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GMC Forum _ Cosmin Lupu _ Limit's 'no Limit' Course

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 2 2012, 09:31 PM

Hey there Limit biggrin.gif

Your nickname was very inspired for this thread tongue.gif

On the other hand, thank you for choosing me and welcome to your very own personal thread!

I was curious to ask you if you have any recording of yourself - it would help us see where you are now with your playing smile.gif

What do you think?

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Sep 3 2012, 05:21 PM

Hey Cosmin! Thanks for creating this thread and helping take my guitar plaing to the next level! I don't have anything recorded yet but will setup and try to record something this week. Like I said before I'm quite a newbie. I believe my alternate picking is probably my strongest technique, (It can always be faster and more precise) and I can do a little bit of legato type stuff. (hammer-on's, pull-off's, slides), my vibrato isn't the best. Is there anything specific you would like me to try and record that could possibly give us a starting point? Thanks again for this!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 4 2012, 02:45 PM

Hey Scott!

Try all sorts of things, but against a metronome if possible smile.gif I would like to hear how you relate to tempo, ok? Please don't be shy, make a recording having a little bit of everything you can play and send it my way as soon as possible! smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 4 2012, 02:58 PM

haha sorry guys for entering here but the thread's name is epic! tongue.gif biggrin.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 4 2012, 03:01 PM

QUOTE (Gabriel Leopardi @ Sep 4 2012, 01:58 PM) *
haha sorry guys for entering here but the thread's name is epic! tongue.gif biggrin.gif


laugh.gif Thank you Gabe!

Posted by: Limit Sep 5 2012, 04:17 AM

All right, pressures' on! I will try to setup and record something soon - I'm quite busy this week and with the time I do have I want to be practicing and not messing w/ trying to set up a DAW. I know it's something that needs to be done. Hopefully I will have more time tommorrow!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 6 2012, 10:47 AM

Ok mate, take your time wink.gif I'll be here waiting in the mean time

Posted by: Limit Sep 8 2012, 05:56 AM

Alright man, having never hooked my guitar up to my computer before (or ever having a youtube account) I have boldly entered the realm that many on this site have done before and posted my first video......



I'm still trying to figure the whole DAW thing out and working with my setup to capture audio and video. But the weekend is here already and we can't get started if I don't make this post, so here it is my first attempt at a GMC lesson.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 8 2012, 02:12 PM

Hey man! I think your timing is pretty good and the bending is on the right way as well smile.gif

One thing which I noticed is that you are holding your thumb in a pretty awkward position - doesn't it feel a bit strange? smile.gif I would try and hook it over the neck so that it will help out in various situations, especially bending smile.gif

Now, how would you feel if we went for some alternate picking so that I may see how you fare in that field? smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Sep 8 2012, 10:16 PM

Hey Cosmin,

Sounds good! I grabbed the GF's guitar and threw down a little alternate picking exercise I saw from Ben Higgins' Guitar Bushido to hopefully give you a little idea about where I'm at....



It's crazy how much turning that metronome on can mess with me, lol!

On another note, I was able to check out the video chat today. It was pretty good but a little over my head. It was awesome to see all you instructors bring a progression together like that tho! I will definitely try to sit in on more when I can!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 9 2012, 03:58 PM

Howdy man! Glad you made it! biggrin.gif

Well, join each v-chat and I'm sure you will catch on to a LOT of stuff wink.gif

Regarding the recording, your hands are not in synch, so What I would suggest would be:

- practice this piece slower until you can match right hand and left hand perfectly and then gradually increase the speed.
- before this though, I would suggest you to try tackling this lesson smile.gif

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Picking-Hand-Basics/

What say you?

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Sep 9 2012, 04:22 PM

QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Sep 9 2012, 02:58 PM) *
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Picking-Hand-Basics/

What say you?

Cosmin


Sounds good man! I'm on it!!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 9 2012, 04:34 PM

Wind in your sails!

Posted by: Limit Sep 11 2012, 05:27 AM

Hey Cosmin,

I'm working on the lesson and my hand position like we talked about. I'm currently playing the lesson through at 80 bpm and starting to feel pretty comfortable with it. Another day or so and I should be ready to post a take. That's all for now!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 11 2012, 07:52 AM

Alright! Let me know when you are ready to show me the results so we can comment on them wink.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Sep 16 2012, 07:12 AM

I'm gettin' close man! A video post will be coming soon.......

