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Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 17 2009, 09:56 PM

Hi Muris,

In this post I will try to give you some idea on my current status, my background, goals, problems etc.

Background
My name is Roger, am from the Netherlands, 33 years old, and I have been playing the guitar effectively for about a year back in the early '90s, however lacked completely a proper lesson-plan etc etc. I was basically just trying to hit the strings and get proper sounds out of it (which to a certain extend even worked ). After this, I remained playing very minimal (sometimes once a month) for another 2 years, but then the guitars went to the attic.

Since about 1.5 years I have picked up my guitars again, and decided that this time things would go differently. I took lessons (which is extremely helpful getting the theory linked to the actual playing), but somehow it did not give me full joy. I came across GMC a while ago and since then I have developed myself quite a bit due to all the lessons, very valuable forum info and also the collabs. Since about 5 months I also play in a band, and am starting to write material for it

Besides playing the guitar, I have been frequently involved in playing music (piano, keyboards, drums), which certainly is helpful for rhythmic feeling etc.

I am interested in quite a few musical styles of which Jazz, Blues, Funk, Rock and Hard Rock are the most important ones. However, I would very much like to get more into other styles as I believe it will make me a better musician in the end.

Current status & problems
I have progressed quite considerably during the last couple of months, due the extreme increase in practicing and making it more focussed and organised. Generally speaking you can also notice this in the collabs I took part in (maybe not in all, but there is a certain line going upwards ).

Techniques
In terms of techniques I practiced most of them already on a regular basis, however there are a couple of technical points which require a lot of attention currently:

- Vibrato (no. 1 for sure)
- Bending
- Sweep picking
- Alternate picking (higher speeds)

Basically, the main objective for technique I have put myself in the forthcoming weeks is to actually achieve a controlled vibrato throughout a solo/song which is confident and contributing to the 'feeling' of the thing I am playing.

Nevertheless, besides vibrato and controlled bending, I would also really make some progress in really developing sweep picking and arpeggiated alternate picking runs at higher speeds.

In terms of rhythm playing, I am currently learning more and more chord shapes, however I would like to implement combining these chords with lead lines (hybrid picking), especially developing them in my own music (example I quite like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSM3FL7zUdw).

Although I would like to be able to playing some very fast runs if required, my ultimate goal is to become a good musician, and playing speed should only be a tool to reach that goal.

In terms of timing I could also learn quite a lot, although people keep telling me that I have quite a good feel for rhythm.

Theory
Theory wise, I am currently at a stage that I know e.g. the 7 3 nps boxes of the major modes, working on the harmonic minor scale currently and trying to connect all those boxes (e.g. sliding shapes through 3 boxes etc) to have proper fretboard knowledge instantly when improvising. It's really getting better and better due to a much structured approach.

Also, things as which chords to use with which modes, playing around chords, more jazz-related theory is something I am quite far in I guess (due to having teaching from a jazz player I guess ). But I certainly can learn loads more!!!!!

My major goal in terms of theory in relation to my playing would be to effectively being able to improvise on the spot using different modes. Part of this would also be developing a proper ear training to recognize all intervals.

A couple of key video's recorded in order of recording

20 Oct 2008 - Slow Blues Improv (first video recorded ever, quite happy with the licks produced, timing could have been better)


14 Dec 2008 - Christmas Rock Improv (was very happy at the time with the used techniques, maybe a bit simple here and there)


24 Jan 2009 - Stop Blues Improv (being able to switch relatively easy between the pentatonic boxes, not good use of vibrato)


12 Feb 2009 - Lick Construction Improv (achieved a fair level of picking speed and melodic/chord following improvisation, not very well controlled vibrato)


15 Feb 2009 - Fusion Jam Improv (not happy at all technique wise (vibrato/bending), first video in which I used a bit of sweep picking (yay ), timing could have been better, composing wise I am quite happy to actually compose something which is following chords, using arpeggios etc.)


Current lesson of Muris to practice
I started with the http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/phrygian-soloing-intermediate/, 2 weeks ago, learned the notes but then stopped it due to all the collabs etc and some personal things. Nevertheless will start this one up again tonight (update: can play the whole thing a bit sloppy at 60 bpm now). I noticed that some of the faster parts (legato + alternate picking are giving quite some problems).

Overall goal in the MTP
Improve myself as a musician and playing the guitar, which means that I will be able to make well thought own composed music which goes a bit further than the standard ABC. Furthermore, as part of this I would like to develop heavily my technique as this is definitely one of my weak spots currently (and that also limits my speed and other aspects of my playing).

I am extremely motivated to really make this one of the best experiences in my guitar playing life ever, and looking forward to start working with you Muris

If you wanna know any more details, just ask as I will probably have forgotten quite some stuff

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 19 2009, 01:21 PM

Hey Roger.

Watching all those clips I noticed that
you're pretty much of bluesy player which is great!

Here are 2 lessons that might fit your needs nicely.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/modern-blues-soloing/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/blues-bending-lesson/

You'll find lots of bends and vibrato in those lessons
which is probably most important in blues playing.
Good thing is, it's not only one pentatonic scale up and down,
I tried so incorporate couple of scales into simple blues progression
and I hope you'll find that useful as well.

Let me know if you have any questions tho,
I'll be looking forward to your takes on those 2 lessons
in lets say 7 days.

Have a good time practicing!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 19 2009, 01:43 PM

Thanks Muris,

I will get on those lessons immediately tonight.

Just something I like to mention is that I actually want to progress to not be only a blues player (most of the collabs however had blues in it ) and I won't to move more into fusion/rock in the future as well. But regardless of that, I need to work big time on bending/vibrato so these lessons will be great!

Should I also produce a take on the phrygian intermediate lesson within 7 days, as it may be difficult to reach that given the timeframe?

Cheers!

EDIT: Checked the lessons out at work and they are really great!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 19 2009, 01:56 PM

Of course not only Blues,
I said that only because you seems to be very comfortable
with bluesy kind of playing and feel atm, that's all!!
And yes, we'll work on many other things as well,
this is just the start.
As for Phrygian lesson, it's fully up to you.
Even if you don't manage to nail lessons I gave you in 7 days
it's no big deal indeed, if you spend some time on them
I'm sure you'll get more power in vibrato and bending anyhow
which is one of our tasks here, just keep on working
and keep me updated!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 19 2009, 04:37 PM

Thanks a lot for the reply, I will do my utmost best to get as much out of all 3 lessons as possible

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 19 2009, 05:51 PM

Great !

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 23 2009, 01:51 PM

Just to quickly update you:

I am progressing fairly well with the Modern Blues lesson and the other bending lesson as well.

However one thing that stalls the progress is the fact that after I practice these lessons seriously for about 1 hour, my fingertips are totally ruined each day (and becoming painful as well), so I have to stop practicing those bends at that time (as I don't have enough power in my fingers any more to control it). This only shows to me that I really need to develop this area of bending/vibrato much more in order to get used to it.

Until now, I did not manage to record a video yet which was good enough to show you for the modern blues lesson (but this will happen before Thursday ). The other bending lesson may take a bit longer, due to the problems with hours of playing these bends currently.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 23 2009, 01:58 PM

No worries Roger, it is quite natural to face issues with finger tips
when working more on bends plus vibrato.
Just do it as you do know, have a break when you feel you need one
and try not to over work it cause sometimes it leads to very serious
problems and you would have to take even longer breaks to heal,
of course you know what you're doing and that won't happen.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 24 2009, 11:47 PM

Hi Muris,

Here is my first reasonable take on the Modern Blues Soloing lesson. It took me quite a while to get a take without quite a few errors (unfortunately, in this take the 2 whole tone bend is somewhat ruined due to string noise in this take, whilst this was much better in other takes ).

