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Posted by: Alex Feather Jul 14 2012, 06:37 PM

Hello! I am looking forward to start working with you!!!!
I have a few questions for you! It will give me a better idea about your other goals and styles you like!
-What are your goals?
-What is your weakness?
-What is your strongest point?
-Your favorite guitar players?

Posted by: derper Jul 16 2012, 10:44 PM

Goals:

-Better warmup and practice routive
-Learn modes, and be able to view scale patterns as the "intervals"
-Learn to read/read rhythms
-Learn all chord formulas/shapes
-Better technique (vibrato, bends...the "pro" touch!)
-Sweeping/legato
-Learn some sweet jazz riffs/phrasing/"tricks"/arpeggios

Weaknesses:

-Blazing riffs, and shreddy solos
-Vibrato
-Theory
-Sweeping
-Legato

Strengths:

-good timing/rhythm
-Been playing for a long time, so I'm pretty comfortable all-around, and learn quickly
-alt picking
-funky stuff
-"pentatonic" boxes

Favorite Players:

-Eric Krasno (Soulive)
-Melvin Sparks
-Grant Green
-George Benson
-Vince Gill/Albert Lee

Posted by: Alex Feather Jul 18 2012, 04:23 AM

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 16 2012, 09:44 PM)

Posted by: derper Jul 18 2012, 07:03 PM

Awesome, I'll get to it this afternoon (at work...a mattress store)....but I realized I don't have my camera. Perhaps I'll plug into my interface after work to get a take.


My first thought, when I read the assignment, was "well, I'm very familiar with pentatonic shapes already" but then I looked at the exact boxes you have instructed me to use, and I realized that although I may be "familiar" with it when playing....I couldn't just "draw/write it down" off the top of my head. So, this exercise may benefit me more than I originally thought. I'll dig in and see, and trust you mentor!!

Posted by: derper Jul 18 2012, 08:48 PM

Quick question....for this exercise, is it ok to use some "outside" notes for flavor? I have trained myself long ago NOT to play strictly pentatonic notes. But if you would rather that I stick strictly to only the pentatonic notes/intervals, for whatever reason, I will do just that and try to come up with something melodic enough to overcome the "bland" flavor of pentatonic-only!

Posted by: derper Jul 19 2012, 10:06 PM

Actually, for my take on this (today) I will post both a purely pentatonic run, and also a run where I allow myself to play more as "myself" and use the outside notes I naturally would use. They should be up in a few hours.

Thanks Alex!!

Posted by: derper Jul 20 2012, 01:09 AM

Ok, now that I went over this with my guitar in hand, I'm just slightly confused...

Do you want me to play each of those 3 boxes over each chord specifically? For example, on the II (Em7) do you want me to play the "B minor" shape listed, and then switch to the "E minor" shape over the V?

QUOTE (Alex Feather @ Jul 17 2012, 08:23 PM)

I am really happy to have you on board
Let's start!
Here is the track that we will be using
http://soundcloud.com/alex-feather-akimov/ii-v-i-jam

E minor
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/scalegenerator

F# minor

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/scalegenerator

And combine them together creating licks!
I will add my take in a few hours to give you more ideas!
Let me know if you need any help or have questions!

Posted by: Alex Feather Jul 20 2012, 06:32 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 20 2012, 12:09 AM)

Posted by: derper Jul 21 2012, 01:52 AM

QUOTE (Alex Feather @ Jul 20 2012, 10:32 AM)

I am glad you like this exercise! Everything I will be giving you will seem easy at first until will get into it
You can use a different shape if you would like! What I wanted to hear is changes and your level of playing! I am looking forward to hear your take
Let me know if you have any questions or need help!

Posted by: Alex Feather Jul 21 2012, 06:29 AM

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 21 2012, 12:52 AM)

Posted by: Alex Feather Jul 23 2012, 06:32 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 21 2012, 12:52 AM)

Posted by: derper Jul 23 2012, 06:37 PM

Hey, sorry I have been (getting married in Aug!!) super busy, and at first I misunderstood the "point" of this exercise.

