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Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 2 2020, 12:16 PM

Welcome to SHRED BOOTCAMP! I'll be your Drill Instructor! And I do mean DRILL! As in a large power tool used in slasher films and Paul Gilbert concerts. Here is were you EARN THE LIVING DEATH out of your fingers and break through any speed bumps/barriers to become a MASTER CHIEF of Shred!
QUICK TIPS TO PREPARE YOU FOR BATTLE
*Make sure you get both hands in the shot when shooting your video*Make sure you use a metronome for the first several Missions and that the metronome can be heard.*After you complete a mission, shoot me a PM and let me know it's ready and I'll give you a debrief! These are pass / fail, so if you pass you BADGE UP and if not, I'll give you some feedback and you head in to the breach once again.
*The first several missions are VERY simple. They are just to get you used to the bootcamp process.
*Most importantly, there is NEVER a speed requirement in bootcamp. I want you to push yourself to play as brisk as you can, but NEVER at the expense of precision. If you find you are missing a note here and there, slow down a bit. Speed is just a byproduct of precision so my goal is to make you a very precise player. At that point, speed just happens.

THE MISSION

1.)Your mission is to go all the way back to the very start. The base of the mountain.

LESSON 1. http://bitly.com/gmclesson1

Which you will play SUPER PERFECT!. Speed it up bit by bit until you feel your ready to take it to WAR (Any speed, it's up to you, no points for speed, only points for playing in a precise manner as speed is simply a byproduct of precision) Shoot a video and post it as a reply to this post. Make sure to EMBED the video by clicking on INSERT SPECIAL ITEM above the smiley face and then you'll get a drop down menu. Click on INSERT YOUTUBE VIDEO and follow the instructions in the Pop Up Menu. I'll then offer a constructive and brutally honest critique.

THE AFTERMATH

Upon nailing the crap out of lesson one at a speed you didn't think possible, and playing it a clean as a freshly waxed floor, you will be given your first insignia of Rank in BOOTCAMP! You will then proceed to Lesson #2 and so forth. Here is the link to the entire 400 plus Lesson Library. https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Portal:Techniques

Here is the link to your own PRIVATE HOUSE OF PAIN!...Er I mean.. SHRED!

http://bit.ly/tflavasbootcamp

Practice!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Nov 2 2020, 08:52 PM

Hello Sarge,

Here my misson 1.
I used my les Paul because with my fender my volume pot is blocking my hand sometimes.

150 bpm



Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 3 2020, 11:44 PM

Welcome to Bootcamp!! You are on your way to Earning Your Stripes!!!! Let's Debrief!!!
MEDALS OF HONOR

*MUTE: Well Done on your mute technique. You are doing it just right imho. Your palm remains planted and your articulating the pick with the thumb and first finger. Always fight the urge to pick from the elbow. This is DEATH for shredders. Kills speed/precision/control.

*SYNCH: The point of this Mission is to test your hand synch and let me know if there are issues wit it. The Good News is that I don't see any issues.

*PACE: Another aspect of this mission is pace. I want to see if you can play without rushing or lagging. You got this one.

You are ready for round two!

You just...

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Nov 4 2020, 07:11 AM

Thanks. And now i go for mission 2 i think.
I have to practice that one for a week and then also post a vid?
Am i right 😁
Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 4 2020, 08:51 PM

Some folks only need an hour or two, some folks like to take longer. As soon as you feel it's ready to share, or you feel it's ready for feedback, put up the post and let me know. I'll review it and if it needs a redo for whatever reason I'll put that in the critique. So there's not time requirement, post as soon as you are ready. Even if you think it's not perfect and just want some tips/feedback.

Onward!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Nov 7 2020, 08:46 PM

Allright man. Here is mission 2.
180 bpm.



Greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 8 2020, 05:06 AM

Diving in with both feet!!! Looking good!! Let's Debrief!!

MEDALS OF HONOR

*MUTE: Well Done on your palm mute technique. Your palm remains planted and your articulating the pick with the thumb and first finger. This is one of the hardest things to learn and one of the hardest things to teach. It's a foundational technique that will serve you well as you move on.

*SYNCH: The point of this Mission is to test your hand synch and let me know if there are issues wit it. From what I can see your synch is in good shape. It will continue to improve as you progress through these Missions.

*PACE: Another aspect of this mission is pace. I want to see if you can play without rushing or lagging. This is another foundational item that must be there in order to take the next step.

Well fought Soldier!! No rushing/lagging, no picking from the Elbow, etc. You are off to a good start!!

You just..

LEVELED UP!!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Nov 8 2020, 10:26 AM

allright man. Thanks.
I will go for mission 3 for the next few days.
I'll have to say that i can work almost every day for about 20 minutes and i start to kinda like to work with the metronome. Normally i use the guitar pro speed trainer but its getting comfortabele now with the metronome.

Thanks Sarge en you will see the mission 3 when i think im ready 👍😁

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 9 2020, 05:19 AM

Very glad to hear that you are getting a handle on working with the "Evil Clicker!" (metronome), some players really struggle with this. It's great to see you adapting!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Nov 14 2020, 08:40 PM

Hey man.

Here is my mission 3. It felt that i can play clean till the max of 150 bpm. I gotta keep it sure so went for 140 bpm. I practice standing Since 3 days and i like it because i think its better for my shoulder.

I practice every day for 20 minutes.



Greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 15 2020, 08:21 AM

Well fought Soldier! your palm is planted and you are not lifting it while you pick. Also, not picking from the elbow. Also not tensing up. These may seem like small things, but they are crucial in your journey. Let's Debrief!!

MEDALS OF HONOR

*PICKING TECHNIQUE: Solid picking technique. The picking is really the core of everything we are going to be doing in bootcamp. One can't progress until the basics of picking are sorted. You've got it sorted!

*MUTING: Without a solid palm mute, all is lost. Also, without being able mute and pick at the same time all is lost. You can do both at the same time, success!!

*SYNCH: Keeping your right/left hand synch is another crucial part of this. No less important is hand synch. yet again, if synch fails, all else fails. Your synch is tight!

You are making great gains Soldier! Keep it up!
You just..

LEVELED UP!!!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Nov 15 2020, 08:37 AM

Thanks man. You will see the next one next week. Thanks for the help

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 16 2020, 02:53 AM

Keep it up Soldier!! You are making great progress!

Sarge

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 18 2020, 08:28 PM

These three video examples are a great reference so I'm placing them here at the end of the thread.

Example 1. Notice how the amount of pick wag decreases as I speed up. Also notice the pick angle. The angle of attack/address is important as it sets up an optimal position for the hand.


In example 2, notice that my palm stays planted on the bridge. I don't lift or shift. I'm using thumb/finger articulation and using part of my hand and just a pinch of wrist. I've isolated to a single note.


In examle 3, I go through all the strings. Notice I keep a good solid palm mute and dont lift my palm off the bridge. Also, I"m keeping the same slanted forward pick angle. In addition, notice that my pick hand never tenses up. Even at speed, I keep the picking hand somewhat loose. This is key to stamina. Tensing up will kill your ability to play fast for extended periods.\

Posted by: tflava Nov 21 2020, 03:16 PM

Hey todd.

Here my New takes. One at 210 bpm and one at 218 bpm.




Thanks man



These are my picks. Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 21 2020, 10:15 PM

BINGO!! Congrats soldier you just put it all together. Good solid palm mute, covering all the strings, not relying on the fret hand to mute, solid picking strikes and good synch. This is a big improvement Soldier. There are some small issues, (I hear a bit of string noise when you go from high to low string, and you lose synch a bit at the end of the last vid.) but I think we can sort these out along the way. Also, those picks are perfect. They are just like one of the Vpicks I use with 3 sides. Plenty big and plenty thick and nice and pointy! Forward!

Let's Debrief!

MEDALS OF HONOR

SOLID MUTE: Mute game is strong and continues to improve.

SYNCHING FEELING: Good synch for the most part. A bit of drift, but an improvement to be sure!

PRECISION: You are putting it all together and doing it with precision.

This is the best I think I"ve seen you play here in Bootcamp. Can you feel the difference?
You just...

LEVELED UP!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Nov 21 2020, 10:59 PM

Héllo Sarge.

Yes i definitely begin to notice the difference.
Its started to geel more comfortabele.
I practice every day for 20 minutes and like to do it standing.
So i keep on going and go for the New excersice.
Thanks for all the help.

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 23 2020, 04:16 AM

The trick to playing while standing for these drills is to raise your guitar to roughly the same spot as it would be if you were sitting down. Otherwise, you have to learn everything twice, once for standing, once for sitting.

Glad it's starting to feel more comfortable!! Keep it up!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Nov 28 2020, 03:47 PM

Hey Sarge.

Here mission 5. I revorded at 210, 230 and 240 bpm.
IT started to deel more and more relaxx so thats nice.







Greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 28 2020, 09:26 PM

Impressive work Soldier!!! You are getting the hang of it. Your picking with less effort, using the tip of the pick, keeping your hand planted on bridge for a solid mute. These things together are what is required for playing these Missions. It's the entire point of Bootcamp. I'm here to help you adjust your technique in a practical way to be able to play whatever your fingers want to play as fast as they want for as long as they want. This is a great example. You can keep this up for days and not lose synch, not loose speed. Bam. Nice. Congrats.

You just...

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!!
Sarge

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 4 2020, 11:40 PM

Watch this vid. IT's a great demo on how to palm mute while articulating the strings. Now, this guy is using his fingers and his pick and a great deal of hammer on/pull off/legato, but focus on his palm mute. Look how he is keeping his mute while he picks. He doesn't lift, doesn't move the entire hand off the bridge. Also, he mutes firmly but doesn't choke the strings.

Posted by: tflava Dec 6 2020, 08:16 PM

Hey man,

thanks for the vid. very nice.
Here is my mission 6.
i had to say that this lick was more difficult to play for a long time because of the odd numbering and accents.
But i practiced every day and im statring to like it more and more

I could do it faster than this but then after a while i gone wrong because off the odd accents so i recorded the 190 and 200 bpm.
Thanks

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 8 2020, 12:15 AM

THIS IS A BREAKTHROUGH Soldier!!! Your muting is very good here. Your muting the entire bridge with your palm and not allowing any extra string noise. This is great to see. I know it's NOT easy to mute all the strings with pick hand while picking. It's one of the main things I'm trying to teach in bootcamp and we use it nearly every Mission. Your hand has adapted!!! Also, you alt picking is very good here. You have clean strikes and each are evenly spaced and your hand synch is spot on!! This one drill puts a lot of techniques together and if one of them is not working, the entire lick falls apart. keep this one in your warm up routine until you find a better one to replace it. It's a great way to warm up your alt picking. Also your mute is just heavy enough to mute string noise but not so heavy that it's choking the strings. This is also great to see. It means you are well prepared for the Misions to come. Super Congrats Soldier!!

You just..

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Dec 8 2020, 09:26 AM

Allright thanks man. Im feeling the progress also so thats real nice 😁 thanks for all your help

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 9 2020, 01:49 AM

Keep it up!!! The stuff we do here in bootcamp is what can really help with fast runs in REC.
Here, we work on precision at every speed. This will lead to precision at fast speed. We don't do a lot of vibrato in bootcamp as it's more about hand synch and preparing you to play fast. Ask Gabe to maybe give you some work on your vibrato in his mentor thread and with these two thing combined I think you will make great gains!


Sarge

Posted by: tflava Dec 9 2020, 02:35 PM

Hey mate.

Thanks i already incorporate it in my practice routine since yesterday.
Before i learned lots of songs and learned rhythm a lot. But ill see its time now to study better and focuss more in the basic Technique before i go further.

So my routine is now:
- 20 min picking
- 20 min legato
- 10 min vibrato
- 10 min bending vibrato.

Then ill hope that after a month or 2 mya vibrato is much better. And after a few months also my legato 😁
But im working on it so i know its gonna be allright

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 10 2020, 03:57 AM

Sounds like a good plan Soldier!! Keep in mind though, don't let it become a chore. If it just stops being at all fun, if it starts feeling more like work, change it up. Take a day off, learn a new song that you've been wanting to learn, etc. It's hard to keep up a pace of non stop work. It's possible, but don't let it become all work and no fun. As long as you are enjoying the process and and making gains, keep going! If you start to feel burned out, it's time to change it up or take a day off. Just something to keep in mind

Onward!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Dec 11 2020, 08:37 AM

Hey man.

Yes thanks. I think i will sometimes shift my routine.
40 minutes of Technique. With in every day the bootcamp. And i think then 20 minutes some other Technique which i will change between, legato, vibrato or other excersises.
I have then enough time to also do the "more fun" stuff but also working on Technique for a daily base.

I hope soon i can also play again with my bands so that i keep playing whole songs and stuff. But till that time i will enjoying myself playing music from my home 😁

Greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 11 2020, 08:17 PM

Sounds like a great plan! Balanced approach. Your making great gains!! Keep it up!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Dec 13 2020, 07:55 PM

Hey Sarge,

here my misson 7.
I recorded it on 4 different speed levels.

200, 220, 240 and 250 BPm.

Hope my technique is ok.



Thanks

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 15 2020, 07:02 AM

You are getting better each time Soldier!! You have solid techinique here on the whole. Your Alternate picking is good. Your hand position is good. Your PInky power is good. Your pace is good. Mute is good. It's all starting to come together!! Can you feel the increase in speed and precision and stamina? sometimes it happens so slowly that people can't actually see it happening. You seem to be making rapid progress so I hope you can see it to!! The ONE problem I see is that sometimes, when you make a string/fret change, you lose track of what finger is going where and it takes you a few beats to recover. It happens first about 40 seconds in and then a few times after. This is quite common and to be expected. Part of the reason I have you run your hand around the neck is to force it to get used to making quick changes between strings and frets. As you continue, your ability to make these shifts will improve. It's a small issue that usually fixes itself over time. ;Your mute is good here but on the verge of choking the strings. Keep it solid but maybe back off the pressure just a pinch. You want to keep each note muted so that they don't bleed in to one another, but not so much that it kills the resonance a muted note should have. You've got this sorted Soldier!! You are ready for what lies ahead. Well Fought!!


You just...

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Dec 15 2020, 08:35 AM

Hey Sarge.

Thanks i really deel that its getting more comfortabele and the progress happens faster as i would believe before 🙂

Yes i notice that the most difficult part is to change frets within the pattern.

About the muting. I deel that im searching for the right pressure of the pinky.
All the strings feel good. Only the high e string is the most difficult too mute wel. I will experiment some more with the pressure but now i have some sort of point to focuss on.

I'll keep going. Thanks for your feedback.

Greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 15 2020, 09:07 PM

It's not easy to find the right amount of mute pressure. Too little and you get string noise, too much and you choke the string. Also, your pinky is probably not used to doing it's mute this way. Most folks mute high strings using the fretting hand, this prevents them though from playing certain licks without needing a fret wrap. Also, you have to find the palm/pinky pressure while doing all of this picking and fretting. So it's a real challenge. The good news is your hand is adapting quickly!! Keep it up!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Dec 18 2020, 10:06 PM

Hey Sarge.

Im at 130 bpm now but i start to notice that my pick can be a little bit sharper. Whats the best way to do that?

Greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 19 2020, 05:36 AM

It's easy Just get a sharp pocket knife and follow the bevel of the pick and shave off very thin layers toward the point. Just like you were saving down a piece of wood. Practice on a pick you don't mind destroying at first. You'll get it pretty quickly

Posted by: tflava Dec 19 2020, 09:15 AM

Allright thanks. I will go for ir tomorrow 😁

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 19 2020, 07:48 PM

Share a picture when you get one ready to go!

Posted by: tflava Dec 20 2020, 01:34 PM

Hé Sarge.

I have another question. I want also to practice some more legato or maybe sweep picking in the future.
The problem is that i don't have hours a day.
Do i need to practice the picking excersises then every day or can i also change it sometimes with tapping or excercises?
So that in week 1 i play picking excersises and share it.
Week 2 legato instead of and share a vid at the end.
Week 3 again the picking excersises. Etc?

Or do i really need to play the excersises every dY? Because legato and tapping is also a part of shredding.

If its necesarry then i have to shift my routines sometimes i think.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey sarge,

Here is my new mission. I recorded it on several different speeds. The last one was at 135 Bpm. it was too fast but i think maybe its good to see for you how im dealing with that and if im trying ok



Here is also a picture of my pick i sharpened. I will try to play with it tomorrow.



Thanks again

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 21 2020, 03:23 AM

The most important thing is that you try to practice a bit every day. As to what you play, it just depends on what you are working on. With bootcamp, there are wads of missions that are based on TAPPING/Legato, although many are focused on picking. As you move through them you will start seeing them switch between picking/tapping/legato. You are still in the first batch which are meant just to focus on your basic picking technique. So the good news is that you will get missions with other things than picking so keep moving forward. As for Sweeping and for Bending for that matter, there is not a lot of in built in to bootcamp. There are a few sweep missions but not many. Gabes mentorship program is a great way to add those parts in as gabe is just better at sweeping than I am and one of the most expressive players I've ever heard, his bending is amazing well. I'd say try to blend both programs and you'll never run out of things to try to play and you can switch up back and forth as the mood suits you. It's a great way to keep things interesting. keeping it fun and interesting is the best way forward imho since the real issue that stops people from making progress is that they just get burned out from practicing too much and either slow down or stop playing. This creates gaps of time in their journey that are hard to make up.

