments. What I never accomplished on any instrument is playing fast. This has eluded me for years. I also feel that I mostly lack the routine, meaning the bare hours spent getting comfortable with different techniques.
Also, in the past I always tried to progress faster than my ability allowed. That's why I really like the lessons on this site. There's so much to learn even from Lvl 2 lessons


I think my theory is pretty solid. I know about chords and scales and how to build chords upon them including 9ths, 11ths, 13ths etc. What I lack is again the routine to apply it to the guitar when I want to. There is if course enough stuff I haven't touched yet like melodic minor scales, the Phrygian Major from the Korn collaboration comes to mind as well. There's always more to learn


Yes


You've already seen my take on your lesson. Apart from that I'm afraid I don't have anything recent. Here's a video from 2012 which reflects my acoustic playing pretty well.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn26BPg9NvI

Apart from that, what I'm learning at the moment are:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/slow-melody-lesson/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/jumping-around-beginner/
Recognizing that the note choice here is mostly about landing on a strong note for each chord, I'm also spending some time on
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Improvising-Workshop-1/
because this is also something I never practiced enough.

And with my teacher I'm learning "Always with me, always with you" from Joe Satriani (which is quite the task )

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 5 2016, 02:12 PM

Hi mate! Thanks for the info!

This is the first assignment that I suggest based on what I know from you.


ASSIGNMENT #1:

Goal:

- Leveling your guitar playing.
- Working on your expression techniques.


TASK 1:

- Work on this lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Ballad-Soloing-Dynamics-And-Phrasing/


TASK 2:

- Improvise over the backing track of the lesson trying to create your own variations.


Exam and deadline:

By August 16th you'll have to share 2 videos:

- A video playing Ballad Soloing lesson (5 coins)
- A second video improvising over the lesson's backing (5 coins)

Each of this videos will be evaluated (check the coins value below). You need to get at least 7 coins to pass. If you pass, we can continue, if you don't you will have a second "call" that would be the last one.

Posted by: Wyverex Aug 6 2016, 02:27 PM

Oh, that's a tough one! I hope I can deliver that until the deadline. I'm pretty excited to be able to play this, though I'll keep you posted

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 6 2016, 05:07 PM

Looking forward your news!

Posted by: Wyverex Aug 8 2016, 09:46 PM

I'm making some progress on this lesson, although there are so many subtleties to take into account.
What I'm really struggling with is the right tone, though. Darius writes to use as few distortion as possible to have the widest dynamic range. But I found that my dynamic range is quite small. I can play notes that are more silent than others but it seems that no matter how hard I pluck the strings, I can't make them distort so much that it has a really prominent effect.

Right now I use Bias FX with a dual 59' Tweed Lux Amp (based on Fender Blues Deluxe), a Tube Screamer and Reverb.
The Amp has about
10.8 / 11 Gain
5,5 / 10 Bass
7 / 10 Mids
5 / 10 Treble
2.8 / 10 Presence
The Screamer is set to
5.8 Drive
4.0 Tone
2.3 Level

I don't know if you have Bias FX or if it even makes sense to post those values. I just don't know where to look first to get closer to the lesson's tone. I don't have a Strat - I'm playing an Ibanez S with Humbuckers. I've experimented with the neck humbucker and splitting that into a single coil. The recording is on full humbucker. Does the guitar make such a big difference in the end?

https://soundcloud.com/user-45599409/ballad-soloing-wip-take-1

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 9 2016, 08:05 PM

Hi mate,

I have to say that your tone sounds good on this take. I'm not very into Bias (yet, I'm curious to give it a try) but from what I know Darius is using some free plug ins so maybe you can try them in your day and if you still prefer bias, you can use it as reference on what to search regarding tone. Fender Stratocaster has a very personal sound so you won't be able to get the same tone, but honestly that's not the main objective here. The idea is that you build your own tone, which should be comfortable for you and that should fit well with the lesson and backing's style.

Posted by: Wyverex Aug 15 2016, 07:01 PM

Hey Gabriel,

just to let you know, I've been trying to record a video for the lesson for the past two hours and I'm growing more and more frustrated. I've spent several hours each day to learn the notes and the structure but I'm far from being able to deliver a recording in acceptable quality in full speed until tomorrow. The last days I've mainly played on about 80-85% speed and even there are still hiccups. But on 100% I'm just feeling rushed and frustrated. The volume swells are particularly difficult for me. And I have to fake the sweep near the end because that's way too fast for me. And I haven't even spent much time on the impro yet...