But I'm just getting to it, at work today....so I'll post a video very soon so you can "get to know" me and my level of playing!!

QUOTE (Alex Feather @ Jul 23 2012, 10:32 AM)

Posted by: Alex Feather Jul 23 2012, 06:41 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 23 2012, 05:37 PM)

Hey, sorry I have been (getting married in Aug!!) super busy, and at first I misunderstood the "point" of this exercise.

But I'm just getting to it, at work today....so I'll post a video very soon so you can "get to know" me and my level of playing!!

Posted by: derper Jul 24 2012, 03:00 AM

Well, this isn't a great take but it gives you an idea of "where I'm at". It's a pure improv take, fyi.

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 23 2012, 06:59 PM)

Posted by: Alex Feather Jul 25 2012, 06:18 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 24 2012, 02:00 AM)

Posted by: derper Jul 26 2012, 12:58 AM

Ok, here's my "take" and a brief explanation.... I put about 10 mins of prep into that take, to familiarize myself with the chord changes a bit. I could come up with something a bit more "melodic" and planned out, but I've got to prep hard for a gig saturday so I didn't want to spend TOO much time perfecting an amazing solo for this.

Also, I broke down the chord formulas after the take. I don't quite have the chord formulas memorized so it was good practice, but I (at this point) play through changes based on the key and feel, as opposed to knowing what notes to hit on each change. Obviously, I'm here to learn and can/will try and change that a bit if you think I should.




Here are the chord formulas/note breakdown for the rest of the chords. I did have to cheat for some, but I tried to just look up the interval formula and then write the notes myself to help in actually LEARNING.

G11: G, B, D, F, A, C

C: C, E, G

Am7: A, C, E, G

Bm7: B, D, F#, A

D7: D, F#, A, C

G6: G, B, D, E

F#m7: F#, A, C#, E

B9: B, D#, F#, A, C#

E: E, G#, B



I tried to be much faster on this lesson and get it done "same day" so we can keep the ball rolling. Thanks Alex!

Posted by: Alex Feather Jul 28 2012, 09:47 AM

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 25 2012, 11:58 PM)

Posted by: derper Jul 29 2012, 08:13 PM

What do you mean by "question and answer" technique? Kind of like a "call and response" during a solo?


Ok, I'm actually glad we're sticking with this progression. I was wanting to break down each chord change, by entering the notes of each chord into the scale generator and playing off of those notes only....pretty much, what you're asking me to do!

I'll put more time into this one. We've gotten a bit past the "getting to know me" phase, so it's time I do what I'm "bad at" and that would be.....doing some REAL HOMEWORK!! So I will treat this lesson like it's homework, and study hard!

**Note: I have to rehearse hard for an EMULATOR show Aug 11th. I will still try to work on this in the meanwhile, and hopefully submit my new take before then. Thanks Alex!! I like the direction we are heading.

Posted by: Alex Feather Jul 30 2012, 08:51 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 29 2012, 07:13 PM)

Posted by: Alex Feather Aug 8 2012, 08:50 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Jul 29 2012, 07:13 PM)

Posted by: Alex Feather Aug 27 2012, 08:10 AM

Hi! How are you doing? How was the wedding? I am very happy for you! Congratulations!

Posted by: derper Aug 29 2012, 10:41 PM

Hey Alex, I'm finally back from wedding and such!!

EMULATOR is playing two huge convention/gaming gigs this month! Excited. I'm going to finish my assignment here within the week, after that rehearsal is done. For today, I'm excited to be practicing hard again so I'm focusing on getting chops back up. Here's my "I'm back" thread, which shows a couple things I'm warming up with today before hitting my EMULATOR material.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=45810

Posted by: Alex Feather Aug 31 2012, 03:22 AM

QUOTE (derper @ Aug 29 2012, 09:41 PM)

Posted by: derper Aug 31 2012, 10:45 PM

I'm ready to get back into it now. The last thing we were working on contained some theory stuff (playing the chord tones over the changes/backing) which is the "hard stuff" for me, since I am very lacking on the theory. I was just waiting until I had enough dedicated time to sit down and draw out all of the chord tones and intervals and actually "study" it over quite a bit.