As for your pick, looks pointy!! Let me know how it goes. The problem with the Jazz series picks is that they are a bit small. As such they have decreased mass and a little bit of flex/bend. Not to say it won't work, these picks are a far better choice than a typical rounded pick. If you do add more picks to your collection, make sure they are 1.0 mm or better and made of a material that is NOT ultex. Again, ultex is not a bad material. It's stiffer than many other materials. However, it does have a bit more flex than some materials used for making picks. The JTC/IBANEZ picks look good as they are thick pointy and made of material that does not flex at all. They are cheaper than vpicks also. Vpicks are great, but can run five bucks each.

On to your Mission!!! This is good progress soldier!! Just a few missions back you were not able to play with this level of precision at this pace. Your form is very good. That is much improved as well. Keep doing what your doing as it's working. Maybe a bit less hand wag after each pick strike, but that's something that will happen naturally as you continue. Your hand will adapt as your speed increases. I did notice that at the highest speed your hands were struggling to keep up but that's ok. One has to push the envelope in order to get faster. As you continue, you'll break through your speed barriers and that speed will feel like a warm up lick. One way to work on it is to play the lick in one place. don't move it around. Just stay in once spot. This makes things a bit easier for the fingers since they don't have to traverse frets. Once you work up a bit more speed, then start moving around the neck again. You'll notice that you lose some speed when you start moving frets. This is natural. Eventually, this too won't be an issue. After all, part of shredding is running fast licks up the neck. You've got a good handle on this one Soldier you just...

LEVELED UP!!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Dec 23 2020, 11:55 AM

Hey Sarge.

I have a question. If i have a lick i have to learn for a song and i Am working for the bootcamp. Can i also practice that lick in the same time? So for examples. Im working on 80 bpm and play the bootcamp lick, then after that i play the other lick. Then ho 85 bpm and play both licks etc.

Is that possible or do i play one lick work my speed up and then work on the other lick from slow and then speed up?

Thanks man

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 23 2020, 07:28 PM

You can practice in any way that keeps you picking up the guitar Soldier. The real key is to just not stop playing. More than anything else, that's what gets in folks way. Always looks for things that you want to learn to play and start trying to learn them. So sure!

You can share any bits you like here in bootcamp. Try to put non bootcamp bits at the end of the vid if possible or in a separate vid to make sure it's clearly not bootcamp stuff and I'd be happy to give you feedback on it. You can work your speed up in any way that seems to work for you. I usually start slow and work up no matter what I'm playing.

Onward!!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Dec 27 2020, 04:19 PM

Hey Sarge,

here is my mission 9.

I played it at 145 bpm and skip a string and go backwards from fret 12 to 3 on the hig b and e string. The skip is not sounding right i know that but i just continued.
I also tried to speed up and push the limit and recorded on 165 ad 175 bpm.
Overall i really feel that my speed and precision increase.



Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 27 2020, 09:49 PM

WELL FOUGHT! This time you held things together quite well even at the higher speeds. You are making great progress!! You are not cheating at all either. You are picking each note, and keeping a solid mute and keeping good hand synch! Also, you are doing very well on being able to traverse strings and frets. This is the big challenge on these licks. If they stayed in one spot, it would be easier, but they don't. It's getting your hand ready to make fast runs up the neck without losing precision. Being able to play for long periods of time at speed without losing a note is the key and you've got a good handle on it! Congrats Soldier you just..

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jan 3 2021, 08:03 PM

Hey Sarge,

Here is my mission 10.
i have to say that this one is the most difficult one till now.
At the beginning of the week my speed was 90 bpm and at the end 10 bpm more not so much.
I ddnt have problems with the thirds but more with the seconds in the second half of the lick.

but ill have to say. this is a good one to use in my improvisations and i allready used it sometimes. I try to use all the licks before sometimes

Thanks and a good new year



Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 5 2021, 03:23 AM

Nice One Soldier!!! There is a little miss toward the end but nothing that would keep you from moving up. This one is all aboout proving your endurance. I've set this up as a looping lick in order to give your hands enough time to burn themselves out if you are using improper technique. The good news is that your technique is quite good so your hands don't burn out!! If one tries to pick from the elbow, or use too much finger pressure, the hands/arms just burn themselves pretty quickly and the player has to stop playing and usually scream in pain. This is what I've been trying to train you to avoid. To use the minimal amount of strike pressure and finger pressure. This is key to shredding. By finding the minimal amount of force needed, you can keep shredding as long as you want, not just in short bursts like most players are limited to. You have good muting, synch and pace on this one Soldier. This isn't a "shred" lick per say as it's built to be impossible to play very fast. It's just too complicated. It's really just about endurance and showing that you can play over a stretch of ground. Well done!!

You just...

LEVELED UP!!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jan 9 2021, 07:30 PM

Hello Sarge,

here are my new takes.
I've done the shred mission. The last time i tried maximum speed in one position to see if i can make it but its a little too fast

I've also learned a yngwie malmsteen lick which i also praticed whole week and made a vid of. im curious what you think of it.
thanks again





Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 10 2021, 12:40 AM

First off let me congratulate you on your picking!!! I noticed that in your Mission vid your hand has adapted!! You are keeping your palm mute in one place and keeping your hand from lifting while you are alternate picking. This is VERY VERY VERY hard to learn and you've done it!! It's one of the main things I'm trying to teach here in bootcamp and many of the Missions are focused on this very thing. Until one can pick and mute at the same time, it's almost impossible to play most of the licks in Bootcamp. You've done a great job of making progress by putting in the time. That's really what this is all about. There is no way to get better at guitar than simply putting in the time for practice. As an instructor I can hear the time put in when I listen to you play. I can also hear time not being put in when a student doesn't practice. This is what really separates folks making great progress from folks who are not. Also, your picking is very even and smooth. The reason this and many other licks, loop is to give you a chance to fail at some point along the way. Rushing or lagging, missing a note etc. You play with confidence and grace the entire time. Even on the fastest pass!! Well done.

On your Yngwie vid, this is clearly a challenging lick. I think you have it down though. The faster version starts to fall apart a bit as your fingers start falling behind. On the slower pass your hand is adjusting quite well. This is a complicated lick that requires lots of fret traverse and has no time in between parts so you have to stick the landing over and over. Your work in bootcamp has prepared you for something like this. It will just take more repetition. This lick is a bit more complex than what we have been working on. We will get to sliding licks all the way up the neck

In short you did great on your Mission vid. You just.

LEVELED UP!!!
Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jan 11 2021, 10:44 AM

Really thanks man my hand is feeling so much more comfortable as in the beginning.
With the yngwie lick it also felt like the last was too fast but i practiced it lot slower.
Ill think for the coming week i go further with the bootcamp mission and integrate one more lick in my arsenal but focuss on precision

Thanks for your help man it really pasy off.

Posted by: tflava Jan 16 2021, 08:23 PM

Hey Sarge,

here is my bootcamp mission and also 1 other phrygian dominant lick i also practiced.
In the mission at the end i noticed that i have to pick a mute string to get the tempo right and then execute the lick. Sometimes it also went well without but its difficult to start a lick on full speed from nothing .





Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 17 2021, 01:22 AM

Impressive work Soldier! Your hard work is paying off!! Practice is always worth it in the end IMHO. It's simply the only way to get better. It's the crucible one must pass through on the way to being able to play the way one wants to play. The best thing Is that your hand has adapted to being able to mute and pick at the same time. I saw this starting a few missions ago and it keeps getting better. Notice in the vid how it almost looks like the hand is nearly split in half in terms of what it's doing? The back half stays on the mute as it should. This allows dynamic muting where you can lift or press in a split second. Then your thumb/first finger articulate the pick with the help of only part of the hand. This technique is just not easy to do. The hand wants to wag back and forth bending at the wrist. It's natural, but it's not helpful for playing this type of stuff. That's why nearly every lesson that has picking is muted. To give the hand practice doing this un natural thing. Nice!

Also, your left hand is keeping good pace with your right. This is also crucial or you'll lose hand synch. When you lose synch (as in tremelo picking which I don't advise to anyone) the notes are not connecting to the fretting and it just becomes a blur. Not here! You keep it all high and tight. Spiff!! You make good speed on this and hold it together until the fastest rate. This is just fine though as it's good to share a pass on the edge of your ability. Every other pass was plenty to pass muster. I understand about getting your picking hand up to speed before starting. Just sticking the landing on high speed alternate picking is a skill unto itself. Being able to hit the deck at a full sprint does take some time. But your on your way!!!!

The add on lick was very good as well. It's a very complicated asymetrical lick where you hand has to play only a couple of notes on one string from the look of it. I usually try to structure 3 notes per string even if I have to do a crazy stretch to do it just as it makes the timing easier, but that's just a personal pref. The lick sounds great!

You just..

