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Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 7 2012, 07:56 AM

Hello again mate - check it out This is your very own thread and I would like to start by asking you to tell me a little bit about yourself and your experience so far, as well as what you want to achieve from the perspective of musicianship/ guitar playing

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 7 2012, 01:32 PM

Hey there Cosmin! , by the way! Before hand I'd like to excuse for the long post

Well I'm 18 years old, from Denmark. I've played the guitar for 15 months plus more or less 1 week , it's pretty funny how I actually had a guitar for way longer and actually been a member of GMC since November 2010, although I just signed up and I didn't even play. Oh well, I must have been an idiot at that time

My music taste is pretty wide, I am definitely a fan of good solo work.
A few guitarists that I really happen to like is Guthrie Govan, Paul Gilbert, Richie Kotzen, John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Marco Sfogli, Jason Becker, Joe Satriani, Jeff Loomis, Mark Tremonti, Slash, Andy James, Kiko Loureiro, Andy Timmons, Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore, Zakk Wylde, Greg Howe, John 5, Michael Romeo, Nuno Bettencourt, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page & Eric Johnson, so hopefully there should be someone you like too so we have some in common , of course there are more

Band wise I really like Slash, hes new stuff with Myles Kennedy is just mind blowing, especially Myles great singer also a member of one my favorite bands Alter Bridge! Other than that I really like Muse, the Aristocrats, Led Zeppelin, Lamb of God, AC/DC, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Judas Priest, Hatesphere, System of a Down, Iron Maiden, All That Remains, Opeth, Van Halen, Deep Purple, DevilDriver, Children of Bodom, Pantera, Disturbed, Wolfmother, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, Meshuggah, Bullet for my Valentine, Extreme, Megadeth, Killswitch Engage, Deftones, Katatonia, Dillinger Escape Plan, Bloodbath & many more!

When it comes to genres I'd describe me as a guy that listens to hard rock, metal & fusion. It really depends on what I am listening for, but as long as it just sounds great

Where I currently am is I think somewhere between beginner/intermediate stage, definitely depends on what area I'm at! I am definitely at a level where I have to work a lot on my rhythm. I've posted a video of my own playing, including my very first video and guitar recording I've ever done in the thread I have at Gabriel's board ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIgEhfBBW6M ), it's me playing a song by Slash - You're a Lie. I currently have a little project I call the 'Slash Project' I want to learn every single song from hes latest album 'Apocalyptic Love' ! Other than that I've started on some ear training with Gabriel since my ears are terrible, so I am currently trying to listen to song & figure out whats being played, great fun, & I can't wait till the day I'll start to try & analyze a Guthrie Govan song! , the funny thing is that if I was asked a week ago about what I wanted to learn I'd just say 'teach me how to shred', but since I've recorded my own playing, my opinion have changed completely, all I can say now is that I want to be able to groove! I really want to have GREAT rhythm, really be able to follow the drums, metronome, just the band in general! And then I also think that the soloing will become easier, of course I will eventually want to be able to play Govan, Gilbert, Vai & Satriani stuff, but I really think I need to get a good control over my rhythm playing! , And I'll still get to learn solos since I have my Slash project going which has 15 songs and because its Slash there is a solo for each song , plus I'll learn some hard rock rhythmic! . The kind of rhythm I'd really like to learn is actually the kind you seem to be covering a lot in your lessons! I really like your Funk Metal Riff lesson, your Metal Metrics, Katatonia Style, etc! Sadly I don't have a baritone guitar for the drop a tuning, but man it sounds so amazing, but especially that Funk Metal , that's just pure golden! And later I'd like to learn to create my own rhythm patterns, create solos, write songs, learn to play a lot of different crazy music!

So there is a long way to go on this amazing journey . Just to sum up a little bit, in case you have forgotten everything due to my long post....
I am currently working on the Slash Project, the Slash Complete Style series here at GMC and ear training.
Besides that I don't have a certain practice routine, I am still wondering if I should get one, I just seem to get tired, but to be honest, I've never created a good one, all I've created is just one to get better at AP, Sweep, Legato, Tapping, etc...

And also this is how I practice, and maybe you have some advice on how to improve my way of practicing, etc, but all I can say that it definitely seems to work and happens to be the best way I've been practicing, since I've started . I just practice whenever I feel like, at first I look the guitar pro tab, I take part by part/riff by riff and lets say its at 120 BPM, I then go to 60 BPM, then I put the metronome on, also at the same time I hear the riff in guitar pro, then I make sure I can play it at tempo and have my foot tapping a long to the metronome, then I slowly get to 120, then I go back to 60 with just the metronome on and make sure I can play a long and have my foot tap along. This happens to be a completely new way of practicing, that I just started on ever since I recorded my own playing, before I just played along to guitar pro at a slow speed getting to the actual speed but without playing with metronome, having my foot tapping along. So I am trying to get a good grasp timing! , besides that I sit a little with my tuner and try and get my bends in better pitch, I just started doing that yesterday

So yeah! That's probably it , for now . I can't wait to get started on becoming a great guitarist!

Cheers!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 8 2012, 02:40 PM

Wow Tobias, actually your long post has provided me with a pretty clear picture regarding your wishes in respect to music and the instrument.

Mate, you can use all the bands and guitarists above as inspiration BUT you need to develop your own musical self I wanted to say this because you have stated 'I want to play like....and like....' several times. I myself am a big fan of almost all the artists you have listed! Except Judas Priest and a few others I really don't like that music

Understanding rhythm and becoming groovy will provide a VERY solid base for soloing - all the guitarists you stated are great rhythm players as well as lead players. Control over rhythm will provide a very wide approach over lead playing because you will have a dynamic range which you won't achieve otherwise

Well, in order to learn those lessons with drop tunings, we can go to drop D if you wish - the concept is what matters for now, not the tuning necessarily.

Let's take your rhythmic education seriously and start by telling me what your knowledge about rhythm is so far (BTW I subbed to your channel) oh and don't vibrate and bend with your fingers Use your wrist mate!

What say you?

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 8 2012, 03:01 PM

Hey again!

Yeah it would be nice to be able to play like and like and like and like and then combine it all, haha , but of course I need to create my own music, the problem is I just keep saying to my self, I need to get better technical first, and wait till the day I can play Technical Difficulties by Paul Gilbert back wards with my teeth, but I guess I should probably just get started instead of using 300 different excuses .

I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say 'telling me what your knowledge about rhythm is so far'.

Also thanks for the tip on bending/vibrato, I'll try that, always good with some advice!

And yes, drop D tuning sounds fine

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 9 2012, 04:06 PM

Sure thing amigo We'll go with drop D then. Now when I was referring to rhythm, I was thinking about:

- knowledge and sense regarding rhythmic subdivisions
- time signatures
- groove
- being able to use rhythmic elements consciously in any given context (rhythm or lead)

Why not grab the Metal Metrics 4 and try a recording with it? First, against the metronome, ok?

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 9 2012, 06:15 PM

Ello! , out of the 4 things I only know about time signatures (I think ). 4/4 is 4 quarter notes being played a bar, 2/4 is 2 quarter notes being played a bar, 3/4 is 3 quarter notes being played a bar, 7/8 is the same as 3.5/4, meaning 3 & ½ quarter note being played a bar, 9/8 would then be same as 4.5/4 , 12/8 would be the same as 6/4, and obviously correct me if I am wrong.
I haven't been reading or studying it, so I could definitely be wrong. But it just seems to be a lot like mathematics, and if I am not wrong the second note value is what you count, ehmm.. Let me try and explain (e.g. 12/8 is the same as 6/4 meaning you can have 6 quarter notes a bar, but when you play 12/8 you count it in eight notes and in 6/4 you count it in quarter notes (the metronome) ), I hope that makes any sense

And hell yeah! I'll definitely get working on Metal Metrics 4, sounds really awesome!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 11 2012, 08:52 AM

Hehe! it makes a lot of sense

Just don't try to subdivide the 9/8 into 4.5/8 two times

We can tackle each time signature and invent formulas for it But first, I would really like to get you top notch with tightness, timing and clean rhythm playing, so Metal Metrics 4 is where we begin!

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 11 2012, 09:08 AM

9/8 into 4.5/8? huh , I went from 9/8 to 4.5/4 Anyways! Top notch tightness and all the other awesomeness sounds great!

I am almost ready to record Metal Metrics 4, but there is something weird going on with my guitar, can't figure out if it is the battery or not, since I switched it, so if I fix that today I should be able to record a video later today if not it'll be tomorrow first and I'll try and get my hands on a new battery and hope for the best!