After watching the video, I am still not enthousiastic about my vibrato, but I have the feeling it's getting better since I started practicing the lesson.

I would appreciate any pointers to work on.

Gonna spend the remaining days on the other bending lesson Could you send me the backing of that lesson?

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 25 2009, 12:15 AM

We're getting there Roger, have no doubt!!

Ok, here are few pointers.
First of all, timing was bit wrong here and there
which isn't the must since we are focusing on bends and vibrato only
but you could try to fix that as well,
probably after few more listening to my take you'll get it in total, no rush.

Section 0:16-0:19, I believe you should you ring finger
for all those bends on B and high E string 11th fret,
you'll have much more strength instead of using pinky, give it a try.

Now, you could also try to play every bend in the lesson separately for a while,
just like a pure exercise, bend it and add vibrato then repeat it few times,
after that go next bend etc.
This might be boring thing to do but bends need time,
your hand will get used to everything after a while.

Here's one more trick but it's mostly psycho effect tho.
You can hit every note you need to bend very hard
and believe me, that will give some sort of confidence to your left hand
to perform even more accurate bends and vibratos.
As you can see in the lesson,
most of the time I was hitting strings like a mad man.

Good work so far Roger and here's backing you asked,
keep working, looking forward to more takes!

 Blues_Bending_Lesson___BT_75_bpm.mp3 ( 982.4K ) : 3

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 25 2009, 07:31 AM

Thanks Muris,

I noticed that the timing wasn't perfect, but as you said I was focussing a bit more on the other things. I will certain try to bend with the ring finger on the 11th fret (I was even doing that when I started the lesson ).

From now on, I will certainly do the bends only for a couple of minutes just to get them in my head.

Cheers!

Roger

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 25 2009, 10:18 PM

Just a quick update here:

Starting seriously now with the Blues bending lesson, and to my own surprise the whole lesson goes much, much easier now compared to last week when I first tried it. The work on the other lesson really payed off already I guess

Anyways, gonna keep working on it tonight, and will probably record a video of it on Friday (tomorrow I am having my squash night ).

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 26 2009, 12:50 AM

Thanks for great news Roger and looking forward to see
new clips, keep it up!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 27 2009, 11:03 PM

Hey Muris,

Here is my take on the Blues Bending Lesson. Not all bends are spot-on, but overall I am more or less OK with this take, given the relative short practice period. Done more bending the last week than in my whole life before

Looking forward to your comments and next assignments

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 28 2009, 01:45 AM

Oh yeah, I can see you spent lot of time with bending since
this isn't easiest thing to play, no doubt!!

Timing for mostly fine but some bends were kind a out of pitch
so I would ask you to pay more attention on these:
0:09 - you bended it nicely but then you released it not fully,
so you ended somewhere between F and F#, you should end of F#.
0:11 - this bend was too high, watch your steps here!
0:15 - there are 3 whole tone bends here in a row and they were all
pretty low in pitch, just bend them with more power to reach right note.
0:20 - this should be tone and a half bend on A string, pull it heavy!!
0:25 - this one was too high
0:30 - to perform this 2 whole tones bend on G string you have to bend it upwards,
there is no enough fretboard to pull it if you bend downwards.
0:31 - these half tone bends were mostly low in pitch

I believe the tempo is what makes you problems,
it's could be too fast for you atm to play on time
and execute all those bands correctly!
So here is one slower backing for you, it's actually 90% speed of 75 bpm (time stretching),
try it and let me know how it goes, you should have more time with it
to perform all those bends with steady pitch.

 Blues_Bending_Lesson___BT_Slower.wav ( 7.93MB ) : 1


Can I ask for one more take on each lesson and then we'll go with next assignments?

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 28 2009, 07:38 AM

My fingers are not happy with you anymore Muris

But seriously, thanks for the comments and actually most of the bends you mentioned I already knew that they were not in pitch completely, but it was the best take I had after 1.5 hours from yesterday evening (quite frustrating ).

What I find in particular difficult is to execute this many bends in a short period of time, all with different amounts of bending.... I find it much easier to occassionnally bend and working on that one to be in pitch, but I guess that's normal.

Anyways, I will work on both lessons this morning a bit, and then I have a big party, so will be away until Sunday afternoon and will see if I can record 2 video's at least by tomorrow or Monday.

Cheers mate!

Roger

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 28 2009, 08:14 AM

Ok, already made a recording of the Blues Bending lesson with the 90% backing (a night's sleep helps ).



I think most of the bends are now better in pitch, a couple are still off (e.g. the double bend in bar 4 is killing my fingers ).

I would appreciate if you could let me know whether this one is indeed better than my previous take?

Will record a take of the other lesson maybe still this morning or otherwise tomorrow/monday.

Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 28 2009, 01:52 PM

Absolutely and that's why I went for this lesson, to push you
further up right from the start!



Oh, it was MUCH better!!

I only have one question tho, at 0:16 you seem to play individual bend
instead of adding note with pinky on bended note,why?
That kind of licks is very useful and you can use it much often!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 28 2009, 02:15 PM

To be honest: because that particular bend is difficult for me to get right (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't). A matter of practicing this over and over I am sure.

Off to the party now, am glad that the take of this morning was better

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 28 2009, 02:37 PM

I see, with bit more practice these bends will be piece of cake for you,
have fun at party and let me know when you record last take on other lesson.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 2 2009, 12:24 AM

To give you a little update: practiced the other lesson quite a bit, especially working on the pointers you gave me. It's certainly much better now overall I think, and will record a video tomorrow of it (none of the takes recorded today were good enough as a whole to post). Gonna give my fingers a good night rest

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 2 2009, 02:38 AM

Sure thing Roger, take some rest and I'll wait for the take, good luck!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 2 2009, 02:46 PM

Hi Muris,

Here is my 2nd take on the modern blues lesson. I had some difficulties with syncing the video and sound, but it seems fine now.



I would appreciate your comments, hopefully it's better than the first one, both with regard to timing and bending precision

Looking forward to the new assignments.

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 2 2009, 11:23 PM

That was much much better Roger,
of course there is always room for improvement
so I'm asking you to continue practicing bends and vibratos, ok?

Now lets try with some alternate picking,
I would like to cover all technique regions first
and then to work more on theory, improvising and such.

Here is one pretty nice picking etude for you,
original tempo is 160 but lets try with 90 bpm,
it requires lots of stamina as well which eventually
leads to faster and more accurate picking no matter what.
For the starters you don't have to cover whole lesson,
50% would be more than enough,
I would like to see your movements when doing pure picking stuff
and then we'll dive into details.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/c-minor-picking-etude/
 Cm_Picking_Etude___BT_90_bpm.mp3 ( 2.09MB ) : 7



Good luck and ask if you need anything of course!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 2 2009, 11:35 PM

Thanks Muris,

Start practicing right away!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 2 2009, 11:49 PM

Great!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 3 2009, 02:43 PM

Hey Muris,

I have two questions regarding the alternate picking. I have used that technique for a while already, however I always noticed that it's quite tough for me to increase speeds, even with familiar patterns, so I would like to tackle the problem right away. I believe it has to do with finetuning of the my technique used, and I would like to work on it already in this first part of the lesson:

Pick angle:
Should I aim to have the pick parallel to all the strings or with a slight angle (I particularly like the tone with I use no angle)? In relation to that, if I pick at different strings, should I adjust my pick angle or just accept a difference in angle?

