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GMC Forum _ Cosmin Lupu _ Sumit's Chords And Melodies

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 25 2012, 12:41 PM

Hey Sumit smile.gif

This is your thread wink.gif Please tell me a little bit about yourself and your playing experience/ abilities! This is where we'll start talking about building around your melodic lines, so feel free to ask anything you need to know!

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 25 2012, 01:01 PM

thanks cosmin,

My skills are - i understand about scales , i started on scales only2 months back. i can jam over the backing tracks of G major ionian. I haven't learnt more scales yet. I am trying on building my lead speed. About rhythm i know about 10-15 of the most basic chords and have been singing and playing bacing music based on that. recently i have bought an electric guitar, and joined GMC ,

MY approach for the moment is that I learn atleast one small lick every day. mostly i am picking up the GMC lick of the day and so far learnt 2 of them ( though not exactly mastered them ). I am doing this so that each day i don't get confused on what to do and what not to do and have a clear goal of learning 1 lick per day .

also during the day, i pick up a song whose chords i don't know and practice new chords and improve strumming. So with this approach i am aiming to improve both finger control and speed required for the lead and chord vocabulary and strumming.

So thats about my backgound. Now about melodic lines and chords -

on your videochat that day, i asked you how to come up with the right chord progression once i know the melodic line. this will be really helpful to me in performing the excercises that you were showing on videochat that day but also for learning chords of indian music. you see unlike western music the chords of indian music are not readily available on the internet. and being an indian i would like to work on indian music as well as western.
I would sure like to play on guitar any song whose music is playing in my head. So i think now i have answered your question(s)

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 25 2012, 05:24 PM

cosmin , i was wondering , based on my background could you suggest me one of your licks to start with, i would work work on it with you and you could guide me through

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 26 2012, 11:49 AM

Hey Sumit smile.gif

I love the instrumental Indian music and it's flavors so this will be a very interesting thing to tackle.

First, we should aim to understand the theory behind scales, their structure, the way chords are being built and the relationship between chords and notes/ phrases/ arpeggios.

Based on this, you will build a strong knowhow of music disection and analysis so that you may be able to understand almost every music piece that you will hear - if you practice and focus on this, of course smile.gif

What do you say? I would start out like this smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 26 2012, 12:37 PM

good to hear that you like indian instrumental music smile.gif
yes i wan't to build up the right foundation you mentioned.

I am sure under your guidance i would be more successful than trying theory on my own. Also lets make it equally practical and i would request you to help me with melodical lessons for excercises rather than kind of excercises that feel completely like a robot

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 26 2012, 02:27 PM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Aug 26 2012, 11:37 AM) *
good to hear that you like indian instrumental music smile.gif
yes i wan't to build up the right foundation you mentioned.

I am sure under your guidance i would be more successful than trying theory on my own. Also lets make it equally practical and i would request you to help me with melodical lessons for excercises rather than kind of excercises that feel completely like a robot


Alright! Let's get to work then smile.gif

Let's start with the following little drill, which I've used with other theory enthusiastic students and it provided good results wink.gif

1) We have the major scale built up using this formula: w w h w w w h.

w = whole step
h = half step

2) Any natural major scale is built after this formula. Example:

C D E F G A B C

there's a w between C and D
there's a w between D and E
there's a h between E and F
there's a w between F and G
there's a w between G and A
there's a w between A and B
there's a h between B and C

Now, if you look at your guitar, you will notice that if you play the C note (3rd fret D string) the D note is one whole step up, on the same string. That means that the note right next to the C note is C# and the note next to C # is D. So, 2 frets up means one whole step and one fret up means a half step.

3) Now, we have concluded that E is the major third in the case of C major and if we lower the major 3rd with one half step, we get the minor third and automatically, we can create a minor chord - C minor in our case.