So in short, I feel I'm in way over my head considering the deadline. There are several options now: I can record it nevertheless but then it'll be nowhere near the quality I would upload into the REC section if I was doing the lesson on my own. Or I can record at slower speed. Or do you have another idea?

I really feel better matched with level 2 or 3 lessons at the moment
Don't get me wrong, I'm highly motivated and I can't get enough of my guitar but I'm at the limit of what I can deliver given the available time.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 15 2016, 07:53 PM

Hi mate, this sound very reasonable. Please record this one at a tempo in which you feel comfortable and natural with the overall groove, licks and techniques, ok?

Posted by: Wyverex Aug 16 2016, 09:04 PM

Ok, I finally managed to record something
It's on 90% speed and I'm not completely satisfied with it because there are mistakes included but that's the best I can do for now.



Also the improvisation. I tried to stay in the general style of the backing track having a recurring theme and a slow build-up.



Overall I found this lesson to be very tricky (at least for my current abilities). I'd feel more comfortable to take a step back and concentrate more on a single technique for the next lesson if that's ok for you

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 18 2016, 11:03 PM

Hi mate! Congrats on your first assignment completed! This is mostly a leveler for us since it helps me to see exactly which are the techniques that need more attention. I can say that the first technique that we should work is bending so that's what the one in which we'll focus the next assignment. There are off course more things to work like dynamics, timing, and vibrato, but let's start polishing those bends.

I enjoyed your improvisation. You've taken the original lesson as a template to create a solo of your own. I can say that this are totally fresh phrases but it keeps the vibe of the lesson. That's the best way to get the more of a lesson so it's a succesful recording.

Based on your submits these are your results:

I'll be back with a new assignment, but you can dedicate some time to isolate the bends from the lesson and practice them. Try to reach the correct pitch.

Posted by: Wyverex Aug 19 2016, 12:48 PM

Hey,

thanks for the input I agree that the bendings require work. Some of them actually made me facepalm while listening to them, especially towards the end. I think I generally bend the strings too far.

Apart from that, over the last days, I spent some time thinking about my practice routine and I realized that I need to change something. Currently there's too much stuff that I'd like to do and I randomly start new lessons (because there are a hell of a lot of awesome lessons on this site ) and I need to focus more. Also, your question about my guitar goals (in 5 years) had some impact on me. I didn't think about my goals so clearly before and apparently it needed to sink in for two weeks before I was really clear about it

So, I created a practice schedule for myself which I'd like to share with you, so that you know how my practice time will be spent in the next time. My overall goal that I want to be able to play Alter Bridge songs is still valid. But I see that somewhere between 2 and 5 years. My midterm goals are the following:

• Rhythm
  I want to have a really solid rhythm foundation. While I think that my timing is generally quite good, I'm lacking routine and rhythmic techniques. I want to churn out those in-your-face killer riffs I don't just want to cover songs though, I want to make those riffs & techniques my own. So I thought about lessons like the following to build up my repertoire (no specific order yet, and there are tons more of them that I like):
  https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Staccato-Power-Chords/
  https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Stamina-School/
  https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Riffing-with-pedal-note/
  https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metallica-For-Beginners/
  
  My midterm goal here is to be able to play Master of Puppets in live speed in a year from now (if that's realistic).
• GMC Mentoring Lessons
  Whatever you think is important I guess I see some bending workouts flying in
• Improvisation
  I want to improve finding strong notes (for which I have developed a plan together with my private teacher) and build a lick library from songs/lessons that I play and then try to incorporate those licks into my improvisation.
• Songs & Associated Techniques
  As I wrote before, I'm learning Joe Satriani's Always with Me with my teacher at the moment. My plan is to be able to play that until the end of the year. Currently I'm working on better hammer on & pull off technique in preparation for those legato runs.

That's my schedule draft. Since it contains 4 parts, I would divide my available playing time by four each day and spend that much time on each part then. What do you think?