Right-hand:
Should my right-hand movement be fully based from the whrist? Or should I use a combination of thumb/index finger - whrist movement? The elbow should be fixed right?

Many thanks for your advices.

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 4 2009, 01:22 AM

Hi Roger.

As for the angle, I guess you can keep less angle if you want,
of course it will not be the same all the time once you start
shifting from one string to another but it's ok.

And I advise you to play from wrist only, playing "from fingers"
is too weak for many occasions, specially if we are talking about acoustic guitar per example.
I guess you wanna be able to play almost everything
both on electric and acoustic, right?

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 4 2009, 10:02 AM

Thanks Muris,

Glad that I started practicing the right way

Oh, and yeah I would like to develop myself as broad as possible playing guitar, so will stick with your advice on the wrist only Am progressing nicely with the lesson, must say that the 3 similar notes runs are quite tricky, compared to the regular 4 similar note runs. But with a bit of practice I am getting there (already noticing quite an improvement in my picking technique after a focussed practice session yesterday).

Finally I now really see that focussed practicing is really paying off big time

Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 4 2009, 12:24 PM

Awesome to hear Roger, keep me posted!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 5 2009, 12:36 AM

Hi Muris,

Attached a quick upload of the first 4 bars of the C minor picking etude to show you my basic movements (good that you pushed me in chat ).

Still quite sloppy, but should give you a good idea.

Looking forward to your advices

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 5 2009, 12:52 AM

It was very nice Roger,as I said in chat!

Try to make wider movements tho since you have time to do that,
it'll help you to feel each note better, also apply more power.

As for muting, you might notice that it doesn't have same effect
when playing slow compared with original tempo,
but still you can practice with and without PM at this speed, why not.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 6 2009, 07:21 PM

Practiced using your comments a bit yesterday and it surely improved the timing and consistency level. Must say that nailing the whole lesson without PM will take some extra practice though, but will certainly also try thereafter to apply the PM.

Anyways, as mentioned I have band practice tonight, so tomorrow I will continue practicing and hopefully I can record a video in the weekend of it

Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 6 2009, 10:38 PM

Sounds good Roger, have fun with the band tho!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 8 2009, 07:28 PM

After recording for about 2 hours , I managed to record a take which is most of the time ok-ish. It certainly has some 'errors', however I thought it would be best to show it to you this way. I omitted palm muting for now, as getting a take like this took me already quite a while

I find it particularly hard to play this flawless for 1.5 minute duration in total.

Looking forward to your comments.

Btw, even though I am only playing this etude at 90 bpm I notice a massive improvement in my alternate picking chops during jamming etc., even at much higher speeds, which is truly awesome! Anyways, I am more motivated than ever to really make things happen!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 9 2009, 12:00 AM

Nice, clean and accurate, thank you a lot for this Roger, made my day!

Your hand is fully relaxed which is most important here,
next you can apply more attack into picking if you want,
that helps a lot for better tone and timing tho timing here was excellent!

Ok, for a homework you could try maybe 100 bpms
but also do a solo over the same backing,
now you've memorized some picking patterns
plus all those bends from other lessons,
lets see how it'll be.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 9 2009, 12:25 AM

Awesome, your reply made my night! (just off to bed)

I practiced doing this at 110 bpm already a bit, so that's good continuous practice to get it up to speed and will certainly do so.

I will start working on a solo on the backing as well!

Cheers!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 9 2009, 08:13 AM

Quick question:

After looking at the chordprogression again in more detail would you say the following approach would be a good one for the scales to use during the solo:

Complete backing using C Aeolian except for the G and G7 (using C Harmonic minor or G mixolydian) and F#dim (using C locrian)?

Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 9 2009, 11:57 AM

Best idea would be C minor plus C harmonic for G and G7
and D Phrygian Dominant over F#dim, or simply play F#dim arpeggio like many do.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 9 2009, 12:10 PM

Ok thanks , will probably record the first part of the solo soonish (until Eb or so), to give you an idea how it's going.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 9 2009, 12:18 PM

Great Roger, will wait for it.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 9 2009, 07:36 PM

Hey Muris,

Ok, here it is. I have tried to stick partly to the C minor etude patterns (hence the type of solo I made), using vibrato and several bends here and there (was it better than 2 weeks ago before we started?). Also used some more speedy runs in between to spice things up a bit (could not withstand that).

Please let me know which parts you liked, and which parts can be improved so I can work on that while composing the remainder.

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 10 2009, 02:03 AM

I see that you feel much more free to bend the string!
However, be careful when trying whole tone and a half bends,
you did it 2-3 times but most of them were low in the pitch,
I know it's maybe little bit scary to bend string that much
but if you stared it then you have to finish it,
otherwise you end in between the notes and it sounds out of tune.

Picking was also nice, it made cool refreshing sound
after all those longer notes, just make sure that you count
all notes correctly like 16th, 16th triplets or whatever,
random picking runs might sound kind of sloppy if they
are played without enough confidence and power,
or at least you need to end it right on time with strong note
and that way even random runs will sound ok!

And vibrato could be maybe better,
you had lot of longer notes and enough time
to perform all those wide and heavy vibratos,
perhaps you were thinking what to do next and maybe that's what
distracted you from applying nice vibrato all the time,
try to focus enough on every single, hit the strings, apply vibrato
and let is stays as long as you want but keep it sounding sweet and not nervous,
once you're done with the note you can go for next one etc.
Each note we play needs special treatment, just like kids!

How about doing another one but maybe more melodic,
try to sing a line along with the backing and then
copy some of those lines that you sang,
we're after sweet solo that\ll have our attention!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 10 2009, 06:55 AM

Thanks for all the comments, still a long way to go . I will eventually get the bending/vibrato right .

Will try to make a more melodic one this time (I actually knew the last one wasn't melodic enough, but that was because I put things in it artificially what I normally wouldn't do that much).

Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 13 2009, 02:59 AM

Sorry for delay Roger, I just arrived in US,
looking forward to new take.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 13 2009, 07:23 AM

No problem Muris, hopefully I can put something together tomorrow, if not it will be end of next week as I am going to Milano for 6 days on a business trip .

EDIT: First upload will not be before next weekend unfortunately, work and private life are quite hectic at the moment, and the business trip doesn't help either .. will take loads of theory with me though on the trip

Have fun in the US!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 21 2009, 06:15 PM

Hey Muris,

Here is my new attempt (HQ setting is loads better ) to get something melodic on the backing of the C minor etude.



Looking forward to your comments

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 25 2009, 01:18 PM

That was way more melodic Roger, good job!

