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Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 25 2021, 07:40 PM

Hi Victor!

Welcome to your thread for Gab's Army!! Tell me what are your plans!

Posted by: Victor Simion Feb 25 2021, 08:30 PM

Hi,

I have the following goals:
Regarding Technique
- Play faster
- Play cleaner
- Play on time

I want to play mostly heavy metal, power metal, neoclassical guitar and also be able to compose in this style.
I already started composing neoclassical solos/etudes, and I want to improve my composition skills.

This is my main focus for now.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 25 2021, 09:15 PM

Great! Let me know which lessons you've worked and which ones you are working.

Posted by: Victor Simion Feb 25 2021, 09:33 PM

Hi,

This are some of my recent takes:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=61494&p=782456&#entry782456
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=61659&p=784363&#entry784363
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=61216&p=779568&#entry779568

Now I am working on:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Warming-up-with-Lian/ -> For this I am focusing on being relaxed as I feel I need some stamina in order to play this from beginning to end.

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Alternate-picking-workout-3/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/alternate-picking-thirds/

The last 2 I am still struggling to get them to full speed but I am almost there.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 26 2021, 03:32 PM

Hi Victor! Thanks for sharing the lessons. I've re-checked your takes at REC and my feedback.

I'd like to hear new takes from those lessons. But besides that, I'd like to suggest you working on this one:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/neoclassicalsoloforbeginners/

Posted by: Victor Simion Feb 26 2021, 03:49 PM

Yes, this lesson was my first REC here at GMC.
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=59907&p=765445&#entry765445

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 26 2021, 05:09 PM

Perfect! I thought that you shared all the lessons you’ve worked.

Now we are talking!

Which other vibrato based and alternate picking lesson have you worked?

Posted by: Victor Simion Feb 26 2021, 06:54 PM

An older one:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=59924&p=765711&#entry765711

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=61137&p=778969&#entry778969

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=61494&p=782456&#entry782456

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 26 2021, 09:13 PM

So we have...

- Neoclassical Solo For beginners
- Beginner Solo in D
- Hand Sync
- Alternate picking workout #2
- Alternate picking workout #7
- Winter Tune
- Petrucci Made Easy

and these two are the next ones:

- Alternate picking workout #3
- Alternate Picking Thirds

Posted by: Victor Simion Feb 26 2021, 09:57 PM

And I forgot about this one:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=60396&p=770978&#entry770978


I am working on:
Warming Up with Lian - this one is completely learned at full speed

Also working on those like you said:
- Alternate picking workout #3
- Alternate Picking Thirds

But those are a little above my current level of playing.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 27 2021, 12:11 AM

Great! That lesson is now added to the list.

When do you think that you can share new videos here?

Posted by: Victor Simion Feb 27 2021, 09:01 AM

Next week.

What do you think I should play in those videos?

I usually isolate a bar that gives me trouble and play it in a loop and start increasing speed and see how that goes.
This is what I can do for those lessons :
- Alternate picking workout #3
- Alternate Picking Thirds


This one I can play it from start to finish:
Warming Up with Lian

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 27 2021, 07:10 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Feb 28 2021, 04:46 PM

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback.

This are the exercises I came up with regarding Hand Synch - by Ben, after listening to your video.

I find hard to play them only to metronome without playing them over the guitar in Guitar Pro, because I have to play 6 notes on each click.

The problem it could be that it's possible not to hit the next click with the next note, or it's possible that I don't make all the notes equal.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 28 2021, 06:13 PM

Ok, I get you. Have you tried playing 3 notes per beat?

Posted by: Victor Simion Feb 28 2021, 06:19 PM

Playing 3 notes per beat will be a lot easier for me.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 1 2021, 05:10 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 1 2021, 06:37 PM

Hi, thank you for this great advice.

Playing with a subdivision will help me.

I recorded a small video to know if I am on the right track.
Playing fragments of scales with subdivision at 60BPM.



I also included the audio from Reaper, let me know if the audio in the video is enough or if you prefer to edit the video with high quality audio like the mp3 attached.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 1 2021, 06:59 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 1 2021, 07:08 PM

Ok, thank you, I will try to post videos instead of only mp3 with my playing, but my question was a different one.

This video was made with my phone and the audio is the one that the phone capture it.
Is the quality of the video sound ok?

Or do you prefer to edit my video with high quality sound.
Check the .mp3 I attached for comparison.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 1 2021, 07:19 PM

Ah yeah, for only guitar videos is ok, try to set your speakers louder. You need to check what happens when using backing tracks, but if you find out the way to make them sound clear, (put your phone's mic close to the speaker), it will work as well.

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 1 2021, 07:27 PM

Yes, it could sound ok just using the phone, but it will never sound as good as when editing my video with the audio from Reaper so I will try to do that as much as possible.

Regarding my right hand position.
It looks strange in the video indeed, in most of my videos.

I will share another video from another angle just to see my right hand, I think it's not as bad as it looks in that video

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 1 2021, 07:29 PM

Great! Please share it!

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 1 2021, 07:47 PM

Here is the right hand video:

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 1 2021, 08:21 PM

Yeah, it looks much better from this angle.

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 2 2021, 10:15 PM

Hi,

Here is:
Hand Synch at 60BPM, without the subdivision.



I think the beginning is not so tight on timing but as I play it starts to get better and better on timing. This happens because I need to get used to the metronome beats.

So starting to play 6 notes per beat means a lot for me, because I didn't practice to much with the metronome.
I usually played a solo directly on an original song, so I tried to match the guitar in the song.
When using guitar pro I usually played over the guitar in the file.

So I rarely or never played with a metronome until starting Shred Bootcamp with Todd, but even so I played a note to each click.
So playing 6 notes on a click means a lot for me.

I also changed the angle a little bit so my picking hand will look better.

Let me know what you think or if I am ready to increase speed.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 3 2021, 03:11 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 4 2021, 07:14 PM

Hi,

This is my new video
Hand Synch 2 strings practicing speed.
I wrote the speed of each take in the video.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 4 2021, 10:09 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 7 2021, 06:09 PM

Here I am practicing speed on three strings:

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 8 2021, 03:02 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 9 2021, 07:10 PM

Hi,

Thank you for the feedback.
Before I tried to isolate the problems creating my own exercises, but your advice is helping me much better.
I like the exercises and I will keep practicing.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 10 2021, 04:02 PM

Nice to know it Victor! Keep on the good job!!

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 10 2021, 06:24 PM

Hi,

Here I am practicing Hand Synch again:

This version contains the same take, but with low quality audio (the audio recorded using phone) and the high quality audio (recorded using Reaper).

Let me know if HQ Audio helps a lot more hearing issues that otherwise couldn't be heard in LQ Audio.


The other takes are all HQ audio:

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 11 2021, 03:33 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 12 2021, 01:26 PM

Thank you for your feedback, very useful advice for me.
And also I liked the funny comment aboutthe pinky.

And yes, my video quality has improved over time, before my videos were a lot worse.

The part that is giving me trouble here with the slide is very similar to the part in here that is also giving me trouble.

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=61216&p=779568&#entry779568, check my video at second 39.
That part throws me a little bit off, so I mess the hand synch in the parts that are near that bar.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 12 2021, 02:56 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 15 2021, 06:02 PM

Hi,

Here is Hand Synch exercise on lower and higher strings.

And also I know that I am playing in front of the beat (Rushing a little).

But first I want to concentrate on the hand synch issue that appears on the higher strings.
It always sounds better on lower strings and I don't know why.
Could it be because of my guitar?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 15 2021, 07:27 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 15 2021, 08:20 PM

Yes, I worked a bit in the past on those lessons:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bens-Land-Of-Legato/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bens-Land-Of-Legato-2/

But are far from being mastered.
I am not used to playing long legato parts, just a little hammer-ons and pull-offs.

And also the lessons are a little to fast for me, I need to slow down a bit.
And my left hand gets tired after playing so long.

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 16 2021, 09:58 AM

I am a bit disappointed by the fact that it sounds like is not in synch when I play the higher strings.
I hope this is something that can be fixed.

It's strange because I play the same as I play in the lower strings, and my hands feel synchronized.

I will try to play slower and see how it sounds.
Also I think one idea would be to try and play this without an amp.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 16 2021, 02:44 PM

Don't feel disappointed. This affirmation..

makes me predict that you'll fix this problem very soon. Just work on it, enjoy the process.



Practicing without amp or distortion is positive to fix the sync issue, but be sure that it's also sounding good with distortion. Sometimes there are unwanted noises that can only be noted with drive.

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 16 2021, 07:41 PM

Here is the sound of my guitar without any amp, from my phone camera.



Here is the audio input from computer without any distort.

In the higher strings sounds like it's staccato.


Here is the tone added to the computer audio.


Being the same audio input from computer but this time with distort I still feel the same staccato sound in the higher strings.

The same 3 takes are the same, do they all sound the same to you?

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 16 2021, 09:07 PM

Slow Speed Playing:


Medium Speed Playing:


I am planning to do a cover on this song (solo):

Derdian - Kingdom of your heart


This song was tabbed by ear by me, it's almost completed, with a few missing parts you will notice in the video that I couldn't figure out.

I tabbed most of the instruments in Guitar Pro I think when I am ready I will use Guitar Pro as a backing track, right now I played with the original song on youtube just for reference.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 17 2021, 03:19 PM

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 17 2021, 03:51 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 18 2021, 05:27 PM

Thank you for the feedback.

I will attach here the Guitar Pro tabbed by me for Derdian - Kindgom of Your Heart.
No tab for this song so I had to work on it.

I tried to tab even the piano although I don't play piano.
I feel like my piano sounds more like a rock ballad as opposed to the original song where the piano sounds more like classical music. I don't know why. But I am satisfied with the result.

Rhythm Guitar:
The power chords are mostly done by using a software to estimate chords and trying to guess them. Maybe I should really understand how this works, but right now I want to focus on getting the lead guitar done. Not sure if all power chords are correct.

Drums:
I really tried to get the drums as close as possible even though I am not a drummer. The drums play a very important part on this solo.

Lead Guitar:
Measure 27 was the one that was missing. I tried to add the notes, it sounds good but I don't think they are exactly the same notes.
Also it seems impossible to play on fret 21 on the lower strings.
Measure 26 it's also incomplete.

And the last 2 or so measures are missing from the song.
But first I want to focus on getting done at least measure 26 and 27.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 19 2021, 03:01 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 20 2021, 03:11 PM

Here I made another Hand Synch video unfortunately it is low audio quality, for comparison:

Playing on lower strings and on highest strings.

Using a different Guitar and Guitar Setup, I am not home.

The Guitar Tone should be similar because I am using Guitar Rig 5, the only difference is that here it is plugged directly into the computer and when I played home I was using an audio interface presonus audiobox usb 96.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 22 2021, 02:36 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 23 2021, 07:47 PM

Thank you for help I am working on pressing the frets with less pressure, and it's still sounding.

I am working slow on hand synch exercises.

Also I am working on covering the solo
Derdian - Kingdom of Your Heart

I need help with:

1. I wrote measure 26-27 using your help let me know if this is correct.

2. At second 3:39 (original song) measure 16 in my tab, the the first note doesn't sound exactly like I hear it in the original song. What do you think is different? Is there some kind of pinch harmonic or something like this?

3. I transcribed power chords by using the help of a chord estimate program, I am not sure every power chord is correct. At measure 13 we have the power chord A#, I am not sure if it's correct. Maybe there should be B power chord just because maybe it sounds better, but I am completely clueless which one should be used. I need to make it sound without any dissonance if I want to use it as a backing track.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 24 2021, 03:51 PM

Hi Victor!

