Grappa's Thread, for Gab's Army Options

[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi Grappa! Welcome to your mentoring thread.

Before we start, I'd like to know a bit more about you.

- How many time have you been playing guitar?
- Favorite guitarists, bands and musicians.
- What are your guitar goals?
- How would you like to you see yourself in 5 years (related to music and guitar)?
- How many time can you play guitar each day?
- Do you have playing live experience?
- Which are your strong and weak points with guitar?
- What do you know about music theory?
- Can you record videos of you playing?
- Share here audios and videos that reflect your current playing.

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[Grappa]

Hi Gabriel,

Thanks for coming back to me.

In answer to your questions;

- How many time have you been playing guitar?
I've been playing on and off for about 25 years..

- Favorite guitarists, bands and musicians.
Difficult one this but all time favourite guitarists would be Steve Lukather, Larry Carlton, Andy Timmons, Matt Schofield, Guthrie Govan, Greg Howe and Oz Noy. There are so many more that it's an impossible question to answer!

- What are your guitar goals?
I'd like to improve my improvisation skills and my technique as this has been letting me down for years. I'd love to be able to improvise both melodically and harmonically as I play i.e. move between the two..

- How would you like to you see yourself in 5 years (related to music and guitar)?
I'd like to have developed my technique to the point where it no longer gets this the way (and falls apart under pressure) and can create and improvise over funky/fusion style music. I love the sound of guitarists who blend both harmonic and melodic elements as they play.

- How many time can you play guitar each day?
I practise for 1.5 hours per day on average

- Do you have playing live experience?
I play in a band now and gig twice a month on average. All original Indie Rock stuff..

- Which are your strong and weak points with guitar?
Strong points - strong ear and sense of melody plus pretty mature phrasing. Know the notes of the fretboard inside out.
Weak points - lack of being able to apply theory in a practical way.

- What do you know about music theory?
Grade 8 Royal Schools Music. I know western harmony, some jazz harmony etc. I wouldn't be put off if someone talked about playing a mode of melodic minor over a functioning dominant to give an outside tonality etc..

- Can you record videos of you playing?
Absolutely.. I have a decent recording and videoing setup.

- Share here audios and videos that reflect your current playing.
To be honest I haven't go much I can share. Take a look at my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaFnqYNZGiKIOovrg90wFTA

I hope this helps us get started.

Regards,

Simon

Hi Grappa! Welcome to your mentoring thread.

Before we start, I'd like to know a bit more about you.

- How many time have you been playing guitar?
- Favorite guitarists, bands and musicians.
- What are your guitar goals?
- How would you like to you see yourself in 5 years (related to music and guitar)?
- How many time can you play guitar each day?
- Do you have playing live experience?
- Which are your strong and weak points with guitar?
- What do you know about music theory?
- Can you record videos of you playing?
- Share here audios and videos that reflect your current playing.

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

[Gabriel Leopardi]

Great stuff mate!

Based on your info and videos this is the first assignment that I'd like to suggest:


ASSIGNMENT #1:

Goals:

- Ballad phrasing
- Major improvisation


TASK 1:

- Learn this lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Ballad...s-And-Phrasing/


TASK 2:

- Improvise over the backing track of this lesson trying to create your own variations.

Exam and deadline:

By October 30th you'll have to share 2 videos:

- A video playing the lesson
- A second video improvising over the lesson's backing track

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[Grappa]

Hey Gab,

Hope all is well. Thanks for the comments on the REC submission for the ballad solo - I've carried on working on this and will post an update next week that's a lot closed to the original.

Here's me having a go at improvising over the ballad piece.

Tried to incorporate some of vibe of Darius' solo, dynamics etc.

Oh - and please forgivethe facial expressions - let's just say I'm feeling what I'm playing - isn't that the way it should be -

Si

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This post has been edited by Grappa: Oct 30 2016, 11:23 PM

[Gabriel Leopardi]

That's very nice man! Not your faces but (haha just kidding) your phrasing is very tasty, and the overall feeling of your take goes great with the backing track. I can't say anything else than THIS is the direction! Keep on experimenting, adding expressing tools and techniques, adding silence between phrases, more rhythm variations, etc...

Congrats!

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[Grappa]

Gab,

Thanks for this.

It's at this point I need some help really. The stuff I played here is really all I can do (I'm not complaining) but I really want to expand on this.

You make some great points but I've played like this for so long I don't know how to move on if you know what I mean!

Regards,

Si

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

I understand. Could you please share some improvisation from guitarist that you like that contain what you feel you are lacking and looking for?

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[Grappa]

Gab,

Apologies for the delay in getting back.

At my heart I suppose I aspire to be a fusion player and something like this is what really floats my boat when it comes to something guitar based;



I appreciate I'm setting the bar rather high here but I'm a great believer that you gotta think big if you want to achieve anything!

I really dig Andy's stuff because it's got lots of dynamics, often has a somewhat bluesy feel (I'm no great fan of trad blues but I love the more sophisticated stuff - think Ford/Matt Schofield/Larry Carlton etc.), has enough outside playing to keep my ears interested and to a large extent is always melodic. Martin is a wonderful player as well of course..

The one thing I have never done from a guitar perspective is actually compose stuff to be honest - maybe some work geared at me actually making music might be a good start? We could work on building some chord progressions and me working up the harmony/melody into an actual piece of music. I can program drums/keyboards etc.

