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GMC Forum _ Cosmin Lupu _ Pourliver's Guitar Race

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 23 2012, 12:33 PM

Hey there Pourliver!

I am happy to welcome you to your own spot for learning smile.gif I would like to start by asking you to tell me a few things about your current level, goals and such. Also, if there's anything recorded - audio/ video - please let me take a look/ listen so i can better understand where we're at wink.gif

Cheers mate

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jun 23 2012, 06:27 PM

Hi Cosmin ! biggrin.gif

First of all, thank you for creating this thread! smile.gif

My favorites bands are Megadeth, Stratovarius, Kalmah, Imperanon, and lots of other neo classical band. I don't know why, but I really love classic song played at little bit heavier, like Turkish March on guitar, and your awesome Mozart rocks orchestra smile.gif.

Well, about my level, I played guitars for 3 years now. I had guitar classes at school, but it was really basic things, Chords, power chords, thats all. Now, I tried to learn by myself for 2 years, and I got really better. Actually, I think I'm a really good rhythm player, staccato, palm muting on the low strings and things like that aren't hard at all for me. Meanwhile, I have a pretty good AP technique, but I can't change string. I can play stuff like Wasted Years intro really easily, but like I said, string change / skip is damn hard for me. I just learned my Inside picking 2 weeks ago, and thats a damn good challenge.laugh.gif I think that my average lesson level would be 4, but I'm not sure as I never tried a level 5 lesson.

Actually, I would really like to be able to use every string on my guitar, while playing any technique. I would like to learn how to improvise over a backing tracks, learn some scales, and theory in general ( I know nothing at all dry.gif ) .

At the moment, I have nothing recorded that sound really good, every time I record myself, it's like one more challenge. It's harder to focus on what I'm doing while recording. By the way, I can only record audio ( I'll try to get a webcam / camera soon )

I think I've said enough about me, if you have any other question, go for it man tongue.gif

My native language is French, I know my English isn't perfect, but I'm doing my best wink.gif

EDIT: I won't be able to record this weekend, I don't have my guitar with me, I'm not at home smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 24 2012, 01:11 PM

Salut! Je peux parler Francais aussi wink.gif un pettit mais, je crois que c'est peut etre util biggrin.gif

Well biggrin.gif I am speaking french only when my step aunt is around and otherwise, I got nobody to use my skills on tongue.gif anyway, I suggest we divide the time into a few categories:

1) Technique - we can deal with alternate picking and legato to start with and I shall focus on string changing wink.gif
2) Applied theory - all sorts of examples meant to help you with understanding a specific concept and the way in which it was applied
3) Ear training - all sorts of exercises with which you can help your ear evolve in such a way that it will serve you in your musical journey - be it improvising or writing or playing with other people smile.gif

How much time a week can you dedicate to guitar playing mon ami?

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jun 24 2012, 06:16 PM

Salut! Sa pourrais être utile un jour smile.gif

Well, I would say I could play for 2-3 hours a day , so around 15 hours / week smile.gif
These categories looks good, but I never really played legato, only once at Ben's Vchat, so my legato level is around 1 laugh.gif

I have a question for you, were can I find a downloadable metronome ( .mp3 or .wav ) to put on Reaper and record over it ?




Posted by: Pourliver Jun 25 2012, 06:48 AM

I still won't be able to record / play today, another day without my dear guitar sad.gif

Today a strange question came in my mind , can you learn guitar without being able to play ?

Cya later man, have a nice day ( 01:50 a.m here, I need to get some rest ) biggrin.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 25 2012, 07:52 PM

No problemmo mate! Rest and write me back when you are ready smile.gif you can use online metronomes if you want. They are everywhere biggrin.gif

http://www.metronomeonline.com/

how about this one? smile.gif

Tell me man, when are you getting your axe back? smile.gif

Posted by: Pourliver Jun 25 2012, 07:54 PM

This one is perfect smile.gif

I'm getting my axe back tonight, in 5 hours biggrin.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 25 2012, 07:56 PM

Ah great! Well, then I'll be waiting for your materials, so we can start wink.gif

Posted by: Pourliver Jun 25 2012, 11:34 PM

I'm back, my axe and I are ready to RAWK ! cool.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 26 2012, 09:13 AM

Alright man smile.gif let me see what you got wink.gif

Posted by: Pourliver Jun 26 2012, 06:40 PM

I recorded this for Gabriel, what do you think about it ?

http://soundcloud.com/pourliver/finnish-power-metal-ii-sonata


Posted by: Pourliver Jun 26 2012, 11:13 PM

What do I need to record for you ? AP, legato, rhythm playing ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 27 2012, 03:43 PM

Hey man! You seem very tight when playing rhythm wink.gif I like that!