1. There are very small differences in measures 26/27. Check the right tab:




2. Yes, it's like a pinch harmonic but played in a part where there is no harmonic in the string, so instead of get an "octaved" effect, it sounds like a more aggressive picking.


3. Can you tell me the minutes/seconds from the song where you can't recognize the chords?

PS: Are you using the playback speed feature in youtube to learn the parts?

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 24 2021, 04:06 PM

Yes, I it's very helpful to slow down the song, I have more time to think what notes should be played.

1. Thank you for correcting the measures

2. Yes, it's like a pinch harmonic but played in a part where there is no harmonic in the string, so instead of get an "octaved" effect, it sounds like a more aggressive picking.
There is 12th Fret, isn't that fret able to produce harmonic in the string?
I am not sure I completly understand this part.

3. I will take a look again at the power chords and tell you later.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 24 2021, 04:28 PM

Check the spoken video here: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Pinch-Harmonics-Workout/

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 24 2021, 05:25 PM

Yes, it's clear now with the pinch harmonic.
And yes, you are right there is a different note and he tried to play a pinch harmonic and that confused me about which note was there, but now it's clear.


Here I made a screenshot where I am not sure about the power chords you can see the time labels above the power chords. Just those power chords.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 25 2021, 04:11 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 25 2021, 10:07 PM

Hi, sorry I meant 3:29, instead of 2:29 when I wanted to ask for a power chord.

Here you have my Guitar tone for this solo.
I like the guitar tone in the original song I feel like it is an ample fat guitar tone.
I tried to make some tone similar to it using Guitar Rig 5.

This solo reminds me of Neoclassical Solo for Beginners by Emir because it is slow melodic, with lots of vibrato and bendings.

Here is my final update on the Guitar Pro song the one I used as a backing track.
I don't hear any dissonance in power chords but I don't hear the power chords so good, it's a lot harder for me to transcribe what is playing in the back of the main melody. Let me know if something sounds bad.

And this is me playing the solo


I know it needs more practice I didn't fully learn the fast part where I needed help in transcription at second 1:09, and after that parts is done at 1:14 my finger just slipped because I was focused on the fast part and I lose track.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 26 2021, 03:20 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 26 2021, 10:42 PM

Thank you for feedback.
Yes I will keep working on it.

I have a problem regarding guitar intonation.
The High E string is flat(when in 12th fret) with 20 cents, I think that is a bit too much.
And as you can see from this picture the saddle is pushed at the maximum, nothing more that i can do.

The other strings are are much better in tune.

I really don't like messing with bridge, intonation string action etc.

And I have another guitar where the some strings are ok, but some are sharp like 10-15cents.

Intonation is something that I really don't like or anything regarding the guitar setup because I feel that even if I will play perfectly it won't sound perfectly and that is frustrating.

Edit: I don't have any Luthier in my town, but I managed to find someone who can take a look at the guitar intonation.
He said said that the first step is to change the guitar strings, I already went and bought them. He will have a look in a few days, I hope he can help me.

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 29 2021, 01:40 PM

Here is my other guitar and now I am working on this solo also:

Check my playing over the original song, and also you can hear my guitar isolated(so you can spot a lot more imperfections in my playing)
This is made just for fun, I know it's far from being ready and perfect, but this is just as a starting point.

Very important: I changed the pitch of the original song to normal tuning just to match my guitar tuning, because they are playing 1/2 step down.

There is no tab for it, but it's almost done by me.

This is the original studio version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCPbPqlihQ4&ab_channel=TROOPER
Around 2:40 the solo starts:

This one is the live video from lockdown, so it's easier to see what they are playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azpb1crG5pI&ab_channel=TROOPER
Is it me or the Guitar player messes here the sweep part at second 3:04:


I have a few question about my transcription, but that will come in some later posts of mine, since this post is getting way too long.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 29 2021, 04:32 PM

Great! Yes, in many cases, changing strings is the solution. Keep me updated!

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 29 2021, 07:55 PM

Here is the original song transposed in normal tuning:


This is the part I played I will call it Section A.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 30 2021, 02:33 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 31 2021, 09:43 AM

Yes, I didn't even realize I was doing some economy picking.
I think that is happening because in my mind those shapes look like the start of Sweep Picking.

That shouldn't be a big deal to for me to fix them into strict alternate picking, because I remember a time not long ago where I did everything with economy picking and it seemed impossible for me to get to alternate picking.
So I had to work my way to strict alternate picking starting from 40BPM like an absolute beginner but in a few months I get it to the same speed as my economy picking.


The only part that seems strange to me is the highlighted part in the picture.
It seems weird to do rolling technique combined with alternate picking.
I automatically associate rolling with sweep picking.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Mar 31 2021, 03:01 PM

Yes, that makes sense. These shapes could be also played with economy/sweep picking (because the rhythm is not extremely fast). At this tempo, I have more timing control when playing these shapes with AP as John Petrucci or Kiko Loureiro would do.

You'll get used to that shape after some days of practice.

Posted by: Victor Simion Mar 31 2021, 05:49 PM

I went today with my guitar to the person that will fix it.
He said that it will take like 2 days, because he needs to fix the action, the bridge, beside changing strings.
The bridge is also missing a small screw which is different than most of the screws, so I hope he can do something about it.

You can see that picture with my guitar bridge and there is a missing screw.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 1 2021, 05:45 PM

Yes, I see. Ok, only 2 days to go! That's nice!

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 1 2021, 06:14 PM

Yes, and

My white guitar that is exactly this model:
ibanez sa 160 ah stw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfB18nUn4xg&ab_channel=Muzyczny_pl
I haven't found a screw that looks the missing one, so from what I saw on the internet I need to buy the whole bridge for the missing screw.

The good news is that he managed to find a screw for the guitar that fits, it's not from the same set, but it gets the job done.
The guitar also is having high action which makes the strings harder to press.

My other black guitar which model is exactly this:
Harley Benton Progressive Series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8TNQ7VizGA&ab_channel=JamieSlays
doesn't have so serios issues with the intonation, has a low action which makes the strings very easy to press, but sometimes you get fret buzzing.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 2 2021, 03:48 PM

Nice guitars and news! Love that white Ibby.

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 3 2021, 11:12 AM

Hi,

The Guitar is ready:
- changed strings
- fixed fretboard,
- fixed bridge
- fixed intonation,
- fixed guitar string actio
- fixed the height of guitar pickups

I couldn't do all this by myself.
What I notice is that guitar intonation is much better, but it's not perfect. I am not sure how good should it be to be good enough?
And I get some fret buzzing since the action is lower, but it was very high before.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 3 2021, 04:39 PM

Nice Victor!! Yeah, some guitars are usually imperfect, that's why experimented musicians recommend people to try guitars before buying. Even two same model guitars can have different issues.

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 4 2021, 10:08 PM

Hi,

This is how I practice:

Hand Synch


Trooper - Inca O Lupta (Solo) Section A


Derdian - Kingdom Of Your Heart (Solo)

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 5 2021, 02:38 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 5 2021, 04:14 PM

Great, I am happy my playing is better.
I think this has to do with the fact that somebody fixed my guitar.

Part of the problem when playing on higher strings I think it came from the fact that I messed up the bridge in trying to fix the intonation.
I lifted the bridge in the higher strings, which made the bridge not to be parallel to the guitar. This made the higher strings harder to press giving that staccato effect.

In my solo Derdian - Kingdom of Your Heart, I used the guitar melody on string ensemble if you can hear that in the backing track.
That melody line is guiding me and helped me fix my guitar timing. Isn't this a bit cheating?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 5 2021, 06:14 PM

Cool! Yes, I can hear the melody now that you say, but I love how it sounds with your guitar. It's like a stringy ambience effect. Love it!

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 6 2021, 06:57 PM

Yes, I like Helloween, all eras.
It's good too see them togheter, I think this is going to be a very good new album.

I think before playing the lesson "Hand Synch" I should try to practice the full scale up and down at different speeds.

Regarding the Section A from the Solo I am currently at 100BPM, I think I can increase it at 110BPM, but full speed would be around 114-118BPM, and in Section B I think we need to correct some notes. I think the problem is my transcription on sweep picking.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 7 2021, 03:32 PM

Ok, let's check the Sweep Picking part. Please share a vid playing it at different speeds.

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 7 2021, 05:59 PM

And the way I play:

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 7 2021, 07:40 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 7 2021, 09:31 PM

Take a look in the first measure I changed the sweep picking as you mentioned, I also wrote the pick upstrokes and downstrokes.
At the last note on the measure 12, it should land on a downstroke as I can see in the video. I am a bit confused on how to achieve this, which notes should or shouldn't be picked.



The approach on the other sweep parts I think should follow the same rule, but you mentioned that it makes sense playing them on other frets.
Yes it seems easier but I am not sure he plays them like this.
Check the Video where he plays, I know it's not in standard tuning but I use it just for reference on what to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azpb1crG5pI&ab_channel=TROOPER

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 8 2021, 02:50 PM

Hi Victor, you are right. He is using the 6 strings arpeggios (the first one that I've showed) in the live version. Both things would sound the same, but that's what he is doing.

The tab looks good!

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 8 2021, 04:06 PM

I updated all the sweeps in the tab.
Let me know if you think it's correct.

As you can see I am landing on un upstroke on the longer note, and it should be a downstroke.
What am I doing wrong here?

Or maybe the sweep pattern goes like this.
I am not sure which version is correct.
Notice how in the second version I removed the note from 12 fret high E string of the sweep.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 9 2021, 01:54 PM

Hi Victor, I notice that there is a difference if we compare the studio solo and his live version. The studio solo is played as I've showed in the video. However, he does a two blocks sweep in the live version (and this happens with every position/arpeggio). Here I tabbed what he is doing over G, with the two blocks sweep (different beginning) and what he does in order to end the sweep with a downstroke (he plays the last note in the higher string).

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 9 2021, 07:40 PM

Live Version:

I see that your fist note is shortened the dot is missing:
I tried replicating to all the other sweeps:

The first part of the sweep is not ending on a downstroke, as the others. What is wrong in my tab?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 10 2021, 05:44 PM

Hi Victor, from what I can see this seems to be ok. He doesn't end the first arpeggio with a downstroke, he plays an upstroke there. Can you see it?

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 11 2021, 06:58 PM

Live Version
I am not sure I can see it.
I am referring to the measure 12, the longest note, fret 12th 3rd string.


And here is my studio version

One important difference is:
- First note of each sweep is dotted now.
- The ghost note that you can see in the screenshot is just for this screenshot. I am not sure I can hear it in the studio recording.
What do you think, is this tab correct?

Edit: Version 2 of section B
- Removed the one note and changed a bit the triplets duration.

Maybe this one is correct?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 12 2021, 02:54 PM

Hi Victor, I think that your studio version looks good.

Now I get the measure 12 thing. The first two notes are played as a pull off, so you have downstroke, pull off, down, up, down, up.... and it'll end with a downstroke. Does it make sense?

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 12 2021, 04:23 PM

Yes, it makes sense for the Live version, but sorry wrong screenshot for the studio version.

This is my latest version

Edit:
In order to make it easier to follow, I made 2 versions of what I think to be the closest to the studio version of the solo.
Only Section B:
Not sure which version is the correct one.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 13 2021, 06:48 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 14 2021, 06:23 PM

Intro with Sweeps that occur in section B
Then section B played at 80BPM and 100BPM

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 15 2021, 03:43 PM

Great! This is sounding very good. You need to continue practicing in order to make the sweeps sound smoother, but you are pretty close!

Congrats Vic!

