The Eye-opening Gmc Collab, You too can write amazing melodies Options

[Kristofer Dahl]

The eye-opening GMC collab
You too can write amazing melodies

"To play amazing melodies you need a God given natural talent and... yellow slippers."

If you believe in this stuff you might want to get outta here Because in this collab we’ll explore how it’s done, and no talent is needed at all! You do need time and devotion though.

In this collab we’ll use an amazing backing track by our own Javier Aviles to build our melodies.

This collab is a perfect opportunity for you to understand how you can follow - or ‘outline’ - the chords to create amazing melodies.

You can either compose a solo/melody and use the short backing track: In this case you should strive for something melodic and minimise fast runs. I recommend you to record around 40 seconds solo. My feedback here will focus on technical, structural and musical improvements.

OR you can record an improvised take over the long backing track. My feedback will then be related to the overall flow of the improvisation and I will suggest any tricks I can think of to help you improve.


BASIC APPROACH

You can play the C minor pentatonic scale over the whole backing track and it will sound good. For more colors, play the C aeolian scale (my personal favorite!).

With this basic approach, you won’t consciously be hitting the perfect notes over the chord changes all the time, but there is a big chance you will do it accidentally.







FOLLOW THE CHORDS!

A more advanced way to solo over this backing track, is to not only play scales, but also to follow the chords. When you hear a note choice or melody that sounds too good to be true, then the guitarist is usually following the chords the way I describe below.

If we look at the two chords of this backing, we get:

Cm: contains the notes C, Eb and G

Fm: contains the notes F, Ab and C

We have two changes, let’s see exactly what you should do over these, to write super strong sounding melodies:

When the backing changes from Cm to Fm the interesting opportunities lie in:

Bend the Eb note to F. If you nail this over the chord change, people will think you’re God.
Bend the G note to Ab. Again, hallelujah!

When the backing changes from Fm to Cm:
Bend the F note to G.
Bend the C note to Eb.

These are the most obvious ones, but with some creativity there are plenty of other ways to go from chord note to chord note.

Bare in mind that as long as you bend into a strong note ( = chord note) you can actually do it from any note, even one that sounds horrible. It is a safe way to write strong material, and works for any genre in the world.

If you are not comfortable bending, you can play the notes regularly with your pick, or slide into them (etc etc)

To determine when the chord changes are happening, you should start counting the beats from the beginning of the backing track. The first change to Fm happens after aprox 6 seconds, when you have counted to 4, two times.

See the tab/pdf in the lesson for more details.

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DOWNLOAD THE BACKING TRACKS:

 eye_opener_collab.mp3 ( 2.26MB ) Number of downloads: 764

 eye_opener_JAM.mp3 ( 10.15MB ) Number of downloads: 630


* Tempo is 78 bpm
* Deadline is April 8, 2015
* Although this is an audio collab, feel free to video record yourself as this will help you get better feedback.
* When you want to submit your final take, upload files in this topic (mp3 with at least 128 kbps quality, 16 bit wav files are welcome though). We need two files: 1. Your solo without the backing track 2. Your solo mixed with the backing track for reference.

Here you can see me jamming over the backing track:



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RESLULT

>>>>> FINAL MIX <<<<<<

Participants:

Bas Cuthach, Sensible Jones, Procyon, AKRich, Todd Simpson, GeneT95, Kristofer Dahl, Monica Gheorghevici, Bleez, MisterM, Phil66 and Pzalfa.


Participants:

Bas Cutach + Sensible Jones: Creating the atmosphere
Procyon: Solo over the created atmosphere
AK Rich Solo over GeneT95 and Bas Cuthach arrangements.
Todd Simpson Solo while GeneT95 continues adding rhythm.
Kristofer Dahl Solo, Gene continues rocking.
Monica solo over Kris’s rhythm delay auto pan arrangement and also some Massive synth addition. Bas Cuthach joins in the second half.
Bleez and MisterM guitar solos interact perfectly over the backing destroyed with industrial effect.
Phil66 and Pzalfa solos go nicely together while backing fade down and Bas Cuthach once again with his delay based rhythm.

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[Bas Cuthach]

but i like my distortion lol ok some minor changes, ya getting that sweet tone is something i have trouble with

 eye_opener_collab_take_2.mp3 ( 1.13MB ) Number of downloads: 155


with out backing

 eye_opener_collab_w_o_backing.mp3 ( 1.11MB ) Number of downloads: 153

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This post has been edited by Bas Cuthach: Apr 1 2015, 03:26 PM

[Kristofer Dahl]

but i like my distortion lol ok some minor changes, ya getting that sweet tone is something i have trouble with

 eye_opener_collab_take_2.mp3 ( 1.13MB ) Number of downloads: 155


with out backing

 eye_opener_collab_w_o_backing.mp3 ( 1.11MB ) Number of downloads: 153

Thanks Bas - and sorry I missed the soundcloud file from your previous post.