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 16 2012, 02:13 PM

QUOTE (Limit @ Sep 16 2012, 06:12 AM) *
I'm gettin' close man! A video post will be coming soon.......


Ok mate wink.gif Don't worry, I'm here

Posted by: Limit Sep 24 2012, 04:33 AM


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 24 2012, 09:08 AM

Hey mate! Not bad smile.gif There are two main things which you need to focus on:

- the timing when playing triplets - they are a bit uneven in some spots
- in the last part, where you combine 8ths with 16ths the last 16th note is not being heard/ played by you, because you hurry up to move to the next note and the next set of 8th notes implicitly smile.gif Try practicing slower and nailing all the notes!

You can do it! Let's see another take, having these taken care of - even if it's at a slower tempo - I am interested to see a correct take, rather than a full speed one!

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Sep 26 2012, 06:27 AM

Hey Cos!

I hear what you're sayin man! I've been having an issue hitting those sixteenth notes at tempo and as I practice it more I start to fatigue which in turn makes it harder.... lol. Going back and listening to the submission take again, I agree the triplets can sound more even too. I'm back grinding on it. I broke it down slower again yesterday and was playing at tempo today. I don't know how good the quality of this submission will be but I wanted to upload it for comparison purposes anyway. So..... here's a take from tonight's practice session where I am playing along with Ben on the video.



Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 26 2012, 08:17 AM

Howdy mate! It's indeed improved in comparison with the last one, but you still have work to do wink.gif The triplets are better, but as you head into that section you shift the notes with a bit of a delay, while in the case of the 16th notes, you are focusing on playing that last one in each group but as you continue, you tend to lose it on the way.

Can you send me a complete take at 75% of the actual speed? smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Oct 1 2012, 03:52 AM

Alright Cos, I've been playing with the slowest backing track (90 Bpm) and had some issues adjusting my timing to playing the triplets. I had gotten used to blasting them like 123123, and with the slower backing track it kinda messed with me and so I ended playing them more like 123...123. I dunno. I recorded a take the other day but had some sync issues that I couldn't deal with unsure.gif .

So, ultimately I just ended up scrapping that and doing another. Its a pretty steep learning curve at the moment as I'm still trying to figure out a good workflow to record pic and audio and of course trying to learn the lesson



To be honest, I feel like I'm really struggling when the red light comes on. I imagine it must be pretty common, I practice and play without any issues, then hit record and things go to $h!t. dry.gif



Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 1 2012, 02:31 PM

Hey buddy, take it easy wink.gif I have that too sometimes biggrin.gif Now, the more you record, the better and loose you will become! That's a certainty smile.gif

The issue with the triplets is that you are not playing triplets in this take - you are actually playing 2 eight notes and a dotted eight note, if i am not mistaken. Try the following drill:

1) Set the metronome at a slow tempo - quarter notes in 4/4
2) Start counting out loud: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3.... but pay attention to have them as equal notes - not as you are playing them now.

After doing this and having the pulse settled into your system, try the triplet part in this lesson, on the guitar smile.gif

Let me know how it goes, k?

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Oct 4 2012, 12:05 AM

Alright, here's another take with the triplets hopefully played like triplets tongue.gif

hmm, the vid has some sync issues..... one sec


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 4 2012, 09:09 AM

Hey mate! A LOT better, but still towards the ending you are in a bit of a hurry biggrin.gif

Posted by: Limit Oct 10 2012, 05:06 AM

Hey Cosmin,

I'm still practicin' away man. I've started working on hitting quarter notes and sixteenth notes against the metronome as a warm up before the lesson and I think this will be real beneficial to hitting the notes cleaner and help a lot with bringing my picking hand up to speed to take a crack at a full tempo take. I gotta admit hammerin out this one lesson over and over again has been trying at some points - I'm playing more guitar than ever before but can't help but feel I could benefit from a little variety. It is probably a blessing and a curse - being so eager to learn everything, yet being so ........... um, undeveloped, lol. I've included a take from today, sorry the quality is quite terrible, but posting a vid helps keep me honest. I've been trying to slow down and accentuate a little better - maybe my "G" string is getting worn out laugh.gif