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 19 2021, 07:35 PM

Hand Synch - Full Scale


Solo Section A and B

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 21 2021, 02:40 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 21 2021, 04:11 PM

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback.

I still need to learn Section C, from the Solo, and from what I can tell my transcription it totally different that the original solo.

The same solo
At 3:20

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 22 2021, 02:41 PM

Yes, this is not right. He is playing 2 strings arpeggios (4th and 3rd strings) following the backing track chords (playing the triads). I recommend you to check the live version, learn the backing track chords.

The technique is similar to the first part of this lesson, but in lower strings:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Power-Metal-Soloing-Timo-Tolkki/

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 22 2021, 07:09 PM

Hi,

I like very much the Lesson Timo Tolkki style, I hope one day to be able to play it. Right now it's above my level.

It's so hard for me to transcribed, I tried listening slowing down a lot of times.
This is what I came up with.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 22 2021, 08:04 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 25 2021, 07:15 PM

I have two Versions:

Version 1:
Doing the pull-offs sweep like this, I cannot make the measure complete. And also I feel that there are too many notes, it's so fast to play.
And also as you can see I wrote some very weird note duration here.

Version 2:
This is how I made the pull-off sweep,
The last descending run is played in another place on the fretboard that you played on video (but the same notes) as I could see it in the live version, I hope it's correct.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 26 2021, 03:03 PM

Yes! This is very tricky because the speed is extremely fast. One easy way to find the right figure is to count the quantity of notes that you need to play in a measure, and divide it in 4. This gives you how many notes you need to have on each beat so you can decide the rhythm figure.

In this case we have 28 notes, which means 7 notes per beat. (septuplets)



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuplet

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 26 2021, 06:27 PM

So this is how I tabbed the whole Section C + Last Descending Run.

Let me know if you think this is correct.

It's very hard to play Section C at any speed.
Right now I am trying to memorize it.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 27 2021, 04:03 PM

Hi Victor! From what I can see, this seems to be good. It would be nice to see you playing this at your comfortable tempo to compare and detect any possible difference.

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 27 2021, 07:13 PM

Yes, that part is very fast and similar to this like you said:
Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT0XpJ4Yye8&ab_channel=DavidEscobar

I am still trying to find out which one is faster.

Posted by: Victor Simion Apr 28 2021, 04:28 PM

Playing at my comfortable speed doesn't resemble of the song in any way.
The I speed the Video for about 2x time, and now it's starting to sound as the song.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Apr 29 2021, 04:28 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion May 7 2021, 08:16 PM

So now I have the solo tabbed completly, I will keep it as an exercise tool at lower speeds.
Section C, is above my level, so I can hardly play it as 50% speed.

But now I will share Hand Synch by Ben Higgins at 70 BPM, almost full speed (75BPM is full speed).



The audio sounds a little strage in the Video so that's why I am attaching an two mp3 files.
One file with me playing on the backing track and one file with guitar only so you can notice my playing in detail.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 10 2021, 03:28 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion May 10 2021, 08:25 PM

Regarding Section C:

Playing the 2 strings arpeggios, the fingers that are not playing should stay in the strings and not move?
From what I can hear:
In the solo Trooper - Inca O Lupta, in Section C, I can mostly hear the main notes. I don't know why.

When listening to Rata Blanca - Preludio Obsesivo I can hear all the notes in the 2 strings arpeggio.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 11 2021, 06:15 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion May 11 2021, 06:49 PM

Yes, I watched the video, but it seems like there is a little issue with the video image, sometimes it stay still.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 11 2021, 06:51 PM

Ok, I checked and it seems that the parts where I show the licks are working. By the way, I'll record a new one later if you need it.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 11 2021, 08:37 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion May 11 2021, 09:12 PM

Yes I think I understand the technique here but it's very different from what I usually play.

I have to mute a little bit the notes that are not the main notes by keeping the fingers on those frets and I have to accentuate the main notes.

I hope it makes sense what I wrote.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 12 2021, 03:21 PM

Yes, that's what you need to do. Start slowly, to get used to the movement and hand position. Isolate your right hand as I did in the video.

This approach to 2 strings sweep is not common, the most common is the one used in Preludio, which is the same that Malmsteen plays in many songs.

Posted by: Victor Simion May 12 2021, 08:43 PM

This solo I think it has a similar approach.

Rhapsody - Tempesta Di Fuoco


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AYfgxuLXPo
Solo starts at 2:15, but the part with the similar approach is at 2:26.

I attached a screenshot of the tab of that part.
You can find the entire Guitar Pro File on ultimate-guitar, this tab is not made by me.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 13 2021, 01:39 PM

Yes! Again the most common approach in neoclassical metal (and my favorite).

Posted by: Victor Simion May 14 2021, 09:31 PM

Hi

Starting again with Hand Synch Scale exercise.
This time I am pushing the speed to extreme:

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 16 2021, 05:30 AM

Posted by: Victor Simion May 16 2021, 01:48 PM

I will practice pressing the frets with less force.
I think I will make a video where I press frets with:
- Very Low Pressure
- Low Pressure
- Medium Pressure

And find out which one is the best

Until then I will keep practicing.

And anyway I couldn't believe that I could play at 100BPM, sextuplets, so I had to make a video.
This means the same speed as playing 150 BPM quarter notes, which is way above my maximum speed. (If my calculation is correct)
Which for me is very fast.

As far as I know my max speed is around 110-120BPM quarter notes, which is around 75-80BPM sextuplets.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 17 2021, 02:22 PM

This is an exercise to minimize pressure. You don't need to find the best from these 3, you need to try to do the less effort possible when fretting the frets.








Awesome! This explains the tension when playing the exercise. Congrats!!

Posted by: Victor Simion May 17 2021, 09:22 PM

Yes, I am working on pressing the frets lightly and I feel there is some room to press them lightly.

So, I created a few exercises and I have some near goals I am working on.

Hand Synch I
So I created 4 exercises the ones you see in the screenshot, this are the fast parts in the lesson.
I am playing them slowly and then increasing the speed even beyond the speed requirement, and I try to stay as relaxed as I can.

Then after I practice those exercises in isolation, I play the full lesson at slower and faster tempos.

Then I go to practice: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Hand-Synch-II/
Hand Synch II
Most of this lesson is at my current level speed, except the last measures which are sextuplets, are way above my level.
This is a goal I would like to achieve. (actually this goal could take a while)

And this is my practice routine.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 18 2021, 03:42 PM

Excellent! keep me updated!

Posted by: Victor Simion May 19 2021, 09:12 PM

Low Pressure Exercise:


Exercise 1 - Full Scale



Exercise 2 - Hand Synch


Exercise 3 - Hand Synch

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 20 2021, 05:24 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion May 23 2021, 07:49 PM

Hi,

This is 75 BPM:


This is 80 BPM: This is played twice.


I notice that I keep thumb of the fretting hand like you said I shouldn't.
I think it's happening because when I go from lower to higher strings I don't change the thumb position so that's why the thumb gets bent.

In order to play this exercises as clean as possible I have to focus and take more takes.
It happens that in some takes I miss a note and in other takes other notes are not sounding as clean as possible.
Then I focus not to miss that specific note and I end up missing another one, or making some notes not clean.
So my playing is not consistent.

Here is Warming up with Lian:

This is how I feel about this exercise:
- Not very fast
- It works your stamina
- It works your hand stretch in the last part.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 24 2021, 08:42 PM

Hi Victor, great stuff here!

I think that your left hand looks more relaxed now so the minimal effort exercise is giving good results. This means that you should keep it in your daily practice, and also keep these exercises that you've shared here.

Your technique looks good, you need to continue practicing these exercises and apply the ideas that I've already shared in previous videos.

- Work on smaller blocks.
- Isolate hands.
- Always remember to economize movements and strength.

Posted by: Victor Simion May 28 2021, 05:50 PM

Here I created smaller exercises from the exercises, and then put all of them together.

https://youtu.be/2Tw2Rgeo3no

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 31 2021, 03:08 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 3 2021, 07:16 PM

Hi,

I created the following Looping exercises based on Hand Synch:
Ex1

Ex2

Ex3

Ex4


Let me know what you think, if I am ready to push speed, or practicing something else.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 4 2021, 06:07 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 4 2021, 09:07 PM

About Pinky Finger
It seems impossible for me to keep the pinky finger closer. Maybe if I play very slow and concentrate on the pinky finger, painfully slow, like one note each second.

About Speed
I think I should be able to keep hand synch at 80BPM (sextuplets) that is 120BPM(quarter notes)
About 85BPM, maybe I could play some exercsies with my hands in synch but not all of them

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 5 2021, 06:51 PM

Hi,

Here are again some of the last exercises I created from lesson Hand Synch I, played at 80BPM.

Exercise 1 feels a bit hard to be played in a loop since I have to cross 3 to go back and forth.




Hand Synch II - by Ben Higgins

Played at full speed 100BPM, you can hear the metronome that I added from Reaper to help me keep in time.

The last part where I have to play sextuplets at 100BPM is above my level, I know I can't play it.
At first I thought I woudn't try to play it when making the video, but I decided to try and do it just for fun.
But that is very fast, sextuplets at 100BPM is 150BPM at quarter notes, if my calculation is correct and I think it is.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 7 2021, 05:26 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 7 2021, 09:03 PM

So this are the first exercises that I will practice:

Hand Synch I contains the exercises that I made before.

Hand Synch II contains only picking in thirds in G Major.
I will add other sequences later, but for know I feel that this is enough to practice.


We have the ascending version, then descending version, then I put them both together but there is a small difference, but it feels the right way to play like this? What do you think? Do you think my tab is correct?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 8 2021, 07:14 PM

Hi Victor, this looks good. Both options seem to be right for an exercise.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 10 2021, 11:10 AM

Ok, great

The potential for creating exercises are unlimited from the ideas that you shared with me.

Picking in thirds, how should we call it "132 pattern"? (This can be done ascending or descending)

Then the other pattern 1234, (both ascending and descending)

This ideas can be applied to a scale shape and can be moved around the fretboard, using the same shape, this will change the key we are playing in.

The same can be done for all scale shapes (move it around the freatboard).
I see that there are multiple scale shapes in the same key.

And we can also apply the shapes using one string.

Yes, that is a lot of material this could take up to months and months of creating exercises and practicing.
This can also give a lot of ideas for composing music.

Let me know what terminology should we use for specific patterns.
And help me on how to approach finishing some of my guitar compositions, I may attach a file next time.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 12 2021, 12:46 AM

Hi Victor, these are sequences. The possibilities are endless as you've said.

I would identify the first one as: 1324

and the second one as: 1234 2345.


Regarding your compositions, sure!! Let's go for it!

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 12 2021, 03:51 PM

Hi,

Here are the compositions.

Etude No. 2 is completed is just an example of how I made the lead guitar and the rhythm guitar, I don't know if it fits perfectly, because I just tried to search until it sounds right.

Etude No.3 I need to find an easy way to create the Rhythm Guitar.

This is one of my main issues:
Let's say I came up with a nice melody, what power chords should I play?

I know that I have to find the scale, but usually we have some fragments of scales and I am not sure which chords fits the best.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 14 2021, 03:28 PM

Hi Victor, how are you?

These two ideas have very cool melodic stuff. The first one shows that you still need to work on your harmonic knowledge. I feel that most of those chords are not the best choices for those lines.

Before we move forward with your songs, it would be important to know if you master the concepts covered in this course: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/lessonseries/Songwriting-Essentials/

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 14 2021, 04:10 PM

Hi, I am good and you?