Also a little side question, I'm starting to dig these PRS guitars, first of all its obvious how they look.. Just amazing , and they tend to sound just as great as they look, and even the cheap ones for around the 800 EUR seems to be great, they've also gotten some great reviews. I was wondering, which PRS guitar would you recommend for some good metal drop tunings?

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 11 2012, 03:37 PM

Well, I am waiting for the recording and in the mean time - I will DEFINITELY recommend my two guitars:

- PRS Paul Allender Signature - either the old or the new model
- PRS Mike Mushok Baritone guitar

You CAN'T go wrong with these!

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 11 2012, 09:48 PM

Nice!! I'll probably get one of these, they sound just as great as look (maybe both - one for drop A and one for Drop C, etc )

Also, I think I'll be getting the AMT you have too, I just love your sound especially for this kind of metal riffing

Now, I was wondering, since I am sitting here and recording, just to the metronome, and I must say that is just bitching hard , but I'm definitely working on it, some more practice should make it easier

Other than that I was wondering do you have a good tip to get these stupid harmonics a lot clearer?

Tobias

P.s. Really really awesome riff(s)!

Fast edit -> Do you happen to know anything about this guitar? PRS SE-Custom 24 ( http://www.thomann.de/dk/prs_se_custom_24_wb.htm )

And is Metal Metrics 4 in tempo 100 or 120? Since the guitar pro tab says 120 but the backing track says 100, but when I set the guitar pro tab to 100 it feels really slow

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 12 2012, 08:03 AM

I think it's 120 - don't remember too well Play with the backing track and it'll get ya there

Nice! Just as I have them Paul Allender is in drop C and Mike Mushok in drop A!

About the C24 - it's a nice guitar! I'd recommend the SE Custom 24 Anniversary Edition though - it's sexier

Thanks for your kind thoughts mate! Practice with full focus on the details The lesson is not that hard, but it has a lot of small details which people are prone to forget about!

The harmonics hmmmm, I always imagine that I am Zakk Wylde when I am playing this riff live and it always works! You need to find those sweet spots where the harmonics sound full - experiment a bit by picking randomly till you find them!

Let me know if I can assist further with this one

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 12 2012, 12:56 PM

Well, the lesson doesn't seem to be so technical, the only new thing that I am introduced to is the way to play harmonics, which I like! And of course be able to play only to the metronome, which is hellish frustrating!

And I'll get a video up later today! , hopefully I can do an okay take

Tobias

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 12 2012, 07:31 PM

Here we go!

http://youtu.be/1LE-GGrsnOw

Now I'm not sure, since I'm pretty tired, but I can't tell if the video and the audio us a little bit out of synch

But anyways, I got this in my second take, of course there could definitely be improvements, but I figured if I don't upload one now, I'll never get it done. But I gotta say trying to tap your foot along to the beat helps, since at take 1 I didn't try and tap my foot along to the beat, and then my timing was even worse than it is now , so then I tried to tap my foot along to the beat and I ended up with this!

Perfect, yet? Of course not! But I figured it'd be best if I upload it now, since then I can get some great advice and then it'll get a lot easier! , also I tried out Drop C, I just had to change my low e string from a 46 to 52, and yeah I know I need to get my self a new camera and a better guitar sound

Also I hope I'll get a much better rhythm fast, and be able to make some good recordings, since it is pretty demotivating, after I've started to record my self, I hear so many mistakes and terrible timing , well better late than never.

Cheers!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 13 2012, 08:59 AM

Hey Tobias! You are on the yellow brick road my friend

The timing seems ok but you need more balance and heaviness man and the articulation elements should be wider and in better timing - I mean the vibrato and bends/ microbends.

These are the sort of details that I am talking about - it might seem simple but it's not that simple

Don't worry about the quality as we're doing just fine for this stage - indeed the image is a little off from the sound, but hey, trust me, I know how it feels to be tired and not understand what is going on.

Please focus on the details above and let's see an improved take

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 13 2012, 01:29 PM

Roger! I'll practice hard and get ready for the next take, can't stand playing so terrible.

Cheers!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 14 2012, 07:03 PM

Go Tobias!

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 15 2012, 04:07 PM

, I was actually wondering how would you practice a lesson like this? Riff by riff, bar by bar, the whole piece, or?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 16 2012, 01:47 PM

Hey man

Well, learn each part perfectly at a slow tempo and then connect them all at the slowest backing available backing track.

Increase speed once you can play relaxed and without making mistakes

That's my way

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 16 2012, 07:34 PM

Awesome! I was wondering is there any way to change the backing tracks key from C minor to D minor? My guitar sounds weird in Drop C

Thanks in advance!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 17 2012, 06:56 AM

Hey man! Yes there is Try this: http://www.ronimusic.com/

Posted by: Qenzoz Sep 19 2012, 09:05 PM

Hey! , thanks!!

Can you check if I did it right?
 Metal_Metrics_4_Metal___Modern_backing_track_in_D_minor_pentatonic.wav ( 2.26MB ) : 117


Also I'll get a new take up soon. Currently I haven't been playing that much, but I've tried to play only to a metronome, which is pretty hard, since I've never done that before, I tend to rush now and then, pretty funny and amazingly frustrating

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 20 2012, 10:59 AM

Hey mate! Nothin to it;) Sounds good to me! Well, the metronome is as unforgiving as a Japanese sword I'm curious to hear your take Don't forget to aid yourself with the foot tapping

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 10 2012, 10:16 PM

Hey there, Cosmin! Long time ago, almost 2 months. I was wondering if I could re-join the course? , even though I just left unannounced.

Although there is a reason for that, not sure if it is a good one, but I've realized a lot of things and figured out a lot of things personally & guitar wise.

I remember when I asked to join this course I had just joined one with Gabriel too, and was ready to join one with Alex too, and get started on Ben's Bushidos, and take over the whole world, etc. You know, sitting for some time and really thinking 'this is what I should do, really take guitar serious practice 6-8 hours a day' also thinking 'this time I'll do it, I've tried it before, didn't work, but this time I'll do it no matter what..' so yeah the first day is with full of motivation, next day I didn't get all hours down, and I was like tomorrow I'll definitely get all down, then bim bam boom. even less, and just keep lying to my self till I finally hit 0 minutes a day of guitar practicing, and wanting to quit playing the guitar..

So I've read a lot about how to practice, how do other people practice, etc. And I realized what works for me and I'm pretty much sure that's the best method for anyone that plays guitar!

It's really simple! It's just having fun! That's the reason I started to play guitar, and the reason why it easily stops being fun is because I get a lot of information and experienced guitarists/musicians says you need to learn this & this.. Which in my opinion doesn't matter, what matters is having fun, for that matter if what I found really fun was turning on my amp and knocking the gain to 10 and then just having the guitar feedback all day long and that made me smile and have a great time, then I'd be doing it right, of course it is a different story if I am at guitar as a job, but I don't for me it is just a hobby & will I ever be as good as Guthrie Govan? Probably not, but for me it's not a goal anymore to join the list with the best.. For me it is just to have fun, and I'm pretty sure that's the reason Guthrie Govan is so good today, he probably just had fun I also know that he doesn't like the word 'practice', anywho!

But it's kind of weird, since some people will tell you that you need to do this for 30 minutes, etc. Work on that, work on genres you don't even like. It just seems so stupid since why not just work on the only things you like and then become really good at that, and then maybe in 25 years your musicality has expanded and suddenly you'll maybe like Jazz and for the first 25 you've only like Heavy Metal. And THEN you'll learn it, because now you like it and now it gives meaning since you can use it in your own playing, where as before you didn't like it and would probably never dream of using it in your own playing.

So yeah.. I've definitely figured out how I practice best, and yes that is by having fun, so that means some days I play a lot, some days not so much, some days I don't depends on a lot of things, usually I play every day. What I've decided to do is learn lessons here at GMC, now the ideal thing would probably to take one lesson at a time and get that down "perfectly", I've tried that, and that just seems soooooooooo boring for me, at first its like yeah, but a week after its like an exercise and I just want to quit playing, so that's definitely not a good way for me, so what I figured out is that I just learn a lot of lessons at once, in this case I've decided to get 12 lessons down for this month, pure rhythm, and then I'll try and record a take of each! . Basically how I do it is I just learn maybe 3-5 one day then whenever I feel like it again maybe 2 days later I'll learn 3-5 more and then I got 12 "down", they still need to be polished and all that, but now I can just play them whenever I feel like it and play them over and over again like a repertoire and it doesn't get boring, and if one the lessons gets a bit boring i'll just work on one of the others and then maybe in 3 days I'll get back to the 'boring' one! , so that seems like the best way for me to practice. Other than that I've i'm trying to get 30 minutes of legato down each day, I hate to do practice like that, but i'm just trying to see if I can handle 30 minutes a day so far and basically I just want to see how fast I can progress that way..