Here are the formulas:

1 3 5 - major chord formula. Example: C E G
1 b3 5 - minor chord formula. Example: C Eb G

4) If you know these now biggrin.gif, please tell me how does the D major scale look like - what are the notes making it up. (Use the w w h w w w h formula, starting from D) and tell me the notes making up the D major and D minor chords

What do you think mate? smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 26 2012, 02:55 PM

D major scale - using wwhwwwh
D-w- E-w- F#-h- G-w-A-w- B-w-C#-h- D
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

D major chord
using 1 3 5 = D F# A
D minor chord
using 1 b3 5 = D F A

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 27 2012, 01:05 PM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Aug 26 2012, 01:55 PM) *
D major scale - using wwhwwwh
D-w- E-w- F#-h- G-w-A-w- B-w-C#-h- D
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

D major chord
using 1 3 5 = D F# A
D minor chord
using 1 b3 5 = D F A


This is perfect wink.gif Now, I would like to ask you to workout the same drill for the Bb and Ab major scales biggrin.gif I gave you different ones in comparison with Himansu, so that you two won't cheat biggrin.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 27 2012, 02:40 PM

For Normals you mentioned that

there's a w between C and D
there's a w between D and E
there's a h between E and F
there's a w between F and G
there's a w between G and A
there's a w between A and B
there's a h between B and C

so For Flats i am inferring that

there's a w between Cb and Db
there's a w between Db and Eb
there's a h between Eb and Fb
there's a w between Fb and Gb
there's a w between Gb and Ab
there's a w between Ab and Bb
there's a h between Bb and Cb

Bb plus half = Cb and Cb plus half = C So i am inferring that Bb plus whole = C

first 4 notes are -
Bb // C // D / Eb //

Eb plus half = Fb
Fb plus half = F
so Eb plus whole = F


CODE
so complete Bb major scale
Bb // C // D /  Eb // F // G // A / Bb
major chord (135) = Bb D F
minor chord (1b3 5) = Bb Db F


CODE
Ab major Scale
Ab // Bb // C / Db // Eb // F // G / Ab
major chord (135) =Ab C Eb
minor chord (1b35) = Ab Cb Eb



Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 27 2012, 03:39 PM

Correct wink.gif Now, am I correct to assume that you can figure out any major scale and a major chord derived from its root? If so, how about moving a bit forward smile.gif

Do you know anything about the concept of harmonizing a scale?

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 27 2012, 03:50 PM

alex was teaching on video chat that day , i picked up a few things, but other than that No.
here's what i picked up but not sure if my understanding is correct or not ?

harmonizing means playing chord progressions based on the scale

so if its A major scale we need to harmonize

A major = A // B // Db / D // E // Gb // Ab / A

then using triads we can play the following chord progressions to harmonize

A Db E
B D Gb
Db E Ab
E Ab B
Gb A Db
Ab B D

i am not sure if my understanding is correct , and if it is then i don't know how can we include a minor chord in between the progressions , and is there any other way to create a chord progression other than triads ?


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 27 2012, 04:20 PM

Mate, let's take an easier example - G major - it has G A B C D E F# G

Harmonizing it offers us Gmaj Am Bm Cmaj Dmaj Emin F#dim Gmaj

These chords result from the fact that we can only use notes belonging to the scale itself in order to make up chords which harmonize the scale. based on these assumptions, can you please tell me what notes are making up these chords? After that, we'll get to your other question wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 27 2012, 04:29 PM

G A B C D E F#- these notes on the fretboard ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 28 2012, 10:59 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Aug 27 2012, 03:29 PM) *
G A B C D E F#- these notes on the fretboard ?


Yes mate, but let's see what are the note combinations making up the chords, when harmonizing the scale wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 28 2012, 03:54 PM

QUOTE
Yes mate, but let's see what are the note combinations making up the chords, when harmonizing the scale


cosmin, i really don't understand what we are trying to achieve here .

for me to be answering this question requires - looking at the chords

Gmaj Am Bm Cmaj Dmaj Emin F#dim Gmaj

on the fretboard and check what notes have been used. is this what we wan't ?

also since i have no theory background - i know the above chord only because i have memorized them ? Are the notes that form these chords to be memorised or is there a way to find how they are formed. sorry but i am getting a little confused. Perhaps before asking the questions if you give me rough outline at what is about to come i would get the bigger picture

thanks

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 28 2012, 06:51 PM

Hey Sumit smile.gif I was trying to make you harmonize Gmajor like you have done with the Amajor scale and tell me the notes making up the chords so that I may take you to the next level where we use 7th intervals. I thought you knew the formulas needed to harmonize the major scale, since you wrote those chords down for me smile.gif

You do not know the formulas? You have memorized the notes making up the chords from somewhere?