Just pay attention at 0:31, we have Eb chord there
and you ended on C note, that's note pretty much strong note
cause Eb chord doesn't have it inside, try with Bb, G or Eb instead,
I would go with Bb tho since it's closest one to C.
Also focus more on vibrato on longer notes,
I'm sure you can notice that it's pretty nervous,
needs some more work and we will work more on that.
And last thing that I would like to talk about here is
Alternate Picking part you fired off in the middle of section,
you picked very cool spot but your timing was bit inaccurate
cause it wasn't kind a "prepared".
In improvisation we play some unprepared licks from time to time
but our hands must be comfortable with something similar
in order to pull it off nicely.
So think all licks that you wanna play, try it slowly,
see what note durations you're up to, clean it up,
play it slowly and then build the tempo.
After many licks you play it'll take less and less time
for those preparations.
How about another one with clean picking and more
slow and wide vibrato on longer notes?
You can use full backing if you want
and also think of strong notes when you lay down.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 25 2009, 01:56 PM

Hey Muris,

Thanks for the extensive feedback, which is certainly helpful.

Parts of the solo were indeed improvised, including the quick part, which explains that problem.

I will post another take fairly soon, and if you agree I would like to stick with the current length for now, just to get the vibrato better and the timing issues. I really, really would like to get my vibrato/timing/bending fully controlled as it annoys be bigtime currently .

Was the bending generally better compared to previous takes you saw from me?

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 25 2009, 09:02 PM

Hey Muris,

Here is a new take from me. I have focussed fully on the vibrato on this one and hopefully it's improved (I have at least the feeling, both during playing and after listening that it improved) compared to the previous take. Please let me know.

I also got rid of the ending at 0:30 on C (ended on Bb instead), however I know that the quick alternate part is not good yet, but I thought it would be good to know first whether the vibrato is finally getting better or not.

Thanks for the comments.

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 27 2009, 09:30 AM

Sorry for delay Roger, I was out of town yesterday, another gig!

Latest clips were very good, specially the very last one,
bending is getting better and vibrato is sounding much smoother,
there is still room for improvement as you know
but there is major progress compared to when we started, no doubt!
Keep working on those and now lets work on Alternate Picking a bit.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/alternate-picking-thirds/
Here's one nice picking lesson for you that involves 3nps patterns all the time,
I'll give you full tempo backing which is 100bmp, let me know if you
need slower one, maybe you have some software to slow it down tho.
Good luck and please let me know if you need any help with it!

 Alternate_Picking_Thirds_BT_100_bpm.mp3 ( 974.09K ) : 2

Posted by: Velvet Roger Mar 27 2009, 07:39 PM

Thanks Muris for the comments.

Good to hear that things are progressing . I will start working on the AP thirds lesson, as well as continuing with the other AP exercise + solo.

I have Soundforge, so I can easily slow the backing down. Have started with that lesson a while back, and know all the 3 nps patterns already, so hopefully this won't take too long to record a reasonable take

Off to band practice now
Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 28 2009, 02:03 PM

Sounds great Roger, have fun with the band
and looking forward to new takes.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 7 2009, 10:39 PM

Hey Muris,

Just a quick update from my side after we had the chat discussion last week. I have started tonight again (after I returned from the US) with the alternate picking thirds lesson and I can more or less play the 80 bpm variant. However, it's still too sloppy, so I will practice it for a couple more nights if you don't mind and post a take Friday or Saturday (I have work appointments tomorrow and the day after in the evening as well unfortunately).

The biggest problem I currently have is that my pick is moving within my fingers, which I need to correct and that results again in sloppy playing as well

All in all a good lesson to practice!

Thanks for your patience

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 7 2009, 11:23 PM

Welcome back Roger!

Take your time and some rest,
weekend seems to be just fine,
I will wait for your takes.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 11 2009, 05:08 PM

Hey Muris,

Here is something that should sound like the lesson, it's at 80 bpm and it frustrates me really bigtime.

Somehow, I can't concentrate myself at all during this lesson (I tried it many times), while this is of crucial importance for myself to not cause all those sloppy mistakes to happen (stringnoises, out of time playing etc). As a result of that, you will get something like in this video

I have tried at much lower speeds as well, and the result is definitely nothing better.... higher than 90 bpm and then I can see it becomes sloppy because of the speed.

I practiced this lesson now for several days, and the patterns are fully in my head (they were already before even practicing this at the beginning of the week). Besides the concentration bit (which I actually have with most of the etude kind of things, but I guess that's normal), I also notice that with those lengthy durations I have to continuously correct my picking hand (also the pick tends to move), which also doesn't help.

Anyways, sorry that I just had to vent my feelings a bit (as the frustration level was higher than I can normally cope with ), but I guess it only shows my biggest problem at the moment: alternate picking .

Hopefully you can give me some pointers how to continue with this.... Time to grab a beer and sit in the garden for a while!

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 11 2009, 05:26 PM

I can some some struggle Roger but we can fix this in a sec!
Main thing is that you keep your
left hand wrist too much behind the neck,
you have to push it in front to get more comfort,
here you have 2 whole frets per string pretty often
and it's very hard to play that the way you do,
imagine you're playing it with legato,
you have to hold your fingers kind a vertical with frets
and that means wrist goes ahead!
Give it a shot and let me know if it's getting better!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 11 2009, 08:00 PM

I tried this, and I certainly see the point that it gives more comfort regarding the stretching. Nevertheless, as I am not used to playing that way at all (my legato is also having the same problem I guess ), the results are even worse off than before. Will practice this for a while and see whether I can improve it.

Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 11 2009, 10:51 PM

It depends of what you play atm Roger,
the way you hold your hand in the video
is great for bends and vibrato, no doubt,
but it doesn't work that great for stretches,
all in all we need to adapt our hands along as we play!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 11 2009, 11:23 PM

Sure thing, will just take some time to get used to this new way of playing

Cheers!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 11 2009, 11:26 PM

Time is on our side, let me know if you need more help tho!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 13 2009, 04:09 PM

Hey Muris,

Here is a new take in which I tried to focus on my left hand posture much more. The take is still sloppy (especially going down during the last pattern, where a suddenly increased speed without any reason ), however I thought it would be good to know first whether all the basics movements/position are more or less OK now, before cleaning it up further?

Thanks for your help!

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 13 2009, 04:48 PM

Left hand posture is much better now Roger!
However you might try to close your legs
and turn on the left a bit,
you're hitting your belly with your left hand
which causes you some extra problems,
actually you did try to avoid that few times
in the video, when you move in the place.

Keep it up, it's going fine!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 13 2009, 05:11 PM

Yeah noticed that as well, almost unavoidable with such a big belly as mine . Will work on that as well and will get there sooner or later

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 13 2009, 06:59 PM

Same thing happened to me with Axis,
22 frets, neck pretty deep in body etc.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 16 2009, 08:57 PM

Just a quick update from my side Muris: slowly getting improvement in the lesson, and hopefully I can record a proper take this weekend (have squash/bandpractice today/tomorrow).

Was also thinking of working on the April challenge a bit of yours (the intermediate one ).

Cheers
Roger

ps: Summer Song is definitely improving as well, but we have difficulty in using it in the MTP on the forum (concerning tabs, videos and such - after feedback from Maria on it). Will update you on this once I know more.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 16 2009, 10:42 PM

Looking forward to it Roger,
let me know about Summer Song through PM in a meanwhile!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 18 2009, 10:37 PM

Hi Muris,

I've been practicing the alternate picking in thirds lesson an aweful lot, and been busy trying to record a proper take this evening since 21:00 ... and somehow, when I press that record button I get all those uncontrolled things happening during the take (string noises etc etc). Anyways, this is the best I could get out of this lesson for now (which is really a big dissappointment for me ).

