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Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 7 2009, 11:28 PM

Hi Ben, welcome to our MTP thread

I must say that I am glad to be matched up with you, as I already followed your good progress during the pilot MTP program together with Kris, Andrew and Smells. This is certainly a good ground to move forward on the path to learn more and more facets of guitar playing. Hopefully you are ok with me being matched up to you as well of course, otherwise please let me know

I would like to continue on the same basis as before, therefore giving you an assignment each week (starting later this week), giving you homework, followed by an upload of you showing the homework.

The first assignments will of course continue from your blues improvisation (6th assignment of Kris), and I would like to have a good mix of important exercises together with some solo's/rhythm licks in order to keep it interesting over the weeks to come (and I am sure the syllabus will be of great help in that as well).

Please let me know any preferences what you would like to focus on, so we can make the assignments a bit more custom-made for you

It would be nice if you could reply to this first post, so I know that you found your way into this thread and then we can start of soonish with the first assignment.

Looking forward to it !!!!

ps please just call me Roger, the whole Velvet in front of it was 5 seconds of no-thinking when signing up

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 8 2009, 01:51 AM

I am here bro and can't wait to get started! I completely understand about the Velvet thing...if I had understood how much our account name would become our online name...I would have just chosen Ben!

I love playing metal...but even more so the blues. I have a strat with Texas Specials...and an Ibanez with EMG 81/85's Two completely different guitars for the two completely different musical interests I have! I loved the course my training was going in the Pilot program and would be thrilled to continue along the same path. I also would like to get a better understanding of music theory and music knowledge in general, as I don't understand any of it!

Let's light this candle!

Ben

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 8 2009, 12:12 PM

Great that you found your way here

I have two additional questions at this moment.

First one is about your current knowledge of theory. You mentioned several times in the practice agenda of Kris during the pilot program that you have a very limited knowledge of theory and I was wondering whether you browsed e.g. Andrew's theory lessons board since then and gained some addition theory knowledge.

Maybe you can give me some pointers what you do understand and at what point things become unclear , so I can focus my approach a bit better towards your theory level.

Second question is regarding the lessons you have already done at GMC, could you give me an overview (besides the onces in the pilot MTP program)?

Most other questions I have, are already answered mainly in the previous pilot program (like how much you play etc), so am looking forward to get started as soon as possible

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 8 2009, 01:53 PM

Assignment #1

Lesson
Although we did not receive our syllabus yet, I would like to get started as soon as possible (and you are probably very eager to get started as well , and I thought it would be nice to start off with a lesson which contains a couple for nice techniques which spice up your solo playing a lot over time (vibrato and slides in particular). I have picked the http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/melodic-solo-in-gm/ Note that the solo is also useful to practice a bit your alternate picking.

For now, I would like you to focus mainly on getting the timing of the notes right and try to get nice and smooth slides. Please use alternate picking at the places where it is indicated.

As always practice slowly to get used to the solo, learn the notes and then after that increase speed gradually. Try to focus on making the solo as much melodic as you can (speed is a secondary goal).

Vibrato is really giving the solo more 'feeling', which ultimately is essential for a solo like this to really rock, but for now that is a secondary goal.

We will certainly focus a bit more on the theory part of this assignment and other assignments in the near future (after you gave me some insight in what you already know), but for now please look closely whilst learning the licks what notes you are actually playing (always useful to do).

Deadline
Please try to work your way through the solo (at least until 0:38 in the video, or completely if you that's possible) and try to record a take at a speed that is comfortable to you by the 15th of January if possible. Of course you may certainly post any progress or questions/comments earlier on (I would even encourage that).

Excercises
I have also an alternate picking exercise for you in mind [/size][/size](that you can do each day for a longer period)[size=3][size=2], but I would rather like to wait until we get our syllabus, as probably that will have some good suggestions for that as well.

Any other business
Finally, if you would appreciate it, I would like to start also with a 1/2 hour or so chat session once weekly to chat about your progress, and have a possibility for you to ask some questions 'real-time'. I would prefer such a session e.g. each Saturday at e.g. 22:00 CET which is 16:00 EST I guess. What do you think about that? We could use chat room 2 in the chat functionality of this forum for that.