Now, I am curious to see how you are faring with the other things we have spoken about, so, I was curious if you would like to start like this - I will find a lesson which is lead oriented and you record it so that I may see what level you're at smile.gif

I was thinking about this one: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/The-Voice-Of-Your-Guitar/

Let's try the first part - I want to hear you bend and vibrate wink.gif

rock n roooolll

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jun 28 2012, 01:25 AM

Hey Cosmin ! biggrin.gif

This lesson was really awesome to play. It's really full of emotions and feeling in it smile.gif

I messed up a bit on the chicken picking and my last bend wasn't loud enough. It's my first time playing something like that, with small bends and vibrato, but I think it wasn't that bad. smile.gif What do you think ?

http://soundcloud.com/pourliver/the-voice-of-your-guitar-part

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 28 2012, 10:06 AM

wink.gif This is not bad, but you played the bends - such as the one at 0.6 a bit different - listen to the original take and see what's happening smile.gif the notes in the bend are being changed faster than the way in which you did it.

Try to get the details, as these make the difference wink.gif and let's discuss further!

Posted by: Pourliver Jun 29 2012, 07:37 AM

Hey Cosmin! I've watched the video a bit more and louder, and I see now that I've skipped the pull off at 0:04, and I did my bend too slow, now I just need to get my pull off right after the bends, I don't know why, but I'm messing up that part when practicing.

By the way, can you help me to improve my tone for this lesson ? It sounds very bad laugh.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 29 2012, 08:39 AM

Hehe biggrin.gif That's the spirit wink.gif ALWAYS look for the details ok?

Now, tell me what sort of device are you using for the tone?

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jun 29 2012, 08:12 PM

I'm using my Line 6 Spider iv amps smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 30 2012, 08:07 AM

Ok, so, what sort of corrections do you have? If you have bass, mid, highs and gain, it would be great.

I would go somewhere like 10 o clock with the bass, 9-10 o clock with the mids and 1 o clock with the highs. Also, add some delay and reverb in the mix and it should be good. Now, all amps behave differently and these are only assumptions of mine, but try them and let's see what happens smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 2 2012, 02:16 AM

I have all these, but I don't have delay on my amp, and I have no pedal at all :/

I won't be able to record audio for a week, I'm at my father's house and I forgot my 1/4 " to 1/8 " adapter sad.gif

I'll try to come back with an almost flawless take in a week smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 2 2012, 10:32 AM

Alright mate! Well, record without the delay and add it afterwards in the DAW you are working with wink.gif

I'll be here waiting wink.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 9 2012, 03:01 AM

Hi Cosmin ! smile.gif

This is my second take for you lesson : The Voice Of Your Guitar. The result isn't perfect, but when I press the record button, my fingers goes crazy and mess up. I think it's better than the first one, but I still make the same error. By the way, all of the delay effects in REAPER sounded really bad, so I played without it rolleyes.gif

http://soundcloud.com/pourliver/the-voice-of-your-guitar-take

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 9 2012, 12:51 PM

Hey man! This is not bad, but still I can feel you are shaky smile.gif

My advice to you is to record a lot of times, all the time, until the pressure of recording will not be there anymore. It's like an exercise and the more you are getting used to it, the better you get at recording the best take out there wink.gif

The fact that you haven't used any delay, can be a very good initiative, due to the fact that your nuances will be more pretentious, thus allowing you to become more and more skilled at approximating note lengths and dynamics, in such a way that you will be able to replace the delay with ...your hands only wink.gif

Try this: Record let's say 15 takes, totally forgetting about the record button being pushed. Keep the best one. Do this for about 4 days in a row and at the end, pick the best one out and post it here biggrin.gif Remember to always listen to yourself, ok?

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 9 2012, 07:11 PM

Thanks for the advice !

It's sounds like a really good idea, I'll do this for sure, I hope that my next take will be almost perfect tongue.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 10 2012, 02:26 PM

QUOTE (Pourliver @ Jul 9 2012, 06:11 PM) *
Thanks for the advice !

It's sounds like a really good idea, I'll do this for sure, I hope that my next take will be almost perfect tongue.gif


Aye! Glad to know you like it smile.gif I am sure the take will improve greatly mate!

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 13 2012, 10:06 PM

Here are 2 of my best takes, recorded yesterday.

http://soundcloud.com/pourliver/sets/the-voice-of-your-guitar-take

I think it's getting better every time I record it, but the only thing that I find hard now, is to keep the sound of the E note on the fourth string.