Anyways, let me know your thoughts

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 19 2009, 01:22 PM

Just sent a PM with the first part of Summer Song .

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 19 2009, 01:39 PM

Replied .

Now few words about your 3rd take on the lesson!
IMO you're progressing very nicely but of course
there is always some room for improvement.
Sync IS the problem as you said and maybe you should
try this lesson couple of times but pretty slowly,
you can even practice without backing and turn on metronome only.
What I would suggest is to focus on picking more and less on fretting hand,
as far as I can see you're applying not enough power in picking
and that usually leads to bad sync when playing exercises!
Play it slow, pick each note harder and also apply some palm muting,
you can mute bottom strings when playing on top string,
just in case if something starts to ring.

Now I'm gonna give you a bit more freedom and let you
to pick next lesson that we'll be covering!
In a mean while don't forget to work on lessons we already started with, ok?

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 19 2009, 01:59 PM

Thanks for the comments. Will certainly continue with the previous lessons on a daily basis, but am glad as well that we can move on a bit.

I was thinking to take something completely different for a change:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/rhythm-guitar/funk-rhythm-lesson/

Would that be logical (if so, could you give me the backing at full speed?), if not I am more than happy with any lesson

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 19 2009, 06:14 PM

Funk Rhythm lesson, great idea Roger!!

And here's backing for you!!

 Funk_Rhythm_Lesson___BT_105_bpm.mp3 ( 912.1K ) : 1

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 19 2009, 06:42 PM

Cheers!

ps: Focussing now on the picking hand really helps for the other lesson, thanks for the advice!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 20 2009, 12:47 PM

You're welcome Roger. picking is always a problem,
even if you've been practicing it for a years, no worries!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 26 2009, 09:28 PM

Hi Muris,

Here is a take of the Funk Rhythm lesson at 95 bpm. I can play it pretty much the same at 105 bpm but it's a bit less stable than this one. I kinda miss a bit of the funky feel still and the main riff is a bit sloppy sometimes, but working on that .

Looking forward to hear your thoughts

Cheers!
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 26 2009, 11:45 PM

Nice work Roger!!

Here's the thing about Funk and those grooves,
when you listen to a take it might sound almost
100% fine and in time but when you LOOK at the player
you will realize why it sounds ALMOST perfect.
And you're guessing the reasons of course,
you must be more relaxed overaly
but another very important thing is to actually
feel the rhythm by tapping with your foot
or even small dancing with your shoulders!!

You learned piece correctly and that's very crucial at this stage,
now you just have to dive more into groove,
get some nice mood and do The Funk!

Can't wait for next clip (including some dancing)!!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 28 2009, 10:57 PM

Been busy practicing the Funk Lesson and it certainly improves. Hopefully I can record a take tomorrow.

In the meantime, I have also made a take for this month challenge on your dynamics solo writing lesson, and I would love to hear your comments as well on that one.

Here it is:



Cheers,

Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 28 2009, 11:56 PM

Yeah, I just saw it in REC thread and said few words as well.


Here's what crosses my mind atm and these
are truly small details but those mean a lot!
First, somehow you play staccato notes in a phrase
when it should be legato, not technique but connection between
notes, you make a gap probably because of the sync issue,
that happens on picking parts tho.
So pay more attention to that, keep it flowing.
Next thing is picking and bending probably,
I can always make complaint about it
but you ARE making some major progress since we started
so just keep working on that as you have done so far.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Apr 29 2009, 06:35 AM

Thanks for the additional comments, besides the ones in the REC thread - and I will certainly work on that. Maybe you won't believe it , but I am quite a perfectionist, so all details do matter a lot to me and it only helps me to get more focussed on my playing.

Nevertheless it's good to see that I am making some progress

Cheers!
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Apr 29 2009, 03:16 PM

I knew you're gonna understand my point Roger,
those details can really make a huge difference after all!
Keep up the work and let me know when you
have a new recording on the way.

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 2 2009, 05:09 PM

Here is a new take of the Funk Rhythm lesson. This time at full speed (105 bpm) and I tried to get some dancing in as well (however, I need beers for that normally ).



Anyways, it's not perfect (e.g. not so happy with the first couple of bars), but hopefully certain aspects have improved a bit. Was quite busy the last days with band practice and such (my own funk song at practice went 10x better than before though .. so it certainly pays off to do this .

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 2 2009, 08:11 PM

Yeah, I can feel the groove Roger, much better regarding that topic!

Now there are some spots where you have only technical issues
to they sound somehow sloppy and not so clean,
you might wanna break it down into smaller sections,
play slow just to catch up your picking and see if everything is going as planned
and then build up the speed slowly.
Now need to play it too slow tho, maybe 15-20 bpm slower than full tempo.

Good work!

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 2 2009, 08:28 PM

Thanks Muris.

I know exactly what you mean, but the really frustrating bit (as always) here is that I can play it much cleaner and less sloppy once I don't hit the record button or put on the webcam .

Nevertheless, I will certainly keep on this lesson doing it much slower to really notice what I am doing. Can't hurt

Any new lesson I can take a look at as well?

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 2 2009, 10:28 PM

I know that rec button makes us all real problems!
Have you ever tried to put whole thing in loop,
record dozen of takes and simply pick the best one?

As for new lesson I suggest http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/steve-lukather-style-lesson/!!
Nothing too fast but still full of many important stuff like tone,
vibrato, attack etc.
Perhaps you tried this already?

Here's backing for you.

 In_Style_Of_Luke___BT_65_bpm.mp3 ( 1.12MB ) : 2

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 3 2009, 12:00 AM

Yeah, to record I use the loop functionality all the time ... but don't worry, I notice that the process is improving over time, basically the same story as with playing for other ppl... you just have to get over it

Regarding the lesson: never tried that one before, but it's a great lesson ... will get on it tomorrow

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 3 2009, 12:07 AM

Yeah, as the time goes we get more confident and everything comes in place nicely,
looking forward to your take and please keep working on other lessons as well!

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 3 2009, 01:02 AM

Will certainly keep working on the others .... after just practicing the Luke lesson for a couple of minutes I already notice that several aspects of my playing are improved a lot so I can actually manage this lesson probably (wasn't the case 2 months ago for sure ). Cool lesson btw!

This gets my motivation even higher .

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 3 2009, 01:17 PM

It's all about hours we spend with the guitar and whole effort
but everything pays back nicely, no doubt!

Btw, if you have any problems with Luke lesson, specially with timing,
you can check out http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=26994 where I uploaded
a slower take on it, easier to follow everything.

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 3 2009, 01:38 PM

Thanks Muris!

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 6 2009, 06:22 PM

Just a quick note that I am quite busy with work currently, and in the evenings stuffed with other things (like band practice tonight, squash etc).

Will practice regularly though and hope to have something uploaded by the weekend

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 6 2009, 06:24 PM

No problem Roger,
let me know when you have something!

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 9 2009, 08:47 PM

Hey Muris,

Just to update you a little:

1) Funk rhythm lesson is now better regarding rhythmic placement as far as I can judge it, and will continue to work on that for the next days and will post a video when I am satisfied

2) Luke lesson: did not have time the last 3 days to practice, but today I achieved quite an improvement and can more or less play the lesson at 50 bpm with OK timing. Only struggling a bit still with bar 9, 11 and 12. I noticed that I find it somehow quite hard to do chromatic pull-offs smoothly with 4 fingers on 2 strings after each other . Anyways, will try to record a video of that as well in the next days.

