Hello, Looking To Improve! |
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Aug 5 2014, 12:06 AM
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Hi Glory - I would like to welcome you to GMC!
 First of all, that is a very cool introduction topic and it is really nice to meet you. I'd like to reflect on some of the things you mentioned in your introduction. QUOTE Musical theory is something I've been briefly taught by someone online and it's something I have a hard time retain because it's not something I feel I use on a daily basis. I enjoy covering songs and whatever techniques I've picked up have been trained through that. I tend to play a lot of things by ear unless accurate tabs are available. I don't think you should feel bad about not being good in music theory. Theory is something I bet most of us learn at much later time, unless we go to a music school or something. I have played without knowing any theory and after and I must say - I didn't get any more creative knowing some theory stuff. After all - it is "just" theory. In the end, anything you play on your instrument can be described in theory. Usually its there to help musicians rationalize what they are playing and also to help in communication so that you don't say to the fellow musician "ok now you put that finger on that fret" (Metallica pun intended ). Having said this - I think music theory can also be fun and very helpful in making progress on the instrument. In the end - it is what you take from it and how you apply it. For example, there are no wrong notes and when you first start learning theory a good trap to fall into is to avoid "breaking the rules". Good music is all about doing just that - experimenting and breaking the rules Sorry for a long one - I'm slowly getting to my point: you should start learning theory when you feel ready to do so. For example, check out GMC theory board and also this topic...and this one. Where to start? Anywhere really. For me what helped me get into theory and was sort of a eureka moment was learning about intervals and then moving to major scale, how chords are built and major scale harmonization. Ideally, you'd choose something you can immediately apply, like for example learning Am Pentatonic scale and then just jamming with it over a backing track and figuring out some nice licks. Since I sense that you feel you are "lacking" something in not knowing music theory, how about starting with a few topics and trying to make sense. I'd suggest starting with intervals. QUOTE Speed also destroys me. I'm not looking to be a speed demon of any sort, but I love guitar solos and would love to be able to play some of the faster things I enjoy. Good examples are the solos from Jump by Van Halen or The Final Countdown by Europe. I believe I use what they call economy style picking. For the most part I incorporate alternate picking but not on everything I do. Just whatever feels natural or "economical". This is a very good and achievable goal. I always recommend setting up achievable goals when practicing something on the guitar. For start, I'd recommend that you challenge yourself to push your speed by 20 bpm. But, when it comes to playing fast there are lots of small details involved. If I'd try to define essentials for playing fast it would be : - Relaxed hand - Use of minimum motion of both fretting and picking hand - Picking and fretting hand sync - Technique So to get "there", I'd recommend isolating these factors and working on them individually. For example, bring the metronome tempo way down and play a lick or exercise in a way that you focus on your left hand fingers to see how much they are moving away from the fretboard when playing. Try to minimize that motion. It can be very tricky and weird at first as we all tend to "hammer down" at first on the fretboard when we want to feel comfortable and more secure about what we are playing and than we use excessive motion. Any amount of motion you "cut" will make a huge difference at higher speeds. Same as with cars, if the tires are not balanced you won't notice anything when driving slowly. As soon as you hit higher speeds, the whole car starts shaking as than "every detail counts" in overall stability. I'd recommend checking out these lessons : Alternate Picking Basics Using a Guitar Pick ...just to see if you might have missed any details in your technique. This is also a very good picking lesson focusing on something we don't usually note that easily : Inside Outside Picking Stamina School _________________________ I have watched your videos and here are my first impressions : your playing is very musical. You are focused on details and you get them right. This is extremely important as your phrasing and dynamics are very good. This is the product of focusing on learning things by ear. You are noticing slight nuances in those solos and replicating them. Your tone (from the finger ) is also very good as well as sound you get from the software modelling. You should definitely consider this as one of your "weapons" and I'd recommend checking out some phrasing vs dynamics type of lessons, for example Piotr's Guitar Loves Piano series. Have you checked out our REC program? Click here for more info about it. I think it would be a good challenge for you and you'll receive helpful feedback. __________________________ Last but not least - you made a very good thing to join this forum. Hanging out with musicians has helped me learn more than any other method I tried + it is fun. I'm also sure we have lots of fellow gamers here as well See you around the forum and please keep posting as many questions as you have along your guitar journey as that will help you gain new insights and speed up the progress. -------------------- For GMC support please email support (at) guitarmasterclass.net
Check out my lessons and my instructor board. Check out my beginner guitar lessons course! ; Take a bass course now! |
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Aug 5 2014, 01:12 AM
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Hi Glory! How are you?
Let me tell you that you are at the right place! Your videos look and sounds really good. I also think that you have a good guitar playing level and that with some diary practice you will be able to polish details and to master sweep/economy picking as well as other techniques like hybrid picking, tapping and even faster Alternate Picking. At first, it's always good to learn music theory but the most important thing is to apply in real music situations. All the artists that you like have a very rich theory background so I'm sure that you will be able to apply harmony and theory concepts in your own compositions as soon as you learn them. My suggestion is that you first learn the basics: intervals, scales construction, chords, modes and tonalities, and then start analyzing the songs that you like to learn how they are composed. Check the structures, the progressions used, the scales, write down this concepts and then work on your own idea applying this same concepts. Every time you find a scale, chord or progression that you can't explain theoretically, you can ask one of the instructors here and we will help you with it. Most of the things that you can't explain will be found HERE. I use this template to learn, transcribe and analyze songs: Song Analysis: Name of the song: Name of the band: Structure // What is happening? // Chords & Scales Structure: You will divide the tune in Intro - Riff - Verse - Pre chorus- - Chorus - Solo - Part C and so... You can add the letters A, B, C to the sections when you find different ones in the same tune (Ex: Verse A, Verse B, Chorus, Solo A, Solo) what is happening?: Here you will describe each part. You can explain how is the part, if it has vocals, screams, melodies, harmonization, how much is last, how many measures, etc. Every information that could be useful to understand the part. Chords & Scales: Here you will post the tonality, the chord progression and the scales used for the melodies and solos. If you are planning to learn the songs by ear (I strongly recommend this), you can use this software to slow down the songs: http://www.ronimusic.com/amsldowin.htm Regarding Speed, alternate picking and sweep picking. We have lots of lessons here, and you can choose Todd, Cosmin or me to help you with the right exercises and suggestions to polish your technique. In this thread (HERE), you will find many exercises that helped me to be able to play fast and precise. Please check them out and let me know if you need some info or help designing your routine. I hope that you enjoy your stay at GMC! -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Aug 5 2014, 01:46 PM
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Hi again glory! Let me say that you have chosen a very cool lesson because it includes many techniques on the same solo. It will be a good starting point for us to give you feedback and suggestions for each technique.
Tapping sounds like something advanced but trust me that it's one of the easier techniques. It's a very popular technique among electric guitarists because it's easy to play fast, easy to improvise but it sounds extremely cool. It is similar to legato, but incorporates your right hand. You have to tap the fret with the tip of your major or index finger and then when you quit the finger do a pull of to make following note sound. It's the same mechanism that you have to use when you play a lick without picking (legato). Please share videos of your progress with this lesson to let us monitor your progress. -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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It's nothing more than the 'grammar' of a foreign language called Music 
I would be glad to help you out with learning it - understanding the concepts step by step and seeing them applied in GMC lessons
 
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