I was checkin' out your song a day thread the other night and really enjoyed listening to some of your pics. A couple of those tracks really took me on a ride, so thanks for that. Anyway, hope you're doing well man - Later.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 10 2012, 04:06 PM

Hey man! This is WAY better! Now the fact that you accentuated the picking gives it a bit of a rigid feel but, timing wise, it is CORRECT wink.gif

Well, I know that you probably want to work on something else as well, but it all depends on the time you have to invest in practicing. If you got more time, you can also tackle something else alongside this lesson. I can't wait to see it at full tempo, now that you have grasped the correct principles!

Glad you enjoy that thread biggrin.gif It's usually filled with the stuff that I enjoy listening to so, if you know what's there, you probably have a pretty clear idea on my tastes smile.gif

Posted by: Limit Oct 21 2012, 05:47 AM

Hey Cos,

I'm still plugging away at this lesson man. I dunno, I think i've played it so many times that it's just starting to sound weird to me - it has become very mechanical and I seemed to have lost the musical nature of it, if that makes sense. I find my 16th notes still arent' being articulated perfect yet - I guess I'm gonna have to hit the metronome a bit harder. Anyway man, hope all is well and hopefully I'll be able to post that elusive perfect take soon.

Later buddy!

Posted by: Limit Oct 22 2012, 05:58 AM

I haven't posted a video in awhile so, here's a vid from tonight



Is it possible I'm getting worse? laugh.gif


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 22 2012, 11:34 AM

Mate, this is very good!

I mean, aside from a few times when you were less groovy on the triplets part, you went absolutely fine with the rest. have some faith in yourself, will ya? biggrin.gif

Posted by: Limit Oct 29 2012, 06:36 AM

Hey Cos,

Another weeks' gone by already!

Training Update;

Fingers have begun to callus
Killed my first set of batteries in my metronome
Finally got around to putting some new strings on the old axe

Here's the latest attempt:





Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 29 2012, 09:40 AM

Hey man! Nice, very nice! Still a bit uneven, JUST A BIT, on the triplets, but here's what I say: post this one in the REC zone and let's move a bit forward with things, what do you think?

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Oct 29 2012, 01:45 PM

Let's do it man! I will keep this exercise in my warmup routine and continue to practice it with the metronome. What's next?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 30 2012, 11:11 PM

QUOTE (Limit @ Oct 29 2012, 12:45 PM) *
Let's do it man! I will keep this exercise in my warmup routine and continue to practice it with the metronome. What's next?


I have another one for ya, from Ben's bag of tricks again biggrin.gif How clean can you get this flowing?

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Picking-Arpeggios/

Posted by: Limit Nov 4 2012, 07:00 AM

Man! There is some killer stretches in this one! I've had quite a busy week, but I'm working my way though these hand positions. Hopefully, I'll have a vid for ya soon!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 4 2012, 01:35 PM

QUOTE (Limit @ Nov 4 2012, 06:00 AM) *
Man! There is some killer stretches in this one! I've had quite a busy week, but I'm working my way though these hand positions. Hopefully, I'll have a vid for ya soon!


wink.gif Please do mate! But take your time to do things right!

Posted by: Limit Nov 15 2012, 06:19 AM

Hey Cos,

It's been awhile, but I'm still practicin away man. I've been making alot of progress w/ the big stretch chord shapes, but linking everything together seamlessly is taking more time. I've been alternating practicing this lesson with some metronome work with the old alternating picking lesson. I feel like my picking is starting to become more accurate and it has been feeling less forced lately - Hopefully I'll have a vid for ya soon.
I also checked out your new Deftones lesson - sounds awesome man! I picked up their new album yesterday and have been really enjoying it. Hope all is well man

Later

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 15 2012, 08:00 AM

You have NO IDEA how glad I am when you're telling me that your picking is improving biggrin.gif

Take your time and let me know when you have a vid for me and regarding Koi No Yokan - there's a group here in Bucharest, being formed of members from various bands and such and once a week we gather to listen to music, play board games and have a jolly good time in general smile.gif Last Tuesday evening we listened to Koi No Yokan and it was great!