But, I'm always ready to take in new practice routines, riffs, exercises etc... I'm just slower on the theory learning, because I don't know it that well.

Sometime I would LOVE to learn a practice routine that includes some basic arpeggio shapes. I would really like to learn more arpeggios, because I only know a couple basic major and minor ones. I think this could help my theory as well, and to visualize the different intervals and chord shapes in different positions.

QUOTE (Alex Feather @ Aug 30 2012, 07:22 PM)

Perfect! Let me know when you are ready! And we will continue mentoring program!
I have a few good exercises to help you get back in shape faster! Let me know and I will post them!

Posted by: Alex Feather Sep 3 2012, 08:52 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Aug 31 2012, 09:45 PM)

Posted by: derper Sep 4 2012, 03:20 AM

Ha! I LOVE that lesson, and worked on it very briefly when I first arrived to GMC!!

BUT, being new at that time, I was "touching" on many lessons, as opposed to mastering a few. So I didn't get far, and I don't quite remember how to play it at the moment so I am more than happy to give it a real shot this time!

I will admit that I am absolutely horrible at sweeping. Though I don't want to completely avoid sweeping, I also don't want my current sweeping abilities (1 out of 10) to hinder learning the arpeggios. So I may (unless you say otherwise, sensei) both practice it as intended and also as I would normally (alt picking) play it as well.


I don't want to give the impression that I am reluctant to learn new things. I fully intend to be a "decent" sweep picker within the next 1-2 years. But, to describe my "reluctance" to spend too much time on any one thing.... it's time. I play in 2 gigging bands, work full time, and love my life outside of both. So, I try to focus on improving things that I need to improve on soon. Sweep picking, would only apply to EMULATOR, and our second guitarist Sam covers all of the sweep runs. He's light-years beyond me in the "shred" department, so we try to use our contrasting styles and tones to our advantage and embrace that, as opposed to fight it. So, where I DO want to learn sweeping for ME, I almost would be selfish to dedicate TOO much time in the next 9 months to sweeping, when it won't be applied to my projects.

Also, EMULATOR is playing two of our biggest gigs this month. I hate to use that as an excuse, but my time may be limited again soon. BUT, I'm gonna try to work hard, practice a ton for the next 3 work days, and hopefully I can hit this as well and post results!

QUOTE (Alex Feather @ Sep 3 2012, 12:52 PM)

I am glad you back!
I understand that theory can be hard sometimes so we will take it easy!! And will do one step at a time!
Good idea about learning arpeggios and some new exercises! I got a perfect lesson for you!
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Sweep-Picking-7th-Arpeggios/
It is based on G major scale so you will learn how to harmonize a major scale and will master arpeggios! I found five strings arpeggios are much easier then 6 strings and those shapes are very easy to sweep!
Let me know what do you think!
After you will get comfortable with this lesson I will show you how to combine arpeggios and create your own licks!
Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything!

Posted by: Alex Feather Sep 4 2012, 11:44 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Sep 4 2012, 02:20 AM)

Ha! I LOVE that lesson, and worked on it very briefly when I first arrived to GMC!!

BUT, being new at that time, I was "touching" on many lessons, as opposed to mastering a few. So I didn't get far, and I don't quite remember how to play it at the moment so I am more than happy to give it a real shot this time!

I will admit that I am absolutely horrible at sweeping. Though I don't want to completely avoid sweeping, I also don't want my current sweeping abilities (1 out of 10) to hinder learning the arpeggios. So I may (unless you say otherwise, sensei) both practice it as intended and also as I would normally (alt picking) play it as well.