Anyways, thanks for answering my questions in the previous post, and good luck with your 1st assignment (in case you already done the solo yourself, could you please post a video as soon as possible, so we can continue as soon as possible with new stuff )

Speak to you soon!

Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 8 2009, 02:16 PM

Sure thing Roger! I have read through some of Andrew's theory lessons. I understand about the same notes being in different octaves, but still don't have a grasp about modes, boxes etc.

As far as lessons, I stick to beginner level lessons by Ivan, Muris and Trond mostly. Also, the three John Frusciante lessons by Gabriel. Especially Muris' lessons though...his beginner lessons still sound like I am playing a song, but are possible for me to play. I have tried some other lessons as well that are targeted towards beginners, but still have some trouble with some spots.

I would also like to get better at chords. The only chords experience I have is from the first pilot program lesson Strumming and Arpeggios...which was the lesson I had the most trouble with by the way!

Hope this helps!


Great! Thanks for the quick assignment Roger! I will get going on it as soon as possible. I haven't tried this lesson yet, so it will be new material for me! A chat session sounds awesome! Any night would be fine...but we are in some pretty different time zones!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 8 2009, 02:30 PM

Excellent, this really helps a lot in finetuning what a good approach for the near future would be

I am currently finalizing a new Student Instructor Lesson on chords, which may be suitable for you to do (hopefully I can record the video's tonight, otherwise it will be Saturday), however it contains quite a bit of theory, but the exercises are still useful I think, even if the theory is a bit difficult.

I know exactly what you mean regarding the solo lessons of Muris, they are all awesome and quite melodic. With the first assignment I would to see how far you are at certain techniques at the moment, and it may or may not be difficult for you to master that solo, but based on the experiences you have (please let me know your progress in the meantime) we can take of more focussed after that

Good luck mate !

edit: Since the syllabus is up now I would like to ask you whether you are able to quickly record a video in the next couple of days on that first chords/arpeggio lesson (the one you did in your pilot program as well), as you maybe kept practicing it? By doing that I would be able to see also the progress you made since the last time you did it?

Posted by: Pedja Simovic Jan 9 2009, 06:12 PM

Great structure Roger , this will be awesome I can feel it. Have fun guys !

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 11 2009, 08:11 PM

How are things progressing Ben? I know the deadline is the 15th of January, but am just curious

Do you have the opportunity to post a current attempt of the first chords/arpeggio lesson, or does time limit you to fully focus on the Gm solo only (I know you told me that you have quite limited time to practice, which is fine of course ).

In any case, in order to give you a bit more variation in the practicing, I would like to ask you to visit my SI lesson on basic triads, and try to practice the first exercise posted there (try to do this for a couple of minutes at least every day). This will help you to work on some alternate picking and timing. Always use a metronome whilst doing the exercise and remember to start at low tempo and gradually increase speed. Don't worry too much about the theory behind the exercises (you may certainly read it and digest as much as possible ).

In case of any questions, just give a shout

Roger



Thanks Pedja

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 11 2009, 11:40 PM

It is going well Roger! I almost have it down but haven't been able to get a video done since I had to work the weekend. I am off monday and tuesday and hope to get it done by then. It is going well, but I am having some trouble with getting enough sustain for some of the slides. The note seems to die on me! I don't know if it is my technique, or my guitar that is giving me some trouble with it. As far as the other video, I can try to get it done...but my time is fairly limited. If I can get the lesson video done tomorrow or the next day I will try to do the other one too. I still play the lesson about as good as the video that is up now. I have had a hard time with that one!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 12 2009, 12:28 AM

Thanks for the update Ben, and great that you are making progress ! Good to know that you are working in the weekends (do you work in shifts or is this a standard schedule for you?).

Regarding the slides, you have to be paying a lot of attention to use a very smooth movement from the starting fret to the final fret you wanna reach with the slide. You should not be able to hear the note separate which is in between the starting point of the slide and the endpoint (e.g. you start a slide at the C-note and slide up to the D-note, while doing that you should hear a smooth transition between C to D and not any hickups in between (most often happening when you cross the fret in the middle (C#-note)). By focussing on doing that, you will improve the sustain after the slide.

I have quickly recording a video showing you a coupe of slides which are smooth to show you what I am getting at. Hopefully it's useful.

Of course, I can't judge yet what is exactly the case in your situation, but try to keep this in mind whilst practicing the slides.