And, some more text.....
But I'm also trying to work on my ear just now and then, whenever I feel like it. My main goal so far is getting a good rhythm, that's why I've only chosen rhythm lessons so far. And my legato practice is much more rhythmic training than technique since I'm playing a 3nps patteren but in 16th notes instead of triplets so the beat is placed in weird places, which is great for my rhythm, and not picking all the time on the beat, feels weird too

The lessons I'm working on so far are:

by Ben Higgins
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Megadeth-Made-Easy/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Time-To-Gallop/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Scorpions-Style-Rhythm/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/The-Devil-Is-In-The-Diad/

by Cosmin Lupu (I imagine you've heard that name once or twice)
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Metrics-4/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Metrics-5/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Metrics-6/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Alter-Bridge-Style-Riffing/

by Zsolt Galambos
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Groovy-Metallica/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bluesy-Metallica/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bluesy-Metallica-2/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Rockin-Slash/

So yeah nothing like level 8 with sweep picking at tempo 190, just some great sounding rhythm lessons!

I've got 8-9 'down' so far. Haven't been that busy this month (first month ), apparently I had to work on some Beatles songs, and such, because where I go to school we have to play the 22nd November, just some relaxing background music, which is kind of great since I have to play songs like Let it Be & While my Guitar Gently Weeps, the melody part for Let it Be where I also use some improvisations but still relay on the original melody a lot (of course), but add some slide, vibrato & bends and it sounds pretty great , which is pretty great to get some melodic phrases and then the lead guitar for Gently Weeps where I improvise the solo, which is also great to be improvising in a melodic way without having to think 'buuh I suck I can't play at 240 bpm, etc '

So that's it! If you've read all of it, you deserve a donut! Please let me know if you're willing to take me in again as a 'student' & what you think about the way I practice , cheers & have a great day/evening!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 12 2012, 10:26 AM

Hello Tobias!

I read everything through and through so, I awarded myself with a little chocolate I am having right now I think that having fun is the most important thing you when learning something, otherwise - as Guthrie himself says - it will become a chore and you don't want guitar as a chore

My idea is the following: if you feel you are making progress like that, let's see what's what and follow this road. Of course I am willing to have you as a student!

Let's see what progress you have achieved with each of the lessons you mentioned and take it from there - any vids might be?

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 12 2012, 12:42 PM

Awesome! & chocolate is just a great award!

I don't have any videos so far, currently I haven't been working on them that much, since I have to play live next thursday, not some hard songs but I still want it to sound good, and I haven't slept that well in the past 2-3 weeks, but I'll get back on track and get record some of the lessons soon!

Other than that I've decided to try and create my own song, which is really fun so far, even so I haven't gotten anything really down, except a riff and loads of ideas! The fun thing is that I can spend hours just trying to get a lick down, I just have a phrase in my mind that I try to get down, seems to really develop my ears too & also rhythmically trying to transcribe the drum beats I have in my head & I'll definitely upload the song here as I progress with it, and maybe you can give me some tips & tricks, since I've never done this before, but it's definitely something new and interesting!!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 12 2012, 06:15 PM

Awesome! Well, till ya get the vids ready! Tobias, the MOST important thing with creation is to be able to use the music inside you - i.e. what you hear in your head - in order to express yourself!

The most important thing you need to know is that the more you strive to do things better in this direction the better your connection between fingers and brain will be There is no short way, but exploring and doing it as much as possible! Each little idea is worth a ton!!

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 13 2012, 09:08 AM

Aye, it's really hard to get the phrases out of my mind down to my fingers, exactly how I want them, but the more I try and do it I'll hopefully get there!

I was also wondering for creating drums, since it's seems really hard to transcribe some of the drum beats I have in my mind and get them down, currently I just use guiter pro to just add my siimple riffs and grooves just to make sure I don't forget them, like writing them down in a notebook. But I have EzDrummer to create drums, what I can see is that it requires some rhythm theory knowledge, and that I have to a certain level. But how do you create the drums for your backing tracks? And can you maybe give me some tips & tricks? If there are any

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 13 2012, 09:17 AM

Well - a good starting point for me was trying to emulate the grooves I heard in songs and then analyze the relationship between the actual drum grooves and the guitar riffs/ chords.

This is how I started back in 2008, when I had my first full experience with writing instruments - from that point on, I never stopped and I wrote a full album almost by myself for my ex band called EVO back then. It was sheer joy of being able to transpose my ideas into reality

Choose a song you like - a simple one for starting out and try to emulate the drum grooves you hear in there!

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 14 2012, 05:58 PM

Hm. Well my drums seem to use a really close rhythm pattern to the guitar, it's just hard to transcribe some of the ideas going on in my head, but I'll have to work a little more on that one, currently trying to get the transcribed ideas I've currently written down in Guitar Pro so far over to EZDrummer, which is really interesting since there are so many more options, choosing how loud a note should be, etc.

I'm really really digging this song writing, and I can see my playing seems to progress a lot too, since I can use licks I really like but also really get to polish them, to make them really great.

Now what I've then been introduced to is a lot of questions, like.. I want a great bass, but I don't want it to be identic to the guitar or just have it pump away, I probably have to do some kind of use with intervals, but I haven't gotten that much experience with intervals, but I am getting more, I kind of like intervals seems rather interesting (depends on how tired I am ), now the other thing is guitar harmonies, how can I create a great harmony but that isn't an octave higher or lower, and also landing notes when I play a melody should I land on the root or the fifth of the chord, there are so many things, I can't really figure out where to actually go, of course I am just taking one thing at a time for now, and I'll try and get the drums down for now, I like the idea of building it up from the bottom, I'll probably get bass last.

The reason I am asking is not because I want to really dig into it, but I more want to just hear some the things you have to say about the different questions, just so I have some things to think about whenever I sit in the car, or just sit with my guitar, since currently it is just going fine, but I'd just like to understand those questions I have, a bit better, almost something I've always thought bought.

One thing I'd like to use as an example is your Metal Metrics 6, where you play some melody over some root notes, how did you do that? Did you just improvise it, and how do you know which notes sounds good over that, etc. I definitely need to get more knowledge of intervals

I also have got to stop writing so much, and start working more on my song and watch a bit of TV!

Cheers!

Tobias

P.S. I am also trying to work on my ears, listening to intervals, chords, scales, etc. (Relevant Pitch) I wonder if you have any tips, tricks & advices in that area?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 15 2012, 05:48 PM

Mate Your questions basically relate to relative ear training, solid theoretical knowledge and VAST music listening

Your ideas are momentarily uber mingled and you find it hard to get them straight just because you don't really know how to think in layers... YET joining the v-chat tonight should clear up some important things in my opinion.

Once you can listen to your ideas into layers you will know what's what and come up with instant recording and arranging just like SNAP!

But, let's start with Theory and Ear training - what have you studied so far?

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 15 2012, 07:51 PM

Would like to do it just like SNAP !

Can't promise if I'll make it tonight, still have a little amount of migraine left from yesterday, but i'll try and make it!

Hmm.. Not quite sure what I have exactly studied so far.. But uhm, i'll try and list some of the things I know - I'll try and explain the things, so you can see if I got them right or if I am completely wrong

Also! Prepare your chocolate! You should probably award your self with a whole pack after reading this, or whilst reading all of this

I know that a diatonic scale is a 7 tone scale, a pentatonic scale is a 5 tone scale.

To create the
Natural Major Scale (also known as the Ionian Mode) you use the following steps: 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ e.g. C D E F G A B C -
not quite sure what this part is called, maybe harmonizing the scale, but the following chords you can will be a:
Major, Minor, Minor, Major, Major, Minor, Diminished, Major
Maj7, Min7, Min7, Maj7, Dominant7, Min7, m7b5, Maj7
e.g. - C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, C - Cmaj7, Dmin7, Emin7, Fmaj7, G7, Amin7, Bm7b5, Cmaj7

Natural Minor Scale (also known as the Aeolian Mode) you use the following steps: 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 e.g. C D Eb F G Ab Bb C ( Why didn't I use sharps (#) instead of flats (b )? - Because the step from D is an half and if I used a sharp it would say D# I would use the D twice, and since D# is exactly the same sound as Eb (an Enharmonic) I had to use Eb instead for a different letter(? - not quite sure how to explain this), so if you see a notation paper and there are 3 flats, that means the key is in C Minor/Eb Major and if it showed 3 sharps it would be in F# Minor/A Major) - Of course this is just in general since there are so many scales, modes, and some other one will probably have 3 flats too, but yeah, in general, with the usual music you see now a days.