I don't want to give the impression that I am reluctant to learn new things. I fully intend to be a "decent" sweep picker within the next 1-2 years. But, to describe my "reluctance" to spend too much time on any one thing.... it's time. I play in 2 gigging bands, work full time, and love my life outside of both. So, I try to focus on improving things that I need to improve on soon. Sweep picking, would only apply to EMULATOR, and our second guitarist Sam covers all of the sweep runs. He's light-years beyond me in the "shred" department, so we try to use our contrasting styles and tones to our advantage and embrace that, as opposed to fight it. So, where I DO want to learn sweeping for ME, I almost would be selfish to dedicate TOO much time in the next 9 months to sweeping, when it won't be applied to my projects.

Also, EMULATOR is playing two of our biggest gigs this month. I hate to use that as an excuse, but my time may be limited again soon. BUT, I'm gonna try to work hard, practice a ton for the next 3 work days, and hopefully I can hit this as well and post results!

Posted by: derper Sep 4 2012, 11:47 PM

I pretty much play EVERYTHING alt-picking, besides the few times in EMULATOR that require the classic downstroke power chord rock touch!

So for me, the sweep is harder....but only because I've neglected to put in the starter effort to get decent at sweeping. I'm going to try both, and submit a video for both ways.

QUOTE (Alex Feather @ Sep 4 2012, 03:44 PM)

I am glad you are doing good and have some nice gigs lined up!!!
Take your time!:)
It is not necessary to play arpeggios using sweep only you can do alternative picking as well!
This technique is much harder but you will develop a killer alternative picking!

Posted by: Alex Feather Sep 6 2012, 06:59 AM

QUOTE (derper @ Sep 4 2012, 10:47 PM)

I pretty much play EVERYTHING alt-picking, besides the few times in EMULATOR that require the classic downstroke power chord rock touch!

So for me, the sweep is harder....but only because I've neglected to put in the starter effort to get decent at sweeping. I'm going to try both, and submit a video for both ways.

Posted by: derper Sep 6 2012, 06:19 PM

Also, I got some time to sit down and draw out the notes that form the chords over the chord progression you last gave me....and, though I can do it "eventually", the chord progression is a bit "advanced" for me to come up with something fluid.

Perhaps we could do the same thing, but with a more basic progression? Meaning, a progression with either...

-less chords in the total progression
-moves a bit more slowly through the chords


My problem is, with that progression....though I was able to break it down and solo somewhat over it by "feel" (well, feel mixed with some major/minor emphasis over the changes) I seem to be having a more difficult time emphasizing the 3rds and 7ths (chord tones) that you wanted me to hit, at that speed. I think my brain will be able to compute a progression that rolls through the changes a bit slower, or something more "classic" or basic. But, I do dig that backing track! Very creative.

So today, I'll step back from that until we perhaps pick a different progression. And in the meanwhile I'll try to get through the arpeggio lesson and hopefully submit my first video to get some feedback.

Thanks Alex!!

QUOTE (Alex Feather @ Sep 5 2012, 10:59 PM)

I like how you are taking extra mile with everything! It is very good!
I am looking forward to hear your takes!

Posted by: Alex Feather Sep 6 2012, 08:30 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Sep 6 2012, 05:19 PM)

Posted by: derper Sep 7 2012, 01:41 AM

Update!!


I'll certainly be able to work through the chord tones a bit easier with that progression. Though I probably could have challenged myself to "build" something on the more complex progression, I feel like it would be so challenging that I would miss the real concept, and would simply be "memorizing" a chord tone solo that I built. Starting on the easier progression will allow me to actually learn the true concept a bit more. Looking forward to getting that done.

I started working on the sweep arpeggios today. Good news is, I have challenged myself to actually sweep it. After about 20 mins of concentrated effort, I was able to "sweep" the first 3 arpeggios!! Not full speed of course, but it's nice to break through the "I can't sweep" barrier, into "I can kind of sweep, just a little, and not that well yet" territory! And these shapes are new ones to me, but I see the chord tones in it.

