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Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 27 2020, 05:52 PM

Hi AyanG! 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: AyanG Nov 27 2020, 06:37 PM

My answers:

- How many time have you been playing guitar? - i have been playing for a few years, but consider me as a beginner.
- Favorite guitarists, bands and musicians. - Guitarists: steve vai, andy timmons, nick johnston, joe satriani, guthrie govan, john mayer.
- What are your guitar goals? - no fixed goals. But learning theory, visualizing keyboard as joe satriani says, techniques, soloing.
- How would you like to you see yourself in 5 years (related to music and guitar)? - i want to play music, i like how nick johnston makes a composition.
- How many time can you play guitar each day? once day for 1 hour
- Do you have playing live experience?- no
- Which are your strong and weak points with guitar? - strong point- i like to practice everyday. weak - i lose track in absence of structured process
- What do you know about music theory? - formation of major and minor scale.
- Can you record videos of you playing? yes
- Share here audios and videos that reflect your current playing.
Major scales(Open : C-G-D-A) : https://youtu.be/6yqeXfpkJQs
Minor scales(Open: Amin- Emin - Bmin- F#min) : https://youtu.be/dP0ppQngyQg

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 27 2020, 09:42 PM

Hi AyanG! Thanks for the info. Your list of favorite guitarists is really cool. I can connect with all of those amazing guitarists, and Nick is one of my fav modern guitarists.

Two more questions, do you own an electric guitar? Can you play with pick?

Posted by: AyanG Nov 27 2020, 09:49 PM

Yes I have an electric guitar. Yes I can play with pick.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 28 2020, 02:05 AM

Great! I think that we could start with this lesson so I can check your current electric guitar playing:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginner-Soloing-1/

What do you think?

Posted by: AyanG Nov 28 2020, 03:47 AM

This lesson sounds awesome to start with.
One question. Can I play some of the initial exercises on acoustic. Reason being firstly I need to buy a new amp, as I checked its giving some sound issue. Secondly I also want to have play the acoustic well as I really love the sound of acoustic.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 28 2020, 05:40 PM

Yes! You can, but have you ever tried any amp plug in? Maybe you don't need a real amp.

Posted by: AyanG Nov 29 2020, 05:59 AM

Can u help me with that, how to use and what needs to be downloaded for that.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 29 2020, 01:49 PM

Yes! Check this vid:

https://youtu.be/18Kh2LB7K_E

Posted by: AyanG Nov 29 2020, 08:07 PM

Wow this is cool. It will be helpful. Thanks a lot.

Btw, can u see this thing : https://focusrite.com/en/usb-audio-interface/scarlett/scarlett-solo

I have it in my home. Can it be used for the purpose of recording using an amp plugin. I don't know it's functionality much as I was presented it recently

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 30 2020, 02:38 PM

yes!! It's an excellent device! It will make it easier to connect your guitar (you don't need the adapter), and you neither need asio4all since this soundcard has its own much better asio drivers.

The first thing that you need to do it to install this device and make it work in your computer.




Once you have it working, you can start trying amp sims. There are many free trials and Amplitube offers a free version.








This one also seems cool and offers a free amp: https://ml-sound-lab.com/products/amped-roots

Posted by: AyanG Dec 1 2020, 03:54 PM

I have installed the device. Do I need a DAW and can u suggest which one to use?? There is a software Ableton Live 10 Lite which has come as a part of the device for free download.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 1 2020, 04:18 PM

Ableton is ok! It's a bit oriented to electronic music. You can go for Reaper that is amazing, and it's free!

https://www.reaper.fm/

Posted by: AyanG Dec 7 2020, 06:35 AM

Hi Gab....just wanted to know, can we use the computer's own speaker as the audio output while using the Focusrite? i.e. Focusrite will be used to get the input from the guitar but i will hear the sound from my computer's speaker. Is that possible?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 8 2020, 02:57 AM

I don't think that this is possible or at least the best option because you need to use your sound card drivers in order to make Reaper work fine with your recording and playback. Even if this is possible, it's not the best option.

Why do you want to do it?

Posted by: AyanG Dec 8 2020, 05:31 AM

Oh ok. My earphones were giving some buzz when connected with the Focusrite output and since, the laptop had its own speakers built in, I thought if it was possible to be used for hearing while playing or recording.