Posted by: Limit Jan 2 2013, 06:51 AM

Hey Cos

Happy New Year man! Seems' we've survived the end of the world, so it's back to practisin' here in the new year with the goal of developing some new mad skills. Hope you've had a chance to enjoy a few days off yourself! I've been crazy busy with work and traveling to see friends and family but it's finally starting to slow back down and I'm really looking forward to get back into my practice routine.

What do you say we start 2013 out with a new lesson?

Hope to hear from you soon man!

Later

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 2 2013, 10:18 AM

Howdy man! Thank you! biggrin.gif I hope that 2013 will bring out great things for you as well!

Well, I had let's say 2 days in which I did nothing - I can't stay away from things too much tongue.gif But anyway, of course we can re-fresh things - what should it be, lead or rhythm? And, how is the picking arpeggios lesson going? smile.gif You haven't told me anything about it in the last posts smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Jan 2 2013, 02:53 PM

Hey Cos! Glad to hear you were able to fit in a little time off of your own. While I would naturally want to choose a lesson to increase my lead chops, maybe a rhythm lesson is in order.

I've still been playin the arpeggio lesson - i admit my break was more than 2 days over the holidays - laugh.gif
I'm not having any problems with the picking or simple string skipping but the two stretched barre chords, while I can fret both rather easily now, are still holding me back from playing the lesson up to tempo. I really need to stretch to make the two chord shapes by dropping my elbow down and forward. (I cannot play the lesson through while standing!?) I will continue working on this lesson as my flexibility has increased alot with this exercise its just taken alot longer than I had hoped and this lesson has been a tough one to play repeatedly as once my hand begins to tire the lesson becomes unplayable for me at this stage in the game. Hopefully, with the addition of a new lesson to mix thing up I will be able to break past this barrier I've seemed to have ran into with this latest lesson.

Talk to you soon man!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 2 2013, 03:55 PM

Hey buddy! Gotcha smile.gif You know, when standing up, you need to lift your axe at the height where you feel most comfy with smile.gif You have to respect the same angles appearing between your limbs when sitting down, with the ones appearing when standing.

About the new lesson - what do you say about this one? http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Rhythm-Figures-Workout/ it combines lead and rhythm in phrasing smile.gif It should be a sort of a second level after playing the 'Picking hand basics' lesson you already did, from Ben biggrin.gif

What say you?

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Jan 3 2013, 05:29 AM

Thanks for the new lesson Cos! I'm feeling pretty confident I should be able to post a solid take of this quite soon. I'll start working on this one and continue working on the arpeggio lesson too!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 3 2013, 09:45 AM

QUOTE (Limit @ Jan 3 2013, 04:29 AM) *
Thanks for the new lesson Cos! I'm feeling pretty confident I should be able to post a solid take of this quite soon. I'll start working on this one and continue working on the arpeggio lesson too!


Alriiight! That's the spirit! biggrin.gif

Posted by: Limit Jan 9 2013, 07:13 AM

Hey man, it's crazy how fast a week can go by. Here's a vid of the latest lesson; I recorded myself playing along with the lesson video to compare my timing. Sorry about the sound quality.


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 9 2013, 11:11 AM

Pfff, man, tell me about it... smile.gif

Well, this sounds pretty darn accurate! Let's hear the version in which it's only you and if it's as good as this one, I will be pleased smile.gif

Posted by: Limit Jan 10 2013, 05:58 AM

Alrighty man, here's another go at it - Just me this time wink.gif


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 10 2013, 09:33 AM

Hey mate smile.gif It's technically correct indeed! Congrats! Now, I would like you to focus on two important aspects with this lesson and if you nail these we can move on

- try to move your left had fingers as little as possible away from the fretboard
- pick all the notes using alternate picking - that means you should not pick two consecutive notes in the same direction

Up for the challenge? biggrin.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Jan 31 2013, 05:47 AM

Hey Cos,

Sorry I haven't replied sooner. I figured I'd make some adjustments and post another take a lot quicker than this. I had never thought about how wildly I moved my fingers when fretting notes until you mentioned it and it has been a hard habit to break thus far. I've gotten better with it, my pinky still need to be reigned in from time to time but, it was pretty bad at first. I really had to force every movement and adding that to trying to eliminate the economy style picking and let's just say I was having a heck of a time with a very easy lesson. Anyway, I think my next vid should show some improvement, I will hopefully get time to record and post this weekend. Hope all is well man - we'll chat soon.