Good luck!

Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 12 2009, 02:07 AM

Thanks Roger! Your video definitely shows smoother note transition than I am getting. When I slide, I can hear the "bump-bump-bump" as my finger goes over the frets. I didn't hear that at all in your demo video.

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 13 2009, 02:37 AM

It is coming along nicely! I hope to get a video recorded tomorrow the 13th. The last run I can do...but it is still a little shaky! I am still having some sustain problems. It doesn't help that my neck has a little twist to it I am sure! The tech that did a setup told me about it.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 13 2009, 11:32 AM

Thanks for the update Ben. Looking forward to seeing your take tomorrow Don't worry too much if things are not 100% perfect, as long as some efforts have been put in, and you actually learned something along the way (like an improved slide-technique etc., that's the best reward of it ).

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 14 2009, 02:58 AM

Here it is Roger...



I am still getting some bad fret buzzing...but am trying to dial it out. I think it is my technique more than the guitar. It isn't there as much when I start playing...but after playing awhile I think my fingers get tired, because that is when it starts more and more.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 14 2009, 07:38 AM

Thanks Ben, I am at work at the moment, but will check it out as soon as possible and provide you with my comments later today

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 14 2009, 11:18 PM

Hi Ben,

I finally got the time today to properly watch and listen to your video. Sorry about the delays but it was quite hectic at work (normally I can do some things in between but not today).

Comments to assignment #1a

First of all I must say that I am very happy with the results of the video, and you nailed the basics of the solo quite well! I do however have some comments on your playing, which need some more attention over time in order to further improve it. Don't worry too much about the fret buzz, by playing the solo a bit longer you will be more confident in playing it, which will smoothen this quite
a bit I am sure

Below I will try to address the things I noticed (please don't be disencouraged at all by these comments, as they are only meant as guidance to improve

1) Your timing during the video is quite good, well done! You have however the tendency to not let certain notes ring for the full length, which results in a bit of lack of smoothness of playing the notes in succession to each other (at some places you can hear a bit of 'silences' between notes). Try to work on the note durations a bit more and you will certainly improve on this, but I am quite happy that you got the notes down however correctly, which was the most important aspect anyways at this moment, so well done!

2) You did very well with the slides Ben! There is still room for improvement, but the basic slide movement you have nailed quite good. Please also refer to my previous comments in this thread to
further work on this, but this will be perfect in a little while I am sure.

3) In the first phase of the solo (until approx. 0:40s) most picking was downstrokes only, which is exactly what it should be. However you missed a couple of alternate pickings in this first phase (you started to use some alternate picking at approx. 0:30s of the video), Carlos is using alternate picking on most occasions where 8th notes are played. Try to capture those other alternate picking moments as well, as this will make your solo more melodic at those places.

4) Pay a bit more attention to your bend at approx. 1:00m as it gave some additional string noises and the sustain was quite short (see also point one above). I also had the feeling that it was a
bit out of tune (but maybe I am mistaken there, due to the string noises). The bend on the high e-string, 20th fret (1:07m) was also a bit out of tune (too low). Anyways, a good exercise to get this a bit better is to repeatingly play e.g. the 17th fret on the g-string, subsequently the 19th fret on the g-string and then make a full bend from the 17th fret. By doing that little exercise you will develop a good feeling how far you should bend to be exactly in tune (to reach the d note properly). I would more generally speaking recommend you doing this more often all over the fretboard as it will certainly develop your bend skills big-time (also because the bending over the fretboard feels different at all places).

5) You missed a note in the little pattern at the very end of the solo . Furthermore, as already stated in point 3, try to work on your alternate picking a bit more, especially during that little pattern at the very end.

6) You tried to apply some vibrato during the solo which is excellent as it certainly gives 'feeling' to your playing. However the intensity (velocity) of the vibrato can still be improved (you often only marginally did some vibrato), which will together with a bit wider vibrato certainly improve your tone quite a bit (especially with the longer note values (1/2 notes e.g.). Don't worry too much about this at this stage, as vibrato is something that requires a lot of attention once all basics are covered to improve the tone.