Then to harmonize this one will be: Minor, Diminshed, Major, Minor, Minor, Major, Major, Minor
Chords would be: Cm, Ddim, Eb, Fm, Gm, Ab, Bb, Cm - Cmin7, Dm7b5, Ebmaj7, Fmin7, Gmin7, Abmaj7, Bb7, Cmin7

And as you can see the only difference between the C major and then the C minor scale is that the E, A & B is a half step down so the minor scale has a flat 3, 6 & 7 step in the scale.

Harmonic Minor Scale uses the following steps: 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1½ ½ e.g. C D Eb F G Ab B C
So the same as the Natural Minor Scale it has the flat 3 & 6 step but between the 6 & 7 step it has an unusual one and a half step. which makes it more or less the same as natural minor except its just a B instead of Bb.

Now we get to the third and last minor scale (haven't heard of any more, only heard that there are 3) the Melodic Minor Scale 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½
C D Eb F G A B C so this one has the same pattern as the Natural Major Scale but with a flat 3rd step.

All of these 4 are diatonic scales

Now there are also modes.

Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian & Locrian

The Ionian mode is also famously known as the Natural Major Scale so that one we already know. - 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½
The Dorian mode - 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1
The Phrygian Mode - ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1
The Lydian Mode - 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½
The Mixolydian Mode - 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1
The Aeolian Mode (Natural Minor Scale) - 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1
The Locrian Mode - ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1

But how to exactly use modes I am not aware of, what I know so far is that they're like spices and you get a different voicing by using a different mode. But they all contain the exact same notes as their natural major or minor scale. But if you have a chord progression: Am, C, D, Am it would be A Dorian, because you start with the Am and end with it, but if you decided to use C, D, Am, C it would be Lydian (? - Not quite sure in this area, but it seems like the only important thing is the note you start on and the note you land on, between there you can play all sort of non sense, chromatic fun - I saw a video with Guthrie Govan where he just played a lot of chromatic but he made it sound like a certain chord voicing just by using the correct starting and landing notes)

So there are also pentatonic scales, which I also know about, but won't dig into atm, since it's really simple, but all I'll say is the minor pentatonic is the secret to playing rock solos

Okay.. So I also know a bit about how to create chords

So a Am or A chord is a triad (3 note chord - builded by the Root, third (minor third - 3 semitiones from the root or major third 4 semitones from the root) & fifth

So the chord Am is created by the following notes: A C & E and the A (major) is created by: A C# E - So the only difference is a semitone with the C and that can create a total different voicing - so lets take the minor triad in this case the Am so you start on the Root (A) - 5th fret of the E string, then you go 3 semitones up and you hit the 8th fret © then you go 4 semitones up and you hit the 12th fret (E) - R - 3 steps - 4 Steps, if you just turned that around and did R - 4 steps - 3 steps it would be 5 fret, 9 fret, 12 fret, A C# E (A major chord), also a fast way to create some arpeggios for tapping, but non the less, you can also use your knowledge of scales, if you haven't gotten into the world of intervals so a triad is created by the 1st, 3rd & 5th step of a step the 1st step will always be the root of the chord, so now if you take the A minor scale and you just find an A note then go to the third step of the scale and with the knowledge of scales (it would be A - B - C so now we know that the C is the third step then if we keep on going we can go to C - D - E and thats the fifth step) bam, A C E, a minor chord. So this is an really easy way to figure out some chords that could work in the current scale your working with, if you want a 7th chord you could lets say start on G (still being in A minor) then go the 3rd step that being B then 5th step D then the 7th step F - there you have a G7 chord) or if you go back to the triads to create a sus2 or sus4 which means suspend, so if you suspend the third (interval) in your a minor chord you can either get a sus2 or sus4 the step patteren in a scale would just be 1 - 2 - 5 or 1 - 4 - 5 step instead of 1 - 3 - 5 step.

Can't quite think of more I know about for now, probably some rhythmic theory, time signatures, but I told about them way back when we started with this thread, and then I know about rhythmic figures, triplets, quintuplets, sextuplets, septuplets, whole note, half notes, quarter notes, eight notes, sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes, etc.

About intervals, I kind of get them, but I have a hard time remembering all the intervals, and haven't found a real purpose to use them yet, except for maybe creating chords or so, but I just find it easier to use my scale method for now.. Except I started to get on studying intervals a little bit, a few days ago, because I want to get on working my ears to achieve relevant pitch as I stated before

You can feel free to ask me any questions, can't quite think of anything else for now.

But my ears are really terrible, I'd really like to get great ears, and a really great rhythmic to make really great solos, and then later get technical when I can create an awesome melodic solo, and get all the bends in pitch and just make every note fit right into the groove, etc!

Cheers!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 19 2012, 09:48 AM

Hey Tobias!

I read through and you have a good understanding of the important aspects of theory! That weighs A LOT man!

Here's what I'd suggest - let's build your rhythm/ ears/ articulation skills in order to get you prepared for writing your own stuff, be it rhythm or lead. We can also tackle a technique or two - I'd suggest legato or AP. Everything will be approached lightly but disciplined - by that, I mean we will have fun, but we will make sure you understand and play everything top notch

How does that sound to you?

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 19 2012, 01:41 PM

Sounds amazing! , can't wait to see what you have in mind! And yes legato or AP, great choices! If I had to choose one, I'd go for legato, just seems to be an technique that works on every aspect that I need, dynamics, rhythm (accenting on places where you have to place your pinky, or so ), also I think that having a great legato will build your fingers a lot strength & just overall control, making chords, bends, vibrato and all that great stuff sound better! And in the end it will also help with AP since your left hand is ready to go bananas after practicing legato for a long time!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 20 2012, 10:17 AM

Tobias, it would help me a lot to see what your actual playing level is through the help of a recording Otherwise I can only make recommendations based on what we have talked so far - what say you, mate?

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 21 2012, 06:29 PM

Of course, I'll get a recording done ASAP, probably Friday, since tomorrow is the day I have to play, so I'll be a bit tired after that, and I have a day off on Friday so I'll get the recording(s) done then , but I've tried to record my playing today and yesterday, but every time I record something & it sounded fine when I played over the backing track, whenever I listen to it afterwards it sounds like my guitar is a little bit behind or just in front of the track (can't figure that out, I think in-front), it's really annoying me, maybe it could just be that my rhythm is bad, but I was wondering if there could be a chance of a slight delay or some latency issues or something like that?

The guitar I have is: Line 6 UX2 & I use Reaper w/ Guitar Rig 5.

Rock on! & Thanks in advance

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 22 2012, 10:35 AM

There may be a latency mate - but I have no clue on what's what as I don't have any idea on what sort of soundboard you have and how everything is connected. You should check the soundboard recording settings and the connection to Reaper.

Can you send me a sample so that I may listen to it? I'll listen and try to figure out the source of the problem

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 24 2012, 04:42 PM

Hey I just did this recording today, sadly no video, but I've uploaded it to SoundCloud and I've made it so your the only one that can see it. But, this was more of a test, just to see if the recording quality and if you can notice any sort of weird things recording wise. I think that the latency issue (if there was any) is gone, been messing around with it a bit, and searching around on the internet

And if everything is okay recording wise, you're more than welcome to give my playing some critique , but I'll get another one up as soon as I know that all the recording thingies are fine .
I'll also upload some 'songs' where I improvise over a backing track, just so you can get an idea of how good my improvisation is, etc..

Cheers!

Tobias

Edit: Also I'm in Drop D.
http://soundcloud.com/tobias-poulsen/metal-metrics-4-take-1/s-NOLdJ

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 26 2012, 11:57 AM

Hey Tobias! I can't quite feel any latencies - if you tricked my ear, it means it's good

Regarding the playing - timing seems to be ok, but I would insist on articulation - have you noticed all the little bends in the lesson? And there's also the wide vibrato!

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 26 2012, 12:50 PM

Ey Cosmin! That's good to hear about the latency!

About the track, I'm not exactly sure what it is, it just doesn't feel right to me, when I listen to it, it's like there are some important pieces missing. I'll try and get a new take up probably tomorrow first, since I haven't slept all night.