Am quite busy currently as well with my band, as I am going to sing in the band as well ... and that brings a totally different dimension into my performance, which is taking up a bit of time.

Sorry for the delays (tomorrow I have 2 birthday parties and we have 'Mothersday' in the Netherlands ... so going to visit 4 homes in one day which are spread around 150 km from each other , but you will get something from me soon hopefully

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 9 2009, 10:52 PM

Despite of lack of recording I must say that I'm really glad to hear
that you're working a lot with the bend,=
and specially that you'll be doing vocals too, way to !

Regarding Luke lesson and chromatic pull-offs,
it's natural to have problems with that kind of licks
IF you haven't played something similar before,
actually doing pull-offs or hammer-ons with all 4 fingers in a row
just might be the hardest combo available,
practice it slow until your fingers get the idea on how to execute that.

Looking forward to new takes Roger,
have fun at parties etc!

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 11 2009, 02:19 PM

Hey Muris,

Here is another try on the funk rhythm lesson. I believe that the rhythmic placement is better now, however I noticed afterwards that I danced less . Hopefully this one is good enough for the REC program .




Anyways, looking forward to your thoughts on this one

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 11 2009, 02:54 PM

It IS getting better Roger!!

Rhythmic placement is pretty much on place
except those muted triplets that you've been missing, at 0:23.
They are not crucial but give really cool flavor to Funk, muted or ghost notes.

And the last note B should be a lot shorter,
whole rhythm section stops immediately and you should do the same,
do not let it ring a lot, that's the point of that kind of endings,
short, accurate in in your face!

Good take, worthy for REC, no doubt.

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 11 2009, 03:17 PM

Great, thanks for the heads up!

Since yesterday evening late, I suddenly noticed that I was putting too much pressure on the fretboard with my playing to get the placement right and after I did this much less, not only this lesson went much better, but all my playing went great in comparison to earlier .... kind of an eureka moment I guess for myself

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 11 2009, 03:52 PM

Eureka is best feel ever Roger!!

I cannot say if you have applied too much pressure
but one thing is for sure, we need to be as much relaxed as possible
and that very often means less pressure as well.
However I would keep working on applying more attack with the picking,
it's sometimes very helpful for timing, articulation etc.
And you'll always know when you apply too much, it'll sound wrong.

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 17 2009, 06:47 PM

Hey Muris,

As discussed this afternoon in chat: here is my first try on the Luke lesson. Kinda sloppy still (but don't have any time left today to get that sorted now ): timing is not perfect at several places as well as some bends are out of pitch, but you were definitely right to record something prior to my holidays, which start tomorrow

After I return I will keep on going with this lesson until it's OK regarding timing and will then move on to the 65 bpm speed as well.

Any helpful pointers are always appreciated

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 17 2009, 11:37 PM

Hi Roger and thanks for recording!!
I know that you have a lot on your mind atm so it's very appreciated.

Here are few pointer of course.

This added not on bend at 0:08 is always tricky when you try it for the first time.
And you have to be very focused when doing it,
your hand needs to keep bend fully while pinky is adding a note,
of course it's matter of practicing but concentration as well,
you have to say it "hold right there until it's over!!".
And you can also try it with tapping every once in a while
until you're able to play it perfectly with pinky.

Rest of the bends were pretty fine imo but I noticed that you've been
using pinky very often for some other bends like at 0:17 and 0:45 ,
you can play those much easily with ring finger to get better control
of the bend and eventually apply some vibrato,
it's very hard to control bend with pinky imo, no need to torture yourself.

Timing was like 95% ok tho!
There are some tiny problems with faster part
but I'm sure you'll clean that in no time with some more facused
practicing on that specific part.

I wish you some great time at holidays Roger
and thanks for the take, it was VERY nice!

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 18 2009, 06:21 AM

Thanks for the feedback Muris, much appreciated!

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 25 2009, 12:21 PM

Hey Muris,

Am back from holidays, so back to practicing the Luke lesson . Been playing the acoustic guitar for a whole week playing all kinds of little wing type of improvisation (memorized about 20 new chord shapes all over the neck), which now I am back playing the strat, does give me the feeling that I am making an enormous boost in my playing ability.

I can also manage the Luke lesson at 65 bpm with only a few things to correct and will upload a proper take somewhere this week. Have to practice quite a bit for the band as well because we are going to play Little Wing on Friday (and I need to get that in my system for 90% still ).

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 25 2009, 03:59 PM

Welcome back Roger!!

Those small chords all over the neck are helpful indeed,
give you better overview when improvising and not just playing chords as they are.
I'll look forward to your new take, see ya soon!

Posted by: Velvet Roger May 31 2009, 05:50 PM

Ok Muris,

As discussed in the chat 10 minutes ago, here is a take I recorded this morning which certainly has still several things to address, but I agree it's better to regularly upload something indeed

Will certainly try to record a better take soonish, but besides that I would love to also get started with another lesson if you agree?



EDIT: as discussed on the forum.. directions to progress in are those which I don't play often: Jimi-Hendrix like knowing as much chords/riffs (a la little wing) to freely improvise or a bit of hybrid picking or so. On the other hand: I really need to work more and more on rhythmic development as that's something which comes up several times with collabs and such.

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 1 2009, 01:04 AM

There were some problems with timing starting from middle of the lesson
but your bends are much much better and accurate Roger!!
And this Luke lesson ain't easiest one,
all those bends and vibratos are very tricky to handle
for many players, well done so far!

You may continue to work on this and all other lessons we've tried so far,
it's never wrong to play things over and over,
it's just a matter of time when a segment from one or few comes in handy.


Here's my Hybrid Picking Beginners lesson,
maybe you are not beginner at this point
but I would love to see how you handle this one
before we start with something bit harder, ok?
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/hybrid-picking-beginner/
And here is BT for you (let me know if you would like slower one as well) .
 Hybrid_Picking___Beginner_BT_85_bpm.mp3 ( 1.15MB ) : 1



And as for Hendrix type of chords/riffs,
I do not have any lessons of that kind running at GMC atm,
perhaps you've been working on something similar
that I might correct or give some input?

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 1 2009, 07:12 AM

Thanks for the comments Muris, will continue working on that lesson. Would you think this take of the Luke lesson would be REC program proof already?

Will get going on the hybrid picking lesson as well. When I woke up this morning I noticed that I have the flu currently, so not sure whether I can play a lot today, but we will see

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 1 2009, 11:55 AM

Ok, here is a take on the hybrid picking lesson

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 1 2009, 12:40 PM

Well every single take is worth REC imo,
that's why we have grades so you guys could have seen
what are your mistakes and which ares need more improvement.
Tho I believe you can do it a lot better, no doubt!



Hell yeah, now THAT was made for REC, post it asap!!!
Well you can see how your right hand fingers are nicely curled
and your whole fist looks pretty much "closed", just the way I like it.
Now, it would be AWESOME if you could keep the same or at least similar position
when playing anything else like AP, sweeping etc!!