All in all, a great job Ben! You need to work a bit on making the solo 'more melodic' and the bending needs some additional attention, but you nailed it

Assignment #1b

Lesson
As time permits it at this moment, I would like to ask you to record a video in the next couple of days of either the first lesson you have done previously on chords/arpeggio's with Kris or alternatively, I would like to encourage you to try one of the exercises or part of it of http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=23257 on triads, by using a metronome.

In case you decide to use my SI lesson, I would suggest that you don't worry too much about going down to the longer strings (as that probably requires quite some effort at this stage), but instead of that you may only switch between the D major and D minor chord on the highest 3 strings in 2 shapes. Below I have made a new tab-file for your convenience which shows this (a guitarpro file is attached as well) - don't worry about the comments on inversions .

By doing this exercise you will develop further your alternative picking skills and also your timing skills, whilst also learning a bit on 2 standard major and minor chord shapes. Try to focus as much as possible on making everything as smooth as possible

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=720

Deadline
Please try to upload a take at a speed that is comfortable to you by the 17th of January if possible (just let me know if this is undoable, than we shift this a bit). Please make sure you record the metronome tone with it

Finally, please let me know whether you liked my way of commenting your video and mentoring style, as I would like to improve as much as possible over time doing this, so any pointers in that direction would be very welcome!

Good luck, and in case of any questions, please give a shout or we can schedule a short chat session.

Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 15 2009, 01:22 AM

Thanks for the tips Roger! I think your commenting is great and I am going to pay more attention to what you suggest! I will try your SI lesson, and I think I might be able to get a video up for you by then!

Thanks again!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 15 2009, 06:39 AM

Thanks Ben, glad you like the approach. Looking forward to your new video

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 17 2009, 03:34 PM

Roger, what would you consider to be the appropriate fingerings for these notes? I have them down my way...but was thinking I may be fingering them improperly...

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 17 2009, 08:14 PM

I have added the suggested fingerings for the chord shapes in the GP5 file, and also shown below. Let me know if you need any more help

1= index finger
2= middle finger
3= ring finger
4= little finger

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=724

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 18 2009, 05:06 PM

Here it is Roger! You are right...this is awesome alternate picking practice! This has now become an official part of my warmup!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 18 2009, 08:10 PM

Hi Ben,

I am glad you liked this simple but effective exercise, and you are doing great!

Comments to assignment #1b

Overall your timing was very good in this exercise, with a couple of minor things to address and I am very confident that this will be perfect very soonish!

1) At bar 3 (when you switched to Dm for the first time), you started a bit too early (at beat 4.75 or so instead of 1).

2) In the 2nd part of the exercise (during the A-shape chords), you lost sometimes a tiny bit of the smoothness, however you found the rhythm back almost instantly, which is a good thing .

As a bit of a side-track: I noticed that the G-string of your strat was very dominantly present during the exercise (both in the arpeggio's as in the strums). I don't think however that this is due to heavy accenting by your picking, but it may be because your pickups are not yet perfectly set (this is your new baby axe right? ). I went myself through quite some efforts in setting the correct pickup heights for my strat and I must say in really pays off doing that. My sound is much more evenly distributed over the strings.

To check this you could change the pickup heights in different increments from both the bass side and the treble side. I have the feeling that the treble side of your pickup could be set a bit higher in order for the high e and b strings to actually shine as the other strings. Always do this is relatively small increments and remember how much you turned the screws, so you can set them back if you don't like the sound. Don't worry if you don't know exactly whether a pickup setting is right, as you can't go really wrong here (really personal taste), and it can also take a while before you actually hear everything properly (took me a couple of weeks before I had set everything perfectly).

By the way, if you are not comfortable doing this, don't worry about it, but I thought I would mention it to you anyways

Assignment #2

Lesson
For this lesson I have picked an excellent lesson of http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/rhythm-guitar/basic-metal-rhythm/. This lesson will cover quite a few rhythm patterns which are often used in metal, and by doing this lesson you will build further on improving your timing, as well as your picking skills (both downstroke picking as alternate picking).

As always, first learn the rhythmic patterns before attempting to do them at the actual speed. Pay attention to the different accents which are played during the lesson and search for a relatively high-gain overdriven sound (not too much as it could mask your own playing, so it's hard to find the points to improve )

Deadline
Please try to get as much of the lesson done, but preferably at least until 0:46 and it would be great if you could post a take showing your progress at around 22 January, or let me know how things are progressing by that time.