But I am glad that the timing seems to be okay , but still ok isn't 'amazing' , I'll work A LOT on this one and make sure to get it exactly down till it sounds 'perfect' to your ears!

So when I get home or whenever I get some sleep I'll listen to it carefully and also see wath you exactly do note for note in the video

Cheers!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 27 2012, 09:48 AM

Alright man! Get some rest - do the listening and analyzing IN THE MORNING - that's when the ears are fresh and can deduce things which they'll miss later on during the evening for instance. Do the recording in the evening, when you are more relaxed

Posted by: Qenzoz Nov 28 2012, 01:58 AM

I'll do the listening tomorrow morning as soon as I wake up!
Had school this morning, but I realized one thing I just watched tonight, that was in the part with the wide vibrato, you use 3 fingers. I noticed I only used 1 and I could already feel a good different by using 3, no idea why I use 1, probably instinct, since the index finger fits perfect right there, but doesn't really have that good amount of strength to do that kind of wide vibrato. Also I try to like when I bend in the last part of the song to also try and bend the guitar downwards like you do. Seems to be helping a little, but I'll practice that song for a good amount tomorrow!

So other than that I wanted to share some information with you, sadly that requires a bit of text, which I'm probably soon known for..

Anyways. I made a post sometime ago, back in may, since it was right before I had to play live & somehow I can't find it at this very moment, weird, but I stated in that post that I have some anxiety issues, due to loosing my dad when I was 10 years old, and a lot of other problems related to that & you may wonder why this is even somewhat relevant information to you, but that is just because I'd like for you to know what some of my issues are when it comes to playing the guitar, that's more of a mind problem and not like guitar wise problem, which I think happens a lot of time like playing live, whilst recording. But for instance, whenever I record I try to remember my self to minimize Reaper before recording I usually forget it & the reason I want to minimize it, is because I tend to keep looking at it, and I loose focus, a lot when I sit and record I tend to think about other things than actually what I am currently doing, and whenever I try to really focus I over-focus (sounds weird, but I focus so hard that I make a ton of mistakes), I know that's not an excuse for anything due to my playing & that it probably happens to a ton of guys, and it somethings that comes with practice etc. I'd just like for you to know so maybe you'd have some good tips & tricks.
So this 'mentoring' thing isn't just for me to progress as a guitarist, which it is mainly & the reason I really want to do it, since I like playing the guitar. But it is really also for me to get out of my comfort zone, which may seem strange since it is my comfort zone, but for me, my comfort zone is kind of evil.. That's where I hide whenever I get anxious & can't feel like I can do anything. So also today I just did 4 improvisation records, and uploaded each one of them to Soundcloud and all I did before hand was listening to the original (in this instance Set the Peace by Ben Higgins) and then listen to the backing track then do 4 recordings right in a row, so you maybe could hear some progress and also get an idea of my improvisation skills, etc. And I know it is like torture for you ears but I need to progress , and another problem I have is also to 'congratulate' my self if I actually do something that sounds good, which is unlikely, but when it happens it should feel like winning the lottery, but even then I am like 'pffh.. not good enough'..

One last thing on this subject & that is I find this kind of funny somehow (this whole REC process), since I've always thought that I'm terrible at playing the guitar, but at one point I thought I was doing 'OK' for playing the time I had been playing at that time (1 year & 3-4 months) now being 1 month & almost 7 months I think. So then I recorded my own playing, and that was probably the best thing I could have done, since it was such a HUGE eye opener, I realized everything, my technique, rhythm & ear, was just plain terrible especially my rhythm.. Then I contacted you since I absolutely find your rhythmic lessons to be amazing & I really want to play that kind of style really well! 'Funk Metal Riff' 'Dancehall Metal Riffing', etc. Also made me realize it is time for technique to step down, but also due to my anxiety I've never really played with an amp on or anything, so I've never really practiced with distortion, so I apparently have a hard time to control the noise, etc. Starting to get better since I using guitar rig & I have a pair of headsets

So yes.. That was mainly it, except I have this to say about the improvisations I did over Set the Peace backing track (B Minor).

As I stated before, I listened to Ben's solo, listened to the backing track, and did 4 straight recordings, 1st went really bad, terrible note choice, there was something that was like OK, I think I had an OK idea what I was going with in the 2nd maybe you'll notice it when you hear it, but somewhat kind of funky kind of riffing/soloing over it. 3rd I was like 'THIS IS IT!'.. Of course it ain't , and 4th, better still I tried to do like some tremolo picking, I just couldn't get it to feel right when I tried to change strings and then the note choice was just, bleeh..

You shall just press the link then you'll get to the site and there's the 4 improvisations.
http://soundcloud.com/tobias-poulsen/sets/set-the-peace-improv/s-QCTuG
http://soundcloud.com/tobias-poulsen/sets/set-the-peace-improv/s-QCTuG

Thanks & keep on riffing!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 1 2012, 02:49 PM

Hey mate! Read everything through and through - no worries

Slowing down will always help, in life, in playing and so on... Don't overburden yourself with thoughts and just enjoy playing what you like - you will notice that trying to play some things just for the sake of learning them/ becoming better, won't necessarily apply. It's ideal to find the things you like and find the things you need to learn within them We can do that together and I am honored you chose me as a mentor for the soul as well


Now, about the improv - I got a question - have you sung these lines in your head or just noodled around?

Posted by: Qenzoz Dec 1 2012, 09:42 PM

Just noodled around, I'll try and find another backing track and try where I'll play the phrases in hear in my head, not sure which backing track I'll use yet. I think I'll find a more funky/blues-rock, I have such a hard time controlling a lot gain, but my technique is also much more suitable for funk/blues-rock than metal (which is kind of sad, since I enjoy metal a bit more ).

And about Metal Metrics 4, I changed my picking hands angle, especially when I come to the palm muting phrase, seems to be a lot better (not sure if it sounds better, but it feels better ) & I changed the way my fingers lay on the fret when I have to bend on the low E string, I use my finger tips now instead of the flat part, seems to be better, that was also the way I usually have my fingers when I bend on e.g. 15th fret B string, but it was just a bit weird at the start since it requires me to change my hands angle a bit, but I'm getting used to it & it seems to help

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 2 2012, 08:01 PM

Hmmm - need a suggestion for a backing track? I would love to give you some pointers and also, the bending and vibrato, hell yes, mate, with the finger tip and from the wrist

Check this out:

Posted by: Qenzoz Dec 2 2012, 09:46 PM

I'd be more than happy if you'd chose the backing track!

Well, the way you bend/vibrato seems to be the way I do it too, it was just a bit different on the low e string & on such a low fret too, but I think I got it solved

By the way I am also trying to get the song 'Days of Confusion - Meta' down, I just started yesterday, and I'll take it by part by part and then upload each part when I got them down to full speed and then later I'll combine it all and then over backing track, etc.

So I have this to look at so far then

Metal Metrics 4
Days of Confusion - Meta
Improvising/Composing over Backing track

I've decided not to work on a lot more, since I kind of want to get these down 'perfectly' to really develop my skills, especially the rhythmic part , but if I should work on another lesson I had 'The Voice of Your Guitar' or 'Dancehall Metal Riffing' in my mind

But if you have anything that you'd like for me to work on, feel free to say so.

I was also wondering is there anything special I should do to get my guitar playable in Drop C? Other string gauge and should I do some kind of adjustment on the guitar like the truss rod, or so? In case there would be any fret buzz?

And now a somewhat technique related question, since I am currently looking at your picking hand and you have all of your 3 fingers like pointing straight forward & I normally have my 3 fingers more less the same was Paul Gilbert does tucked back in to your hand, when I do point them out like yours it seems to change the angle of my pick, I was just wondering if it is something you do natural or something you've decided to do because of the sound/the way it feels? - Lesson I looked at was Dancehall Metal Riffing

And another thing I think I might 'wish' for that AMT SS20 pedal you have for Christmas!! , and then save some money up for a PRS guitar thinking about that Baritone one to get a guitar for Drop A

Cheers

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 3 2012, 09:48 AM

Howdy mate!

My suggestion would be to keep:

Metal Metrics 4
Days of Confusion - Meta

for the moment and focus on getting these at top level! We can deal with improvisation later on, because indeed, when dividing your attention in too many directions, you will lose track and focus. For the drop C, the guitar should be set up for a greater string tension - I recommend 11-52 or11-54 as gauges. If you have a guitar tech, it is the fastest and easiest way to do it, otherwise - here's a very interesting thread dealing with this issue: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=46949

About the picking hand - it's a matter of personal choice try the position which suits you best. I'll take a look once you send me a video recording.