What do you think ?

By the way, I've just listened to your Metal Metric lesson, they are really awesome, the 4th lesson sound really nice tongue.gif I should try that tuning soon wink.gif

EDIT : You will have to click on the link, or you won't be able to listen to both of them ( take 3 and 4 ) smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 14 2012, 08:27 AM

Good morning sir!

Yes, indeed take 4 is the best wink.gif I focused on your sustain and the bending at the beginning of each phrase wink.gif

That bend is a bit tricky - it's done a little faster because the notes are not of equal length there and about the vibrato - in take 4, you have allowed the last note of the first phrase to breathe and then you vibrated - that's very good! In this sort of context it's very nice to do it this way biggrin.gif

Let's go further up the hill wink.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 14 2012, 06:19 PM

Hi man !

By watching your lesson, I've saw that you were not bending the last note of the first phrase immediately, so I though I could do the same. biggrin.gif

I'm ready to rock, what are we working next, ô C-Maestro ? laugh.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 15 2012, 08:36 AM

Well, we should first get this one flowing and then move to something else wink.gif When I said futher up the hill, I was thinking about perfecting this one, by having in mind what I observed in you last takes biggrin.gif

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 15 2012, 08:39 AM

QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Jul 15 2012, 07:36 AM) *
Well, we should first get this one flowing and then move to something else wink.gif When I said futher up the hill, I was thinking about perfecting this one, by having in mind what I observed in you last takes biggrin.gif


Hahahaha laugh.gif I misunderstood what you said, sorry about that smile.gif

I'll record a new take later on today ( 3:38 am here ), it's getting easier every time I'm playing it, so it wont be that hard I think biggrin.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 15 2012, 09:25 AM

That's the spirit! biggrin.gif

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 26 2012, 10:51 PM

This is my fifth take for your lesson wink.gif

http://soundcloud.com/pourliver/the-voice-of-your-guitar-2

So, I think there is an improvement, but there is still missing something, I don't know what tho laugh.gif. What do you think ? smile.gif

EDIT: The link is called the voice of you guitar 2, but it's the 5 smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 27 2012, 07:46 AM

Hey man! Sounds pretty good to me smile.gif

Let's hear it in the context now and then move on to the second part biggrin.gif We should explore more lessons right? wink.gif But first, let's get this one down for good!

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 30 2012, 04:51 AM

Hi Cosmin! smile.gif

Bends, bends, and more bends ! I have a hard time with those right now, sometimes I bend too high, it will take me a bit of time smile.gif

Yesterday I discovered something, it's really strange to explain tho. It was like if my picking hand was exactly following my left hand. Everything was really easy, I wasn't even thinking about picking, everything followed. Am I supposed to always play like that ? I don't know if you understand what I'm actually talking about, but is there a way to always play like this ? ohmy.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 30 2012, 08:36 AM

Hey man smile.gif Take your time with the bends wink.gif I am not going anywhere and I want you to get as close to perfection as possible wink.gif

Well, there are days and days smile.gif I know exactly what you are talking about - you need to be very relaxed before starting to play and this state will transmit itself to your whole body.

Another idea, would be to think about what you did exactly before starting to play and try to get into that state of mind each time wink.gif There will be bad days too, though, when you will feel like you can't hit two right notes. Put the guitar down and go do something else in that moment. Come back later and try again, but in any case, do not play in that state of mind, because you will only accumulate frustration!

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 15 2013, 09:11 PM

Hi Cosmin ! biggrin.gif

First of all, sorry if I never replied to your post... I really feel bad about it, but in the end, I'm the one who failed here ^^'. Last year, while practicing your lesson and a bunch of other stuff, I can remember having an enormous lack of motivation. I stopped playing and practicing guitar for a while, just to "take a break" and come back stronger, but it didn't work as intended ^^' I continued to play guitar in December / January, but I just picked up the guitar for fun, without practicing on my techniques. sad.gif

Recently I've been trying to learn theory by myself, didn't know where to start, and it never really worked. I've been trying to learn too many things at the same time, and that was not the right thing for me...

Now I'm back, but my GMC membership has ended sad.gif Do you think we can still work on something even without it ? biggrin.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 16 2013, 08:01 AM

Hey buddy, welcome back smile.gif

As long as you have access to the forum, we can work on theory together wink.gif It is no problemmo whatsoever - if you are ok with it and if you are ready to commit to practicing constantly, we can start at any given moment smile.gif

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 16 2013, 10:32 AM

I'm ready ! What do we start with ? biggrin.gif

Going to sleep tho, see ya later wink.gif ( Why does all musical inspiration comes now... )

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 17 2013, 08:36 AM

Hey buddy - you must be awake, by now, right? smile.gif

Please tell me, what sort of theoretical knowledge have you amassed so far?

