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GMC Forum _ REC _ King Albert's Blues

Posted by: mhskeide Dec 25 2019, 03:12 PM

Original lesson: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/King-Alberts-Blues/

All I want for christmas is proper vibrato :D

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 26 2019, 02:09 PM

Hi mate! Merry Christmas!

Your playing here is really good. You can play everything at tempo, tight and clean. I can see what you mean about vibrato, and what I would say is that you need to put your focus on details now to get the more from dynamics, vibrato, bending and tone.

If you compare your take with the original lesson, you'll notice how Chris goes from a more subtle picking to a stronger one, while your phrasing seems to keep the same intensity on each note. This will have a big impact in your phrasing but also in your tone, because it will become more variable and expressive.

I feel that it happens the same with vibrato and the way you reach note when bending. Try to emulate the instructor's different speeds, intensities and other details to make this techniques more expressive. I don't think that your vibrato is weak, I think that it needs to connect more with the groove of the backing track.

By the way, this is a good take! It's 7 (close to 8).

Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 27 2019, 08:06 AM

Well played!! This is a great bit of playing to go for and you have done it well and with style. As they say, it's VIBRATO that separates the men from the boys and separates the good from the great. Vibrato seems like a simple technique until one dives in and tries to make it sound like the players that seeks to emulate, then it's complexity becomes clear. It's something that takes continual effort One is never "done" working on one's vibrato. One just gets better along the way.

Let's talk about the REC!
You do a really good job imho getting close to the original. Of course, there is always room to polish and improve, but that's true no matter what level you are at and no matter how long you've been playing. From listening to you hear it sounds like you have several years of practice under your belt. Is this the case? Just curious. You have developed a very good foundational vibrato technique I'd say and you have shown the ability to use it in various ways, e.g. one finger vibrato, multi finger vibrato, at the end of a lick series, at the start, without a gap.

Being able to start with a shallow vibrato, then move to a deeper vibrato is what gives the technique it's expressive nature. You seem to have that well in hand though I'd say you could start a bit more shallow and go a bit deeper/wider at the end. I'd suggest doing a few more REC lessons that focus on vibrato. Each one will help you put more of a final shine on your techique. This is well played and I enjoyed the performance quite a bit which is important. If the piece feels lackluster because of poor performance, it's hard approve it for passing. Not a problem here. Solid 7 from me!!
Todd

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 7 2020, 12:33 PM

Really nice work in terms of general lesson acknowlegment. Good timing, clean execution, proper tone (even if slightly different than original).

This time I will not have much to write because main difference is the hardest task at the same time. Gabriel has already mentioned. It feels like the top of dynamics response has been reached nicely but you still do not reach the bottom deep enough. You may feel the notes you play soft, but it is not as audioable as it feels. Sometimes it takes a 100% flat pick "no-angle" and just a touch, to get the sound Chris gets in his softest picking.

Maybe just a little less gain would help. Chris has a round tone which is more towards clean than crunch. There is a very subtle edge before breakthrough to distortion. Try to experiment with this as well.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Jan 8 2020, 12:50 PM

Well done - this is already very good!

You have got some highly relevant feedback already -

I would like to add that to me - the #1 thing that will take your playing to the next level is the following: leave this lesson for 1-2 weeks and then come back to it and try to play without thinking so much about the technical stuff - instead just see if you can groove along more intensely.

This advice is to address something we see often here - students get caught up in all the small details (which ARE important btw) - and forget the most important part : grooving along with music, enjoying the moment.

Now don't get me wrong, I also think this is a very musical take. But you should me aiming for the stars 😍 - well done you get an 8 from me!

Posted by: Fran Jan 14 2020, 07:44 PM

Pass: 7.5