I'm such a "hands-on" learner, that I need to keep at routines like this to actually feel and SEE the patterns. I really want to get a fret-light someday, to learn theory. I think it would work well for me.

Posted by: Alex Feather Sep 7 2012, 03:15 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Sep 7 2012, 12:41 AM)

Posted by: derper Sep 11 2012, 08:33 PM

I'm going to "challenge" myself, and try to figure out the chord tones w/out a guitar in my hands, and NO CHEATING this time!!

Emi7 is root, m3, 5, m7 I believe: E, G, B, D (realizing now, this is harder than I thought...with no guitar in hand!!)

A7 is root, 3rd, 5th, 7th: A, C#, E, G (*NOTE: I broke my rule, and cheated to confirm the difference between a 7th chord and maj 7th chord. This proves my total lack of theory knowledge. But, that's why I'm here!!)

Dmaj7: D, F#, A, C#


That's my final-answer. Although, I will now look them up to confirm (so I'm not working with the wrong notes) but I wanted to quiz myself first!

QUOTE (Alex Feather @ Sep 6 2012, 12:30 PM)

Posted by: derper Sep 11 2012, 09:51 PM

HOORAY!! Got it right, with no guitar in hand (the fretboard inside my head)!!

Posted by: derper Sep 12 2012, 12:30 AM

Here's a vid of me demonstrating the first 4 arpeggios. I really need to work on cleaning up my sweeps, and palm mute to avoid the excess noise. Also, to get a cleaner and more natural "sweep" motion. You can tell that my hand constantly wants to "come back" to alt pick.

Right now, I'm not 100% focusing on sweep technique. Working memorizing the shapes, and chord tones, not simply sweep technique. BUT, I will certainly try to work on all aspects of this lesson including theory and technique. Just pointing out that there is a ton of room to improve.

Posted by: Alex Feather Sep 13 2012, 04:04 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Sep 11 2012, 11:30 PM)

Posted by: derper Sep 19 2012, 07:41 AM

Here's my attempt at writing a riff around the chord tones of the II-V-I progression.



I have to admit, it was more difficult than I thought. I need to sit down and write/map out the specific notes that I'm trying to hit, perhaps. I'm so bad at theory, and thinking about what notes/intervals I'm playing. But, that's why I'm here I guess!!

Also...I am working on this fun riff, as well! The video explains it, and at the end there is a slower/closer view of my fingerings and picking hand.

Posted by: derper Sep 21 2012, 02:32 AM

Also...what is "harmonization"? Or what does it mean to "harmonize a chord/scale"? I think I have a very vague concept, but I would like to learn more.

Is there an easy way to explain/practice this?

As much as I hate the theory/book learning stuff, I feel like I need to tackle that beast at this point. But to start slowly.

Posted by: Alex Feather Sep 21 2012, 10:14 PM

QUOTE (derper @ Sep 21 2012, 01:32 AM)

Posted by: Alex Feather Oct 24 2012, 01:18 AM

Hi I just wanted to check and see how is everything? Do you have any questions or need help with anything? Let me know!

Posted by: derper Nov 9 2012, 12:29 AM

Thanks for checking back Alex....I'm starting to get back into the swing of practice, and life, after the loss of my father last month.

I'll be posting some results sometime this week. Right now, I'm trying to regain my hand strength/speed/timing lost with the week or so away from consistent practice. I'll be posting vids soon, and will harmonize that scale you asked about a WHILE back.

QUOTE (Alex Feather @ Oct 23 2012, 04:18 PM)

Posted by: Alex Feather Nov 11 2012, 12:34 AM

QUOTE (derper @ Nov 8 2012, 11:29 PM)

Posted by: Alex Feather Nov 17 2012, 03:48 AM

I just wanted to follow up and see how are you doing?