LEVELED UP!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jan 23 2021, 08:10 PM

Hey Sarge,

here is bootcamp mission 13.
i tried also to play the 16th notes at high speed but noticed that its difficult to play it 100 procent precise but i tried
Ill have to say that this pattern now went better the the same pattern a few lessons before so thats nice



Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 24 2021, 03:17 AM

This is some fine work Soldier!!! I appreciate the sheer aggression with which you are playing. It's great to see you pushing the envelope of your playing. This is the area where progress really happens. it's always a good idea to share takes that are just outside of your current range to let me see where you are going. You are quickly approaching the next level in terms of your ability. can you feel it in your fingers yet? do you notice how they dance toward the next note almost on instinct at higher speeds? it becomes almost like a meditation. once you get in to the flow of it, things really start to take off. This is a very tricky bit of playing. This is my favorite drill. The Minor Scale inversion is something we will keep coming back to as a sort of mil marker for you to see how your hands are progressing. As you mentioned, your playing this much better than the last time and your playing it in double pick, triple, quad pick etc. You can apply multi picking to ANY SCALE and I sugest trying it out on every scale you know of. I use multi picking in just about every solo I play. It's a great technique for building tension in a solo.

NEXT STEPS:

I did notice that there were a few spots where your fingers were struggling a bit to keep up at these speeds. I want to work with you on your ability to use a critial ear on your own playing. What I'd like you to do, is re watch this clip. Make a note of every time where you hear/see your fingers getting a bit off the mark. I want to see if you can hear/see the same things I am. I applaud your effort on this one soldier and your making great progress. Part of that is being able to critique your own playing. Once you find the trouble spots, I want you to go back and play these bits one more time but at a bit slower pace so that you can increase your precision and control.


Also, in terms of your technique, your almost starting to to "pick from the elbow" at fast speeds where your entire arm is involved. This is a technique some folks use, but I want you to try and avoid it if possible since it tends to burn out the arm and create mistakes due to fatigue. Try to return to your previous technique of mostly using the fingers and wrist to create motion in the pick and keep the palm as planted on the bridge as possible. Try to use as little energy as you can for each individual pick strike and try to stay as close as you can to each string after each strike so that the next strike has less distance to travel before it finds the string again. A bit more gain, and a bit more volume as well if possible since I'm hearing the actual pick strikes on the strings on the guitar louder than I'm hearing the tone coming from your amp/speakers/whatever your using.

This is great progress soldier!! if we can dial it in a bit, I think you are on the cusp of making a great step forward!

Onward!!!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jan 24 2021, 11:54 AM

Hey Sarge.

Yes. Excuses me i was a bit in a rush and also wanted to show you how i deal with higher speed but this was too high.

The parts where i went Wrong was at 00.25 with the triplets. At 0.57.with the 16th notes.
And also at 2.05.

I played the parts now at a lower tempo to be more precies.

I don't' play it trough my audio interface because its a lot of work to change the click track and record it in my interface.
I know put my speaker some louder. I was already playing at high gain but my amp is in the ground so more difficult to hear.

I hope its better like this. The first vid is ok till the end of the double notes. At the end the triplets went Wrong so did them on lower speed but i forgot to cut away that piece. Thanks Sarge.

Greetz tim





-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i also made an improvisation today. A metal improvisation. Way out of my comfort zone but i tried some shreddy things but the style is diffcult to me. This is recorded with my audio interface.

\

greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 27 2021, 05:28 PM

Well Fought!! Your updated videos on mission 13 are a big improvement. It was good enough to pass muster before, but it's good to see you making corrections and improving as that's why were are here! Playing QUAD PICKING on that scale in version in 13 is NOT easy. It's great picking practice though. I use multipicking in just about every solo. Try it on during jam!! I can see your gaining precision and speed Soldier. Keep it up!! You gotta earn it but it's worth earning. I could hear better as well. Onward!

I really dug your solo improv as well. I can see that your mind is starting to put technique and musicality together. This is something that can only be done by writing solos, improv or one lick at a time at head of time. I liked the big bend around 50 seconds and your ability to jump around the neck is great to see. You are displaying some very high level technique which is awesome. One thing to remember in solos, and I often struggle with this myself, the notes not played are also important. As are the notes played with more distance between them. Building a solo up can create good dynamics. I will sometimes fly in to a lead and shred a bit, then slow down and build back up. Fast/Slow/Fast. Your hands will show you the way as you keep making cool solos! Score!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jan 27 2021, 05:48 PM

Hey Sarge.

Thanks for your feedback. You are really helping me 😁
Im now writing a solo over the progression to get it more melodic. Its gonna be really cool i think 😎
When im done i will send you.

Greetz

Posted by: tflava Jan 30 2021, 10:08 PM

Hey sarge.

i recorded bootcamp mission 14 and try to get the most speed possible.
i also recored a dorian fusion lick.
And at least i recrded my phrygian improv/ composition. I hope you like it

Very nice song with your band







Ill skipp this week bootcamp and will fo further with it next week. Im working on diego's lesson fusion grooves and there is one part whats really fast with single notes and ghost notes. i want to spend the bootcamp time on it for 1 week so still keep buissy

Thanks man.

Greetzs Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Feb 1 2021, 10:48 AM

Great to see that your making such good progress Soldier!!! Your doing very well on that single string lick. It sounds like it's in synch but I can't hear the metronome for some reason once you start playing so I can't tell if it's drifting or not? One thing I'd suggest is to try to mute a little harder on that lick. Take a listen to the original video. Notice how percussive it sounds? I'm pressing in a bit harder on the mute to increase note separation and give it a more chunky/percussive feel. Also, it's very important to hit the fretted note only once while hitting the open string twice. I think that's what you are doing here, just want to make sure !



I enjoyed your solo work as well!! It's great to see you putting your skills to use making solos!! It's the entire point of all of this hard work so it's awesome to see!! Keep it up!!



Sarge

Posted by: tflava Feb 1 2021, 12:27 PM

Hé Sarge

Thanks. Yes i was doing it but i had my volume too low icm with the metronome. The next time i will listen first before i going on of you can hear the mute. My apologies.
This week i focuss on another lick.
Next week i will go on with the further lesson.

Thanks for your help.

Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Feb 1 2021, 08:36 PM

You are making great progress Soldier!! Keep it up!!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Feb 14 2021, 10:05 PM

He Sarge,

Last week i practiced the bootcamp mission again after a one week break

Here is mission 15 with the economy picking. I tried to get the maximum speed out of it but still keeps the note seperated.



greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Feb 15 2021, 05:46 AM

You've got the ECON and a good bit of speed going here soldier! Super congrats on that. This one really is all about being able to do that two down stroke, econ picking group. It's almost a short sweep type thing. Econ picking can prepare your hand for sweep licks in that it gets you used to doing more than one down stroke while move up the strings. When you transition to sweep picking, it's more a "rake" type motion but moving the pick in the same direction without reversing the direction of the pick is something that gets in foundation in licks like this. Also, you do very well on the metronome synch here. If the synch drifts, it all falls apart but you keep the synch nice and tight!

Th ONE ISSUE I hear is that once you speed up, it sounds like your mute on the E isn't quite solid as I can hear an open E string Each time you strike the first note and head to the next string. It keeps happening each time. Granted this is only one note and it's not the focus of this mission so it's not going to keep you from moving forward. It's worth trying to isolate this though as it will come up again. When you play this video back can you hear the open E string ringing? See if you can hear it as well.

As for now you just..

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Feb 15 2021, 09:44 PM

Hey sarge.
i can hear it ringing.
I think its because of the sweep movement i lose attention to muting.
Next excercise i will focus on muting againg.
thanks.

greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Feb 17 2021, 08:30 AM

Just something worth noting. I'm sure you'll sort it!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Feb 22 2021, 07:21 PM

Hey sarge,

Here is my mission 16. I focussed on also palm muting the low E string.
I noticed that from 100 bpm everything is harder to keep clean and is hear more guitar noise.
This recording day wasnt my best day but i think that this excersise really helped my economy picking



Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Feb 23 2021, 04:43 AM

Well fought Soldier! This one is all about the ECON picking. Shapes like this combine several elements at once which is what makes it difficult to play. The most important thing is the econ picking on this one. Without Econ, this lick gets much more awkward to play. With econ picking, it's a lot more smooth. It's built so that the fretting hand will need to use the pinky, which you do well! It's also built so that econ works better than alt picking. Econ picking can feel very odd at first, but once your hand gets used ot it, it can really open your playing. The only issue I see/hear is that your palm mute seems to be allowing a bit of string noise to get through but when one speeds up, muting and everything else get more difficult. The angle of your hand might be the issue. See if you can pull your guitar around to the left a bit more so that when your hand plants on the bridge, its' easier to get it flat on the trem and do a more complete mute. You've got this one sorted. Time to move forward!

You just..