Later

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 31 2013, 09:27 AM

Hey mate wink.gif No rush - as long as you took enough time to make things sound good, time was well spent! Looking forward to the take smile.gif

Posted by: Limit Feb 3 2013, 09:20 PM

Hey Cosmin! Hope you had a good weekend man, I've been under the weather with a bit of a head cold but think I'm starting to feel better today.
I have a question that I've been thinking about for awhile, when I realized I have the best resource literally at my fingertips. So, anyway here it goes. I've been giving a lot of the thought towards the song writing process.
As I've been practicing more now than ever before I find that I practice for awhile with the routine of warming up with a metronome (usually just up and down the fret board a few times and playing through the alternate picking exercise a couple times), I then practice my current lesson with the backing track, and then I tend to noodle around to break up the repetitiveness of playing the same scale exercise over and over. I then return to the scale exercise and find I alternate back and forth between practicing and noodling.
What bothers me with this is I feel a lot of this noodling time to be quite unproductive for me. I do have a goal of eventually being able to create my own music, and I would like to make this noodling time more productive but I've realized that I have no idea where or how to start.
Obviously, some theoretical knowledge must be learned and really I still have a long way to go in basic development. I guess what I'm wondering is, do you think there is something else more productive I could alternate back and forth with while practicing and developing my fundamental guitar skills that would help develop my own musically creative side? Should I begin with some theory, work on learning a song beyond just learning a riff, maybe some song/style analysis, or should I just focus harder on basic skill development for now? I would be interested in your process when you write music with your band or even when you develop a lesson in the style of. What goes into this process and what can I do to get closer to having this ability. Anyway man, thanks for all your help so far and I will look forward to your thoughts on this.

Later

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 4 2013, 08:23 AM

Hey mate smile.gif I'm glad you chose this path, as this is the ultimate goal - using what you learn in order to make music.

See there isn't really a process to it all, but it's more like a journey - exploring a lot and recording and arranging/ orchestrating afterwards.

Usually, when I want to make an 'In the style of...' lesson, I choose a band/ artist that I am particularly fond of, because that means I have the music in me already - I don't need to force it in - it would probably not get me to a good result anyway smile.gif

I use specific elements that you encounter in that music - structures, phrasing, modes, techniques, orchestration elements, tones - that sort of stuff. I have a saying, the more you do this the better you become at it so, as a start - I'd recommend this:

Record ALL your ideas into a DAW or as little videos and select the ones which you LOVE and want to transform into something more than just a riff smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Feb 5 2013, 05:31 AM

Thanks for the advice Cosmin. There is so much to learn when you're first starting out and I find its easy to get overwhelmed and ultimately frustrated with everything. I keep telling myself - one day at a time and it will all come together. Anyway, thanks for all the help man, it is very much appreciated!

Here's a take from tonight with the Rhythm Figures Workout Lesson, I'm pretty sure I locked into the strict alternate picking you've requested. My hand control still needs some work but it's getting there.


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 5 2013, 09:37 AM

Hey mate! This looks and sounds good! I think you are on the right path and now, there are two things I'd like to know from you:

- I want to hear some of the ideas you have and you'd like to turn into songs smile.gif

- Should we tackle another hand sync lesson?

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Feb 6 2013, 03:32 AM

Sounds good man! I will need to spend more time working out some song ideas. What do you have in mind for my next lesson?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 6 2013, 10:30 AM

Ok man, take your time with those and meanwhile... how about this? smile.gif

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Hand-Synch/ - based on the idea of building up your sync wink.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Limit Feb 12 2013, 05:08 AM

I'm really enjoying this lesson! I'm close to having the whole thing under my fingers but it might be a bit before I have it up to speed. I will try and focus on good synchronization and slowly bring it up to tempo.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 12 2013, 08:26 AM

Hey man smile.gif Great to hear that! You know you can post a slow version so that we may check out the timing and sync and everything wink.gif

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