Thanks for the info.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 8 2020, 03:03 PM

In other words, this can be possible, but the process is not simple. Maybe you need some extra software or plug in like Voice meter, and some complex settings. If you don't think that you can fix this with other headphones or any external speaker, you can dedicate some time to research this.

https://www.google.com/search?q=using+two+audio+drivers+in+reaper&oq=using+two+audio+drivers+in+reaper&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i22i29i30.10508j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Posted by: AyanG Dec 11 2020, 05:02 PM

Gab, is it okay if I play and record the lesson at a lower tempo than the actual? Because at certain parts its getting a bit tough to achieve the speed of the original lesson for me now.
I have nearly achieved a speed of 80% of the actual tempo, but the last 20% is where I am not able to go up even after trying for hours and couple of days in the last part of the lesson.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 11 2020, 06:38 PM

Yes! But you can't share it at REC program.

Posted by: AyanG Dec 11 2020, 07:41 PM

What is Rec program? Currently I am not aware of that. I would share the link here.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 12 2020, 04:40 AM

oh yes! you can whatever you'd like here.

This is REC: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showforum=152

Posted by: AyanG Dec 14 2020, 09:04 PM

Hi,

My take on this lesson : https://youtu.be/cgvKGh4buQs

P.S.: I was pretty nervous while recording myself first time properly. So fumbled here and there a bit, especially the last part of the exercise, which I play a little better in other times.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 15 2020, 04:41 PM

Hi mate!! Great to see you playing this one!! Yes, REC syndrome is something that most of us suffer and the only way to become more comfortable is to keep on recording ourselves every day.

We've done this experiment with a student: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=61261

I won't judge your playing too much here. I just want you to continue recording at least 1 take each day if it's possible. You don't need to share all takes here, but you can share one whenever you want. Your playing is good, you just to make the licks sound more consistent and fix some timing and bending pitch issues. But nothing very dramatic, you are on the right track.

Posted by: AyanG Dec 15 2020, 05:19 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I will try posting every alternate day, if not every day which is my goal. Thanks again.

While I practiced I personally felt the places where I had serious trouble was controlling unwanted string noise when soloing. Also the part of the exercise where I had to palm mute and play the strings before doing the bend. Plus the last part which involved a sweep like movement I faced some issue.

Posted by: AyanG Dec 16 2020, 05:21 PM

2nd Take:

VST was giving some issue, so tone might be a bit diff than the previous.

http://youtu.be/MpF0BTY-iCE

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 17 2020, 04:46 PM

Hi mate! Great to see your 2nd take here! I think that your timing is a bit better in this one.

The next step would be to work on notes durations. You tend to mute notes too early and that makes the articulation of licks less smooth. Pay attention to vibrato and how the notes are usually longer than that. Your current tone is not helping but if you can get more sustain with this clean tone, you'll be a master with more drive.

How are you feeling when recording?

Posted by: AyanG Dec 17 2020, 05:22 PM

I felt much less anxious while recording the second time. Thanks this really helped.

I will work on the vibratos this time. Can you tell me how to add the sustain? As in is it something related to playing that I need to work upon, or in the vst plug in that I used, I need to make changes in the switches.

I have used the Lepou plug in mentioned in the lesson by Darius, with the same switch levels. It would be of great help if u can share how to work on the sustain part.

Regarding note muting, as I mentioned, I am unable to do where the bending is preceded by top strings being palm muted while the strings are played. As once I palm mute and play the top strings by the time I reach the string which needs to bended without muting, it is also getting muted.

Lots of queries, hope u can help me with all. Thanks

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 18 2020, 04:05 PM

GREAT!!



Sustain can be related to tone or performance. As you are using the same tone that Darius used in this lesson, you need to work on your performance. You can make your playing smoother with the use of vibrato, and also trying to avoid muting the notes too early. For example, check the connection at 00:16 (in your video). There is a silence that should be that long. Check the same at 00:29.

The idea is that you try to work on those connection in order to make your playing sound smoother. The right use of vibrato would really help. We have some vibrato lessons that you can work in the near future.




This is normal. At first, it can be tricky to go from muting to unmuting. It also requires practice. Some other lessons that I'll give you will definitely help with this.



Let's add this lesson in your daily practice: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bens-Vibrato-Odyssey-5/

Posted by: AyanG Dec 18 2020, 07:26 PM

Hey Gab,

Your explanation for my query has been really helpful, i can understand very well where have i made the mistakes. I will work on those as you have mentioned. Thanks a lot for this.

Btw, the vibrato lesson you shared is great. However: i was just noodling with this 2 earlier in the day -

Vibrato : https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginner-Vibrato-Workout/
(this one because it has vibrato with all 4 fingers, like the beginner soloing lesson)

and this one for Palm muting: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginner-Palm-Muting-Metal/

Let me know, if its good to go with this two. Thanks.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 19 2020, 12:22 AM

Yes! These two lessons are also part of the first part of the program and really good choices for you. We can go for them and combine these ones with the one that you are already practicing.