Exercise
To continue our little alternate picking exercise, I would like to ask you to continue working on the same exercise (just for a couple of minutes every day as a warm-up exercise), however I have included besides the C and A-shape major/minor chords also the E-shape major/minor chords (notice the barre-type fingering).

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=727

Please try to think each time you play these arpeggio's where is the root-note. If you have that completely straight, then you can also do the same with finding the major/minor third and finally the perfect fifth.

By doing this, you gradually develop:

1) Fretboard knowledge, in relation to chords
2) Intervals
3) Chord shapes (and CAGED system)

It would be nice if you could post a take on this new exercise at around 25th of January (however, if the Metal lesson is a bit tough, that would have priority of course ).

If you have a spare minute during the week, and not knowing what to do , you can also check out the theory board further (check out the CAGED lessons of Andrew, and things will fall into places soonish ).

Question
Which scale patterns are you currently able to play by heart? Minor pentatonic, Major scale, which positions? Based on your answer we can slowly implement also a bit of scale pattern knowledge into the MTP progress

Good luck with the lesson, hopefully you will enjoy it and just ask if you have any questions

Roger

Posted by: big harry Jan 19 2009, 06:43 PM

Hey guys
sorry for jumping in, just wanted to ask if i can borrow the triad lessons you posted
think i need them also

thx and cya
KEEP ROCKIN

Harry

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 19 2009, 07:14 PM

Sure no problem of course. You can also check out the complete SI lesson I did on that subject http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=23257.

Just let me know if you have any questions I can help with

Posted by: big harry Jan 19 2009, 07:46 PM

THX Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 20 2009, 01:00 AM

The new lesson looks great Roger and is coming along nicely...albeit slowly! I don't think I will be able to keep up with two lessons at a time though...I need to focus on the Marcus one, as it is a tough one!!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 20 2009, 08:35 AM

Perfect, good to hear you like it and that you are making progress on it. It's fine to focus on the Marcus lesson of course, however if you could squeeze in the alternate picking exercise for only 3 - 5 minutes a day as a warm-up that would be great .

Btw did the pickup height changes been helpful to you, as you mentioned in chat that you would try that out Sunday night?

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 20 2009, 12:43 PM

Let me clarify...I am absolutely incorporating that into my warm-ups! I just don't know that I will be able to make two videos. I will try though! I have been making small changes to the pickup heights...I am getting there!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 20 2009, 12:51 PM

That's perfectly fine, those basic chord shapes are quite important to memorize on the long-term as they will open up quite a few opportunities a few months down the line which spices up your rhythm playing.

E.g., I am currently making my 2nd SI lesson on how to use these 'simple triads shapes' and on-the-go transforming them into Maj7, m7, m6, 6 chords (but please forget about these things for now, as currently the basics are most important ) And I will actually continue making SI lessons on this subject (wan't to become the triad master ).

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 22 2009, 02:00 AM

Roger - I am struggling with this lesson much more than I thought. Just a frustrating update for you!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 22 2009, 08:42 AM

Hi Ben,

You have sent me a PM about your struggle and first of all, I am glad that you send me a PM because if you are not feeling that you make any progress can be rather demotivating. By the way, I went through the same feelings in the past, so nothing strange is really happening

You probably know that power chords are one of the building blocks of playing metal guitar, and actually also a very valuable addition to your chord library in general. That was one of the main reasons why I gave you this lesson. To be honest, the whole palm muting is rather secondary for me at this stage.

Would it be helpful for you to try to learn the first part of this lesson using no palm muting, but just trying to grasp the correct timing/rhythm with the power chords? You can then completely focus on 1 thing and that is grabbing the chords right and using the open strings as a bass line.

Believe it or not, but I honestly think that you can tackle that part at 66 bpm after some more practice? But, even at 30 or 40 bpm is fine for me. Speed will come with time, I would rather like to see that you can do the basic rhythm pattern (even if it's only 4 or 6 bars of the whole lesson) at a speed comfortable to you as that will be a good start into this new area of playing for you.

Also the following video instruction by Kris may be quite helpful for you how to do those powerchords: http://../membersonly/beginner-power-chords.htm

I would suggest that you try the simplified approach with a metronome at a very low speed, only focus on the first 2 patterns and take it from there. Does that sound like something to do? If not, don't hesitate to tell me!