But never mind, lets go for Hybrid Intermediate, ok?
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/hybrid-picking-intermediate/
And here is BT for you of course.
 Hybrid_Picking___Intermediate_BT_148_bpm.mp3 ( 900.49K ) : 0

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 1 2009, 01:02 PM

Yeah I know, will try to record a better version for REC



Thanks Muris, won't post this one for REC though as it lowers my rating incredible .
Will get going with the hybrid intermediate lesson right away

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 1 2009, 01:07 PM

Ok then, intermediate it is,
let me know if you need any help with it tho, good luck!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 1 2009, 01:14 PM

Well the speed (16th passages) will take time/practice to get used to with hybrid picking, will keep you posted

Btw, I had another think what to focus on for the future and I completely forgot about sweeping. I can do a tiny bit of that, but really need more sweeping guidance in order to improve that

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 1 2009, 02:22 PM

Of course!!

How about this?
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/sweep-picking-lesson/
It's pretty much "easy" but might work nice for starters.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 1 2009, 04:48 PM

Thanks, started off with this one and this will certainly be a struggle! Will play this lesson every single day for a long time until I get it right

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 1 2009, 05:11 PM

Sounds great Roger!
Do you need backing or you can obtain it using "other" channels?

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 1 2009, 08:04 PM

It's fine the way it is .

When I started practicing it at 80 bpm, it was really difficult to get that 'sweeping' motion going (it was more individual picking (economy picking) instead, and at 100 bpm it went towards 'sweeping' more or less automatically (although very unclean and not precise yet). Is that something you would say is normal or should I also be able to get that sweeping motion going with lower bpm's, in order to really start from scratch and build it up?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 1 2009, 08:33 PM

That's very interesting question Roger.
No matter how hard we try to get "sweep" motion with REALLY slow tempos
it probably won't be 100% sweep in one motion,
simply because there's enough (or too much) time for our picking hand to split 1 motion into 2.
But we still need to think of it as one motion and do our best to keep it that way.
There are some licks (played not so fast tho) over 5-6 strings
with just one note on each string and we still play them with alternate and not sweep picking.
Perhaps it'd sound more "sloppy" and less accurate or tight with sweeping,
there are many reasons.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 1 2009, 08:36 PM

Ok, will get on it
Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 1 2009, 09:17 PM

Great.

And after reading my previous reply I realize
that I even missed to answer your question properly.

Here it goes!
If you feel comfortable to sweep at 100bpm right now than it's great!!
BUT you should test yourself and slow thing down lets say 10-20 bpms,
sounds weird but sometimes sweeping is easier when played faster.
I said sometimes cause that only applies for those sweeps
that just need to be sweeped as fast as possible,
there is no straight notes values like 16ths, 32ths etc,
it's more like uber fast sweep effect.
But for everything else we should be able to play same thing at speed and very slowly,
cause if we can't play it slow that pretty much means
that we don't understand what is it that we are doing 100%.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 2 2009, 06:02 AM

I see your point, thanks for the extra explanation

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 2 2009, 10:14 AM

Good.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 8 2009, 11:18 PM

Quick update just before you're in the plain:

Hybrid picking lesson get's along quite nicely and I will try to record a decent take while you are in London. The sweep picking one is really annoying the hell out of me, but I know I have to keep on doing it and at a certain moment it will all fall into places

Practicing the advanced challenge for this month as well to improve my alternate picking skills.

Have a great time in London and good luck!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 9 2009, 04:11 PM

Thanks for input Roger, it's matter of time and practicing,
keep working and record as often as you can!

Thanks for your kind wishes tho, means a lot, talk soon!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 20 2009, 08:06 PM

Hi Muris,

Just a quick update here: practicing the intermediate hybrid picking lesson quite a lot, however I am struggling heavily with getting some of the sections clean played. Somehow my right hand fingers are not listening to my brain . Will upload a take at 120 bpm in the next couple of days hopefully.

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 21 2009, 01:01 AM

Hey Roger, great to hear from you!!

Yeah I know, many of my intermediate lesson
might be advanced for someone but it's sooo relative,
pardon me if I make mistake while rating 3 levels sometimes.

Let me know if you need any help or hint with it tho!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 21 2009, 01:09 AM

Hehe, good that at least this lesson is rated 6 by you ,

Well, in order to clean it up I guess I just have to work to use my right hand fingers very carefully and mute all the not used strings as well with my left hand and right hand palm as much as possible.

Will keep on it

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jun 27 2009, 01:05 PM

Hi Muris,

Here is a take at about 110 - 120 bpm on the intermediate hybrid picking lesson. I am far from happy with it, but it took much too long in the first place to record something in the first place. Some of the sections need a bit of clean-up, and those I can actually already play cleaner already, however I struggle big-time with the bars 9 - 12. How can I get those at least a bit cleaner .

Anyways all comments are much appreciated

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jun 27 2009, 01:18 PM

Thanks for update Roger,
it is a bit sloppy but you're getting there!

Here's one thing that I noticed tho,
you seem to play very soft here, both with pick and fingers.
Don't get me wrong, being able to play soft is some sort of a gift,
many guys can't do that, they hit heavily all the time!
But when you have kind a faster licks to play
it usually ends sloppy it you don't apply enough energy into picking,
and that very energy within picking (pick and fingers)
will help you to sync hands nicely too, believe me.
You're still pretty new to this technique
so that's why you should "attack" more on every note for now,
later on you can play it softer and more smoother
as you get more comfortable with technique.

So here's what I would do,
I would simply practice each lick separately over and over,
with more power in right hand, string should swing every time you hit it,
that might be your guide here!
As you can see in video, strings are not moving up and down
as you play them cause there is no enough power,
add more, play licks separately, start very slowly and upgrade the speed smoothly,
that should work.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jul 1 2009, 06:42 PM

Thanks a lot Muris for the advice. It surely helps a lot.

I will be leaving tomorrow for quite a lengthy holiday, returning around the 22nd of July most probably, so won't be able to record any videos until then, however I will keep practicing things as I will take my acoustic guitar with me

Any plans for yourself regarding holiday in the comming months?

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 2 2009, 09:14 PM

Holidays, sound like a good time, have a great one Roger!!

And yeah, bring your guitar with you, try some new stuff if you get some time
and hit me here in thread if needed, no problem at all.

My vacation..hmm... I had some nice plans for August
but I've been getting new jobs invitations almost daily
so I might skip it this year, most likely, will see.

Anyhow, don't listen to me complaining about everything
run and catch some sun, talk soon!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jul 21 2009, 08:32 AM

Hi Muris,

As you might have already noticed ... am back from Spain. Had a great time and learned a lot whilst playing the acoustic guitar as well. Completely swamped myself with a lot of advanced theory stuff which is opening up a whole lot of new possible roads to take to make music.

Gonna start again on the hybrid picking lesson to get that better soonish

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 21 2009, 02:30 PM

Hey Roger!

Good to hear from you, glad you had a great time in Spain tho.

Hit me with some new recordings when you can
and feel free to talk about theory that you've been diving it recently!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jul 21 2009, 04:24 PM

Will surely do that Muris.

Would appreciate it if you could give me your opinion and some further guidance on how to improve this improvisation I recorded today: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=29083&st=0&gopid=403532&#entry403532

Many thanks!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 21 2009, 05:07 PM

That was done with lot of feel, like it!!