Ah, and since I'm almost done with https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/slow-melody-lesson/ (as written in my first post), I will post a REC of that soonish. There's just one arpeggio run which is still too fast for me.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 19 2016, 04:08 PM

Hi mate! Great stuff! This extended goals help me to design better assignments for you. This is what I would suggest:




ASSIGNMENT #2:

Goals:

- Rhythm Practice
- Improvisation Tools


TASK 1:

- Work on this lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Staccato-Power-Chords/


TASK 2:

- Study this first part of the improv workout: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Improvising-Workshop-1/


Exam and deadline:

By August 30th you'll have to share 2 videos:

- A video playing the rhythm lesson (5 coins)
- A second video improvising using the concepts from the workout (5 coins)

Each of this videos will be evaluated (check the coins value below). You need to get at least 7 coins to pass. If you pass, we can continue, if you don't you will have a second "call" that would be the last one.

Posted by: Wyverex Aug 29 2016, 08:30 AM

I've posted my take on Task 1 into the REC section:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=57373

I think this is exactly where I need to be at the moment. Getting my rhythm more solid.
Do you think I should continue with one of those lessons? Or something else?

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Power-Chord-Shifting/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Power_Chords_Workout/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Riffing-with-pedal-note/

Also here is the improvisation:


Note that I haven't really followed the Improvisation Workout #1 here (since that's only about playing C major) but instead I did something a bit more challenging and played over C - Am - F - G and mostly used guidetone lines. So far I have been working on 2/5 CAGED shapes and I was planning to do the rest over the next weeks as part of my improvisation block in my practice schedule.
Also, I tried to do this impro a bit more spontaneous, i.e. I sat down for a while to get into the general feel and to find some licks that I wanted to play and then I recorded it straight-away. The downside is, of course, that the impro has less structure this way (it feels a bit directionless at times) but I guess part of the learning process is to be able to create structure on the spot.

Apart from that, I've now started recording with a real amp! Some months ago I purchased a Mesa Mini Rectifier but I was largely unable to get a satisfying tone out of it given the volumes that I can play with in my apartment. But now I'm using a similar technique to what yoncopin does: I route the amp's pre-amp output into my audio interface and use the Two-Notes Wall of Sound plugin as a power amp and cabinet simulation. This doesn't give me the complete authentic tone of my amp since the Mini Rec has a switchable 10/25 watt power amp stage which does additionally color the sound (going from pentode to triode) but at least I can play my amp now! I've also started using Cantabile as my VST host, which feels so much simpler and better suited than starting up Cubase every time.

For the impro I've also used the TAL-Reverb-4 plugin.

Note that I'm mostly away on a seminar this week, so I won't be able to play much. Also I will be on vacation from September 19th to September 27th.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 29 2016, 03:29 PM

Hi mate! Good job! It's a great idea to post lesson takes directly at the REC section since you'll receive comments from other instructors as well which is very helpful.

I think that you've done a good job with both tasks. As the other instructors said, the rhythm lesson only shows some timing issues that deserve some attention since you tend to rush the beat. Regarding the improvisation, there are good things happening there, mostly related to the notes choices over each chord. However, it's lacking some overall structure as well as some phrasing/motiv development. We'll work on it!

Based on your submits these are your results:

ASSIGNMENT #3:

Goals:

- Rhythm Practice
- Improvisation Tools


TASK 1:

- Work on this lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Power-Chord-Shifting/


TASK 2:

- Get into this amazing lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Your-First-Phrases/

Exam and deadline:

By September 17th you'll have to share 2 videos:

- A video playing the rhythm lesson (5 coins)
- A second video improvising using the concepts from the lesson Your first phrases (5 coins)

Each of this videos will be evaluated (check the coins value below). You need to get at least 7 coins to pass. If you pass, we can continue, if you don't you will have a second "call" that would be the last one.

Posted by: Wyverex Aug 29 2016, 04:40 PM

Cool, thanks! The impro lesson looks cool. I'll get right on it as soon as I can

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 30 2016, 11:16 PM

Great!

Posted by: Wyverex Sep 4 2016, 05:23 PM

Hey, just a quick question regarding the impro lesson: Do you want me to play the phrases Kris is playing in the lesson or do you want me to record some phrases of my own over the backing track? Judging from what the lesson is all about, I guess it's the latter but I just wanted to make sure

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 4 2016, 09:47 PM

Exactly! The latter... phrases of your own.

Posted by: Wyverex Sep 16 2016, 09:22 PM

Hey!

Here my videos for this assignment. They aren't perfect, but that's probably always the case when hitting the REC button
I posted the rhythm lesson directly to REC.