Good luck Ben!

Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 23 2009, 01:00 PM

Roger, I just want to let you know that the lesson took a turn for the better last night. It all seemed to come together much better than before! Still not there yet, but getting there!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 23 2009, 04:48 PM

That's absolutely awesome, and I am quite happy about this, as it clearly shows to you that it is indeed possible to actually break through certain moments in which you think you can't handle certain aspects of playing yet. It's in fact, the main reason why I was trying to push a bit more to stick with the lesson instead off changing it to something less difficult for you

Good luck with the remainder of your 'struggle '.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 26 2009, 11:34 AM

How are things going Ben?

Not to put enormous pressure on you, but I would suggest that you make a video of your current level of playing the lesson of Marcus, and then we take it from there?

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 26 2009, 02:48 PM

Will do Roger. I had to work all weekend but have today and tomorrow off. Should be able to get it done tonight. It is still going slower than any other lesson I have ever tried, not sure why I am having so much trouble with this one! But...I guess that means I DO need this type of lesson!

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 26 2009, 11:23 PM

Roger here it is...



66 bpm. Anything faster and it got very sloppy...sloppier than this!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 26 2009, 11:56 PM

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the video, I am very glad that you made it this far with this lesson! Going to comment on it tomorrow (don't have any time left now, sorry). But I will have your new assignment already ready for you to start of with:

Assignment #3

Lesson
It's solo-time once more for this assignment. We already started of with the Gm melodic solo of Carlos, and this time it's the very recent beginner lesson of Muris: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/jumping-around-beginner/.

In this lesson, I would like you to focus on 2 things:

1) Most importantly, try to work as much as possible on your vibrato as this is essential for this type of solo. You will have plenty of possibiities in this lesson to work on . In order to produce a nice vibrato, first practice it slowly with a steady movement from your whrist (don't use only your finger). Try to vibrate the note in such a way that it matches the actual feel of the solo. Also don't be hesitant to overdo it a bit, as this will only build extra strength in your fingers which ultimately means more control.

2) For this lesson, I would also like to stress the importance of actually knowing which notes you are playing. The solo is in A minor which has the same notes as C major (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). As this solo is about playing licks all over the fretboard, actually paying attention to which notes you play will increase your fretboard knowledge quite a lot. Most importantly, try always to see where the A note is (as this is the root note for the scale you are playing in).

Based on your results from the Gm solo of Carlos, I would estimate that you won't have too much trouble with the note patters, that's why I would like you to focus on the vibrato and what notes you are actually playing.

Deadline
It would be great if you could upload a video of this solo by the end of this week (February 1st). And please let me know how you are progressing over the week.

Extra assignments:
Please keep doing your warming-up exercise (the arpeggio minor/major triads) during all days. In addition, also keep practicing the Marcus lesson for a couple of minutes each day (you will see that you will steadily improve it! ).

Good luck mate!

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 27 2009, 12:01 AM

Great Roger! I will get straight to it. I am leaving wednesday though...we are taking a family vacation in Disneyworld! But, I will see if I can get it down well enough for a video tomorrow night before we leave! Two nights practice may not be enough though! If not, it will be as soon as I get back!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 27 2009, 12:12 AM

That would be great ... How long are you away to Disneyworld?

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 27 2009, 12:36 AM

Just for a week...wednesday to wednesday.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 27 2009, 11:02 PM

Comments to assignment #2

Ok, here are my comments to the video you submitted of the Basic Rhythm Guitar lesson of Marcus. As already mentioned before, I am very glad that you persisted with this lesson, even when you felt like you could not do it yet. Sometimes it is good to work a bit above your actual skill level and this example shows that you can actually do it

All in all, you did quite well, and actually performing palm muting as well. As you already mention yourself: at certain points it's a bit sloppy and there are some other details to think about as well. So, please see this as constructive critisism which should enable you to improve this part and it is certainly not meant to discourage you in any way (even the list of comments may be a bit long ).

1) As already mentioned, you actually performed palm muting during the playing (which is great! ). Ultimately this is essential in order to perform some 'heavy riffing' which is often used in heavy metal etc.