I will try to tell you how much I know and understand from songwritting essentials:

So I know the basic stuff like:
Introductory Lesson
- Intervals, Minor and Major Chords, Scales

- Chord Progressions
Then I learn how to build chord progressions, using C Major Scale for example, and other scales.

And I am here at:
- Add Melodies to Chords
- How To Harmonize A Melody

Those last 2 lessons( Add Melodies to Chords, How To Harmonize A Melody) I feel that still needs practice in order for me to assimilate them.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 14 2021, 04:23 PM

That's good! Please take your time to go deep with the lessons and create your own stuff based on these concepts.

In order to know which chords you can use over a melody, you need to to have a good theory knowledge, and have experience building chord progressions and other stuff covered there.

You also need to learn and analyze other composer's compositions using the concepts that I've shared there. Write down progressions, identify the tonality, the scale, and how the notes related to the chords at each moment.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 14 2021, 07:49 PM

Ok, so how should I start?

Should I try to compose something similar using the concepts from the lessons?

What steps should I use?

For example

1. Choose a scale
2. Create a chord progression that scale
3. Add melody tot that chord progression
4. Harmonize the melody.

Then we can go back and work to the songs I composed?
The songs that I composed the approach is a little different, I mean first I create a melody then I need to come with the rest of the instruments. Do you think it's harder like that?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 14 2021, 07:59 PM

At first, I recommend to do the opposite in order to start training your ear and get used to the most common used combinations in the music that you like.

Before making music, let's analyze what's happening in the music that you like.

You can start doing this:

- Choose 3 GMC lessons in the style that you'd like to compose a mini-tune.
- Write down (and here) the chord progressions, scale used, and any other thing that you find interesting.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 14 2021, 09:18 PM

I think I will go with these 3 lessons:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/neoclassicalsoloforbeginners/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Petrucci-Made-Easy/

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Hand-Synch/

For all the lessons the Chords are written except for Hand Synch.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 15 2021, 12:46 AM

That's a very cool selection. So, the next step is to write down the chord progressions adding the numeral numbers as explained in the songwriting course.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 15 2021, 05:48 PM

I will start with Neoclassical Solo for Beginners:
The Scale I identified is : B minor.
I identified the Chords in this scale.

I also wrote a few power chords from the song:
I can see that we have: i-iv-VII Chord Progression

This is what I have so far, I stopped there since, I am not sure how to continue, it looks like the scale will change.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 16 2021, 09:38 PM

Great! Have you learnt the lesson "fix your boring chord progressions" from the course?

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 16 2021, 09:47 PM

No, but I will take a look right now.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 17 2021, 02:15 PM

Good! It is essential to learn the whole course. The topics covered there are basics that every composer should master.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 18 2021, 09:42 PM

Hi,

One of the latest Helloween songs Skyfall, I made a little cover with 3 guitars.
I see that the 2 guitars that are played the main melody are applying the same idea from the lesson "How To Harmonize A Melody".

Based on what I learned from Building Chord Progressions and How to Harmonize A Melody, I tried to put them to practice.

1. Build a Chord Progression in G Major
2. I came with a melody over the chord progression
3. Harmonized the melody.

Bonus:
Added drums using Guitar Pro, panned lead guitars left and right added EQ, I played a little with Reaper's settings.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 19 2021, 05:50 PM

Excellent job mate!! Great to see you applying the concepts! I think that you could continue that G major idea. What do you think?

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 19 2021, 05:57 PM

Yes, I think I can continue the G Major Idea, then we can go back to the other questions I had, cause there is a lot to cover, in terms of composing and guitar technique.

But my question is, how can I compose further, are there any rules for changing the scale? I don't want to be stuck the whole song in the same scale.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 19 2021, 06:58 PM

Most of the greatest songs are based on 1 tonality. You can do a lot using only one scale so my recommendation is that you focus on trying to compose songs using one scale.

However, one thing that can help you is to know the existence of relative scales. Every major scale has a relative minor which is 3 semitones lower. In other words., the relative of G major is E minor, the relative of C major is A minor. Both scales have the same notes and chords, but when modulating a song from the major to the minor relative, the root chord changes, and that gives the song a different feel.

In the case of 'Skyfall' by Helloween, the intro is in G major, and then, the riff and verse modulates to E minor.

By knowing this, and getting into all the concepts covered in the songwriting basics course, you can understand and then compose lots of songs.

But always, start simple, work with a few elements. Composing is like learning a technique, you need to start slow, and practice.



PS: As the song Skyfall continues, it has many other modulations and more advanced techniques but in order to learn them, you need to be able to master the basics.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 20 2021, 07:51 PM

Yes, I can try to continue composing my song:

I have the Intro (which also can be the Chorus) which is in G Major.

After that I can compose in E minor, a verse part.
But it doesn't sound so interesting it sounds like playing "0000000000000" and "33333333333" etc. in sixteens, progression. I am not so happy with the result, like I was with the intro.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 21 2021, 04:11 PM

Hi Victor!

As you are working on minor for the verse, you should get into the "building minor chord progressions" from the course. There you can get some ideas to start.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 22 2021, 04:55 PM

Hi,

Here is more of my composition.
Let me know what you think, (what is good what is not so good).
What genre of metal do you think it is?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 23 2021, 02:21 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 24 2021, 09:46 PM

Thank you for video.

Yes, I like the intro, and how the verse part came out.
In the beginning I wasn't too happy with the verse, it was only a simple chord progression.
Than I took a day off from composing, got back to some hand synch exercises, and then went back to verse part and I added a simple melody, that I like.

I am also not that happy with the bridge part, I will rewrite that part using the advice from "Fix your boring chord progressions".

Also I think you are right about changing the drums too much, but I don't have too much experience working with drums, I only copy and pasted a pattern of drums.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 25 2021, 01:50 PM

Great Victor! At this point, the goal is to complete songs that make sense. Don't overthink or judge too much your compositions at this point. Take this as a practice.

After 20 years of composing songs, I have a current rule that says that from every 4 songs that I compose, 1 is good (from my point of view).

Practice, enjoy the process, finish the songs, but don't judge too much while you are on the creative process.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 28 2021, 09:50 PM

I made the bride section, adding the secondary dominant chord, let me know if this is ok.

I made also the solo, but the power chords durations are a bit strange to match the solo.
Let me know what I can do there.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 28 2021, 10:24 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 29 2021, 09:17 PM

I changed the bridge part.

I also added some acoustic chords, but that parts sounds a bit strange, then I added back the power chords.
Still sounds a bit strage, let me know what I can improve

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 30 2021, 04:04 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 30 2021, 04:37 PM

Unfortunately there is no sound on the video.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 30 2021, 05:00 PM

Fixed!

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 30 2021, 06:08 PM

I created the bridge part, let me know if it makes sense now, but even if it does it sounds a bit like a filler part to me.

Next is the solo, let me know what you think about the solo.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 30 2021, 06:27 PM

Yeah, that's better, but it's my least favorite option (from the ones that I've suggested). I would prefer to play E5 as the last chord in the verse, and then continue with this progression:

bridge: C5 - D5 - G5 - E5 - C5 - B

By the way, what about analyzing the bridge of some songs to get ideas?

Posted by: Victor Simion Jun 30 2021, 07:25 PM

Yes, I think we can take a look at the song Eagle Fly Free by Helloween.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 30 2021, 07:36 PM

That's a good choice! The song is close to yours because the verse and bridge are in minor key and then it modulates to the relative mayor in the chorus.

I can hear some secondary dominants, and very creative ways of resolve the connections.

Some others that use similar ideas:

https://youtu.be/OGg2FmiZrHI
https://youtu.be/pwcKa0d1Kfk

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 1 2021, 07:42 AM

The problems I have with the power metal songs that you suggested is that the tuning is 1/2 down.
This will change the key we are playing, right? Not sure how I should approach this.

Other than that it could give me some ideas and transpose them to the key my song is.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 1 2021, 02:24 PM

That's not relevant and why we use roman numerals to identify chords. You can learn the relationship between the chords and then move it to the key that you are working for.

By the way, it may be more practical to think of Eb as E if the tuning is flat.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 1 2021, 10:38 PM

Here is my change to bridge and chorus.
I feel that the bridge sounds like it's another song.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 2 2021, 03:23 PM

Hi Victor, how are you?

The rhythm guitar sounds good. The problem is that the harpsichord and keyboard are playing arrangements in another key. You need to check the scale you are using there. It should be E minor.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 2 2021, 08:21 PM

I tried to correct all the notes from harpsichord and keyboard to be notes from E minor.
I think this should be all I need to do.

My questions are:
1. Do you think now the harpsichord and keyboard fits the music from a theory perspective?
2. Do you think it fits the song compositionally, I am not sure, it gives a complete different feeling.

This part was inspired by Bach:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evZ-r9X4_2g&ab_channel=FluteOrchestralBackings%26Pianoaccompaniments

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 3 2021, 04:23 PM

Ok. Now the notes are from the right scale, however, the note choices for the arrangement doesn't feel completely good. I would start by playing notes from the chords in the first beat of each chord change and continue the melody from there (this is even more important if you play a 2 notes melody with the harpichord). I noticed the use of 4ths and other intervals.




I don't understand exactly the question but as I said before, the type of arrangement doesn't feel good.




It gives the tune a more neoclassical direction. It's not bad but you could go for a more power metal vibe with another instrument.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 3 2021, 08:45 PM

Yes, this answers my questions.

I like neoclassical power metal, but I am not sure if I want to keep the harpsichord in the bridge and chorus section. This part I will have to think and re-think it, maybe it's better to just go with a straightforward power metal melody.

Other than that I feel that I learned a lot of new concepts, but it's still hard for me since it's like a new language. I always have to calculate scales, progression and so on, this is not something that comes instantly, and most of the time I am not sure.

For example when analyzing a song:
1. I am not always sure what scale is it.
2. Not sure why to play this note over that chord. When to play over the chord the root note or other note?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 4 2021, 05:05 AM

I agree. I think that this arrangement is not necessary at this point. It's better to continue polishing the connection and try to complete the whole lesson before getting into arranging the song.




This makes sense. You need more time to digest all the material that we are covering here. Don't rush, enjoy the journey. Try to finish the songs you start, even if you are not 100% convinced of each part/element. Start a new song every time you finish one. You always can get back to an old song and continue improving it.




Here you can find your answer: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=3160




The best choice at first is to use any of the notes from the chords. (Root - Third - Fifth). Then you can use other notes from the scale to connect these notes. For example, let's suppose that you have a measure with an E minor chord in a E minor key progression. This chord contains the notes E - G - B. Start the melody with any of these notes, try to make these notes the target notes, the most important ones in your melody in that measure.

However, this is a bit advanced. Don't worry if you can't apply everything now. Please be patient and continue experimenting. I'll be here to give you feedback and guide you through this beautiful journey.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 4 2021, 05:34 PM

Thank you for help.
I will be on vacation for a few days, and when I am back I am ready to work on some more:
Hand Synch, Guitar Techniques, speed etc.
Music Theory, Composition Skills, etc.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 5 2021, 05:46 AM

That sounds great Victor. Enjoy your vacation. See you back!

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 11 2021, 09:20 PM

Hi,

Here ismy new version, you have now the bridge and the solo composed.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 13 2021, 06:40 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 16 2021, 09:05 PM

I changed the Drums a little bit.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 17 2021, 07:43 PM

Hi Victor! Cool!

I like how it sounds now without the extra measures. I also think that the drums work much better now. During the chorus, you could try an open hi-hat to make the part grow in relation to the previous part.

The next step would be to work on the part C (after the solo). Do you have any ideas for that part?

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 17 2021, 08:38 PM

Can you give me an example on how to use/add the open hi-hat to the drums?