But you need to be aware of few things when improvising
if you want it to sound 100% smooth and intelligent.
Chords in progression and strong notes.
Per example, this BT is in a key of G and you've been using
Em pentatonic a lot which AIN'T wrong considering
that G and Em ARE relatives, meaning same notes are in the game.
But if you land on E note over G chord that sounds pretty weak,
and you did that several times.
So this is pure theory part considering improvisation,
be aware of what is happening around you.

Next this is timing, you seem to play very relaxed
and that's good BUT too much relaxed playing leads to not so tight rhythmic.
Try to think more of timing, 8th notes, triplets, 16th notes etc.
I'm not saying that you should play like robot all the time, no way,
but sometimes you must thing of rhythmic.
Another way to test your timing and how much it is tight actually:
record improvisation and tab it or transcribe in GP or som.
Notes won't be a problem I hope but rhythmic might cause you LOT of headache
cause it ain't that straight and tight.

Think more of those things when improvising, it should work.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jul 21 2009, 07:33 PM

Thanks a lot Muris, much appreciated!

Quite funny that I was perfectly aware that the backing was in G and I was also not intending to play the Em pentatonic during my playing, however somehow I got attracted to play that E note a lot in this take. In other takes, I was much more playing the G note as a landing note instead . Anyways, it's very good to keep in mind and to work on!

Regarding rhythm I have still a long way to go before improvising with knowing exactly what I am planning to play in the near future I guess, which makes me play all kind of things (with and without a steady rhythm pattern ).

Best thing though for me in this was though that it is my first recording of several minutes which is acceptable and makes me want to do this more often .

Thanks again!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 21 2009, 09:00 PM

Of course Roger!!

Main this is to feel comfortable when jamming,
polishing will come naturally, keep them coming.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jul 25 2009, 11:32 AM

A little update

Making some nice progress on they hybrid picking lesson following your advice and hopefully will record a take later today or tomorrow (might be even full speed ).

Must say that my total playing skills have definitely improved over the last weeks whilst only playing the acoustic .... overall alternate picking speed definitely increased with several BPM as well as my fretboard knowledge due to the large number of chords/intervals I recognize better now.

Coming to a point now for the first time that I think that I might be able to tackle some more advanced instrumental tunes

Your help has been really invaluable for all the progress I have made (can imagine how my bending/vibrato would have been without your help ) in the last months and will be during the coming ones. Many, many thanks for that!

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 25 2009, 09:10 PM

That's just AWESOME Roger!!!

Spot on with acoustic btw,
it helps with picking big time,
you have to pick harder and with more accuracy, no doubt,
you are doing a very wise thing by spending more time with your acoustic!

Looking forward to your new takes.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jul 30 2009, 03:31 PM

Hi Muris,

Finally recovering a bit from the flu-symptoms I had in the beginning of the week as you knew, so here is take on the hybrid intermediate one. Hopefully it improved since the previous one. Tried to have the fingerpicking a bit stronger now as well. I have quite a bit difficulty with playing this clean at several spots. I am looking forward for your comments .

In the meantime I had a bit of a thought on how to proceed and I guess one of my main issues is proper phrasing/rhythm (as you pointed out during the improvisation take). Also, my legato needs some work I guess (I hear that comment quite a few times 'legato is a bit weak'). Any good lessons you could recommend for me to work on?

Am learning/memorizing the 5 CAGED arpeggio shapes for Maj/Min/Maj7/m7/7/m7b5 chords at this moment as well, in order to include more chordial phrasing in my playing. Would be awesome if there is a lesson which could incorporate both things

Many thanks!

Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 30 2009, 09:38 PM

Hey Roger, great to have you back on track!

I watched clip you posted and here are my thoughts.
Your finger picking IS pretty stronger now and I very salute that!
But I'm noticing a tiny problem in another area which is pick.
You seem to do pretty wide movements when you play with the pick
which moves your hand totally and that leads to hitting unwanted string,
or you simply miss a string.
So my advice would be to try some simple exercises along with the lessons.
Take D and G strings per example, any 2 notes on those strings,
G note on D and D note on G maybe, a 5th.
And then play them looped, upstroke on D string and G note with middle finger.
Play them countless times, start slowly and keep your movements smooth and short,
then upgrade your tempo a little.
Then try similar thing with D and B string, D with the pick and B string with ring finger.
Of course you can use different strings for these exercises, I'm just telling one.
Keep your movements as short as possible while keeping the same attack,
that's probably heavy task for you atm but I'll get better after a while
and with more practicing.


Now about legato.
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/legato-lesson/
There's one legato lesson but you might also wanna try something from Legato and Picking serial,
it's 3 level serial, check it out and tell me which one suits you the best
and of course let me know which BTs you would like.

Regarding those arpeggios that you're practicing, that VERY smart thing to do!
Now, I can't think of any lesson (or at least not from me) that would cover all that
but you should be able to play all those shapes in any key and over any backing track imo.
And you don't even have to follow same type of chord of every arpeggio.
Let me try to explain this.
We are in a key of Am and there is Am chord, 2 bars approx.
What can we play over that chord arpeggio wise?
You can play Am, Am7, Cmaj7 (works like an Am9 chord), Em7(works as an Am9 without 3rd) etc.
Some of those arpeggios would NOT cover everything that chord has
but it doesn't matter, you don't have to follow the same chord all the time.
Specially this Em7 arpeggio over Am chord per example, try it, sounds VERY smooth.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Jul 30 2009, 10:06 PM

Will start working on that particular picking problem, many thanks for pointing that out to me



Will look at them, and let you know asap!



Am working on chord substitutions as well quite a bit lately, so that fits in nicely with your suggestions, cheers!

Posted by: Velvet Roger Aug 1 2009, 07:30 AM

Hey Muris,

The backing track from the legato lesson would be a great start. So if you could send me that, would be great! After I have that one under my belt I will also work on the legato/picking serial.

Believe it or not, but it's the first time I ever solely practice legato (not being part of a total solo), and I notice that I need to work on this big time. But the first practice already pays off, so am extremely happy with it

Your hybrid picking exercise is also helping me quite a bit to get my picking movement improved. Only my girlfriend hates me now, due to the monotonous practice .

Cheers
Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 1 2009, 12:09 PM

Sorry to hear about girlfriend Roger,
I felt the same many times.

Here's backing, let me know if you need any help with it.

 Legato_Lesson_BT_110_bpm.mp3 ( 1017.86K ) : 1

Posted by: Muris Varajic Oct 10 2009, 06:59 AM

We have some news regarding MTP so it would be great to check them out
and prepare for new "timing".

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=31054

Posted by: Velvet Roger Oct 10 2009, 09:49 PM

Hi Muris,

I saw that indeed, and given the current circumstances I am (in work, private life and my new band), I barely have time to spend on GMC at the moment unfortunately. Apologies for not being very responsive the last months on the MTP board as well!

I think it would be better if I step down for a while being mentored by you. I really learned a lot in the months you worked with me and I am very thankful for that, but I think it's best if someone else makes better use of your time currently in the MTP

I am certain that I will pick up my practice routine again, once I sort out all the other things, and would appreciate any advise you can give me later on!

Thanks once more!

Roger

Posted by: Muris Varajic Oct 17 2009, 05:34 PM

You don't have to apology at all Roger!!

Tho I'm sorry that your current situation doesn't allow you to participate
as you would like too.
Thanks you for your gesture and I am sure others appreciate it as well,
all the best with everything that you do and eventually we will meet
again in MTP sooner or later.