One thing I noticed is that you lifted your right-hand quite high when you did not apply palm muting, which is of course logical given the fact that this technique is completely new to you. However try to steadily improve on this, and you will notice that at a certain moment you only need to lift the palm a fraction in order to ring the strings properly

2) I noticed that generally you switched from rhythmic patterns quite well, i.e. pattern 1 (bar 1 - 4) to pattern 2 (bar 5 - 8), pattern 3 (bar 9 - 10), pattern 4 (bar 11 - 12), back to pattern 3 (bar 9 - 10). However at the end I think you played again pattern 4, while a different pattern was in the lesson (not a big deal, however I thought that I would mention it to you .

3) You had some trouble with quickly and with confidence fretting the powerchords, especially the ones without the open e-string (Bb, Gb, Db), especially during the first couple of patterns. Of course this is due to the fact that these chords are new to you, and you had to focus on a lot of things at the same time, just practice this and it will go much smoother in no time.

4) I noticed quite a bit of sliding noise, which is due to the same reasoning as comment 3, but together with some extra muting of the strings during the transition of chords. Again, try to work on this and it will be smoother .

5) During pattern 3 and pattern 4 you had some difficulty with grabbing the open Db chord at the end of the '2nd bar'. This is actually quite a hard transition, so don't worry too much about it at this stage.

6) The quicker (16th notes) bass note muted patterns went pretty good, except the part with 6 consecutive 16th notes, as you tended to not perform a steady rhythm there. As with comment 3 - 5: just try to perfect this with quite a bit of practice. It is much more important to get this right at a very slow tempo and then gradually speed it up, than learning it incorrectly (and a bit sloppy) but faster

In order to help you bit with keeping exactly in time with all the patterns (especially the 16th notes ones), I have quickly put in the 1st section of the lesson in Guitar Pro 5 (which you see below and attached). I would like to encourage you to actually play along the guitar pro file as you play it in GP. This will certainly help you in developing a more steady rhythm feeling.

All in all, I know that you had a difficult time with this lesson, and you still have quite some work to do on this one, but you made a good start! Keep on going and you will see that things fall into place soonish

Guitar Pro file:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=776

Please let me know if you found my comments useful

Keep up the good work mate!

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Jan 28 2009, 02:47 AM

Thanks for the tips Roger! I am confident that with more practice this lesson will be doable for me. I did notice how high I lifted my hand when I watched the video...never noticed it when I was playing! I am practicing Muris' lesson now. I will have to wait until we get back from Disneyworld to get a video up though...we leave tomorrow morning!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jan 28 2009, 06:26 AM

Have a great trip to Disneyworld mate!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 4 2009, 07:07 PM

Hi Ben,

I know that you are planned to return from Disneyland either today or tomorrow, but I just wanting to let you know that I will be on a business trip until late Friday. If you send any video's or questions, I will be able to comment/answer on Saturday evening .

Cheers
Roger

Hi Ben,

I know that you are planned to return from Disneyland either today or tomorrow, but I just wanting to let you know that I will be on a business trip until late Friday. If you send any video's or questions, I will be able to comment/answer on Saturday evening .

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Feb 5 2009, 01:54 AM

I'm back Roger! Will get my video up as soon as possible!!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 6 2009, 06:16 PM

That would be great! Did you had a good time in Disneyland?

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 12 2009, 10:29 AM

Hi Ben,

How are things going, would you be able to upload a video quite soonish?

I have created my practice agenda for the MTP to continue, as the test-phase of it is currently over. I have copied over all our conversation until this moment, so you can easily refer back to a previous assignment through the practice agenda.

You can find the 3rd assignment + comments http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=121&showentry=656

Once I have been paired up with 4 other mentorees, I will probably start a new category in the practice agenda so we can start all with a fresh mind to continue our journey in the next months to come (of course I will not let you do the same lessons again without any specific focus etc ).

It would be great if you could visit the practice agenda to show that you found your way there and check it on a regular basis from now on.

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Praetorian Feb 14 2009, 04:27 AM

No problem Roger...I should have it up saturday. I'll check out the practice agenda too!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 14 2009, 11:06 AM

Great, thanks mate!

Posted by: Praetorian Feb 15 2009, 03:53 PM

Here it is Roger...I had to post here as we still can't imbed videos in the practice agenda!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 15 2009, 04:58 PM

Great Ben, http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=121&showentry=656#comments and http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=121&showentry=664 are up on the practice agenda