Regarding on the part C, I have no ideas on how to continue the song.
Maybe I will get a few ideas in the next days, or you could suggest me some ideas.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 17 2021, 08:46 PM

Check the groove starting at 00:52 here:



That's groove with open hi-hats. Does it make sense?

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 17 2021, 09:09 PM

Let me know if you think it is better, how I added the open hi-hat.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 19 2021, 08:45 PM

Yes! It sounds better Victor. Well done!

When arranging drums, you can use hi-hat, ride, and crash to get different dynamics in your song. You could even replace either of them with Tom 1 if you want to get a different vibe in any part (usually on pre-choruses, and bridges).

From now on I recommend you pay attention to the drums of the songs you listen to. You can learn a lot just by listening and analyzing the music that you like.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 22 2021, 01:53 PM

A lot of guitar work to do I feel a little bit overwhelmed:

This are my main 3 very big tasks not necessarily in that order:

1. Working on my composition song, I am a bit stuck don't know how to continue composing part C, maybe I will take a small break.
2. A lot of Hand Synch, speed exercises.
3. I want to post a youtube cover made by Helloween intros and my list contains:
- Eagle Fly Free
- I am Alive
- Ride the Sky
Maybe I will add songs to the list, but first I think I should post here Eagle Fly Free, and if it's ok move to the next.
After I complete the list with all the intros, I will make one big video out of them and post it on youtube.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 22 2021, 02:01 PM

Hi Victor, this sounds great!

It's not bad to take a small break from the compositions. In the meantime, pay attention to the songs that you like and identify what happens after the second chorus. By the way, you could copy the chorus just after your guitar solo so you have a first "completed" version, and make a mixdown.

Great to know that you are working on the hand sync exercises. It's important to keep them in your daily practice. Even 15/30 minutes can make a big difference.

Regarding the youtube medley, I like the idea! Let's go for it!


Have you seen my response to your Emotive rock solo?

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 22 2021, 02:09 PM

Yes, I have seen your response, and as much as I liked the tone I used, I think your tone is a lot better.
I used 94 rock tone from Guitar Rig 5 (I think that is called I will check it later), it sounded like a fat lead tone, now it's sound much thinner compared to your tone.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 23 2021, 04:31 PM

Eagle Fly Free

I think this is the best tab on ultimate-guitar
The part where I circled the red the note, that is the part is giving me a hard time. Instead of playing fret 7 on A String, I am playing fret 0 on low E String. The same thing happens on measure 3, where I play instead of fret 5 on A String, fret 0 on E low String.

Let me know if this makes sense if, not I will upload the tab exactly as I play.
Still I am not sure if it's ok how I play it or if I should try to play it 100% as it is the screenshot.

I am not sure I will include the verse, but it's worth trying, do you think the verse part is correct? Those inverted power chords feel strange, I am not used to play them.

I also attached the Reaper file where I put the backing track from Guitar Pro, and the Guitar that I play.
I have a tendency to play a bit ahead of the beat (too fast), I tried so many takes until I came up with this one, that is still not perfect.

I also want the overall sound to be good, like a real band playing.

This is the same thing as the above one, only copy and pasted the first guitar, so I have 2 guitars panned left and right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxZy9i1mN6Q&ab_channel=RogerMaiden666
You think this should be played with inside or outside picking?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 23 2021, 07:41 PM

Hi mate! I used to play this song with my band. We played on a Helloween tribute and this one was part of the list. I think that the tabs are very good, I don't see any error comparing this with the video in which Kai and Michael play the tune.

I don't think that the changes that you want to do will be noticed, you can go for them. And I also think that the verse sounds very cool, you can try it as well. If you check the video, they are playing those thirds exactly as it's tabbed. The different is that they are tuned 1 tone down.

Regarding your audio, you are playing it well. You just need to work a bit more on your timing to go tighter. Maybe you can also turn on the metronome while recording. It should help, don't you think so?

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 23 2021, 07:49 PM

Yes, great advice.
I turned on the metronome, but it was off just because I saved the file.

I have 2 questions

1. This intro riff is played using inside or outside picking?
2. I understand that the changes I made are ok and will not be noticed, but do you think the tab is 100% correct regarding the studio version, if that is so, I may try to do it exactly.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 23 2021, 07:58 PM

Kai Hansen uses outside picking. I always used downpicking.

In the original recording I hear that the note that you marked with red is the 7th fret but in the sixth string. Can you hear it? Nobody plays it like that but that’s what I hear..

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 23 2021, 08:11 PM

This is the way I pick, let me know what you think
I also changed measure 3 the way I play it.

I changed measure 6 like you said you hear it, yes it's a bit strange to play it like this.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 23 2021, 11:29 PM

By the way, if you check the live versions, they don't play that note that I hear in the original version. I would not play it. It makes more sense to play the riff like this:

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 24 2021, 08:17 AM

I am starting to get better at the intro part, the playing on time is becoming easier.

I have trouble with the verse part, I feel like I am learning a new skill.
When I press the shape of the inverted power chord, I am using another part of my ring finger which is not used to pressing the string and the string is cutting my skin. It's the same feeling I had when I first started playing guitar.
And also I have to play it very very slow.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 25 2021, 04:47 PM

Hi,

This is me playing Eagle Fly Free and I'm Alive and put them together into a single video.
What do you think is my playing good enough to keep them as they are for Youtube, am I ready to go for the next song?
(How would you rate it in the rec zone, pass or fail?)

Since the verse part of Eagle Fly Free is giving me problems I will skip it, but keep it as a practice routine.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 26 2021, 04:07 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 26 2021, 09:17 PM

Yes, I am using Guitar Rig 5.

I am creating another tone for Helloween.
What do you think about the backing tracks? I am using Guitar Pro 7, for that.
Do you suggest a better way of creating the backing tracks?

Here is an example of 2 tones I made for Helloween using Guitar Rig 5.
One is named Kai Hansen and the other one is Michael Weikath.
Let me know which one works better.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 27 2021, 02:31 PM

Hi mate! I think that the Kai Hansen one sounds better, but try adding a bit more treble to it.

Regarding backing tracks, Guitar pro is handy to create them. If you want to get better sound, you can use any daw (I use Cubase) and virtual instruments. Toontrack has great dums, basses and other stuff (that's what I use). But this may require an investment.

There are also free daws and instruments. Reaper is very used as a multitrack.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 27 2021, 06:47 PM

Hi,

Here is another video something different this time.
I'm focusing on my timing issues, I see that I tent to play to early ahead of the bit.
I tried playing those riffs for more than an hour and this is the best I could do.

1. Any Advice on the timing issues?

2. I added an EQ with some treble to the tone. What do you think?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 28 2021, 02:58 PM

Hi Victor,

Your timing is good when playing I'm alive, but you are rushing a bit when playing the first half of "Eagle Fly Free". You need to polish it. I think that this can be related to a tempo issue. In other words, it's a bit fast and you need more time of practice to get used to that picking. I would practice it at slower tempo and increase it gradually.

Regarding the tone, the EQ balance sounds good. But I'm not entirely convinced with the sound. Have you tried any other amp plug-ins?

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 28 2021, 03:13 PM

Regarding the timing, I feel like I sometimes rush a bit.
It feels like it's impossible to play exactly like the computer.
What do you think, it should be 100% like a computer?

Regarding the tone, I am using Guitar Rig 5, not sure what do to more.
Can you help me create a better tone?
I have attached the tone made by me in the previous post.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 28 2021, 05:28 PM

No, you don't have to sound like a computer, but you need to be able to keep the tempo regular and go as tight as possible with the drums. We don't sound quantized like a midi, there is some organic movement in what we play, but metal (as many other genres) require tightness.

Don't rush this medley. Use it as an excuse to work on your timing. As we did with previous lessons, work on smaller blocks, and create variations (make your own exercises).

This lesson can be a good complement:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/German-Power-Metal-Helloween/






I don't use Guitar Rig, so I cannot open your preset. I'm currently using https://neuraldsp.com/

On a side note, this company offers a free metal amp that seems to sound very good.

https://ml-sound-lab.com/products/amped-roots

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 28 2021, 08:45 PM

Yes, great Helloween lesson, this is something that I must practice also.

Very important to work on my timing, otherwise I won't be able to record any song I compose.

And regarding tone, I will search for Guitar Rig 5 (metal) tones, and see which one fits better (maybe change it a little bit) instead of creating one from scratch.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 29 2021, 07:23 AM

Great!




Sure! It's essential.






That's a good idea. I'm sure that you'll find some cool Power Metal tones on YouTube.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jul 29 2021, 06:34 PM

Hi,

Practicing Helloween style using your lesson, and the Eagle Fly Free Riff and also experimenting with tones.
I searched a lot of metal tones for Guitar Rig 5 and found 2 tones that I like one is called "Accept Rhythm" and the other one "Marshall".
I am playing the same thing but when exporting from Reaper I just changed the tone that was used (after recording the take).

I also attached my mp3 files here, because I can not hear any difference in the tone on Helloween style lesson on youtube, so for a better comparison you can have a look at the mp3 files.

On Eagle Fly Free Riff, I can hear that the "Accept Rhythm" tone sounds a little brighter than the "Marshall" tone.

- Let me know what you think about the tones
- And about my guitar playing

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 2 2021, 02:05 PM

Hi Victor! How are you?

Good stuff here! I think that working on the Helloween lesson is a good idea to train your timing. You are not playing it tight at this point so I suggest you use the slower backing tracks for practice. You need to be sure that you are going tight with the backing track until you increase the tempo. I notice that you go after the beat most of the time in both videos.

Regarding your tone, I think these new presets are much better than the previous ones that you've used. I prefer the Marshall tone because the EQ balance feels better, and it also has less drive. You can give it some small tweaks once you shoot the final take, but you can keep practicing with this one.

Finally, 'Eagle Fly Free riff' is getting better too. I think you have to keep practicing it to feel more comfortable, to be able to economize movements (small movements), and make it sound cleaner.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 2 2021, 08:28 PM

Hi, thanks for the tips.

I this I neglected Rhythm playing, focusing too much on speed exercises my whole life as a guitar player. (and still I haven't reach the speed I want)

But anyway, lots of work to do.

I will start working on rhythm slowly and step by step.
I will play Helloween Lesson at all speeds starting very slow at the beginning, at 50%.

And also I will practice this easy lesson https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Power-Chords/, because, being easy I can focus on getting the timing right.

The next step will be this one:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/rhythm-guitar/basic-metal-rhythm/
But unfortunately is tuned 1/2 step down, and it has no guitar pro file, but I can fix this small problems.

And another one that I like is, but this one is above my level:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Judas-Priest-2018-Style/

But as I said I will start slowly easy, and play step by step.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 3 2021, 05:53 PM

Hi Victor,

I also prioritized lead guitar when starting to play guitar. As soon as I joined my first profesional band (it was a power/progressive band) at the age of 17, I had to work a lot (long days) on my metal rhythm technique. That's why I always recommend students to try to be balanced. We love practicing lead but most of the time we have to play rhythm!

I think that you could check out my power metal series. The German and Finnish series are great to train your rhythm (https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/German-Power-Metal-VI-Edguy/ is similar to the one by Marcus Siepen). The good news is that all my lessons are in standard tuning.

Regarding the Judas Priest lesson, I think that you could start with this one:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metallica-For-Beginners/

and then this one:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Anvil-Style/

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 5 2021, 08:20 PM

Hi,

I am working on Metallica Lesson.

Here is my Video
I memorized almost all the lesson except for the last lead parts.