The improvisation:

I had some struggles finding phrases for the 2nd and 4th part, where there's not much movement harmonically. I feel a bit limited there.

As I said before, I will be on vacation until September 27th. I don't yet know how I'm going to survive without my guitar
Looking forward to the next lessons though

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 17 2016, 09:20 PM

Hi mate! Congrats on your hard work!

Based on your submits these are your results:

I've already commented your take at REC which is really good. The improvisation is a good first step into this phrasing direction. There is still more work to do, but practice is the key. We'll continue working on improvisation tools in order to make your improvisation more expressive and rich.


Well, as you are going on vacation, I'll give you the next assignment as soon as you get back. Please write here when you are ready again.

Have a great time!

Posted by: Wyverex Sep 25 2016, 04:04 PM

Hey Gabriel!

I'll be back from my vacation tomorrow. Had a great time hiking through the forest but I missed my guitar
Looking forward to the next assignment

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 26 2016, 03:05 PM

ASSIGNMENT #4:

Goals:

- Rhythm Practice
- Bending technique


TASK 1:

- Work on this lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Power_Chords_Workout/


TASK 2:

- Get into this amazing lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginner-Bending-Workout/
- Improvise over the backing of the bending workout.

Exam and deadline:

By October 17th you'll have to share 2 videos:

- A video playing the rhythm lesson (4 coins)
- A video playing the bending workout (3 coins)
- A video improvising over the backing track (3 coins)

Each of this videos will be evaluated (check the coins value below). You need to get at least 7 coins to pass. If you pass, we can continue, if you don't you will have a second "call" that would be the last one.

Posted by: Wyverex Sep 26 2016, 05:23 PM

Cool, I'll get on it right away

I guess you meant October 17th as the deadline though. Otherwise I'd have to be REALLY fast now

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 28 2016, 01:48 AM

hahaha back to the future.

Posted by: Wyverex Sep 28 2016, 12:18 PM

Just to let you know, I submitted a Sunday Shred Fest video yesterday and thought you might be interested because a good part of your assignments is about improvisation, too. Do you generally want to give feedback on those as well or do you leave that part to Todd and just want me to post your assignment videos here?

Also, I started Todd's Shred Journey. I will try to incorporate this into my daily routine but your assignments will still have higher priority. Deadlines are deadlines

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 29 2016, 02:42 PM

Hi mate, that sounds great. Feel free to share here any video you want and I'll check it and comment if I find any relevant issue to pay attention or fix.

Posted by: Wyverex Sep 29 2016, 03:22 PM

Ok cool, then please have a look



While I think that this is my best impro so far, something about it still screams "Beginner" in my face and I can't quite put my finger on whether it is string noise, timing or something else.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 30 2016, 08:05 PM

Great job man! That's a really cool improvisation. Your phrases are tasty and your tone very good for this backing.

I can get what you feel and I think that it's related to expressing details.

- Your vibrato is not totally consistent. There is a lot of room to make it sound more "professional"
- There are some timing issues, or maybe we could say that your take could have more groove.
- Use more dynamics.
- Use slides, harmonics and other tools to enrich your take.


These are not things that you'll fix in one day, but this is the direction that you need to go in order to make your solo sound more "professional". Some inspiration:

Posted by: Wyverex Sep 30 2016, 08:28 PM

I see what you mean, thanks! I try to keep that in mind for my next takes.

And I could listen to Andy Timmons all day

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 2 2016, 10:45 PM

He is awesome. Check also Nick Johnston's new album.

Posted by: Wyverex Oct 4 2016, 09:55 PM

Thank you for the tip with Nick Johnston. Didn't know him before but he's really awesome! I especially like that he has many melody fragments where I had the impression that I heard them before (or could immediately predict the next notes) but he uses them very skillfully. And that tone...

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 5 2016, 08:50 PM

That's an interesting comment about Nick's compositions and phrases. I also think that his phrases are melodies that I already know, but at the same time, I find the fresh.. that's very interesting.

Posted by: Wyverex Oct 9 2016, 01:29 PM

Hey Gabe,

there's been a lot going on lately. First of all, we traditionally have a small band in our company that plays a small cover concert at each year's christmas party. This year we are going to play again and that means a lot of rehearsal until December. Normally I play bass there but this year I'll try to sneak in some guitar as well
The downside is that practicing for that gig will take away a lot of my normal guitar practice time.