Let's see some action!

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Dec 4 2012, 03:05 AM

Awesome just going to order a pack of strings and get my guitar fit for Drop C! Sadly I don't have a guitar tech, but I want to learn how to do it by my self, so I guess that'll be fun

But I'll get a recording up here in the next days, hopefully a video one! Just trying to figure out how to go about it, without too much trouble

Also I am currently creating my own little website project, just started to build websites again. And what I am creating is this ear trainer program 'sort of' & I was wondering if you would be willing to check it out, when I have some of the first things up?

The first things there will be is like hearing interval differences, then I will add chords, scales, and then later chord progressions for people to check out, I think I have a good solid idea of how to make it effective so people can get some good ear training , but then I could use some feedback & ideas to make it extremely effective!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 4 2012, 09:44 AM

Hey Tobias! Sure thing man Please go ahead and show it to me and I can tell you my user experience with it. Take care with the strings and setup - it's important to set the instrument right and if you want, you can find a guitar tech in almost any music store I think. Just check it out first.

Looking forward to the program and the video recording and if there are more questions, go ahead and shoot them my way!

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Dec 5 2012, 05:47 PM

Hey again

So I've just ordered 2 pair of 11-54 Ernie Ball Cobalt strings, never tried the Cobalt strings out before, so I thought this would be a fun way to test them , so just waiting for it to arrive , BTW do you use another brand than Ernie Ball? Seems to me that everyone uses Ernie Ball

Well I have a question for you, since you also sing & I was wondering what is the best way to start singing? (except actually to start singing) , since I've wanted to sing pretty much all the since I discovered Matthew Bellamy, Myles Kennedy & Richie Kotzen, also Paul Gilbert, since I liked the idea of also doing some good back-up vocals. But the problem I somewhat occurred for me, was that I couldn't find lessons on the internet like I could with the guitar, BAM search on Google and you have 3 million tabs to go at & also due to my anxiety I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable singing, but I'd just like to know if you had any advice for maybe starting out, so maybe I have some things to think about & then I could try and enter the danger zone, then record & hear my own voice and then kill my self, but that's another story
I also have this idea that guitar/singing support each other in a good way, since both of them will help each other out ear wise.

And I'll upload a recording of Metal Metrics 4 again very soon and then also one of Days of Confusion Meta, first part. Been slacking a lot lately, my sleep has gotten extremely turned around, I wake up at 3-4 in the night ATM

Cheers!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 6 2012, 09:28 AM

Hey Tobias!

I use Elixir strings - they are the original coated strings which every other string making company started producing, so that they may have their own coated strings

They are more expensive than the normal strings but hey, they also last 3-4 times longer

Regarding singing - mate, I am not entirely comfortable with my voice either, even at this point - the first thing to do, would be to learn famous songs from the bands you like. The purpose is: imitate the nuances of the voice as best as you can and sing against the original recording. You will be amazed of what nice things you will discover. On the other hand, you are VERY right - the voice helps the guitar and the other way around too!

Looking forward for the vids

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Dec 9 2012, 11:43 PM

'Eeeeey Cosmin!

Yeah well I thought about trying Elixir, read on the forum a while backing that someone said they were awesome, maybe it was you, can't really remember. But these Cobalt strings are also slightly more expensive than the regular Nickel Wound, so that'll be interesting to see how long they'll last and also how they sound

Mh, I just bought a How to Sing DVD, from some insane singer, to give me an idea, practicing vocal exercises are waaay different than practicing on the guitar xD, suddenly I have to sit / stand correctly and breath correctly... but let's see if it is something I can get my self to practice and also to see if I even like it

Okay, so another thing. I haven't really been practicing at all. I thought that I had figured it out & I had to a certain degree, just having fun, well as it turned out I didn't even practice at all and I just played the same old things over again and didn't get any better, probably even worse, so I told my self yesterday when I was about to go to bed (08-12-2012) tomorrow I'll make a practice routine & I'll stick to it, so I was thinking 20m of that 20m of that, bleh blah bluh ... So today I was like lets get practicing as it turns out I think I might have figured out how to actually make practicing somewhat sort of fun, well not so much fun, but more like doesn't feel boring and doesn't seem to take forever.

And also I was wondering if I could post my daily practice log in this thread? That way I could just keep it all at once, and you could also look at it now and then.

Okay, so this post is pretty long, no need to read it all, just some details and notes about each exercise I try and tackle & such, some details about how I practice, etc & no I didn't get a video this time either... I made my self a note to make sure I find my webcam and set it up tomorrow...

Also the post should be pretty read-able also section wise so you can just find the more `interesting´ things if there even are any

Details wise there will be notes just for my self to remember for next time, sound wise which guitar I used/config on the amp, etc & also if you can give me any tips on achieving better tone, that would be awesome!

SoundCloud link is at the bottom!

And you'll probably notice I added another lesson 'Steve Lukather Soloing Style' by Jonathan Burgos

How I Practice
I use Reaper with a VST plug-in (Guitar Rig, AmpliTube, Pod Farm - what it might be).
Then I set it so that the sound only comes out of the right speaker.
Then I also use Guitar Pro, I set the tempo of the song to 100 no matter what song it is.
Then I press (F9) to set some options about how to play it. Then i'll set it up like this e.g.

Metal Metrics 4 original tempo 120 & as stated I set tempo to 100 BPM, what I do now, in the (F9) options.
I set from 50% to 100% step 2% repeat 2x (under speed trainer) & Repeat the Countdown is enabled.
And the reason my tempo is set to 100 BPM is because it is just much easier math wise
then this is my `warm up´, after I've done this I go to next part in the song then after I've done my first practice, I'll go back.
Then I'll set it from 100% to 120% step 2% repeat 2x, maybe even step 1% - all depends on what I feel

I set it different from time to time but this is just an idea of what I'll usually (well not usually just started to do it exactly like this today, but I've done something very similiar before).
Also I'll enable metronome & countdown in the settings & make sure that the guitar in Guitar Pro i'll set that sound only come out of the left speaker.

Most importantly I stomp my foot to the beat!!

09-12-2012 (Sunday) - 3 Hours & 16 Minutes of practice

1 Recording(S) / Finale Notes for todays practice..

Metal Metrics 4
I hope that it sounds better. Since it's almost impossible for it to sound worse than it did previously , I know that there are still things missing here and there, but as long as I am improving then I'm on the right track to awesomeness

Take 1 - I recorded it at 0.00 db then before rendering the file I set the guitar to 3.43 db, seems to fit more.
Take 2 - I recorded it at 3.43 db I felt that I needed a bit more `loudness´ when RECing
Take 3 - I actually did this one twice, since the first take 3 I accidentally deleted again or something like that by pressing CTRL+Z anyways I had the db at 1.18

Days of Confusion - Meta
I learned this a week back or so (just remembering the patteren) but first practiced it today.
The reason why the metronome apparently can't be heard in the background, is because I think I forgot to make it so it would be saved under the REC, but I played over it at tempo 146.

Steve Lukather Soloing Style
I just learned the part 1 today and I know there are a lot of things missing out here and there, some vibrato etc, didn't even play over metronome or anything, but this was just to show how far I've gotten with 25 minutes of practicing Part 1

Metal Metrics 4 - Part 2 & 3
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Metrics-4/

Guitar: ESP LTD EC-1000
Pick-Ups: Active EMG 81 (Bridge) & 60 (Neck) Pick ups
Pick-Up Config. Used: The one pointing down-wards (Bridge I think, not quite sure)

Guitar Tuning: Drop D
Guitar Sound: Used AmpliTube3 Metal

Pre Model: Metal Lead V
EQ Model: Metal Lead V
AMP Model: 100W 6L6V

Gain: 5.8
Bass: 4.4
Middle: 4.4
Treble: 5.9
Bottom: 5.0
Spring Reverb: 0.0
Volume: 4.7

Noise Gate: Off (-100.0dB)

25 Minutes 50BPM-60BPM,
15 Minutes 60-100 BPM,
8 Minutes 100-120 BPM
48 Minutes Total


Trying to get more control over distorted guitar - noticed some kind of harmonics happening when muting on the G5 power chord

Also when ending on the Dsus2 chord, I use my middle finger to mute the E & A string

I find the vibrato to be the hardest thing in this part. To get that perfect and each time, seems to be pretty hard...

Metal Metrics 4 - Part 4
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Metrics-4/

Guitar Settings same as previously.