And I have a little problem with the part that I circled in red, because that power chord is starting before the next measure and it gives me some trouble. Not sure if this is happening in this video, but I have to pay extra attention to that part.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 6 2021, 03:04 PM

Hello Victor!

I think that this lesson is a great choice for you, but you need to slow down. There are 2 important things to improve:

- TIMING
- PALM MUTING SOUND


I notice timing issues in many parts. You tend to rush the riffs and chords and play them before the beat. The part that you are marking (red box) is the trickier one because it's a chord played on the upbeat, but you also rush other chords and riffs that are played on the beat.

Do you know the difference between a downbeat and upbeat?


I think that you need to divide this lesson in smaller parts (and practice these parts as loops) and put all your focus on going tighter with the backing track. I also recommend you to practice at slower tempos. You can use any of the slower backing tracks, or even the guitar pro file which can more helpful to get familiar with the new rhythms. Remember that you can create loops easily in Guitar Pro.

If possible close your eyes while playing to feel the groove, and follow the rhythm with your head, body and/or feet.

Regarding the 2nd important thing to improve, I think that the down picking on the sixth string with palm muting could sound better. Experiment with the hand position and the amount of pressure that you make.


If possible share videos playing each of the parts as a loop at a tempo that allows you to play accurately.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 6 2021, 03:49 PM

Hi,

Thank you for the tips.
You got my name wrong I am Victor.

Regarding the lesson, I see that I have to do a lot of work.

Not sure what you mean when you refer to downbeat and upbeat.

I will work on smaller parts an try to fix them and share some video for each part.

Regarding Timing, I see that I tend to rush in my playing and that is happening in everything I play, even if I slow the backing track.
Don't know if this is related to the fact that I rarely played rhythm guitar.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 6 2021, 04:56 PM

Or maybe I should try to start with something easier.

And this is the easiest exercise I can think of:


And as you can see I still have trouble staying on time.
Any advice?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 6 2021, 05:11 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 6 2021, 06:40 PM

Hi,

I am practicing downbeats.
This should be an easy exercise and still I have trouble staying on the beat.

Is there anything else I can do to fix it?
Or all I have to do is just keep on practicing?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 6 2021, 07:39 PM

It sounds good mate. The secret is daily practice. Be patient and play these exercises every day. Use different tempos and practice both downbeats and upbeats.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 6 2021, 08:50 PM

Then I will continue practicing downbeats and upbeats with metronome, to fix my timing.

And I will practice this lesson since I find it much easier than Metallica https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Power-Chords/

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 7 2021, 02:26 PM

Hi,

I want to let you know that I made a practice routine for now:

1. Rhythm Exercises including downbeats and upbeats and some palm muting done with metronome in Reaper.
(Take a look at the attached file)

2. Practicing power chords lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Power-Chords/
This lesson being easy gives me time to focus on my timing.

3. Metallica for beginners Lesson:

I see that I am still most of the time rushing to play, but I think here it's a bit of an improvment from my last video.
I don't know what is causing me to rush, to play faster.

4. Some hand synch exercises, that we had previously talked about.
Here is an example.



So let me know what you think about my practice routine and my new playing video from Reaper.

Is it ok for you to see my playing in Reaper or do you prefer a video where you can see me playing my guitar?

I always check my timing using Reaper, because I can't always hear if it's played on time or not.

This could also be the issue, because if I can't hear that my timing is a little off, then I can't fix it.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 9 2021, 04:15 PM

Hi Victor! Good work!

I think that your current practice routine is exactly what you need. Please keep on practicing these exercises (including the hand sync ones). It's essential to continue recording yourself and analyzing your timing. In addition to working on your sound and technique, you should always focus on playing the lessons and exercises accurately/tight.

I can hear the timing issues when playing Metallica's lesson. The parts that need more attention are the single string riffs, and the palm muted down picking. Let me insist that you need to work on smaller blocks and build exercises as we did with the Hand Sync lesson. You can take 1 measure or 2 and play it as a loop.

The hand sync one sounds tighter but there is still room to polish it.

Regarding your question about the videos, it's always better to see you playing, but if this videos are easier to make, you can toggle between one and the other.

PS: Please go for that Lian's lesson as well!

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 10 2021, 03:06 PM

Metallica only the intro looped
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s84F4gaCOg

The whole lesson Power Chords - by Lian Gerbino
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDtE-1kJI7Y

Another exercise I am working on for speed and hand synch is this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emTIuK7rscU&t=290s

This are my takes from 100-110-120-130-140 BPM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQV9DKK1VxQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qiSdPTQI_w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dxnxh-R9-k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IO0WP-Vjxw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGBa3Sn01Aw

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 11 2021, 02:03 PM

Hi Victor!

This is my feedback.

Metallica Intro:

You played this part very well. I think that this is the way to go. Work on the following "loop" using the same idea and then connect the first two parts/loops.


Power chords by Lian:

This lesson is very important for you because I noticed that sometimes you rush the power chords as well. The first chords are a bit rushed but very close, then you start to go tight with the backing. The timing issue is very small but please keep on playing this one every day (at least once) to continue polishing it.

While practicing, try to minimize that slide sound that appear when moving from one chord to the other. Sometimes it's impossible, but the less extra noises you generate, the tighter everything will sound. 3 possible solutions that can help:

- Mute with your right hand palm when changing chords.
- Separate the fingers from when strings when moving from one chord to the other.
- Make the changes faster (so each chord is longer).


Takes from 100-110-120-130-140 BPM:

Well done!! The exercise sounds very good at 100, 110 and 120. Your hand sync is not totally precise at 130, and you also start to have timing issues at 140 bpm. Please continue practicing from these tempos.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 12 2021, 04:02 PM

Hi,

How are you?

Power chords by Lian:
I am not able to tell which power chords are rushed, for me it sounds ok.

Metallica Intro:
Here is another take.

I think the timing is much improved as I can see in Reaper.
Let me know what you think about my timing, tone and overall playing, or anything else you want to add.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwHt4dGHpYk&ab_channel=VictorS

Then I made another take using a different tone, and muting the guitar from the first take:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULl5UZlWdAw&ab_channel=VictorS

Using 2 different tones

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 13 2021, 03:01 PM

Great job mate! Yes, your timing is getting better!! This is the way to go!

The second take sounds better. It sounds a bit smoother than the other one and the tone helps! The overall take sounds tighter, but I still think that the single string picking with palm muting needs to sound smoother. Please keep on practicing it.

These are the seconds that are not smooth/tight

00:07 to 00:08
00:13
00:15
00:18

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 13 2021, 03:34 PM

The the seconds that you wrote I think are referring to my first take, right?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 13 2021, 06:38 PM

Yes!

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 17 2021, 09:00 AM

Here are my Rhythm lessons.

I think my overall rhythm and timing has improved:

Metallica for beginners is next on my REC list:
Let me know what you think it should be improved and if you can rate it even if it's not a video with a guitar:




And the Helloween Lesson:

I see that the intro is a bit rushed, I think this is happening because it's harder to keep the tempo at such a slow speed.
But overall I see that my timing is improved.
Let me know what you think

Alternate picking by Muris at 80BPM

A little faster than last time if you remember, and the timing is improved here also.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 17 2021, 02:49 PM

Hi Victor! Good job. I notice that your timing is getting better! This means that you've been working very hard. Please continue practicing this one another week focusing on trying to make the riffs sound smoother, and tighter. There is still room to adjust timing, and also to make all the riffs sound more consistent. The solo section is good, but please also pay attention to timing and fix that bend that is not reaching the right pitch.

My grading for this one would be 6.





Nice! It sounds good. I also notice that you rush the intro but also some other parts. Your playing and tone is good here. You only need to focus on timing. Well done!!



Yeah! This is is getting better! Please continue practicing because this is a very important exercise. You'll be able to increase tempo soon.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 22 2021, 08:14 PM

Hi,

Here is my Metallica full take:

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 23 2021, 03:23 PM

Hi Victor! Great to see you playing the whole lesson.

You've been working really hard on your metal rhythm technique recently. I think that there is still work to do, but this is getting close mate. The main thing that I notice is that you still need practice time to make your down picking and riffing sound smoother. The timing is a lot better, but you still need to work on it, and put some attention on the sound that you get, the duration of notes, and the overall groove.

For this reason, I strongly recommend you to continue practicing this lesson everyday, and continue working on other metal rhythm lessons. I suggest you to save this take, continue practicing for some months, record a new take and compare both. You'll be impressed of the improvements. Trust me.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 23 2021, 03:25 PM

I was thinking about posting it in the REC zone, but I wasn't sure.

Maybe it's not a bad idea to post this take, and then post another one after some months.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 23 2021, 03:29 PM

Yes! It's a great idea. Go for it.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 26 2021, 07:37 PM

Hi,

Metallica lesson played slower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrNdfDv_ec4&ab_channel=VictorS

And Hand Synch exercises:
120 BPM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivd0N3NLIyk&ab_channel=VictorS
130 BPM, I think the first one(here at 130BPM) doesn't sound so good, then I think it's ok. Let me know what you think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxrr_WuWMiE&ab_channel=VictorS

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 26 2021, 08:03 PM

Yeah!! This is a lot better mate. The sound of your palm muted down-picking is exactly what the lesson needs, your timing is good, and now you are grooving with the tune. Now that you can play tight at this tempo, you can increase it a bit and practice until you can play as good as in this take.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 26 2021, 08:06 PM

Ok, great to hear this.
How would you rate it?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 26 2021, 08:10 PM

This one still need work at these tempos. The one at 120bpm sounds closer. You hands are synchronized, but you have to improve the sound and consistency. Then, at 130 bpm, there are hand sync issues yet. I recommend you to try to make smaller up and down movements with your right have, focus on it.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 27 2021, 11:16 AM

Hi,

Thanks for feedback.

I think my routine will go as this:
Rhythm Playing, I will keep practicing Metallica and Helloween lessons at various tempos.

For Hand Synch, can you suggest me some exercises, that will make me a better, fast, precise picker, one that can make me play lessons like this:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Hand-Synch-II/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/neoclassical-etude-1/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/extreme-neo-classic/

Some exercises that we can work togheter starting easy and slow and then increasing tempo.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 30 2021, 03:10 PM

Hi Victor! Your current routine sounds good. I'm currently preparing a new Technique Course that will cover hand sync. I'm sure that you'll enjoy this new course.

The first exercise that I recommend practicing is the intro for Wasted Years by Iron Maiden and make it sounds like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij99dud8-0A.

Then, these are the other 2 exercises that you have to practice:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=26107

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=26108

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 30 2021, 03:18 PM

Ok, great, I am happy to hear that you are working on a hand synch course.

Can you also include some tips or exercises for building speed?
I am not sure what tips could be related to building speed as there are many things that could work, but for example "speed burts".
I am sure you can have a lot of tips for this that can make me a better and faster guitar player.

Regarding the 2 exercises that you suggested:
Those are the same exercise.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Aug 30 2021, 08:09 PM

It's a technique training course.




I recommend you to first focus on hand sync exercises, then we can work on building speed.





Fixed!

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 31 2021, 11:59 AM

Yes, whatever you think works best for building a strong techinique that will ultimately lead to playing ultra fast solos.

Posted by: Victor Simion Aug 31 2021, 09:20 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sruqvx38N9Y&ab_channel=VictorS

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 2 2021, 05:06 PM

Hi Victor! Excellent job mate!

I can notice how your riffing is becoming smoother and groovier. There is still some work to do, but this new take at a faster tempo is a lot better than the previous ones. Everything feels better. Please continue practicing like this!

Congratulations on your hard work Victor. You are doing a killer job at GMC!