Also I've been rethinking my practice approach. I have the feeling that I don't spend enough time learning new shapes, techniques etc. slow enough to really get them into my muscle memory. I get impatient and rush into playing faster than my ability allows, thus adding a lot of small mistakes that show all the time. And I want to change that. Therefore I'm trying some approach that is losely related to the one in the book "Effortless Mastery". I think I read somewhere here that you like that book as well, so you will know what I'm talking about. I read the book about a year ago but I never really applied the concepts to my playing. Some days ago, I started doing this with a small part of the current assignment and it seems to work really well so far.

So what this all boils down to is that I won't make the deadline. More than that, I can't have any deadline sitting in my neck at the moment. I want to have the time that I need to explore this practice approach and find my own way. Ideally I'd like to continue with the current assignment but only share it when I feel that it's good enough. I don't know the exact reason why you have deadlines in the first place but if that is to "motivate" students to stay on task then I can assure you that I don't need any deadlines because my motivation was never higher than during the last months

So, do you think we can continue working that way? Meaning, I'll do the assignments but take the time I think I need? If that's not acceptable to you then I think I would have to respectfully resign from the mentoring program (at least until the end of the year) because I feel very strongly that I need to do this now.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 10 2016, 02:30 PM

Hi mate,

thanks for the honestly! That book is at my top 3 of music and even life books ever. So I really can see what you mean and I'm completely with you in this decision.

After more than 8 years of work at GMC, and 14 years giving private classes, I can confirm two things that are quite obvious but that justify the reason why I add deadlines.

The first one is that every person is different so each student and guitarist is a different world and needs different approaches to what I consider the main goal: Keeping motivation. That's why, if you check my personal board you'll see that I treat differently to each student. I try to have a template to make things more organised, but on the way, things start to get a specific shape for each student.

And the second, why do I get deadlines if I love "Effortless Mastery"? The reason why is that I've noted that MANY students need a reference date that makes them work harder. They need a "destination" in order to keep diary motivation and keep practising. Deadlines make us work every day, and help them to have balances and see how much they progress.

However, there are some students who don't like deadlines because they feel stressed or that don't need deadlines because they can keep motivation without them. As you are one of this later ones, we can continue in your own way.

Posted by: Wyverex Oct 10 2016, 03:02 PM

Thank you! I feel relieved about this

I completely agree. Before I joined GMC, having deadlines would probably have improved my practice schedule a lot already.

But in the 15 years that I've made music now, I've never been as motivated as I am now. I can't even tell how it started, suddenly it was "just there". Joining GMC was without question a big factor in that. And since then I would love to keep playing guitar all day and not even go to work anymore Before, I would come home and play video games or something and now I can't wait to play guitar. It's a bit weird somehow, but I'm thankful at the same time because I know that now it's only a matter of time and perseverance to get where I want to be.

Now concerning the current assignment, I'm much farther with the rhythm lesson and will probably post a REC of that first (although that will still take some time, of course). I have one question about that. There are some deadnotes in the fourth bar. I've tried to play them as real deadnotes and not palm mute them (which was a bit hard at first) and I've noticed that it's hard to play them getting a "chunky" feel. I very often seem to hit some harmonics there. It's basically hit or miss, even when playing very slowly. Looking closely at Jerry's hand, you can see that during the slow replay he actually places more fingers on the strings (probably to remove harmonics) but when playing fast he doesn't do that anymore. Even with the additional fingers it feels like I have to move my hand near the 4th or 5th fret to mute all harmonics which will probably too slow at higher BPM.
So is it a matter of amp/gain settings or is there some secret muting technique I don't know about?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 11 2016, 07:17 PM

Hi mate, that sounds great! That's also what I feel. I can't wait until I get my guitar in my hands for playing.. It's my biggest passion and it's really cool to know other guys that feel the same. Enjoy the journey!

About the rhythm question, from what I can seehttps://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Power_Chords_Workout/, the technique used for muting is palm muting. I don't think that you'd get harmonics if you use palm muting.