28 Minutes 50-100 BPM
9 Minutes 100-120 BPM
37 Minutes Total


Noticed everytime when I stopped playing the phrase and waited for the metronome to countdown to play it again,
I always ended with an harmonic & that annoyed the heck out of me, since I didn't really notice that before since I just played the whole lesson, but again same problem happened before on the muting on the G5 power chord.
So what I did now was that I figured out a few solutions to it, one was with the left hand, if I just took my finger off the fret,
it would pause it (which I used to do) but due to the amount of gain/distortion it would most likely also create an harmonic, which is extremely annoying.
Except it actually gave me an idea how to make some `fun´ riffs involing harmonics, but that's another thing .
So I figured out that if I just used the other fingers middle & ring maybe even pinky and just put them over the 4/5 fret that would stop it in a good way but I also at the same time take the index finger off.
Then I could also use my right hand, and just put that over the bridge pick up and that would also stop the sound.



Metal Metrics 4 - Part 5
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Metal-Metrics-4/

Guitar Settings same as previously.

10 Minutes 50-Uknown BPM, apparently had to help my mom and forgot to pause Guitar Pro
23 Minutes 66-100 BPM
10 Minutes 100-120 BPM
43 Minutes Total

Well haven't noticed anything I haven't noticed before,
so still haven't a hard time getting those harmonics `perfect´ but the hardest parts (IMO) is the bends.

Days of Confusion - Meta - Part 2
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Days-Of-Confusion-Meta/

Everything guitar wise is the same except the tone

Guitar Sound: Used AmpliTube3 Metal

Pre Model: Metal Lead V
EQ Model: Metal Lead V
AMP Model: 100W 6L6V

Gain: 4.1
Bass: 5.1
Middle: 2.0
Treble: 5.0
Bottom: 5.0
Spring Reverb: 1.9
Volume: 4.7

Noise Gate: Off (-100.0dB)

35 Minutes 50-120 BPM
8 Minutes 120-146 BPM
43 Minutes

Steve Lukather Soloing Style - Part 1
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Steve-Lukather-Soloing-Style/

Guitar: Fender Road Worn 50's Stratocaster
Pick-Ups: 3x Tex-Mex Single Coil
Pick-Up Config. Used: The one pointing up wards (neck I think)

Guitar Tuning: E stanard
Guitar Sound: Used AmpliTube3 Metal

Pre Model: Metal Lead V
EQ Model: Metal Lead V
AMP Model: 100W 6L6V

Gain: 10
Bass: 5.1
Middle: 2.0
Treble: 4.9
Bottom: 5.1
Spring Reverb: 2.9
Volume: 4.7

Noise Gate: Off (-100.0dB)

25 Minutes 61-123 BPM

Ear Training
Diatonic Intervals (UP)
08-12-2012 57/100
09-12-2012 Forgot...

Hearing Notes (C-D-E)
08-12-2012 56/100
09-12-2012 68/100

If you're wondering what this is, you'll know when I have a bit more done on my ear training project for my website , but I started doing this yesterday (08-12-2012)

Cheers!

Tobias

https://soundcloud.com/tobias-poulsen/sets/practice-for-09-12-2012/s-zSDlx

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 13 2012, 09:48 AM

Hey Tobias! Dude this is extensive Indeed, the vibrato in Metal metrics 4 is the whole deal and flavor of the lesson while tightness and timing were also important, in Meta as well.

Now before anything else... I seem to have a problem accessing the link with the recording... Trust me, listening to something is the most important thing so let's hear the recording

Posted by: Qenzoz Dec 13 2012, 07:10 PM

Are you sure you can't listen to it?
https://soundcloud.com/tobias-poulsen/sets/practice-for-09-12-2012

I've set it to private like the others but made it so you can access it with your through your account.

Also here is a YouTube video, yes a video! , but it is clean and no backing track, since I was just trying to get some recording done, but I a problem occurred when you listen to it you'll notice some cracks/pop sounds here and there, and they're REALLY REALLY frustrating when recording, it only happens when I am video recing and also sound recing, probably too much usage for my PC?

But I think I have the distorted recording + backing on my PC I just need to synchronize it up with the video, I hate that part , any tips on how to do it?

And since it had those pops & cracks I didn't want to sit and mess with that like 5 hours or how much time that'll take me , so I thought maybe this could be somewhat useful for you even though it is clean, you might see some finger/wrist position/angle that might need a tiny change, here & there.

If you have any advice on how I should be position towards the camera, for you to get a better view and also if you have any tips on getting an better image (lightning wise, etc) that would be much appreciated!

Also I'm in Drop C, wuuhuu

P.S sorry for making the camera all jumpy, but its due to a good reason! stomping my left foot

- Practicing info in bottom..

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 17 2012, 12:24 PM

Howdy Tobias!

The vid looks good and everything is clear and understandable Although in order to get things really good, I will ask you to re-record with a metronome on Deal? I think you got everything pretty much under control, but you should widen the vibrato a bit more

Now, for syncing the vids with the sound - your cam will record the sound as well and you can superimpose the sound in Vegas with the vid and the sound from the camera. Once the audio recording matches the timing of the sound from the video one, things should be good. How were you thinking to do it?

For the audio takes - I think you have everything pretty much under control - a bit more carefulness on those bends and on the timing in the Lukather take That one needs more work on the timing dude!

So! What else have you got for me?

Cosmin

Posted by: Qenzoz Mar 17 2013, 09:08 PM

Long time!

I'm back!

As you know I got the flue with some lung infection.

Besides that, my mom got cancer (2nd time in 5 years), but positively nothing that can't be held down!

But now! At school I've been put in a band, and suddenly I started to enjoy playing guitar again! haven't been playing this much for a while, I even enjoy practicing all the things I thought was boring before

Anyways, currently I am just practcing/rehearsing the songs for the band, only 4-5 songs so far. I don't choose any of the songs, which is kind of nice in some way and good I suppose, it's not my style at all, but I definitely get to learn something out of the ordinary!

But what I am practicing is a lick for a solo for one of the songs. 'Hey You' by Pink Floyd, I had to get a fast lick in there, since the original solo is just so boring, and then also another pentatonic lick for another song just the usual going 3 down and then 1 back up and 2 down again, etc.

I'm also practicing a song for my own joy , I'm Alright by Neil Zaza. Also Neil Zaza is one of the reasons I started to enjoy playing guitar again, I got a DVD with him 50 melodic rock licks and some of the minor details I just learned from him explaining just made my playing sound so different, now I really dig into the notes and I use the pick-up switch. My muting is a lot better I also play with an amp all the time, so I got a much better control over distortion, etc!

So I'll get a video up of that one when I have it a bit better down, those string skipping arpeggios are still pretty hard to get down

Other than that I am practicing your usual techniques (Legato, AP & Sweeping), for now I'll just keep it simple nothing crossing over all the strings and doing with patterns just something simple so my hands can get up to a good speed and then later focus on all the weird Govan licks

I've gone a bit away from the metal, I'm much more into the melodic definitely Neil Zaza's music is really awesome! So I am planning to learn a few of hes tunes , and then just whatever I get put into school-band wise!

Now I noticed something today when I practicing legato, my pinky seems to just fly 8 meters back whenever I do a pull off or just lift it off, is this something that automatically goes away with a lot of practice? Is it something that can affect my speed developing in the future? And if it is something I need to work on, how do I go about the problem?

Thanks in advance!

Rock on!

P.S. sorry if my text seems confusing, I'm kind of slammed ATM, got some intense tooth pain! The fun never stops around here

EDIT: Forgot to mention! You're more than welcome to choose a nice lesson for me! Or I could start and work on that Metal Metrics again, I almost should get it down, worked a bit on it , let me know what you think! But if you want to choose a lesson it would be really awesome with an good rhythm lesson, since I think that working on Neil Zaza's songs will give me all of the melodicness I need for now

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 18 2013, 12:03 PM

Hey buddy I got something for ya:

Posted by: Qenzoz Mar 25 2013, 05:48 PM

Warning: Sorry for the massive wall of text, just wanted to tell you some of the latest information, and hopefully you'll also think it's a good idea, if you even can understand what I am trying to say.. Really tired and have a good amount of headache, just have to last a few more hours then I can sleep for 12 hours and get rested and go to the studio and hopefully get all the guitar parts down for Hey You by Pink Floyd!

'Ey! , looks like I've been doing it right! , wuuhuu!

But I think I am going to drop the technique exercises, and just really work on getting songs down I have to play with the band I am in, as you know 'Hey You', I really want to be able to get a good take and play the whole song without making bad mistakes, minor unnoticeable mistakes to the normal person's ear is okay, I hope you know what I mean!