Whilst it's nice to be able to play what I can currently do (mostly by ear) I just have no idea (or plan) to take things to a new/higher level. I sort of feel that if I want to make progress I've got to divert my energies and attention elsewhere as I've been stuck in a pretty deep rut for a lot longer than I would like to think about!

Appreciate your thoughts..

Simon

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi mate,

that's a nice video! I love Andy Timmons. You've described his playing so well. Here I'd like to share two videos that you'll enjoy and that will give you some more inspiration about the things that you are looking for:









About where to start. This is what I would do:

Your goal is to create your own music which would be instrumental and some kind of fusion rock blues stuff. Music is a language, so the best is to be learnt as you would learn a new language.

What would you do if you'd want to create your own phrases, words and texts in a new language? I would start by learning the meaning of the words, then how to connect them, then some pre made phrases, and in the meantime I would listening to most advanced speakers and pay attention how they combine the words in order to communicate what they want. Speaking with others would be the most important thing to become a master of speaking.


In music, it's the same. From what I know, you already know the words (scales, chords, triads, etc), now you need to learn the pre made phrases (chord progressions, and licks, and guitar lines), and "speak with others", that would mean playing along with albums, emulate some licks from your favorite players and improvise.

As you are on stages 2, and 3, the next goal would be to take a guitarist that you like and anylize his compositions. Write down the chord progressions of at least 10 of his songs and analyze the tonality, the chords used, how they are combined, and what chords are neighbors. Then, do the same with some of his licks. Finally play along with the songs, and improvise over backings based on this progressions.

That's what I would do.

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[Grappa]

Thanks Gab.

Will give it a go..

Si

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Great! Please keep me updated!

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[Grappa]

Gab,

Thanks for this.

Are you OK with me posting progress every couple of weeks for a bit of critique and advice..

Regards,

Simon

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Sure Simon! Please do it!

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[Grappa]

Gab,

Thanks for the PM.

These are the rec vids I posted;

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=57918

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=57865

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=57571


I worked through technique with Todd and posted loads of stuff on Youtube along with some improv stuff;

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaFnqYNZGi...w_as=subscriber

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Si

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi mate! Thanks for the vids. I've watched each of them again. That Ballad soloing take was so good!!

The key here is knowing if you have any new goals as a guitarist. The best is to design a diary routine that covers the things that you want to work / improve. From those videos, I can say that your rhythm and timing are great, and that you still need to work on hand sync at fast tempo, and keep on developing your expressing techniques.

I wonder if you are working and/or interesting in Improvisation and Composition, and what's your current level at it.

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[Grappa]

Gab,

Thanks for taking the time to take a look and the positive feedback.

I'm very interested in both improvisation and composition stuff but not sure of the best way to get some momentum going.

From an improv perspective I largely play by ear - I know the pentatonics pretty well but when it comes to scales/modes I'm pretty weak. I know the basic theory but have never found a practice routine that has allowed me to translate this to actual playing really. Same applies to arpeggio based stuff.

From a composition perspective I know some of the theory around diatonic chord progressions but again I don't know where to start.

Have you ever heard of the concept enabling constraints? There are so many things I 'could' do it's hard to know what I 'should' do if you know what I mean

If you've got any ideas I'm all ears!

Regards,

Si

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi Grappa!

Here you'll find my Improvisation Course which could be a good guide for you: LINK.

This is also a cool article to read: LINK. If you compared both things, you'll see that my course cover all those esentials. However, you can complete your work with GMC lessons that expand each of the topics.

Regarding composition, I recommend you to learn more harmony theory and start analysing songs that you like. My method is to make a table with three columns. The first details the song structure, the second describes the arrangement for each part, and the third one explains the theory behind it. Try it and share your results here.

Here you'll find a thread where I give some recommendations about this: LINK.

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[Grappa]

Hi Gab,

Thanks very much for posting this.

Will make a start today and keep you updated.

Regards,

Simon

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Excellent!

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[Grappa]

Hi Gab,

Just a couple of thoughts/questions on the aural fret board map goal for this year and ear training;

I'm currently doing this everyday at the moment and intend to work through each mode sticking in G and it's modes to start with just so that I can limit the variables. I will add other stuff when this is done i.e. melodic/harmonic minor and modes.

1. Loop chord - Say Gmaj7 for Ionian
2. With guitar in hand I visualize the first position on the fret board and then sing each interval against the root working from the lowest note in the shape to the highest. I sing first and then out loud say the name of the interval and then play the note. I then descend from the highest note in the position back to the lowest. I let each note ring out for a period to try and solidify each sound i.e. solid/restless/happy/sad etc.
3. I then work up and then back down the fret board through each position
4. At the end of this process I have a little fun trying to do some improvisation but rather than what I used to do (i.e. just let my fingers play) I try and sing a melody in my head and then play it. I am also trying to sing all the time that I play.

On top of this when I am away from my guitar I do this mentally to try and get it to sink in. My goal here is to try and move away from seeing patterns of dots on the board to ultimately being able to play what I hear in my head.

Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated.

I'd like to also do some ear training on top of this and have invested in a program called Ear Master for this. Any advice on what I should focus on and the best way to get the most out of doing this stuff?

Thanks for the help.

Simon

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This post has been edited by Grappa: Jan 16 2018, 03:42 PM