Please let me know and I will explain everything from 0 if you wish. I took things a little bit faster just because I had the impression you knew these things smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 28 2012, 07:03 PM

ok , i understand now that you thought i already knew . well i think we should totally start from level 0 on the topic of harmonizing , i don't know the formulas smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 29 2012, 08:34 AM

biggrin.gif Ok mate, here we go smile.gif

Harmonizing means - creating chords out of each note in the scale, using only notes belonging to the scale itself. This rule renders the following chord types: M m m M M m diminished M I.e: Harmonizing C major: Cmaj Dmin Emin Fmaj Gmaj Amin Bdiminished Cmaj

M = major

m = minor

The major chord formula is 1 3 5. I.e: C major is C E G

The minor chord formula is 1 b3 5. I.e: C minor is C Eb G

The diminished chord formula is 1 b3 b5 -> B diminished is B D F

Knowing these smile.gif please harmonize the G major, E major and Ab major

Please let me know if you understood the ideas biggrin.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 29 2012, 09:30 AM

yes now i have understood the idea.
a scale can be harmonized using chords formed by following formula - M m m M M m diminished M
G major, E major and Ab major
G major scale - G // A // B / C // D // E // Gb / G
G major can be harmonized using the following chords - Gmaj.. Am..Bm..Cmaj..Dmaj..Em..Gbdim..GMaj
notes of G major chord (135) = G B D
notes of G minor chord (1b35) = G Bb D
notes of Gbdim chord (1b3b5) --> Gb major scale --> Gb // Ab // Bb / B // Db // Eb // F / Gb --> (1b3b5) --> Gb A C
=======================================================
E major scale = E // Gb // Ab / A // B // Db // Eb / E
harmonizing of E major scale --> M m m M M m diminished M --> Emaj..Gbm..Abm..Amaj..Bmaj..Dbm..Ebdim..Emaj
Eb diminished chord (1b3b5) --> Eb major scale --> Eb // F // G / Ab // Bb // C // D / Eb --> 1b3b5 --> Eb G Bb
=======================================================

QUOTE
Cosmin 1 question here - in your last post you wrote
The diminished chord formula is 1 b3 b5 -> B diminished is B D F

you have directly written B diminished is B D F without writing the B major scale first and the picking up 1b3b5 ... how have you done this without writing it out ... does that mean you are not applying the formula because you remember the notes ??

==============================================================

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 30 2012, 10:26 AM

Hey Sumit! Your assumptions are correct but, since we are dealing with major scales which do not imply the usage of flats (cool.gif from the first place (we have G major not Bb major for instance) I would like to ask you to re-do the drill and use # instead of b wink.gif

On the other hand, I know some chords by heart and I can name their notes pretty fast. Otherwise it takes some seconds until I can figure out the notes by using the formulas. Once you know the chord formulas and all the notes making up a scale, you can get really really good at decomposing a chord and quickly stating its notes.

What do you think?

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Sep 1 2012, 11:48 AM

Hi Cosmin
coming back to the question

QUOTE
Knowing these smile.gif please harmonize the G major, E major and Ab major

using sharps instead of flats

G major
harmonizing rule = M m m M M m diminished M

G major scale = G // A // B / C // D // E // F# / G
G major can be harmonized using chords = GMaj - Ami - Bmi - CMaj - DMaj - Emi - F#dim - Gmaj
The notes of these chords are --- GMaj (GBD) - Ami (ACE) - Bmi (BDF#) - CMaj (CEG) - DMaj (DF#A) - Emi (EGB) - F#dim (F#AC)

E major scale = E // F# // G# / A // B // C# // D# / E
E major scale can be harmonized using chords = EMaj - F#mi - G#mi - AMaj - BMaj - C#mi - D#dim - EMaj
The notes of these chords are -------------------(EG#B ) (F#AC#) (G#BD#) (AC#E) (BD#F#) (C#EG#) (D#F#A)