I have a hard time approaching this, since I have isolated each part of Hey You can play to the metronome at the original tempo - then of course I try and play over the backing track then I lose focus at times and then it just goes horribly wrong, of course some songs are easier, Panama by Van Halen would probably be easier for me since it just makes me bang my head and go like 'hell yeah!! ', where as a song as Hey You makes me go like 'when is something happening??? zzz '

Then after isolating each part I still needed to isolate the transition from e.g. chorus to bridge, forgot about that, so many things!

But I have a line 6 pod ux2, I just find it that it does something wrong.. It's like after I've recored with that I go like.. There is something missing, the whole thing just feels wrong, nothing really seems in time even though at sometimes it might be, but it just has this weird voodoo feeling, so I tried to record with my iPhone and it felt a lot better, and when I listened to it and I heard an mistake I could go like 'oh yeah, that's right I made that mistake there', but with the Line 6 UX2 it just felt so weird and at some points I was pretty sure I hit the right on the beat and such.. So I guess I have to record with my iPhone, terrible quality and my Webcam makes scratching noises, so maybe I can find some sort of microphone and set it up like that, not sure if I can combine it with my Shure SM57 microphone and attach that to my awesome Roland Cube 15 amp .

Anyways!! I was wondering can you give me some tips on how to approach a song, how to play good live.. E.g. I listen to Paul Gilbert playing Technical Difficulties live, sure he makes mistakes and all that, but it's not like I notice them, and it all sounds good and it doesn't sound like hes falling out of it, maybe he does at points but not so much that I notice it.

But is it also a matter of rehearsing the song with the band a lot, just play it over and over, or?

Just wondering if you have any tips and hopefully have gotten an idea of where I am going, this was one of the reasons I haven't really played that much for 6 months, since I thought I really sucked since I couldn't do this, and now I just tried to avoid it by practice all that non-sense shredding stuff, which I can't do yet, and will probably first end up doing in a good amount of months if I practice efficiently.. But I just need to get a good control of this, and when I am really good at this and can go in the studio and maybe even do a first take and be like, yeah that was good! Play a cover of a song all the way through and say yeah that was pretty good, solid rhythm, minor mistakes here and there but nothing major, etc. Then I can start to focus on the non-sense

So yeah no more running from the demons, better stand down and fight the hard & annoying battle, that'll really give me great results in the end! (Hopefully )

Thanks a ton in advance!
Cheers & have a nice day!

Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 26 2013, 12:03 PM

Hey Tobias, there's a movie coming your way

Posted by: Qenzoz Mar 26 2013, 03:44 PM

Okay!

I was in the studio today working on getting a good sound, and tried out for the solo.. I really tend to tense up when I have to record! And then everything gets so stiff, and when I really made my self relaxed and just listened to the drums & bass I actually got a pretty OK take for the rhythm guitar underneath the lead guitar. But I am mostly just really anxious and tense, especially playing lead! Seems to really frustrate me and then I over focus and bend too high, play too fast and all that beep

But it's like there is so much to work on and I just can't find a place to start. Imagine being trapped under a ton of rocks and just can't find the one rock to start removing, even though I should probably just move any rock and just get out of there!

Also if I decide to work on my technique it's like I can only work on that then I can't apparently find time for anything else, and if I want to work on the chord shifting in Hey You, I only work on that and do that for 1 hour and then I am bored and then I feel like I can't work on anything else since I suck too much since I can't get that down, there are some bad habits I need to break, but I also don't feel like having a dedicated practice routine, but I could probably use a semi-dedicated just like a good layout or something like that of things that I should practice through my day and maybe you have some ideas for this...

Anyways! I am looking forward to the movie , and I should probably get an recording done and also so you'd have a good idea of what horribleness you're working with

Cheers & thanks in advance!

P.S. Sorry for all the text again, just loads of frustration arriving and I really want to work through it and hopefully not quit/stop playing the guitar for another long period of time!

Tobias

Edit:
I just gave it a thought about that practice routine and I think that I maybe have gotten a good idea, if you can help me to make a list of good things to work on then maybe I could say that I should work on each thing everyday but for MAXIMUM 30 minutes each, so instead of it being a minimum and having to make sure and gets stressed about that I might not make all of the things and it not being so I just sit for 1 hour and get totally tired I make sure it is just max 30 minutes and 15 minutes would be okay, I just have to make sure work on each thing everyday. Maybe that'll give me some space in my head, but I often I get worried that I am not doing it right, and I know that's stupid since I should just play the damn guitar all the time and not think so much about everything (the more you think the more stink )..

But then I should maybe take the songs I work on, some for the band and some of my own choice (for the real fun!) and maybe an GMC lesson or so, just so I don't get bored but a good mix of everything - something I am going to play live and some is just for fun and my own enjoyment and then maybe some could be for the REC program here at GMC (maybe?)

Maybe it could look a bit like this

GMC lessons:
Super Hard Rock - Part 1

And once I got part 1 down I can move to part 2, since else I can easily go like this lesson has 10 parts now 30 minutes each (max), then it becomes a lot

Own things:
I'm Alright by Neil Zaza - theme music

Could maybe be more than one song, but just an example or more than one part of that particular awesome song!

Band
Hey You Chorus, Bridge & Chorus to Bridge chord isolation (MAX 15 minutes - because just changing between 2 chords is extremely boring and things like this can make my mind go bleeh ) & solo

And here I have added more things but that's because I have to go in the studio and then maybe I could set solo to max 1 hour, or maybe break it up and say solo max 30 minutes but working on getting good bends for the solo for max 30 minutes. That way I am just isolating the bends and making sure they get good

Anyways, that's just an idea, please let me know what you think of this - but for me it's a lot like now I have to work 6 hours on this particular piece and nobody does that since that is just so boring especially just changing between 2 chords, you can maybe do it the first two days but after that it just gets too boring! And I also think that if I get my patience under control I can progress a lot with just 30 minutes, even though it doesn't seem like a lot, 30 minutes passes fast, but the next day when my brain is rested it'll be easier, but that's hard to tell my self when I don't feel like I can play it better after just practicing it for 30 minutes then I say to my self I should go for 6 hours, but I still wont feel a good difference till the next day.

So as you can see! Loads of questions, frustrations and all that - but I like this idea and I bet you have some great tips.

Thanks again,
Tobias

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 26 2013, 04:43 PM

Here it iiis

Posted by: Qenzoz Mar 31 2013, 04:23 PM

Thanks for the video! Anyways I think I figured it out! I'll just take it slow and enjoy the good guitar journey!

Being an over thinker sucks but I just have to keep in mind I enjoyed and even progressed more when I actually just played the guitar for fun and learned the songs I wanted etc! , I also think that if you're going to sit down and going to play 30 minutes of legato the first day you might start out at 40 bpm getting the pattern down and then end up at 70 bpm, that's a nice progress and the next day you might not even get past 70 bpm and you won't feel like you've progressed, what I mean is that it is so easy to become bored like that because you're only looking for progress where as just playing for fun you'll still progress if you try and learn new things but you'll also have fun.

Anyways not sure if it makes any since, but in that case I can try and re-phrase, I currently have the flue (I always get sick when I get holidays - feels ironic somehow...), so I'll try and get that Hey You recording done when I can play the guitar for more than 2 minutes without almost falling a sleep

But again thanks for the video it resolved some of my problems and along with your information I listened to a lot about what Mr. Gilbert says and he said when he was a teenager he just learned a bunch of songs and he made a rule that he had to learn a new thing each day, doesn't matter if it was a chord, phrase, lick or song and also he thinks that learning songs is one of the best things, also because it is a great motivator since first you didn't know how to play it and after you do, which is progress.

Some info from Paul that I found very useful and really relevant that helped me solve my frustrations! But he just played for 6 hours a day and tried to get a song to sound good, and I get that and he didn't force him to play for a specific amount of time and he just had fun, so I definitely like that idea! just have fun and try and learn a new thing everyday as he says in a year that's a lot , imagine learning 365 new phrases in one year or 365 songs, for that matter .

This one in particular I really liked & the one below.

A person asked about hes practice routine and it was a schedule and it was like 5 minutes of that and 5 of that, 10 of that, etc.

Paul's answer

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Apr 1 2013, 07:58 AM

Hehe! Glad you found a way for your own Way ..and sorry about the cold man I know how it feels not to be able to focus and perform, be it music or anything else. It just drains the life out of you.. ugh!

Now, I enjoyed reading Mr. Gilbert's words and I wanted to ask you where you found these? BTW: I saw him perform last evening in Bucharest