Chris S.'s Music Theory Journey, for Gab's Army |
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...the thing is, I need you to start progressing faster then ever, but to achieve that I need your help:
* Don't know where to start? Just pm me and we will sort it out directly, I am online every day.
* Join My Army. Sounds aggressive? It is! We can study anything from the most fearsome picking techniques to bombastic songwriting. A medal of honor awaits the brave. Seriously, this is an opportunity for you to get a personalised learning experience...what are you waiting for?!
* Join my next video chat! GMC startpage holds a video chat schedule. We always cover a lot of ground and have fun. Remember that you don't need any previous knowledge, and you can be passive in the chat.
* Jam with me - you will find active collabs here.
* Post a topic on this board, guitar related or not - doesn't matter! You will find that chatting with instructors boosts your motivation to practice.
* You haven't missed my latest video lessons, have you?
* Finally I want to tell you a secret. Nah I changed my mind - pm me instead ;)
Chris S.'s Music Theory Journey, for Gab's Army |
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Aug 17 2015, 04:35 PM |
Yes, it has lead strings, single and groups of violins, viola, cello, etc. By the way, before you buy it, check some youtube samples to be sure that it fits your necessities.
-------------------- 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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Sep 23 2015, 02:59 PM |
Wou! That's a beautiful present for your girlfriend mate! Congratulations on putting together your first complete song and video! And what a guest!!
-------------------- 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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Dec 30 2015, 04:45 AM |
Hey Gab!
It's been way too long, I missed working with you and GMC in it's entirety. If you saw my post in the Gear section with my Metal Muff you know I've been working the overnight shift at Toys R Us for the past two months and it's been total hell - glad it's over with and I can actually have a life again! All that I've really been able to do the past two months was this: https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/missing-you-idea & https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/breaking-free-idea So now that I am finally back to being able to practice regularly and such - I don't even know where to pick up at this point - what do you think I should start working on? Thanks man! PS: How have you been, hows the band, hows life, etc? This post has been edited by Chris S.: Dec 30 2015, 04:45 AM |
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Dec 30 2015, 03:01 PM |
Hey mate! Nice to see you back here!
I'm fine thanks! This has been a positive album with many personal and professional achievements. I feel healthy and happy which are the most important things. I've checked both ideas and I like the melodies in both. I was thinking on your next steps. I think that the best would be to set some new (or maybe old) goals and then design you plan based on them. Some ideas for goals: - Take your technique to a new level. - Learn more about theory. - Polish your improvisation skills. - Adjust rhythm playing. - Compose a song. - Compose an album. - Record an album. These are just some random examples. Write down your own ideas. -------------------- 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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Jan 2 2016, 11:14 AM |
Thanks for the advice Gab!
I think my two biggest goals are going to be focusing on my improvising to develop my melodies into more complex phrases - less simple - and to take my legato and tapping to the next level. I really like the "fluid" tone of legato and tapping over the more aggressive sound of speed picking (although still something I will work on). How should I go about improving my tapping/legato phrases? I also fooled around with some tapping to create this: And for my improvising I tend to start out strong and then become extremely weak in the middle, such as this idea: https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/kickball-under-the-lights I like to think I have catchy melodies but the verses are what I struggle with. Thanks Gab! |
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Jan 2 2016, 04:37 PM |
Hi Chris! Great stuff!
That tune sounds interesting! I like the riff created there and there are some interesting tapping licks. Working on your one tunes and solos is the best way to develop your own voice on guitar so keep doing it, combines with practicing some exercises and learning new licks that make your vocabulary grow. So about your question on how to develop your tapping and legato. I think that a good plan would be to learn one or two new licks every day based on this techniques and practice them over a backing track creating variations and combining with other phrases of your own. Where to get these licks? At first you could use GMC lessons. Besides this, you would dedicate 10 minutes to guitar gym, that would be just some fingers training. In other words I suggest playing repetitive exercises that help to train your fingers for these two techniques. Finally, about improvisation, I recommend you play a lot over backing tracks. You can use the backing tracks from the lessons that you are learning. I'll copy here something that I've shared at another improv thread of this forum: However, the most important thing is not adding a lot of concepts, or learning lots of techniques, patterns, arpeggios, triads. The most important thing is to assimilate the develop each element that you learn and work on one each time. I like the idea of writing down a list of concepts, and working over a backing track on 1 each time. This is an example list: - concept 1: vibrato and bending - concept 2: following the chords with thirds. - concept 3: following the chords with triads. - concept 4: mixing triads to get new colors. - concept 5: dynamics - concept 6: double stops - concept 7: learning and applying sequences. - concept 8: structure - concept 9: alternate picking - concept 10: harmonics - concept 11: melodic motif These are just ideas, there are lots of concepts that you can work. Besides working on 1 of these each day and using gmc tutorials and lessons to get inspiration and more knowledge about the topic, I recommend you to learn 1 new lick each day and practice it over backing track, playing it as it is, and making your own variations of it. -------------------- 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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Jan 4 2016, 04:33 AM |
This sounds perfect. We have a deal!
