Advanced Vs Pro Playing, How to get that extra bit of mojo which makes all the difference? |
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Advanced Vs Pro Playing, How to get that extra bit of mojo which makes all the difference? |
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Mar 15 2014, 11:11 AM |
In order to work on my chops - I have been writing a new instrumental tune.
I structured it into sections that would cover different technique areas I need to improve - bending, vibrato, picking, swing phrasing etc. I made sure the song would be interesting enough for me to play it over and over without getting tired of it. It goes through several different arrangements/styles, and some key changes. Eventually I did get sick of it though and that's when I decided to record it and move on, you can check it out below. Not sure anyone would want to check it out after this introduction - hehe - but maybe this method of practicing can prove useful to some of you. For me - I start to feel that metronome/drum machine practicing is no longer suitable. Practicing the techniques in a musical situation seems to improve the 'mojo factor' in my playing, in a way that is hard to achieve when I am not stimulated musically. And I really want more mojo in my playing! To be more concise, this kind of practicing makes me work on the subtle nuances which, when combined with each other, is what I feel makes the difference between average and pro playing: dynamics, phrasing and tone. I know this is a typical cliché. To exemplify - some simple phrases would come to life in a way that surprised me, just by playing them a bit off the beat. I have to say though - when looking back on this video, my biggest mistake is that I still played too much on the beat and tried to achieve midi/sterile type timing (in spite of my new insights!). So this is something I will keep working on. I guess this goes to prove once again how useful it is to record yourself (*hint* get REC:ing *hint*). Also, I started experimenting with the volume knob for the first time - which opened up new possibilities. This also proved to be a challenge when recording, as it introduced some buzz/hum which I had to troubleshoot. Speaking of sound - I have a vision of a warm guitar sound which does not have much treble to it (a bit like a typical clean jazz sound, but with thick distortion). This seems to be achievable in a amp-in-the-room kind of practicing situation - but not so easy to recreate in a mix. My ambition for future recordings is to keep experimenting - and not rely on specific "safe" sounds/settings which I have used in the past (well actually I might not even be able to recreate those old sounds even if I wanted to - hehe!). In the short run this might give me some strange sounding mixes, but I hope that in the future I will be be able to dial in sounds/mixes that sound unique to the song I am working on - instead of having my standard go-to sound. Have you reached new insights recently - which have made your practice sessions more fruitful? It would be awesome if you could share them with us so we all can help each other and improve faster! November 2014 update: check out the follow-up thread here. |
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Mar 15 2014, 03:24 PM |
Hi Kris! It's great to see you creating new stuff again! I must say that the overall concept behind this thread and composition is totally inspiring and that can have a great impact here at GMC. I feel that you are covering everything that you need to grow as a musician without losing creativity and focusing mostly on meeting your own personality in your playing.
By creating songs in this way you are working on: - Technique - Dynamics and feeling - Composition skills - Arranging - Tone experimentation - Recording skills - Connecting your mind with your guitar and all this together helped to develop Mr Dahl's style. (and can help to develop our own style if we do the same) Let me say that I enjoyed listening to the song, and I'm not very into instrumental guitar nowadays, I use to get bored soon. But here I don't listen to an instrumental guitar solo, I can hear your soul talking through the guitar. This is the beginning of a new journey so maybe most of this "talk" is still unclear and will be polished, but we all know that this is an endless journey. Congrats!! This post has been edited by Gabriel Leopardi: Mar 15 2014, 03:26 PM -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Mar 16 2014, 05:24 PM |
Thanks Cosmin, this sounds like a neat way to push yourself to break habits and to come up with variations of themes you are already comfortable with. The later is way faster and more effective than learning new material. Wow thanks a million Gabe! You make an important point here, practising by writing a song is probably the ultimate way to develop your own style. Since everything in the song will be done according to your personal preferences. You are more likely to bring out the best of your chops if you get to play over what you hear in your head. But then the opposite might be worth giving a shot as well - if you just get the feeling of being blocked in front of a blank sheet when you try to create something - then you should spend time over someone else's backing track instead, using someone else's licks. Try that for a while and then return to your own composition and see if you have new inspiration. Playing someone else's material is also a way of developing your own style - as long as you make the selection. In other words it's important that you choose lessons that match your own musical preference - don't choose lessons based on someone else's taste! Good point here! This is the reason why I motivate students to go deeper with lesson and don't stop just when they can play the licks over the backing. Once you can play the lessons I think that as you said, it's time for your selection, and also it's time to create variations of the licks to explore what things are waken in you thanks to those licks. The more you experiment with this two ideas, the closer you'll be to create your own stuff recreating what you learnt from a GMC lesson or song. So the learning process could look like this: 1. Learn the lesson. 2. Record your REC take. 3. Take your favorite licks and jam over the backing track filling the gaps with your ideas. 4. Create variations of the remaining licks. 5. Record yourself and listen to it: BINGO! That's your own style talking to you. The more you practice like this, the clearer your style becomes. -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Mar 17 2014, 04:08 PM |
Have you reached new insights recently - which have made your practice sessions more fruitful? It would be awesome if you could share them with us so we all can help each other and improve faster! That was great Kristofer! Because I don't 'know' your playing none of it sounded stiff or mechanical to me - ? Which leads me to an insight that I've been realizing, thinking about and dealing with over the last few years. Even when we record ourselves we as players can have a distorted view of our own playing. Especially if we listen back immediately. I feel that you hear your 'intent' and not necessarily the music you actually made. Also, I'm always curious as to what others hear in my playing. Many times it has nothing to do with what I think ... even from other musicians (especially rec engineers, producers and the artist). Sometimes (many times ) what I think is great no one even notices and what I cringe to hear back they thing is genius - ? Go figure. So for me, since most of my playing is with bands and recording - nothing that I 'practice' is etched in stone until I feel or someone else feels that it works 'live' or at least 'in context'. So ultimately I don't stress out over minor articulation or even phrasing issues that may not even be perceived by anyone but me. *None of this is advice - just a personal observation. This post has been edited by klasaine: Mar 17 2014, 08:11 PM -------------------- - Ken Lasaine
https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/foolin-the-clouds https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/surfin-at-the-country-hop Soundcloud assorted ... https://soundcloud.com/klasaine3 New record ... http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kenlasaine Solo Guitar ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...5iIdO2tpgtj25Ke Stuff I'm on ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...b-dhb-4B0KgRY-d |
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Mar 30 2014, 08:16 PM |
Sounded good to me Dude!
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Mar 31 2014, 09:51 AM |
Yeah...the management of tension/release is a key to success
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