LEVELED UP!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Feb 28 2021, 09:24 PM

Hello Sarge,

here is my mission 17.
The last bit was a bit too fastbut i wanted to give it a try.
I also recored a pentatonic lick which i practieced this week.





Thanks.
Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 1 2021, 04:39 AM

Very well fought Soldier!!! There are a lot of moving parts in this one bit. We are using every single string on this one which is a good way to show me if there are any gaps in your mute. Also, this one focuses on synch and use of the pinky. These three elements are something we will come to time and again as they are all three critical in becoming a better player. Let's break kit down.

PALM MUTE: Your palm mute technique has improved quite a bit since you started Bootcamp. It's very solid. No string noise or random gaps in your mute. You keep it centered and avoid too much up down movement as you traverse strings. Also your pick hand is opened up a bit which allows the hand to mute more of the strings. When palm muting with a close fist approach, it's very hard to get everything muted. Nicely done!


HAND SYNCH: With so many notes and so much traverse, there are plenty of chances to miss a single note and wreck the entire thing. You make it all the way through up and down and don't miss anything. Nice!!! Your synch has also improved with each mission. keep it up!! It's gonna get trickier!


PINKY POWER: Great to see you are using the pinky and not relying on just the first three fingers. On the mid and lower frets its very important to use the pinky. It's the weakest finger so the more work you give it the better. It's responding well to your intent!!!

With so much back and forth and traverse, it's easy to get lost in this lick and mess it up. Thats why it has so many notes and so much back and forth and traverse. I want to see your hands talking to each other over a very long note sequence to see if any problems show up. Smooth as glass Soldier!

I also liked your lick at the end. You play it very well! I did notice one bit that might need a pinch more work. The final note is a vibrato ring out. Your vibrato technique here is a bit shallow and tepid. Ideally it should start almost still, then swell up to a very wide and deep vibrato. You can work on your vibrato by just focusing on a single note and working your vibrato. Record it, watch it back, see how it's going, and repeat. The best way is to watch yourself and see what it sounds like when you are not playing it at the time. I see you are using a one finger vibrato technique. I use this often as well. here is a recent solo of mine where I use quite a bit of single finger vibrato. Watch this video carefully and see if you can tell the difference between our vibrato technique. See if you can emulate what I'm doing here.




You just...

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Mar 1 2021, 12:36 PM

Hé Sarge..
Thanks a lot. I will continue with the next lesson 😁

About the vibrato. In the original lick there is nog vibrato but its one of my weakest techniques so ill try to use it when possible when practicing. My vibrato is better than before but not where i want it to be. You have a real good vibrato and ill keep working on it and try to use it with my hand like you do. Thanks.

Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 2 2021, 02:06 AM

It's a good idea to throw some vibrato in whenever possible. It's a technique that can always use a bit more work. So even if it's not mentioned in the tab, if you can find a spot for it, please do throw in some vibrato!

Posted by: tflava Mar 7 2021, 09:26 PM

Hello Sarge,

Here is lesson 18. I'll have to say that i didnt practice this lesson a lot.
I was quite buissy with some other things.
I just made an improvisation where i lived in the moment.
but im also working on the synthwave collab.
Is it ok to move on to the tapping lesson



greetz Tim

Posted by: tflava Mar 14 2021, 06:42 PM

Hey Sarge,

Here my bootcamp mission 19.


You forgot to check my latest but Ive been moving on 😊
Ill have to say that this isnt my best tapping example but didnt have much time this week.
But i also have a nice book with tapping licks and basics and will put it in my routine one of these days.


Thanks Sarge.

Greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 15 2021, 02:52 AM

Sorry for the lag Soldier!! This is quite good! You stay on beat and in key the entire time. That's what I'm really looking for here. Can you play some solo bits for a good long while and not start repeating yourself, not lose synch, not play off beat, not play out of key. Also, it's a chance to use some of the licks we have been working on in a musical context which is the entire point of BOOTCAMP! We are here to get you ready to express yourself musically without any limitations. You do a great job on this Soldier. I see you throwing all manner of licks at this including bends and your bends are to pitch which is one of the biggest hurdles any player has to face.

WELL FOUGHT SOLDIER!!

You just...


LEVELED UP!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 16 2021, 12:35 AM

Well Fought Soldier!!! This is a very tricky tapping lick that adds in an open string in addition to using three fingers on the left hand. This is a very advanced tapping style. The regular van halen style usually has just two fingers doing most of the work and doing so on a fretted string. Being able to work with open strings is a great way to expand your style. It requires a good skill with muting since you have to use bits other than your palm to keep string noise at bay.

You do a great job on this one Soldier. If this is your first time doing a 5 note tap, you really adapted to it well. Your fingers are light and keeping noise at bay. Well Fought!!

You just..

LEVELED UP!!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Mar 21 2021, 09:05 PM

Hey sarge,

here my mission 20.
The slide lick was more difficult then the other.



greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 22 2021, 05:29 AM

Soldier I know you can play this stuff. That first lick is something you can clearly play. However, right away you start playing ahead of the beat and drifting from synch. It sounds like you may have just started the metronome at too slow a pace? 70 bpm is evidently just too slow for your hand to play. This is perfectly ok, just speed up the metronome to where it feels comfortable. Any pace, no matter how slow, no matter how fast is just fine, as long as you are playing on the beat and in synch with the metronome. One way to make sure it's always correct is to speed up or slow down the metronome to allow a pick strike to happen on each click. You can also get rid of the "clack" if you like so that it's clicks only. Sometimes this can be helpful. Give me this again and focus on playing a pick strike on top of a click to make sure you are not drifting. Being able to play in time as at least as important as playing in key!!


Once more in to the breach!

Sarge
=]

Posted by: tflava Mar 22 2021, 07:44 AM

Hé Sarge.

I hear what you mean. And the higher speed later on in the recording?
Or else i Will shoot one more at one tempo later today

.greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 22 2021, 10:47 AM

At the faster speeds as well it starts well and then drifts and then locks in again. But What I want to hear is it being locked in to the beat from start to finish. This isn't a "shred" lick, it's not built for speed. It's a lot of string traverse designed to make it hard to play on the beat. What I'm looking for is your ability to lock in to the beat despite the lick being tricky. Find a mid range comfortable speed and just practice at that speed. Id say forget about doing several tempos on this lick.

As for the "strike once hammer many" lick at the end, it sounds ok but almost like you reduced the amount of gain/distortion you were using on your tone? Perhaps it's just from stronger muting but sounds a bit different. This one is tricky as well, but try to play it with a metronome as well. It can be played as a 4/4 lick. You can change the metronome to clicks only (only one type of sound instead of click click click clack) which can make the second one easier to play with a metronome.

This entire mission is just about playing one note per beat an being able to keep your playing steady despite having to think about whats being played. I know you can do this Soldier!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Mar 22 2021, 11:12 AM

I think this is better.

This lick isnt that hard but i think i focussed to much on driving up the speed.

Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 24 2021, 03:49 AM

This is great work Soldier! It's precise, it's on point. I knew you were able to play with this level of precision. I've seen it in action. This is a tricky lick that is mostly about making your fingers work like crazy without missing a note. The lick is too complex to shred. You'll notice as you go through bootcamp that some licks are more simple, more symmetrical, and built for speed. Some licks are just way more complex and are about pure precision.

You've got this down Soldier! You just...

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Mar 28 2021, 08:17 PM

Hello Sarge,

here is mission 21.

I only recorded the highest speed i received
Hope its good.



Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 29 2021, 05:50 AM

That's truly Impressive Soldier. I don't often see this done at full speed. It's a very brisk bit of fretwork and beyond the ability of many folks at this point in bootcamp. Not so here. You did very well on this and played the fast scale run with speed and precision. You keep a good mute here and your picking and hand synch are very good indeed. I think I heard maybe one missed note in the entire thing. I wasn't expecting to this done at this pace and done this well and I'm truly blown away. You are more than ready for what is next!!!

Awesome job!!

You just..


LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Mar 29 2021, 04:42 PM

Thanks a lot Sarge. Your help really helps and i notice my improvement

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 30 2021, 01:57 AM

Keep it up Soldier!! You are KILLING IT!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Apr 6 2021, 08:59 PM

Hello Sarge,

here my mission 22.
It isnt my best but i practice legato as a weekly routine so ill keep working on the technique.

Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Apr 7 2021, 04:02 AM

Very well fought Soldier! This is what I want to see on this mission. You're using the advanced overhand muting style which is very effective but tricky since you can barely see your hands. So you have to know where you fingers are almost on instinct. You do it quite well. This is one of my fave 3 note per string scales. It's The standard minor scale and one that's often used in rock / metal since it almost always works. The way you are playing it is a "shred" technique of going back and forth over the same notes. This doesn't have to be picked as you've just demonstrated, it can be done entirely legato, using only the left hand.