Ab major scale = Ab Bb C Db Eb F G
Harmonization of Ab major scale with chords = Abmaj Bbmin Cmin Dbmaj Ebmaj Fmin Gdim
notes of the chords are - Ab C Eb // Bb Db F // and so on

notes
1. i understand that using triads like i have done above is one way of finding notes of the above major minor and diminished chords
2. i understand that another way is using the formulas (1 3 5 ) (1 b3 5 ) and ( 1 b3 b5 )

1 Question - even though i have done this exercise using sharps instead of flats - i am not sure what you mean when you said ---------
QUOTE
since we are dealing with major scales which do not imply the usage of flats (cool.gif from the first place (we have G major not Bb major for instance)
.. can you explain this in detail that when should sharps be used instead of flats ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 2 2012, 09:16 PM

Hey Sumit! Great observations and correct results!

Mate, check this out:

1) Triads and those formulas are one and the same thing smile.gif I never looked at them as being different things, meaning that I have deduced all my chords using formulas and never taking anything for granted - just because I knew those notes were making them up. I always tried to analyze and understand everything.

2) Are you familiar with the Circle of 5ths (4ths)? This circle is the answer to your question, regarding sharps or flats smile.gif If you don't know it, I will gladly explain it to you. But tell me if you know anything about it so far.

Cosmin

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 9 2012, 04:16 PM

Alright Sumit!

Check this out - here's how I see an 8 hrs/ day schedule:

1hr - ear training - intervals, chords and sorting out a progression/ phrase out of a song or why not, even a whole song
1hr - legato
1h - alternate picking
1h - rhythm/ riffs
1h - theoretical aspects - tackling a concept and learning everything there is to know about it
1h - applied theory - applying what you have learned in the previous hour in a real context
1h - jamming
1h - composition/ songwriting/ orchestration

I think that 8 hrs is a lot, but I would be very happy if you would be able to keep up with such a schedule - what do you think?

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Sep 9 2012, 05:14 PM

looks great smile.gif ... i will do it smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 10 2012, 08:20 AM

Good morning mate! Would you like me to set up some tasks for each hour, or do you already have something you were working on? smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Sep 10 2012, 09:17 AM

good morning cosmin - for a start of the plan can you set the tasks for today ? it would give me a good starting point . and also help you to assess my progress ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 10 2012, 09:47 AM

Sumit, before giving you stuff to work on, I was wondering if you could send me a recording of some sort, with yourself? It would be very useful, just so that I could see what your level is and what you should focus on smile.gif

Tell me what you think

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Sep 10 2012, 07:40 PM

http://soundcloud.com/sumitnxt/guitar-recording

hi cosmin,

as i don't know any longer lick yet, i have played one of the small licks and played it for about 2 minutes .

rgds,

Sumit


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 11 2012, 08:55 AM

Ok! Well, we will take things from the ground up then smile.gif

To start, I would like you to go through ALL of Bear Rose's beginner lessons! They encompass a lot of the things that we have discussed about and my suggestion would be to reduce the practicing regimen to only these, until you get a good grasp on your techniques and build up confidence:

1hr - ear training - intervals, chords and sorting out a progression/ phrase out of a song or why not, even a whole song
1hr - legato
1h - alternate picking
1h - rhythm/ riffs
1h - theoretical aspects - tackling a concept and learning everything there is to know about it

This week's tasks:

1) Please use the C major scale for the following drill:

- play the C note then play the D note (its second)
- play the C note and SING the D note smile.gif
- do this exercise with all the C major scale intervals until you can sing them relaxed against the C note

2) Ben's Land of Legato - First Lesson - It can be a good place to start - is it too difficult?
3) Ben's Picking Hand basics - it's imperative to go through it wink.gif
4) All of Bear Rose's Beginner Lessons involving chord shifting - if you get them clean, you're already in good terms with rhythm wink.gif
5) ALL of the theory behind the lessons above

What say you my friend - ARE YOU READY?