I do think tone is a little better here. However I get the feeling this might be a sound you have dialed in for metal - and it might work much better in that genre ( because more treble is needed to cut through). However for this kind of soft backing it is overkill to have loads of distortion and treble, you can cut through with a much smoother tone.

From a solo construction perspective I think your take is pretty cool. I like the intro which gives electronic vibes. And although you do have a chaos of different lines - I somehow get impression it is a structured chaos and I can hear the music in there and it builds up very nicely. You manage to work yourself to a climax thanks to the repeated line starting at 00:35 - this is not easy to do considering you started of at full throttle. This is a pretty cool and original take.

But again - with a softer tone you would do these musical ideas so much more justice. The music is cool and I would like to listen to it several times but it is just too tiring for my ears.

Fingers crossed you can tweak yourself to a better tone! If you need help, I suggest starting a new topic and tell us what you got in terms of gear and we can hep you make the most out of it. I am anxious to hear what you will accomplish with a better tone!

You know guys that I always begin by thanking to my amazing instructor Darek because if I do something good it's just because he is a damn brilliant instructor

Because all these collabs are a great workout for me, for this improv I had two requests from Darek.
1- to add more gain in tone
2- to use the volume knob. So, for the first half the guitar volume knob it's roll out around the middle position, to catch a warm sound for the soft notes. Then the volume knob it's rolled at a loud position.
Darek knew from the start that this changing of tone will obligate me to think and play in other way (more gain requires a totally different playing to not lose the dynamics). That's why I love my instructor because he always has prepared traps for me

Kris: My first approach for this collab had included your shred swing pattern but I failed the take because I chose a wrong place to add that lick. In my stupid mind was a good idea to start in that way The funny thing is that inside me I had the feeling that something is wrong and Darek will put me to make another take. So.....he did it (hahaha... he made this for 3 times) Maybe next time I will find the perfect place to use your lick.
Now you will listen my fourth approach. It’s totally different from any point of view: another style, tone, playing, dynamics and composing approach (tension built from the first note until the last note). I really killed my guitar, mind and fingers

[attachment=41474:The_eye_...__guitar.mp3]
[attachment=41475:Guitar_Only.mp3]

Hehe awesome to hear the collab is making you work hard - four different takes is excellent practice!

And yes I agree this backing might not be optimal for that shred swing thing. I guess the ultimate evidence of that is that I did not use it in my improv (I think) - and I tend to completely overdo that one as soon as I get the chance!

This one felt more like and improv compared to what I have heard from you before - so big kudos for that. And as an improv, I can not say much more than bravo - please just record a longer version!

If we treat this one more as a constructed take there is some stuff here and there to comment on:

0:14 - this bend is a little off. I get the feeling you reach the target note a little late and pitch is a little off. Same comment for 00:53-00:54

00:38 - the faster note in here feels off timing wise. A bit like unintentional swing. Same comment at 00:44

0:48 - something makes me feel this legato lick needs more practice. I think it might be that you have pretty dynamic sound (which is awesome btw) - and there is a big volume different between hammered and picked notes. You should be able to solve this quite easily by making sure your pick strikes are incredibly soft (while you try to get more power from left hand - the latter is not as easy though).

Other than this - your tone is killer and so is your melodic development - well done!

hi here

a brand new recording.



let me know...

thankx

Laurent

YES!!!! MAN this is an improvement, it's subtle oh so subtle but you certainly get it.

In this take you played slightly behind the beat when playing softly and on the beat (or slightly before) when playing loud. Splendid!

You let the phrases dictate the mood and timing, and to me this is what "playing with feeling" is about. It is certainly possible to break down "feel" into elements that can be practiced.

Here is a quick tip to try and take your improv to yet a new level. Keeping all the things we have said so far in mind, try to impose some limitations on yourself.

What I mean by this is that throughout your improv, try to have one section where you only play double stops, one section where you only play horizontally on one single string, another section were you only do string skipping (so don't play on two adjacent strings) etc etc I am sure you can think of your own as well.

The idea is simply to push yourself into new sorts of ideas (through these limitations), and thereby make your take even more versatile and interesting. Go go go go go go go go go!!

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