So, when you play this again and pick some of the notes, you can choose which ones to pick. Tyipcally I will strike the first note on a string and hammer the rest. This will let you play the lick at max speed. Keeping a good mute will make it sound like it's being picked even though it isn't.

Keep this lick at the ready and try to play it at least once per practice session. Eventually you'll be burning through this lick at light speed. You've got the form down. Now it's just repetition.

You krushed it Soldier, you just..


LEVLELED UP!!!

Onward
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Apr 13 2021, 07:42 PM

Hello Sarge,

here is my mission 23.

I changed the excersice also backwards and also to practice my legato.
I know the lick is picking but i thought i could mix it for my own purpose.

The last speed 140 Bpm was a bit too high i guess but i wanted to show you how it went.



greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Apr 13 2021, 08:44 PM

Soldier you start out very strong on this vid. This one is about doing some very very hard. Leading up with the picking and doing it in time. You start off with great timing and then about 9 seconds in you start to lose pace. I hear the metronome going and the goal is to keep it nice and steady like you did at the start. It's ok to slow this down a bit to keep it even on the ascent. I like how you modded it on the way down and used legato. It was more even and and fluid on the way down. This one is more about hand movement than picking so going up you don't have to pick every note if it's not working for your. You can add the picking every note in later on. This one is about leading up the neck and staying in time. This is very hard as we don't lead up with the pinky very offten since it's a very weak finger.

Give me one more of these and maybe slow it down a bit so that once you get to the higher frets you can still keep it even. Oncr you can do that, you can rip up ascending scales at just about any speed you like. It's one of the shred type bits that sounds really cool when done well. I think you can do it soldier!! Once you have it played in a clean way, it's just a matter of repetition to add speed to it. What you don't want to do is burn in bad habits early on and get used to climbing up the neck without good timing. You can do this Sodier!!

Once more!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Apr 14 2021, 09:52 AM

Hé Sarge. Hope this is better.
I played the slide to Long so i practiced it the Wrong way I think



Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Apr 15 2021, 05:18 AM

Much better soldier! Leading with the pinky is not an easy thing to do. You keep it nice and tight through much more of the range here. Those last notes are the hardest of the bunch as the shape changes, the strings change, the frets change and everything gets smaller up high. You show a great deal of progress from the previous video to this one which is what bootcamp is about. You are playing more than good enough here for a badge up. I know this isn't an easy lick. I would say keep it in your practice routine and try to use it as a solo asap to get used to doing it in a musical context. I use this type of lick a lot as it sounds so aggressiev during a lead passage. Well fought Soldier!! You are ready for the challenges that await you!!!!

You just.....

LEVELED UP!!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Apr 23 2021, 08:26 PM

Hello Sarge,

Here is my new mission.
The last tempo was a bit tricky but i had to give it a try

greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Apr 24 2021, 02:27 AM

BINGO!!! I can see your left hand moving very smooth and freely. It's good to chain the hands together to force them in to synch by picking every note, but its' also good to free the left hand from needing to synch with picking on every note. Both techniques have value and are worth putting time in to. You can use either one when building a solo for example. if you are working on creating a guitar solo and notice the speed feels a bit too fast, you can reduce the amount of picking that you are doing and use more hammer ons/pull offs to allow your left hand speed to carry the solo. I use this approach quite a bit, as do many players. Your mute is the key here and it's very solid! A good mute, coupled with strong hammer on, sounds almost like you are picking each note. It's one of my fave techniques. You do it quite well here. it makes the notes sound very percussive like pick strikes even though it's being hammered on. Try this same thing picking every note and see what your hands tell you about the difference!

You've got this sorted Soldier! I am very glad to see how well your hand adapted to this. You are ready for the next Battle!

You just....

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: Todd Simpson Apr 26 2021, 05:15 AM

I have created a new Mute Drill just for my BOOTCAMP SOLDIERS! This one is not for a badge. This is just to help you work on your mute. It's a very simple drill. Just palm mute the bridge, and take your fret hand OFF of the guitar entirely. This will force your palm mute to do all the mute work and show you if there are gaps in your mute. So try it as in the vid, just strike each string a few times, and move on to the next string. Make sure that you don't hear any other string other than the one you are striking. That's the point of this drill. To make sure that you can isolate all of the other strings with your palm mute.

if you notice that you hear other strings ringing, even when you are not striking them, adjust your palm mute angle/position until you find that sweet spot where your palm should be resting. This is the secret sauce folks. Once you sort this out, you won't have to worry about string noise getting in your way, even on our crazy open string licks that span several or all of the strings. It's a quick and simple drill that can really help you isolate any issues with your mute. give it a whirl!!

Posted by: tflava May 1 2021, 01:53 PM

Hello Sarge.

thanks for the vid.
I recorded mission 25.
In the first part i also showed the excersise of hitting the strings without fretting a note.

Thanks a lot for all your help. I f i look from the beginning of the bootcamp i see a major improvement thanks to ypour help



Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 3 2021, 04:18 AM

Well fought indeed!!! I notice that you have adjusted your muting technique as we talked about and it's very solid. I notice also that it's not drifting up and down as you traverse strings which is very good to see. Your technique is improving by leaps and bounds. keep it up! You have also increased your speed while keeping your precision which is a tough thing to do. Super congrats on your progress and I look forward to seeing your upcoming Missions!! You get out of Bootcamp exactly what you put in it and you are clearly putting a lot in!!!

You NAILED it Soldier.

You just..

LEVELED UP!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava May 16 2021, 09:27 PM

Hello Sarge,

here my mission 26.
My top speed was around 135- 140 bpm.
I used economy picking in the lick on 1 spot.

Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 17 2021, 02:32 AM

NICE!!! Your entire picking approach has improved quite a bit. I know it's a very tricky change to manage but you have gotten it well in hand. It's not easy to re teach your hand an entirely new way to address the string with the pick. Can you feel how much more fluid your picking is? I can certainly see how much more fluid it is. Also, can you feel how much more relaxed your picking hand is? Again, I can see it. This is exactly what I"m always on about. Planting the back side of the palm on the bridge, cherish the pick but don't crush it, use the front half of the hand a bit of fingers and a pinch of wrist to control the pick. This allows a solid palm mute with no gaps even on open string licks. Also, it doesn't burn out the arm so that you can practice for extended periods and work on precision/speed without burning out to quickly and having to stop.

Very well done.

You just..

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava May 17 2021, 08:06 PM

Thanks Sarge,

It feels better every week when i practice a new lick.
i also recorded an improvisation where i tried to be melodic but also shred a bit



greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 18 2021, 03:22 AM

Loved it!! I like just about everything here but for one little bit of vibrato around 58 seconds. it is a bit of single finger vibrato which is fine in itself, but it's a bit tepid/shallow in terms of vibrato. If that was what you were going for then you got it I think a bit wider/deeper vibrato might have served better assuming your fingers are up for that kind of thing? We don't work much on vibrato in bootcamp so I'm not sure if it was a tone choice or technical limitation? Can you play this bit again with just some single note big wide vibrato bits? I'd be happy to give you some feedback on it Overall though well done and I liked the solo quite a bit!! It's all about being able to express yourself musically and it makes me proud to see you ripping in to a full solo!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava May 18 2021, 07:54 PM

Hé Sarge.

Thanks for the feedback. The vibrato is more a Technica ability point. Its a Weak point of mine even as bending so i will incorporate it in my daily routine.
Here i made a vid where i tried to play much vibrato.
The note choice isnt the best and sometimes out the scale but just wanted to focus on the vibrato to show you.



Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 21 2021, 02:29 AM

I didn't realize your vibrato technique was this far below your picking technique soldier. We focus so much on picking and muting here in BOOTCAMP that sometimes other bits can get left behind. In this case, your vibrato is a bit lacking compared to your overall ability. The good news is that this is easily fixed! It's a simple matter of adjusting your technique just as you did on picking and muting. Have a look at this video and pay close attention to my fret hand. watch the positioning and notice the various approaches, single finger, two finger, thumb over the top, etc. Notice how each one is wide and deep. Start slow and speed up the rate of the vibrato. In short, watch this several times and try to emulate what you see me doing. We will go frmo there!!
\

Sarge

Posted by: tflava May 21 2021, 08:19 PM

Hé Sarge.

Thanks man. I know my vibrato isnt that good. I think i need to spend my time a little bit different. Some less on picking and more on vibrato.
Maybe one day vibrato and the other day picking.
I also need to study my gig list again because im gonna practice with my 2 bands again

But i will try to use the vibrato from your vid. Keep you updates Sarge.

Thanks

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 21 2021, 09:15 PM

Always a good idea to spend practice time on various things. Picking, vibrato, chords, playing clean, playing dirty, solos, etc. Very cool that you will be playing with 2 bands! Nothing is better than jamming with other musicians to make you a better player. It's like "immersion" when learning a language. I was sharing the vid just to share some video on vibrato technique. You can use that same backing you used in your first vid and see if you can just make the vibrato a bit more deep/wide. Then you can have a before/after to see if you like your progress.