Posted by: Wyverex Oct 18 2016, 08:21 PM

Hey Gabe,

just wanted to give you a short update on my progress. The rhythm lesson is coming along very well. I had sort of an epiphany two days ago when the first section suddenly became very groovy and I could play it at 100% speed more confidently than any other new thing I've worked on during the last months It seems my new approach is really paying off. I just need to be patient. It's done when it's done. I'm very happy That being said, I hope I will post a REC in the next two weeks.

The bending lesson has improved as well but I still have far to go. I'm thinking about installing a tremolo stabilizer to make it easier playing the double stop bends with correct pitch since Darius also suggested this to me.

Do you have experience with the Göldo BackBox or the ESP Arming Adjuster?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 20 2016, 01:48 PM

Hi mate, thanks for the update. I'm glad to know that you are noting progress and that the new approach is working!

I have no experience with those things, but I recommend you to start a thread at the gear section to ask other GMCers.

Posted by: Wyverex Oct 27 2016, 09:26 PM

Ok, finally I have something to show
This is a work in progress take. I guess I could already post it in REC but I still notice various timing issues (I think I'm rushing again) and I'm sure you'll spot a lot more than that



I've used another guitar this time because it has a fixed bridge and gives less trouble when tuning down. But I also immediately noticed that the bridge pickup of my AT10P is a lot tighter than this one. So the sound is a bit mushy in comparison

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 28 2016, 06:34 PM

Hi mate! Good job! This one has things to polish but it's on the way! I can feel that it's really close.

There are basically 3 elements to adjust:

- timing: You've already noticed it. You tend to rush the riffs in some sections. Focus on it.

- tuning: I notice that some chords sound with tuning / pitch issues. This can be related to the strength used when pressing the fret. Pay attention to it and check if you are not doing some kind of microbend that affect the pitches.

- Dynamics: Once you fix the previous elements, you can work on the intensities. You tend to play everything soft. Check out the original lesson and notice the use of picking intensities as an expression tool.

Posted by: Wyverex Oct 30 2016, 10:15 AM

Here's another work in progress take (audio only). I tried to focus on my timing and using less strength when fretting the chords. I haven't started with dynamics yet.

https://soundcloud.com/user-45599409/gmc-power-chord-workout-wip-01

Also, I don't know if I told you yet, but I bought a Helix about a month ago and I'm really happy with it. So far I've only used tones created by other people but last week I started creating my own tones and this take has my first crunch tone. I think it still sounds a bit muddy but I'm not quite sure what to do about it. Do you have any idea what could be missing? (maybe it's obvious to you but not to me yet )

Ah and I cheated this time by using my AT10P again and putting a -1 semitone pitch adjuster in front of the signal chain. So I'm basically playing in standard tuning but recording one half step down. Not sure yet if this is a good idea or might have consequences for the overall tone.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 30 2016, 05:50 PM

Hi mate, this is sounding good!

Pitch adjust always ruins a bit your tone so I would avoid it. Regarding creating your own tone, this one sounds good and it's great for a first try! It can take years to get the best from this complex devices. One think that I've learn during all these years is that it's better to keep the patches simple and try to replicate what you would use in a real live situation. That's why I prefer to use a few elements starting with a head and a cabinet, and maybe 1 pedal. Once I get the tone that I start with details. But the sounds must be great just from the amp (in this case the virtual amp).

Posted by: Wyverex Nov 6 2016, 01:39 PM

Hey,

I posted a REC of the Power Chords Workout. I'm starting to get sick of that riff There's probably still a lot to improve but I'm happy with the timing so far and now I need to do something else

I will continue working on the bending lesson but I feel like investing more time into rhythm guitar right now. It's just what my heart wants My goal with the bending lesson is to reliably hit the correct pitches the first time each time and not having to try 2-3 times to hit. But that will take several weeks I guess.

Which rhythm lesson would you suggest next?
EDIT: What do you think about this one? https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/rhythm-guitar/I-got-rhythm-guitar2-palm-muting/
I played around with it today, naively thinking I should be able to nail this pretty fast. I quickly found out that it's quite difficult to make that riff sound tight

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 7 2016, 04:01 PM

Hi mate, that lesson is a great choice. If you feel motivated to play it, it's a good idea to go for it. On the other hand, you can also search for some Thrash Metal lessons around levels 3/4 that could sound more musical. But it's uo to you.

Posted by: Wyverex Nov 7 2016, 04:05 PM

Then I think I'll go for this one. For years I always chose the "cool" stuff first. Now I'm content to work on the fundamentals and it feels great to finally do so and make progress

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 8 2016, 02:21 PM

Good move!