-------------------- 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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Jan 4 2016, 09:46 PM |
Hey Gab,
Decided to use a backing track I recently made for the first week it's slow - 60bpm: Any thoughts moving forward? Thanks |
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Jan 5 2016, 01:18 PM |
Hi mate, there creative ideas happening there. Let's start with the basic, what's the chord progression and what scale are you using?
-------------------- 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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Jan 6 2016, 01:45 PM |
Ok, so what's the reason why you are using D minor scale? There isn't a D minor chord in the progression... what's your approach to decide what scale to use?
-------------------- 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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Jan 7 2016, 02:10 PM |
Because I'm a rebel Haha, just teasin' - so the logical choice would be G Major or it's relative minor E Minor - but since the chorus that I improvised over was only power chords: G5 D5 C5 D5, since the resolve was on the D5 I figured I would use D Minor which sounded fine to me. Although, I should probably use the Major Scale since I'm very terrible at it. Problems with major scale? Please join this workout: LINK -------------------- 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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Jan 13 2016, 11:31 PM |
Hey Gab - so I've been experimenting more with the Major Scale since it's a pretty big weakness of mine and I've come up with this song that I think I'm going to have done for Valentines Day:
Here is the backing track (what do you think)? https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/tonight-backing-demo I have some lyrics written for it and once their done I'll hire a vocalist to record them. The backing track isn't complete, and I am open to any suggestions you might have. Thanks mate! EDIT: Its not showing up in the player on my end, if it's not on yours you can click the link and it should take you to the song. This post has been edited by Chris S.: Jan 13 2016, 11:42 PM |
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Jan 14 2016, 02:48 AM |
Hi Chris,
Nice track! It has a very happy feel. I think that the progression is melody friendly so you will be able to create cool melodies for a singer over this one. I think that the next step is to work on production and sound. Here are some ideas: - Getting a cooler drum loop sound. Something more modern would give this a fresher air. - Take some time to try different synths and keys to give the "electro" feel a more realistic, professional sound. - Produce guitars. This style has usually very interesting guitar works, with clean arpeggios or melodies full of modulations and /or delays. Listen to masters as U2, The Killers or Imagine Dragons to have ideas. -------------------- 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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Jan 14 2016, 03:21 AM |
Hi Chris, Nice track! It has a very happy feel. I think that the progression is melody friendly so you will be able to create cool melodies for a singer over this one. I think that the next step is to work on production and sound. Here are some ideas: - Getting a cooler drum loop sound. Something more modern would give this a fresher air. - Take some time to try different synths and keys to give the "electro" feel a more realistic, professional sound. - Produce guitars. This style has usually very interesting guitar works, with clean arpeggios or melodies full of modulations and /or delays. Listen to masters as U2, The Killers or Imagine Dragons to have ideas. Thanks Gab! I have the lyrics written, and an awesome vocalist to lay down the vocals for me. Once I get them, I will spend more time polishing the mix, and developing the guitars more. I will also try to see what I can do with the drums. Thanks for the feedback! EDIT: So while the vocals are being recorded, I spent more time on the mix: https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/tonight-no-vocals Unfortunately, all I have is Acoustica Beatcraft - so I did the best I could to make the drums sound more alive. and less sterile. I also added some clean arpeggio work in the verses - and double tracked the solos (forgot how hard that was ) The only thing that I have left to do, other than the vocals - is work on the synths and add bass. What do you think? My biggest question is do you like the rhythm of the drums during the second solo? Thanks This post has been edited by Chris S.: Jan 14 2016, 08:36 PM |
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Jan 15 2016, 02:01 PM |
Good job Chris! I like how this one is turning. There is still room to improve guitars and drums EQ and also working a bit on reverb can make a difference in your mix. Check out some youtube tutorials to take ideas on how to use reverb to make everything sound with more life.
About the solo drum groove, I like it! It's original. Lately I've been listening to this band and one of the things that I like more is how drums are complex but fix well with the song: -------------------- 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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