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava May 24 2021, 03:57 PM

Hey Sarge,

here my mission 27.
I only recorded it on top speed because i tried to raise the limit.
You hear a little bit of noise coming from my up because i played high gain.


From now on i will focus on bootcamp lesson 1 time in 2 days.
So i can spend the other time focussing on my vibrato

Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 25 2021, 08:44 PM

Soldier your fretting and picking is great here!! However, in every take, I can hear that string noise happening. I think your gain is perfect. It allows for lighter strikes and your tone is spot on, so I would not reduce your gain just to try to cover up the string noise. What is happening here is that your mute is off just by a little bit. Your hand is nicely centered on the bridge, but one string isn't getting adequately muted as it's ringing out during play.

Play this bit and look at your picking hand, not your fretting hand. Ignore your fretting hand entirely. it's ok if you miss every note, because you need to find where your palm mute gap is. So examine your mute (playing at top speed as you are in the vid) and adjust your palm mute to cover this gap. At that point you will be playing at top speed, you can keep your tone setting as it's just the right amount of gain, and you won't get string noise. The reason I have you play this type of lick is to help find out where the gaps in your mute are. You see, unless we find the gaps, we can't address them. The point here is not to fix this one issue for this one little drill, the point is to fix this issue so that for the rest of your life when you play briskly anywhere near this position, that you can keep string noise at bay. Does this make sense?


Once more in to the breach!!


Sarge

Posted by: tflava May 26 2021, 03:44 PM

Thanks Sarge.
I will work on it.
Greetz

Posted by: tflava May 26 2021, 08:16 PM

Hello sarge.

I rushes it a bit the time before.
Think this is better. Put my hand a little more over the strings.

Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 26 2021, 09:58 PM

Much better!! Being able to keep a solid mute while picking briskly is crucial to being able to play fast without losing precision and without generating string noise. You are doing a very good job here on all fronts. Picking is clean, muting is solid, and your keeping your fret hand close to the fretboard. it's a LOT of things to coordinate at the same time. It's putting all of these things together at once that represents such a huge challenge for most players. That is what it takes though. A player must be able to focus on several things at the same time including playing in time and for solos, in key!

You've got this sorted soldier. You are ready for the next FIGHT!!

You just..

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava May 30 2021, 10:15 AM

Allright Sarge thanks a lot.
I think the up coming weeks i take a break of the bootcamp because i have to (re) learn the setlist of my bands.

With one band we have a repertoire of 70 songs and with the other 35 so i have to focuss on it again

Im also asked to play with a jam session band so i will join that also.
When im back on track and have the songs in my head again i wil continu my practice session.

But for now i need to be ready to gig again because it seems we can perform again this summer

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 30 2021, 08:02 PM

You've made great progress Soldier!! I hope you can get back to it soon as you can. You are about to get to the really tricky stuff but I think you are ready for it. Congrats on your live bands! I hope your gigging goes well. Keep me posted and I hope to see you soon!

Sarge

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 2 2021, 09:53 PM

I hope you can find the time to do a mission now and then Soldier! You were making amazing progress! Phil gave me this link which will let you download your mission badge in the even it is giving you trouble. Evidently some folks are getting hung up trying to get their badge!

https://ezgif.com/webp-to-jpg

Posted by: tflava Jun 12 2021, 08:29 PM

Hello sarge.

Wanted to let you know that i continue bootcamp again.
Send you a vid in a week

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 12 2021, 09:10 PM

It's great to have you back Soldier!!!!!!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jun 19 2021, 05:11 PM

Hello Sarge,

Here is my mission 28. i used economy picking 2 times during the lick.




What do i have to do with mission 29?

Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 20 2021, 05:51 AM

Well Fought Soldier!!! This is a "Shred" lick. It's one that is built for speed. It goes back and forth over the same notes to give the impression that a ton of notes are happening when in fact many of them are just repeats. This is a common shred trick. At speed, the human ear just hears a flurry of notes. It doesn't register that many of them are notes that have already been played. One thing to try with this lick, like any shred lick, is to try to see how few pick strikes you can get away with. It's worth picking every note in a lick to see what it's like to do so, it's also worth it to see how few pick strikes you can use on any given lick as legato mixed with picking can change the character of a lick.

BTW Mission 29 is just two licks. Try the second one as a DOUBLE PICKING lick, even though the tablature is only showing one strike per note. I want you to just play each one twice.

You got this one Soldier!!! You just..


LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jun 27 2021, 07:35 PM

hello Sarge,

here is my mission 29.
I tried the double picking at 130 Bpm but it was at my limit.



Thanks again.

greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 28 2021, 12:11 AM

SUPER congrats on this one Soldier!! You are doing a KILLER job of the most tricky part of Bootcamp. You have separated your picking hand in to two parts. The back half of your hand is resting on the bridge and is not drifting. The front half of yoru picking hand is moving and striking the string. this is by far the hardest thing to teach and the hardest thing to learn IMHO per my experience with bootcamp. it feels very odd at first and it's very hard to change the entire picking style of the hand. This is not a style of picking that comes naturally for folks and usually has players have to start from zero and re learn picking from the ground up. You've adapted very well to this. Also, I see you looking at your pick hand instead of your fret hand which is also great. This too is not easy. The eyes want to move to the fret hand. However, when learning a new style of picking, it's important to watch the pick hand. I can see the time you've put in Soldier and it's paid off!

You are picking clean, smooth, in time and and at proper depth. Now that you have this style of shred picking well in hand, I think you will start to notice more gains in your speed. Control has to come first and now you have it. Well fought Soldier. You are more than ready for what's coming next! I always say that Bootcamp is like the Military, you get out of it what you put in to it. You are getting a lot out because you put a lot in! Keep it up!!

You just..

LEVELED UP!!

Onward!!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jul 16 2021, 06:43 PM

Hello sarge,

How are you?
Im buissy at the moment with a lot of stuff and im studying fusion guitar of which i also have a lot of licks.
Is it possible to use my own licks for the bootcamp or do i need to use you mission. Then i maybe split the next mission up in 2 sections because of my time.

Grtz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jul 16 2021, 08:12 PM

Glad to hear you are absorbing more styles in to your playing Soldier!! The more the better! You can always put any vid of yoru playing in bootcamp and I'm glad to give you feedback on it! The Missions are the bits that get badged up though. You can put up mission vids, practice vids, anything you like and Id love to see it and give you any advice that i think might help. Splitting up misisons is a great idea especially with the big ones. I look forward to seeing your next vid!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jul 16 2021, 09:46 PM

Okay nice man then i will split the mission up. Starting by tomorrow again thanks

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jul 17 2021, 02:34 AM

Give em Hell Soldier!! really liked your solo with gabe btw!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jul 26 2021, 09:41 PM

Hey sarge,

here is my mission 30 and also a diminshed lick i practiced.




greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jul 27 2021, 03:39 AM

Very impressive work Soldier!! I"ve shot a couple of videos to talk about your playing here. Top notch work on these. The lick you are working on outside bootcamp is very cool and gets really tricky at the end. It's gonna sound very cool in a solo!!



You KRUSHED the mission and your varying your mute which is great! It gives each lick a more dynamic vibe. You are doing this without being taught. Just intuitively. It sounds great. Lightening up the mute on higher strings and heaver on lower. It's how many player do muting including Steve Vai.



Congrats Soldier!! These are NOT easy licks in this one. Your stretch, your muting, it's all working great together!! These still will translate over to REC and Solos which is awesome!

You just..

LEVELED UP!!!

Onward!
Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jul 27 2021, 07:47 AM

Thanks a lot Sarge.
Yes it 's a cool lick from Tom quayle.
I need to learn a bunch of cool licks for my fusion study.

Thanks for the mission. I will continue with mission 31 and another lick of myself. Thanks for your help

Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jul 27 2021, 09:23 PM

Tom Quayle! It's a small world. I know him from a bit back. I was working on some stuff for a guitar web site he was part of. I did one of his sweep lessons. It was my first entrance to sweep picking He's a great player.

You are on a roll with your playing. You have great momentum. keep it up! Great gains often come during times of working on many different things at once as they all fold in to the same skill set. I was really impressed with your reach/pinky on this last one. it's not easy to reach with the pinky and do pull offs and keep it in time. your hand is getting very strong!


Sarge

Posted by: tflava Jul 28 2021, 08:27 AM

Allright thats nice. He got some very good fusion lessons and its difficult to find good fusion lessons on the web

Is it ok to jump straight to mission 32? Mission 31 are only small legato parts and i work on my own legato stuff in a daily base.

Greetz tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jul 28 2021, 07:34 PM

You are more than ready for 32. Onward Soldier!!