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 17 2013, 08:49 AM

Well, usually I'm not awake, since its 3:40 AM now, I can't sleep these day, with the insane temperature.. smile.gif

Right now, I know the A pentatonic minor scale, the A harmonic Minor, and I used a lot of D Phrygian Dominant ( I don't know what Phrygian dominant mean tho ) ... I know how the major scale is made ( W W H W W W H ), the theory behind power chord, well I can't think about other stuff right now ohmy.gif

I know the pentatonic minor scales, and Harmonic minor, but I don't know how / when they are used... Lets say that I'm really weak in theory ! smile.gif

By the way, I don't even know what Phrygian mean, I just know a part of the scale smile.gif

You should listen to the band "Revocation", it really does sounds cool, metal band with some jazzy stuff, its really unique ! Try listening to "Across Forest and Fjord", its an instrumental, but its really great. I found that band yesterday, I'm addicted now smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 17 2013, 10:31 AM

Alright man, well, first things first - I will make a little introductory video for you in which I will tell you what I think that the most important aspects of theory would be and which are the building blocks that we will use, so stay tuned, deal?

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 17 2013, 07:58 PM

Alright, sounds good to me smile.gif

By the way, the thing I don't really like about what I learned is even if I know scales, or stuff like that, I don't know how to use them, its not affecting my playing at all ohmy.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 18 2013, 07:38 PM

QUOTE (Pourliver @ Jul 17 2013, 06:58 PM) *
Alright, sounds good to me smile.gif

By the way, the thing I don't really like about what I learned is even if I know scales, or stuff like that, I don't know how to use them, its not affecting my playing at all ohmy.gif


Hey buddy, here we go:


Posted by: Pourliver Jul 18 2013, 08:10 PM

Well I don't know about the minor and diminished sadly, so I'm only able to answer your first task. smile.gif

By the way, do I need to have one of each note ( A B C D E ... ) or if it doesn't matter ( Bb C D D# ... )

Bb Major : Bb C D Eb F G A

I tried to visualize my guitar fretboard in my mind, and count the whole and half hahahaha, it was harder than expected ohmy.gif ( I knew the formula, but never applied it smile.gif )

Am I right ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 19 2013, 11:25 AM

QUOTE (Pourliver @ Jul 18 2013, 07:10 PM) *
Well I don't know about the minor and diminished sadly, so I'm only able to answer your first task. smile.gif

By the way, do I need to have one of each note ( A B C D E ... ) or if it doesn't matter ( Bb C D D# ... )

Bb Major : Bb C D Eb F G A

I tried to visualize my guitar fretboard in my mind, and count the whole and half hahahaha, it was harder than expected ohmy.gif ( I knew the formula, but never applied it smile.gif )

Am I right ?


Hehe - it is correct - in any major scale you need to have only ONE of each note type - i.e. you will never have D and D# but D and Eb - now

The chords task is strictly connected with the harmonizing task, so check this out:

Major chord: 1 3 5
Minor chord: 1 b3 5
Diminished chord: 1 b3 b5

Now, due to the fat that your membership has expired - I do believe that you can't see all the lesson content, am I right?

If I am not right laugh.gif please proceed with this lesson: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Triads_in_Major_Scale_Series_Part_1/ the principles behind it, are as important as being able to play the chords with good timing smile.gif

What do you think? Is it doable?

If your membership has expired and you can't see all the videos - use the main video as a guideline for the following task:

1) Read the text description in order to find out what the terms harmonizing and inversions mean

2) Taking into account that we are dealing with Root inversion (C E G) only, in this lesson, once you have understood what harmonizing means, tell me the names and notes of all the chords derived from harmonizing the C major scale

How does this sound like, mate?

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 20 2013, 03:02 PM

I don't have access to the whole lesson sad.gif

And I don't really get what harmonizing means, the only link I made was that he used only notes of the C major scale to build chords dry.gif
I get the meaning of inversion, but I'm not too sure about "when" it is used in the lesson ohmy.gif

Can you clarify those point before I start working on the names and notes of all the chords ?