Posted by: Wyverex Nov 9 2016, 10:38 AM

Hey Gabe,

I've thought a lot about the last lesson and I've decided to work on it more. I want to be able to play it effortlessly no matter if I pick up the guitar at home or at a jam session. And I'm definitely not there yet.

So I started to analyze what I'm doing and the first thing I'd like to fix is having the G-string sometimes sounding when I play the double stops on the A and D strings. It seems I'm unable to place my left hand in a way that I can completely mute the G string in those scenarios. At least not consistently. But maybe the problem is also in the right hand? If I could strum those two strings consistently without hitting the G string the problem would be solved already.

Do you think it's a good idea to move the pick through the A and D strings until it comes to rest on the G string? This way the G string could never sound because the pick effectively mutes it. Kind of like a rest stroke in classical guitar, just with a pick and a strumming motion over two adjacent strings. It sounds like a pretty simple solution to me but I don't know if that might become a problem in the future? Maybe it's not as loose as a free strumming motion?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 9 2016, 05:39 PM

Hi mate,

I couldn't understand well your question. Could you please share a video with the problem and the possible solution?

When playing lower strings I usually mute the higher ones with my index (1st finger) of the left hand as a bare. Is that what you are trying?

Posted by: Wyverex Nov 9 2016, 10:53 PM

I was talking about a solution using the right hand. While I think that muting with the left hand index finger is good in any case, Ben once told me in a PM that he always tries to only hit the strings that should actually ring when playing power chords. So I'm now trying two different solutions. Please see this video:



In the beginning I use more of a strumming motion that leads the pick away from the strings. That's what I've been doing so far. It's not accurate enough yet because often I hit the G string as well even when I only want to hit the A and D string.
So I thought maybe it works to borrow a bit from the rest stroke used in classical guitar and let the pick rest on the G string. This way it couldn't ring in any way. That's the second part of my video. I haven't found any references to that technique in the context of playing power chords though (and all the lessons I've watched seem to use the first one) so I wanted to ask what you think about that

EDIT: I think I might have found an answer already. I think it would be difficult to play with the "rest stroke" using much force because the pick needs to stop before crossing the G string and that's pretty difficult to do when you want to put more dynamics into the motion.

But while experimenting with that I found out that I often hit the higher strings with my floating fingers while strumming. You can even hear that in the video. I guess I should curl my fingers inward when strumming (power) chords with distortion?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 10 2016, 02:40 PM

Hi mate,

I also try to hit only the strings that I want to sound as well as mute with my left hand. I do everything possible to keep things sounding clean. About your video, I think that the first option makes more sense, but off course, the movement should be smaller if you play faster rhythms. So I would try to get used to the first option.

Watching this video in slow motion would be very inspiring:

Posted by: Wyverex Nov 10 2016, 05:33 PM

I think this video is even better. Much better resolution and camera angles on his picking hand.


As we're now talking about Hetfield, I notice that he holds the pick with the back of his index finger (arguably supported by his middle finger though). Somehow this feels better to me as well (without the middle finger so far). At least my hand is in a much more relaxed position and I have control over the angle of the pick, i.e. I can easily switch between hitting the string perpendicular or at an angle. When I want to hold it with the side of my index finger, I have to have an angle all the time, otherwise it feels uncomfortable because I have to bend my wrist in an uncomfortable way. What are your thoughts on this?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 13 2016, 06:13 AM

There is not 1 way to hold the pick. You'll find great guitarists like Steve Morse and Van Halen, using different ways in a successful way. James is mostly a rhythm guitarist so I would take his way of holding the pick as an example if I would like to be a lead guitarist. But, if you feel that's your natural way, you can go for it.

Posted by: Wyverex Jan 8 2017, 08:28 PM

Hey Gabe!

How are you? Sorry for my long silence, I've had a lot going on lately. Just wanted to tell you that I'd like to continue on my own for a while. There's so much I need to sort out and I need some space for experimentation. At least my motivation is unbroken, that's about the only constant at the moment

Hope you understand

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 9 2017, 11:38 PM

Hi mate! Nice to hear from you! Sure, you can continue on your own! That's ok for me. By the way, you can keep using this thread anytime you want to ask any question, share new stuff and just talk about music, guitars, or whatever you want.