Your hand is adapting to these quite well and your playing them much more like solo licks rather than drills which is great as many of them are designed to be used as solo licks. I do hope these add to your own bag of tricks that you can pull from when it's time to get creative and make solos! Keep it up Soldier!


Sarge

Posted by: tflava Aug 2 2021, 08:05 PM

Hey sarge,

how are you.
After long thinking i have to say that i will quit the bootcamp missions.
I got too many other things too practice.

but i'll have to say that the bootcamp changed my speed and way of practice in a huge way. I will still practice licks on the bootcamp way but then my own licks and the stuff in the direction i want to go.
If its ok for you i can still send you my licks so you can take a look at it for me.

Im mainly focussing on alternate picking, economy picking, hybrid picking and legato.
And the other day on my improvisation.

Thanks for all your help sarge.
It helps me a lot.

greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 3 2021, 03:21 AM

Youve made great progress Soldier! Bootcamp is always here for ya!

Posted by: tflava Aug 7 2021, 07:33 PM

Hello Sarge,

Here was another diminshed lick i practiced and 2 blazing fast legato sequences.
What do you think about it?
Te last part of legato lick 1 was a little bit to fast for me but i had to give it a try



Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 7 2021, 10:54 PM

Cool licks! That second one sounds like a bootcamp lick! You are playing well but both don't seem as tied to the beat as they could be. Also, the second has such long gaps in between the clicks that it's tough to tell where it's tied to the beat and where it's not. I'd suggest more clicks/clacks just to serve as reference to see if you are playing in time.

Posted by: tflava Aug 8 2021, 04:28 PM

Heloo Srage,

yes you're right but the legato licks are hard to play with a metronome because they shift accents. the first sequence is 12 notes and after that 9 notes played as sextuplets so the accent is shifted.
but i will look if i can put the metronome higher and count it different

Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 8 2021, 07:35 PM

I hear ya. legato is very tough with a metronome when accents shift, but making it work to a click will help it sound more solid. If you divide time up enough, there is a slot for each note. With large gaps between clicks its' almost impossible to tell even on playback if you are hitting it correctly. I think your on the way to nailing it! Just a bit more refinement.

Posted by: tflava Aug 9 2021, 07:25 PM

Hello Sarge,

Today i reached the mighty 200 bpm in sixteenth notes for the first time with a speed burst practice !
I practiced this speed burst for a couple of days. The first time i reached only to 155 Bpm but now the 200 bpm.
Its getting less relaxed from 180 bpm but i had to give the 200 bpm a try

Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 9 2021, 08:40 PM

Super congrats! You are making great progress! BURST playing is a great way to give your fingers a chance to feel what it is like when they reach the promised land of shredding. It allows a hand to play a bit above its actual speed which is a great way to help stay motivated. I can hear things get a bit sketchy as you hit the upper speeds but that's fine as the edge of ones ability is always going to be a bit sketchy. Eventually your hands will catch up to the burst rate and you'll be able to play at 200 in a loop without having to use burst technique.

A great lick to work on pure speed is the traditional paul gilbert lick that we have done here in bootcamp.

Any string, usually G, Fret 12, 14, 15, shift up to B string, fret 12, back down to G, Fret 15, 14, 12. That lick makes a great looping lick to work up consistent speed. I used it myself to work up my own speed when pushing up the bpm. Here is a video with my fave looping shred licks including that one. I've built these up one bpm at a time so that I can get it up and keep it up when speed is needed during a solo. It's the next step after burst play to find a new ceiling. Once I found my new roof, I would work my hands up to be able to play at that speed with endurance and consistency.

*LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO TRY ONE OF THESE AND I"LL PUT IT UP IN GUITAR PRO


also, here is a vid of my muting technique while shredding. Notice how little tension im using on the picking hand. that's a big part of it as too much tension will burn out the hand and keeps you from being able to play for extended periods at speed.

Posted by: tflava Aug 11 2021, 04:40 PM

Thanks a lot Sarge..
I also notice it started to get shaky from 180 bpm.
But i will continu with some excersises and share you the progress. Thanks for the vids.

Greetz

Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 13 2021, 01:21 AM

Try using a lick that loops so that you don't have to stop. if there is a break in the lick, you are training your hands to stop after a few notes. it's a good way to make a bit of progress on speed, but it can be a trap as well. I think you have a good burst target of 180. Any looping shred lick will work. the ones I used in the video are great examples of this approach. They are simple licks that allow you actually increase your overall speed and endurance over time. I'm sure you know several licks like this. Just pick one and try to do it maybe 5 minutes each day and add 1 or two bpm each day. Before you know it, you'll be shredding. Full on, extended, full speed shred.

BTW one of my fave looping shred licks is QUICK LICKS 77 It's got full tabs in it. Try this lick when you can!
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=60105&st=0&p=767891&#entry767891

Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 13 2021, 10:07 AM

This is a great shred lick to work up straight line speed as it's only one pick strike per string and the rest is hammered on. So it sounds like a lot of notes happening and the mute makes it sound picked/percussive and you get an extra note for free with the open string.



Here is the tab
 shred_drill.gp5 ( 2.73K ) : 57

Posted by: tflava Aug 15 2021, 12:38 PM

Thanks a lot. I will try to spend some time on it when i have time ill go for the looping drill

Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 16 2021, 02:43 AM

please do share it here as well. Love to see it. Onward!!!


Sarge

Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 16 2021, 06:46 PM

How are you coming along with you 180BPM Speed Barrier? I think you can break through it!!

Posted by: tflava Sep 2 2021, 10:45 AM

Hello Sarge how are you?

I recorded a shred jam i wanted to show you. My main goal was to shred a bit and try to use legato and some fast licks i know.
All is improvised. What do you think?

Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 3 2021, 05:14 AM

Great to see you playing a 5 minute solo!! To wit!

Posted by: tflava Sep 3 2021, 04:32 PM

Thanks for your advice Todd.
This was just noodling around and try to use the legato licks i learned in context and try to use them on a backing track.
I will make another improv soon and totally focus on motific development then and will send you

Thanks

Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 3 2021, 11:44 PM

So what about that backing? Is it yours? if so can you share it on our new collab ideas thread? You continue to make good progress. Your only weak spot that I can see is your picking. I know you mentioned being too busy for bootcamp, but I would say maybe try the quick licks program as it focuses on the very thing your playing seems to need most which is accurate picking. If you don't have time for that I'll still be happy to share my thoughts on your playing. I'm here to help

Here is a good example of what I'm on about.

Posted by: tflava Sep 4 2021, 08:27 AM

Very nice solo man.

This backing track is from youtube and isnt my own backing track.

I will focus some more on picking on a daily base 🤘

Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 5 2021, 02:16 AM

You are making great gains!! keep it up!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Sep 23 2021, 03:12 PM

Hello Todd,

I recorded some speedy licks i practiced last weeks.
The fastest part is on the edge but i tried to push the boundaries


Greetz \tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 24 2021, 06:23 AM

Progress!!! Some solid work here Soldier!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Sep 24 2021, 07:09 AM

Thanks Sarge. Ill keep continuing working on my speed
Yes this pick was a little less sharp. I got a new pick of 3mm which js pointy i will use next time 😎
I notice that i use 2 different positions and grips with my picking hand. I will experiment with it whix feels better and why use it for what sort of lick.
Thanks for your feedback

Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 25 2021, 03:05 AM

The thicker/less flex, sharper/pointier, and more beveled the better. A 3mm pick should work great. It's the beveling that helps with string traverse. The sharp point helps remind the hand that only the very tip need hit the string. Reducing hand wag when picking fast just takes some repetition. You are making progress! Keep it up!!

Sarge

Posted by: tflava Nov 14 2021, 09:43 PM

He Todd,

How are you?
here is a part from chris Brooks i recorded. Its at the border of my limit but i wanted to show you my progress



Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 16 2021, 11:14 AM

Great to see you making such progress!!! I'm not quite sure what the original thing is that you are trying to play, which makes it tough to really judge if you are doing it correctly, but I enjoyed your playing here!

Posted by: tflava Dec 27 2021, 10:35 PM

Hey Todd,

How are you?
Im still working on a daily base on my alternate picking and legato and stuff. here is my most recent take of a little etude of Chris Brooks.



Greetz Tim

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 28 2021, 01:18 AM

thanks for the share! I can see BIG GAINS so big contrats! The biggest thing is your right hand position and technique. It's great! You are keeping your mute while you are picking which is something I'm always on about as you know. Your timing is solid as well and your hand synch is quite good.

I'd say maybe try to see if you can generate variation in tone by muting harder or softer. It's a good way to add dynamics to any picking bit

Happy Holidays!

Todd

Posted by: tflava Dec 29 2021, 03:14 PM

Thanks a lot Todd.
I worked hard on it.
I will try to focus on some different levels of muting and see how that will work out

Have a nice end of the year