Posted by: Victor Simion Sep 6 2021, 07:09 PM

Hi,

How are you?
Let me know what you think of my playing.

Metallica Full Speed


Helloween, practice at 100 BPM, slow

Notice how I listened to the lead part again, this time putting the volume a bit higher just to hear it better. I think there is a hand synch issue when I cross strings in that double picking lead part.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 8 2021, 03:46 PM

Hi Victor! Good work!

I notice progress on both lessons, and I think that you are getting very close with the Metallica one. You just need to try to avoid rushing the riffs and chords. This is not a big issue but it's happening at normal tempo. Please continue practicing it.

Helloween lesson sounds very good! I don't notice any other issue than the sync problem (which is very small) that you already noted.

Keep up the good work!

Posted by: Victor Simion Sep 11 2021, 03:07 PM

Hi,

Here are 2 approaches using the same pattern of crossing the strings.

Stamina workout at 90BPM, this I am trying to get it as close as possible to playing with hands in synch

And training burts at 130 BPM, this is at my speed limit, so here I am pusing as much as I can. The idea here is to push speed so my hands will adapt to playing faster. Sometimes it's not with hand in sych, but I should get them in synch at this speed once in a while otherwise it's too fast.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 12 2021, 04:12 PM

Hi Victor,

This is exactly the type of practice that you need in order to improve your picking technique. The key is repetition. It's good to push your limits, but once you reach your top speed it's important to practice it as a loop for some minutes. It's always better to practice with hands synchronized at a comfortable tempo than with your hands out of sync at faster tempos.

While practicing at a comfortable tempo you can focus on minimizing movements (moving your right hand the less possible, keeping your left hand fingers close to the fretboard). One thing that helps me is to practice in front of a mirror so I can see exactly my movement and polish them.

Posted by: Victor Simion Sep 16 2021, 08:56 PM

Hi,

Here is Helloween lesson at full speed.

Let me know how far or close I am, what I need to improve and how would you grade it.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 17 2021, 08:43 PM

Hi Victor, this is not tight yet. You are not far, but I recommend you to slow down a bit tempo before practicing at this one. There are some moments where you play tight but most of the time you are not going along with the drums.

But the good news is that you are getting closer!

Posted by: Victor Simion Sep 22 2021, 05:33 PM

Hi,

I am working on another Rythm Lesson, Iron Maiden, but still practicing Metallica and Helloween.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH6fsymSNsg&ab_channel=VictorS
And here is at full speed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKV43PKGJSg&ab_channel=VictorS

As I can see I have trouble staying on time on the single string + power chord part.
Then I have trouble finding where to play the small guitar fill when I am playing gallop power chords.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 23 2021, 05:45 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Oct 2 2021, 12:49 PM

Hi,

Practicing Hand Synch - by Ben Higgins.



I am focusing as much as I can on my playing accuracy, I listening to the guitar with the backing tracking, then I am listening the guitar isolated, and then I am listening to the guitar sound without any effects, just to hear as much as I can from my playing.

Here are some of my older takes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOTfqEhYdZI&ab_channel=VictorS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yICWTZJoTS8&ab_channel=VictorS

Let me know what you think.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 3 2021, 02:49 AM

Hi Victor, thanks for the new vid!

This new take shows important improvements regarding hand sync and timing compared to the previous takes. You still need more time to polish the whole thing, but you are getting very close mate.

The hand sync issues appear only when you play the faster passages (for example the first section). These are the parts that require more attention and practice.

Then, I notice some timing issues when playing 16th notes. You can also improve dynamics in this parts, by accentuating the first note of each group of 4. This will give the right feel to the 16th notes.

But again, you are doing a killer job here, congrats on your improvements buddy!

Posted by: Victor Simion Oct 12 2021, 05:17 PM

Hi,

Here is me practicing again the Iron Maiden Lesson at 80% speed.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 13 2021, 03:20 PM

Hi Victor, how are you! Thanks for the video.

These are my comments:

00:00 to 00:16

This pattern is close but I think that you still need to adjust the timing of the first 4 strums of each group of 5. Try to make it more consistent. The time value here is 16th, so I recommend you to use a metronome to practice the rhythm paying attention to timing and also to dynamics (Accentuating the first of each group of 4 is recommended).


00:16 to 00:41

This downpicking section sounds good. I only notice a few parts where you rush a bit tempo (for example at 00:31, 00:34). It probably happens when changing chords. Try to go more connected with the drums.

00:41 to 01:05

The galloping section is also close. There are some parts where you rush but nothing too serious. You can listen to the hi-hat while playing to polish your timing.


01:05 to 01:29

The same here, your playing is good. There is only a very small room to improve timing. Other than that this sounds great.




Ok mate, that's all for now. Let's me know if you have any question! I recommend you to continue practicing at this tempo focusing on the details commented above.

Posted by: Victor Simion Oct 25 2021, 10:09 PM

Iron Maiden at 80 BPM, I think it's worse than the last time:





I tend to keep on rushing everytime I play it.
Then I try to play it again, listen to it again and it's still rushed, then I play it again(I think this time it's better, but it's still rushed) and so on.


Here is Helloween at 120 BPM

Posted by: Victor Simion Oct 26 2021, 06:23 PM

Here is a new one from Iron Maiden at the same speed.
I think this one is better, than the last one, and the reason is that the last one was played late at night and I was tired.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkeOh9p2STI&ab_channel=VictorS

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 30 2021, 02:08 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Oct 31 2021, 11:48 AM

Again, I am isolating the part that gives me trouble.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 31 2021, 08:56 PM

Hi Victor, how are you?

This new take sounds better. You are going on the right direction, but you still need to improve the timing (and dynamics) of the 2 muted down-picks. Regarding dynamics, the key is to make the first one sound a bit louder than the second of each group of 2 notes. The power chord should be also accentuated.

Does it make sense?

Posted by: Victor Simion Oct 31 2021, 09:04 PM

Yes, it makes sense.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 2 2021, 02:31 PM

Cool!

Posted by: Victor Simion Nov 4 2021, 09:06 PM

Hi,

Here I made an exercise that works cross string picking.
I am not sure it's sounds 100% hand synch.

Let me know what you think, you can see the tab on the screen as well as my playing in Reaper.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 5 2021, 05:47 PM

Hi Victor! The exercise looks great!

The technique course that I told you is being published. The crossing string lessons are not published yet, but you can get into the first lessons:

Left Hand III
Right Hand II
Right Hand I
Left Hand Focus I
Practice tips, warm-up & stretching


These lessons will give you lots of ideas to build your own exercises and routines.

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/instructor/Gabriel-Leopardi/

Posted by: Victor Simion Nov 6 2021, 06:53 PM

Yes, I looked at at the technique course.
I can say that my weakest part is legato.

And legato when connecting the parts seems impossible for me.

Making a shift and doing a hammer-on from nowhere at the same time seems the impossible part for me. I have never enquntered that in anything that I played.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 8 2021, 02:21 PM

Let's work on it!

Posted by: Victor Simion Nov 10 2021, 06:40 PM

I looked at the exercises your exercises, I am working on legato and string crossing lessons.
I am working also on my Rhythm skills:

Here are my latest takes from Iron Maiden at all speeds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoXNQs5t9yM&ab_channel=VictorS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leYJkqaFvPU&ab_channel=VictorS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtkJ-rMMphQ&ab_channel=VictorS

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 12 2021, 03:44 PM

Hi Victor!

Great to know that you are working on those lessons. Please share takes when you have them.

Regarding your Maiden takes, wou! It's awesome how much you've improved this one. There are no important problems anymore, you fixed everything. Your metal rhythm playing is good now. I only think that you need to continue playing it at 90 bpm as a training to be more comfortable. I still feel that you are like running over the backing track, not comfortable enough.

My suggestion is to keep it as a warm up and start working on any other metal rhythm lesson that is a bit more advanced. What do you think?

Posted by: Victor Simion Nov 13 2021, 08:54 PM

Working on another metal ryhthm lesson I think it's a great idea, and also I will continue playing the Iron Maiden lesson and post a REC take when I think I am ready.

I am thinking on working on Helloween lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/German-Power-Metal-Helloween/
Even if it's level 4 like Iron Maiden, I think it's harder.

I found 2 other lessons that I might try:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/powermetalrhythm/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/power-metal-rhythm-solo-intermediate/
But that lessons are tuned one half step down, is it ok if I change the backing track to standard tuning, and play then the lessons, is there any rule against this when posting in REC zone?

Posted by: Victor Simion Nov 15 2021, 06:11 PM

Legato Ex1:
Legato Ex2 is causing me some problems:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bm5x5ceNoA&ab_channel=VictorS

Chromatic at 80 BPM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxob1Q3YAVA&ab_channel=VictorS
I know it's a combination between Right Hand II lesson and Right Hand III lessons.
They are played at 80BPM.
Let me know if my playing is good and if I am ready to increase speed.

Then I will move on doing 3 notes per string + 3 notes per string string crossing and post another video.

And then finally I think I will put a play through a full technique lesson.
But for now I want just to focus on a few exercises, and isolate them.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 19 2021, 10:12 PM

GREAT to see you playing these ones! The good side is that your legato is sounding clean and clear most of the time. You need to polish timing. Ex1 sounds rushed, while the second one is not going tight as you move forward with the exercise. It starts tight but when you start going before the beat. I think that you just need to continue practicing to train your left hand. It's a matter of endurance.




Your playing is good here. I think that you are at your limit here. Your hands are synchronized, but I'm not sure if there is too much room to increase tempo at this point. I think that it's better to practice a bit more at this tempo and focus on trying the make the notes sound "fuller". Focus on the tone, and sound of your picking (check out https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Micro-Dynamics-Tonality/ last part for more information). This doesn't mean that you can't increase tempo, but please also pay attention to the sound that you get. Does it make sense?

Posted by: Victor Simion Nov 20 2021, 02:39 PM

Hi, I think you missed my previous post when I was talking about Rhythm Guitar.

Anyway here is the lesson I practice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02tANA28I1M&ab_channel=VictorS

I use pitch pedal from Guitar Rig 5 to play it half step down without needing to tune the guitar.
Take a look at the screenshot and also you can here the 2 mp3 files where I play the same thing but in one I turn on the pitch pedal.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 22 2021, 06:10 PM

It's ok, you can do this.





Ok, this is another way to work on this lessons without having to change your guitar tuning. The sound is not the best one, but it's ok for practicing purposes.

This is a good first take on this lesson. I can see that you are already working on smaller blocks to master the trickier sections.

When playing the rhythm part try to avoid rushing. The whole thing is a bit after the beat, while this genre requires to go strictly on the beat. Pay attention to this and you' master this lesson in no time.

Posted by: Victor Simion Nov 30 2021, 12:30 PM

Hi,

Legato Practice this time without metronome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvCkD3AncXE&ab_channel=VictorS
Still having trouble with Ex2, I think Ex1 is fine.


Right Hand III
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZalanH4DIE&ab_channel=VictorS
Let me know what you think of my playing:
I made an obvious mistake at 1:02, because that pattern is played 4 times, and I was thinking this pattern 4 times, the next one 4 times, the next one 2 times, and I got a bit distracted.

Power Metal Rhythm and Solo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z26YL5c63ec&ab_channel=VictorS
At second 39 I played the power chord too early, by removing some of the root notes of the previous Power Chords. It happens randomly when I play this song:
I attached a screenshot for this explanation. Let me know if you understand what I mean

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 3 2021, 03:17 PM

Hi Victor! I can see that the first exercise is starting to sound good. This one should be part of your whole life since it's also a great pattern to warm up after doing the massages and stretches shown in the lesson 1 of the course.