Sorry if I'm responding kinda late, had a power outage ( 20 hour without electricity ) yesterday when I was going to reply happy.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 20 2013, 04:52 PM

Hey mate - sure thing - harmonizing means that we can derive a chord out of each note in a major scale, using only notes from that particular scale. So basically, instead of playing C D E F G A B C we will play chords - these chords will be triads, so they will be based on the 1 3 5 formula for major chords (ex C major = C E G), 1 b3 5 formula for minor chords (ex A minor = A C E) and 1 b3 b5 formula for diminished chords (ex B dim = B D F).

So, your task is to figure out the chords that are obtained out of harmonizing the C major scale smile.gif What he is doing in that lesson is exactly this task. Don't think of anything else at the moment - just figure out the chords - name each one, tell their nature (major minor or diminished) keeping in mind that you are not allowed to use notes from outside the scale.

If it's still unclear, let me know, k?

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 20 2013, 05:38 PM

Hmmm I think I get it now, I just don't see any possible inversion :s

C major: C E G
D minor: D F A
E minor: E G B
F major: F A C
G major: G B D
A minor: A C E
B dim: B D F


But... what about the inversions ? ohmy.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 21 2013, 08:54 AM

QUOTE (Pourliver @ Jul 20 2013, 04:38 PM) *
Hmmm I think I get it now, I just don't see any possible inversion :s

C major: C E G
D minor: D F A
E minor: E G B
F major: F A C
G major: G B D
A minor: A C E
B dim: B D F


But... what about the inversions ? ohmy.gif


Hey man - great question biggrin.gif Let's take the C major chord for instance - it has 3 notes, right?

So, the possible combinations in respect to the way in which the notes are placed on the guitar neck, would be:

C E G - 1 3 5 this is the direct state

E G C - 1st inversion having the major third in the bass - 3 5 1

G C E - 2nd inversion having the 5th in the bass - 5 1 3

Now that you know these - please try to apply this idea to each chord and after that record a video in which you will play the C major scale harmonization for the direct state and each of the two inversions. Deal? Use the C note found on the A string to start and make your way from that point. Of course, if there are questions, please tell me smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 21 2013, 09:12 AM

Ninja question before sleeping,

Only on the A D G strings ?

And if i record video... Quality will be really bad, since I only record via Amplitube 3 usually laugh.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 21 2013, 10:57 AM

QUOTE (Pourliver @ Jul 21 2013, 08:12 AM) *
Ninja question before sleeping,

Only on the A D G strings ?

And if i record video... Quality will be really bad, since I only record via Amplitube 3 usually laugh.gif


Hey buddy, yes, only those strings and quality is not an issue right now wink.gif

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 23 2013, 08:06 AM

Hi Cosmin !

Quick update smile.gif

I dislocated my left hand little finger, and it really hurt as hell. sad.gif

The only thing I have to record at the moment is an iPod. I'm not too sure about how I'm going to record, since I'm using Amplitube 3, can you help me with this ? ohmy.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 23 2013, 12:35 PM

QUOTE (Pourliver @ Jul 23 2013, 07:06 AM) *
Hi Cosmin !

Quick update smile.gif

I dislocated my left hand little finger, and it really hurt as hell. sad.gif

The only thing I have to record at the moment is an iPod. I'm not too sure about how I'm going to record, since I'm using Amplitube 3, can you help me with this ? ohmy.gif


Uh oh .... mate, what in blazes did you do??

Now, tell me, do you have a webcam?

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 23 2013, 11:13 PM

I don't have a webcam, but I will ask some friends if they have a spare one they don't use anymore ! smile.gif

And for the pinky, it was an accident while playing american football, a tackle went wrong and I felt on my pinky. The joint was pointing backward, so I had to manually put it back in place... It was so painful... But now, I taped my pinky and my ring finger together, and I keep putting ice on it, so its getting better, can't move it a lot, but no more pain smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 24 2013, 08:48 AM

Damn... Watch out bro - so, I guess playing is out of the question for a while...

Well, if you get a webcam, at this point you can record both sound and video with it, for the tasks I give you and which you can post in here. Use a youtube channel, upload the movies and embed them here - deal?

Posted by: Pourliver Jul 24 2013, 10:05 AM

As soon as I feel I'm ready to play, I'll record it ! smile.gif

Sounds easy enough, I'll try to update a lil before recording smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 25 2013, 08:01 AM

QUOTE (Pourliver @ Jul 24 2013, 09:05 AM) *
As soon as I feel I'm ready to play, I'll record it ! smile.gif

Sounds easy enough, I'll try to update a lil before recording smile.gif


Looking forward to it and man, take care of your hands... you only get 2 in this lifetime, ok? biggrin.gif

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