The part that you move the pattern still needs much more practice. I would work on smaller blocks. Maybe taking 2 patterns and connect them as a loop over a metronome. You need to get used to each finger combination and fretboard position.





Good! Besides the obvious mistakes, this is going on the right track. Please try to focus on hand sync. It's not that your hands are totally off, but if you can adjust the sync a bit more, your picking will sound more consistent. I think that your left hand is going a bit faster than your right hand in some parts.





The rhythm of this one is not going tight. You need to review it, or maybe practice at a slower tempo to be sure that you are going tight with the drums.

Then, the lead section sounds more consistent. The passage around 1:22 need to be polished (timing and cleanness), and there is also a bend just before that passage that is not sounding good.

Posted by: Victor Simion Dec 8 2021, 10:53 AM

Check my new video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDHrHpn0XRU
And here let me know what you think about the speed training.

I also opened a new thread where I talk about speed and I also post that video here: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=62603

And also here you have some old improvisation I made over a backing track from here at GMC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot-o0ZXqfdk
This one I like it a lot because I made it sound like power metal with a neoclassical vibe. Let me know what are your thoughts.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 9 2021, 05:02 PM

Hi Victor!

Good job. Your performance is tight at each tempo of this video. When playing faster, you need to focus on trying to keep your left hand fingers closer to the fretboard (minimize moments). This will allow you to play even at higher tempos. I notice that there are some extra movements that you could avoid.





Honestly, I don't think that there are short cuts. You need the right technique, minimize movements, patience and practice. If you practice every day, you'll play faster each day.

However, I also think that working on each hand at a time is helpful (that's how my technique course is designed).

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 9 2021, 05:33 PM

It sounds good! It's nice to see you experimenting with different elements like open string pedal tone licks, and neoclassical patterns. Everything sounds good here, there are not pitch or scale issues, and your timing is also very good.

Working on your own solos and improvisations is also essential to develop your musicianship so please keep on doing this kind of thing.

Posted by: Victor Simion Dec 26 2021, 11:17 AM

Hi, I am working on doing a cover for Emerald Sword.

This should be a easy song, compared to others by Rhapsody, and it should be in my current level of playing.

Also I am trying to make the tab as good as possible.

I took a guitar pro file and tried to adujst a little bit the finger fret position to match it exactly like Luca Turilli does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwggFO9lXyI&ab_channel=Ryslav00

The first part I think it's ok, if you look at the video Luca plays almost everything on the B String, but I have seen many tabs only where the notes are starting on different strings. I know the notes are the same but I want to match the original fret positions.

Next is part 2:
Not sure about this part.
I made screenshots with part 1 and part 2, just to make an idea of what I am talking about, but you also have the Guitar Pro file.
So before me doing a practice video I just want to help me improve the tab.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 28 2021, 09:36 PM

Hi mate, how are you?

I think that it's better to listen to a studio version. Could you please share a studio version and post the minutes where each part happens? This will make it easier to me to check the sections.

Thanks!

Posted by: Victor Simion Dec 28 2021, 10:14 PM

Hi,

Here is the studio version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Cimk9WRWQ&ab_channel=finetunesMetal
Starts from 2:10 until 3:00
The reason I was looking for a live video was to see the exact finger position he uses.
And by finger position I mean, even if the notes are correct in some tabs online, I see that the notes are not played exactly in the same position on the fretboard as Luca does.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 28 2021, 10:45 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Dec 28 2021, 11:15 PM

And also I am working on hand synch and timing.

Starting with a few notes, and later I will add more.
I just want to clean my playing to the point where it should sound cristal clear.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 2 2022, 05:47 PM

Hi Victor! Happy new year!

Good job here. This is sounding very clean and clear. Your technique also looks good. Your movements are small and everything looks natural. Please continue practicing this exercise and increase tempo just a bit, only if you notice that you can keep this level of perfection. As I comment in the last lesson of the course (Speed Building), you can try a very fast tempo for a few minutes just to then get back to a more reasonable tempo and feel it like "slow".

Posted by: Victor Simion Jan 3 2022, 01:13 PM

Hi, Happy new year to you too!

Here I am doing at the same speed the previous exercise + the same shape but starting from 12th fret.
You can see evrything here:

Take a look and let me know what you think, the same thing is played with clean sound and then I added distortion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXF1662GmQo&ab_channel=VictorS
I can see and hear an imperfiection at 9th note, it's more audible when the distortion is on, it sounds like a scratching sound.
Let me know if you understand what I mean.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jan 3 2022, 01:45 PM

I am also creating the backing track for emerald sword.
Right now I am focusing on Rhythm Guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p63tBHdZF8Q&ab_channel=VictorS

Take a look at the attached file at Guitar 2, measure 21 and 25 the single notes from there, I recorded separately as "Guitar Fills"

From measure 26 the single notes, I played them only with downstrokes, but it seems a little to fast for me. Let me know what you think.

And also I feel that it's a little too much silence between some power chords that I play.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 3 2022, 01:56 PM

Cool Victor! This is a very good rhythm practice. It's true that some power chords are muted too early, mostly the ones around 00:28. This tune is a good excuse to work on this issue and try to minimize the silences.

The single note section is not sounding tight yet, and the dynamics there don't feel completely good. I would try alternate picking and accentuated the first of each group of 8 notes.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jan 4 2022, 12:20 PM

Hi, thank you for help.
Have you seen my previous post, regarding the exercise and hand synch playing?

Now regarding the Rhythm playing, at second 28 I need to play the power chord 3-5-5, and then jump one string higher 3-5-6, and changing the fingers will cause some silence between power chords. Other option can be to play on the same strings the power chord 8-10-10, but this will also cause a big hand shifting position.
Can you show me how this can be done, let me know if you understand what I mean otherwise I can show you only a screenshot with the exact power chords I am talking about.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 6 2022, 02:23 PM

Hi Victor! You are right, there is a very small detail to fix in this one. Focus on it, and slow down the tempo if it's necessary. This could be related to left hand fingers movements. As this is not a video, I can't give you specific feedback, but check out if you are keeping your fingers as close as possible to the fretboard.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 6 2022, 09:57 PM

Posted by: Victor Simion Jan 7 2022, 09:04 PM

Hi,

Nice trick for changing the power chord without any silence between.
Here I tried to make another backing track for Emerald Sword.
Is attached there as an mp3 file.

I also have the project in Reaper.

I have 2 observations to make:

1.The part from second 33 I recorded it separately just to focus there to play as smooth as possible. I think it's ok, but maybe it could be even smoother.

2. At second 25, it's a transition between C5 and G5 and this one could be improved.
The same transition happens at second 31 and I think that there I played it good.

And I think the other power chords transitions from the backing track are good.

Let me know what you think.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 10 2022, 03:04 PM

Hi Victor! Nice to know that the video helped!

I also notice that the transition at 00:25 needs to be polished. The one at 00:31 sounds good!

Posted by: Victor Simion Jan 10 2022, 09:40 PM

Hi,

Thank you, I will keep practicing the Backing Track Rhythm until it's perfect and then try to record the solo.
I think that I am almost there.

Now I want to share a video of me practicing Hand Synch:
I am not sure at which speed should I practice most of the time.
For example if I am practicing at 100% of my max speed the sound is not so articulated and it's a bit thin, and I could make some mistakes.
If I slow down for example at 90% of my max speed it's sounding better, but still occasional mistakes may appear, depending on how long the exercise is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAMs2UauZPk&ab_channel=VictorS
Let me know what speed looks good for you, and then I will choose that speed and play it in a loop as long as I can.

1. Not sure if I should slow down even further, let's say at 80% of max speed and stay there most of the time where I can be totally relaxed and make every note as clear as possible, or go near 100% where I feel everything is starting to break?

2. Strict Alternate picking and Economy picking practice
Let's say I choose a scale for example A major with 3 notes per string and practice them one time using strict alternate picking and the next time economy picking. Should it sound the same or can a good ear notice the difference if there is no video and the playing is good(perfect)?

3. I am practicing sweep picking Exercise
I circled the part in the screen shot that gives me the most trouble there I need to change the pick direction. What do you think?

Regarding 2, 3 I will keep practicing and share a video after a week or so.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 13 2022, 02:10 PM

I think that you can practice it at 90 and 100. You hands are going in sync at both speeds, but it becomes less consistent at 100. Practice every day a few repetitions at 90 and then at 100. The following day do the same thing. After a week or two try what happens if you play it at 105 or 110.

If you notice that you have too many mistakes at 100, practice more time at 90, and try it at 95.






Yes, the sound is slightly different between this two techniques. You can compare Paul Gilbert picking licks with Frank Gambale picking licks. Gilbert sounds very aggressive with lots of attack, while Frank sounds smoother.






Where did you get this exercise? I would recommend a different picking. (with the addition of a legato on the first string).

Posted by: Victor Simion Jan 13 2022, 03:32 PM

Hi, the sweep picking exercise is an exercise made by Luca Turilli.
This is the way he uses his pick direction, also he can add a hammer-on, or a pull-off or both, or he can do all the notes picked.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 14 2022, 02:27 PM

Cool! The way to go with this is to create some variations based on this two exercises. I show how to do it with other two exercises in this lessons but I think that you can take the idea from there and make your own routine based on those Turilli's patterns.

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Sweep-Picking/

What do you think?

Posted by: Victor Simion Jan 14 2022, 10:27 PM

Economy picking played 2 times and then alternate picking played 2 times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0icpArFVus&ab_channel=VictorS
I think the second time I play economy and the second time I play alternate it's played a little better.


Here is some sweep picking exercise with metronome: (4 string sweep, 5 string sweep) attached is the tab with the sweeps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl-JemRLDYs&ab_channel=VictorS
First you can see me playing in the video
Second you can hear the same playing in reaper.
Third the same thing is played but no effects over it, you can see it in Reaper, I can hear in Reaper here where the clean tone is on the 5 string sweep when going up from low thick string( A String in this case) to high E string, a little muting in the strings. If I play faster than this the strings are muted more. I added the muting in the tab just for refernce to be clear what I am referring to.

Here are a lot more variation based on this sweep shape, including some hammer-ons and pull-offs, but no metronome this is just to show you a few of many exercises I want to practice and master:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tZ_JNnFZbA&ab_channel=VictorS

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 18 2022, 03:37 PM

Hi Victor! Here you can notice the different sound that you get with one technique and the other. Your economy picking technique looks very good and you only need more time to be able to play this faster. The alternate picking is also good, but I notice that you make an extra movement (or bigger) when crossing strings which you need to minimize. Look at your right hand with attention and try to find where it is. Isolate the mechanic, which I think is an outside picking, and work on it as a loop.





Good job here. Your 4 strings sweep picking sounds VERY good. Also your right hand movement is very natural. This is very promising mate. The 5 string is also good, but the timing/accentuation can be better when go in an ascendent direction. Pay attention to it.




Excellent! Keep on practicing these ones as well.


Some inspiration.

Posted by: Victor Simion Jan 18 2022, 04:37 PM

Regarding the alternate picking, I can see the big movements when crossing from string A to D, from G to B, so this must be inside picking.


What do you mean could be imrpoved on 5 string sweep ascending direction. Are not the note values equal, or is someting else?
Regarding the ascending how do you think it sounds regarding the slightly palm muting sound, I want to play everything without it, but it seems that the faster I go the more palm muting I am using.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 18 2022, 04:56 PM

Ok that's possible.




I mean that your timing is not precise then you play the ascending pattern. You rush a bit the timing, and the accentuation is a bit odd. This doesn't happen with the 4 strings arpeggio.

I think that it sounds better with palm muting. I like palm muted sweep picking.