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Sep 11 2012, 11:20 AM

thanks cosmin .. i appreciate the effort you are putting for me smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 11 2012, 03:39 PM

Nothin to it mate! Let's see you get up there and become a great player!

Posted by: sumitnxt Sep 22 2012, 08:10 PM

hey cosmin,

How are you ? I have been not quite able to follow the 8 hour plan. However I have tried to get myself to a good starting point for the last couple of days. I am sorry for not keeping you informed about my progress, a little bit of allowance in this matter would help me develop the teacher within me to keep me on track from within smile.gif

I am trying to get myself from becoming too serious about the whole guitar learning business and at the same time try to achieve excellence purely by spontaneity. Approaching guitar not as an instrument which has been mastered by others but as an instrument that allows itself to be mastered .

There is a certain way in which the guitar works and the theory of music is just an interpretation being followed . There could be many such interpretations yet to be explored. Masters of guitar do it after becoming masters . I am trying to explore it before i begin guitar in order to check whether the whole theory business is even necessary or not smile.gif

bottomline is i am enjoying it more than i enjoy listening or playing guitar and would request you to have patience with me while i make a fool out of me just for the sake of trying something smile.gif

bye for now.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 24 2012, 09:28 AM

Hey Sumit! Yours is a very interesting approach - but mind you, this sort of dealing with the instrument takes MORE time involved as you are exploring now, not going on an already beaten path.

I will wait for you to tell me your conclusions after trying this. Keep in mind that music is a foreign language just like any other. Learning it and then using it to write stories is what everyone did, to a greater or smaller degree smile.gif

The choice is yours my friend, I am here either way wink.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Sep 24 2012, 10:12 AM

hi cosmin , here's what i have discovered uptil now -

sound and feelings are directly connected without any knowledge required smile.gif
i can sit and make tune without knowledge of scales and theory
If i keep working on tunes i will one day become a great composer . there would be ofcourse other people with knowledge on music who can provide bass for the tune , appropriate chords for the , percussions , vocals and so on.
I can learn all these but it will be not more important than composing a good melody.
If i learn scales i can jam on a backing track creating music on a fly , however if i choose to i can simply keep composing tunes and i have a reason to believe that such tunes would sound if not better at least equally good.

Another thing is that in order to create an great tune no amount of practice is required , Its a field of awareness that creates good tunes more than anything smile.gif .

Bottomline is that I already am a great composer, i just need to start believing in myself smile.gif


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 25 2012, 08:59 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Sep 24 2012, 09:12 AM) *
Bottomline is that I already am a great composer, i just need to start believing in myself smile.gif


True and not true in the same time wink.gif

If you only want to write songs, your imagination and A LOT of exercise will suffice up to the point where you will desire to orchestrate and think other instruments. That's where you'll probably need more knowledge and there are times when you will here more complex things in your mind and you will want to play them and without practice, that won't be possible.

Sumit, don't rush anything - it's a bit extreme to go from an 8 hr practice routine to a 0 hr practice routine smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jan 11 2013, 06:36 PM

Hi Cosmin,

Whats up ?
I know i have disappeared from GMC for sometime.

Would like to tell you that i was just trying to relax a bit. I have been doing some progress r though not much on guitar front but no regrets smile.gif

The schedule you made for me is extremely helpful although i am not spending 8 hours a day i am trying to cover the topics given by you.

Cosmin i have a question for you

At this stage i have learnt the 5 scale patterns of pentatonics and how they can be appliet to all the keys .

Can you teach me how can i learn to play / write my own solo on any song i want to using the 5 scale patterns of pentatonics ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 11 2013, 11:37 PM

Howdy mate! Welcome back and to answer your question, sure I can! Are you working on a particular song on which you'd like to come up with a solo at this moment?

Posted by: sumitnxt Jan 12 2013, 02:36 PM

No Cosmin i wasn't talking about any particular song, but all songs in general.

My current method of soloing over a song is this -

1. i find out what is the key of the song
2. if it is a major key - i use major and minor pentatonic scale patterns for that key for soloing
3. if it is a minor key - i use only minor pentatonic patters for that key for soloing
4. However the solo that i play are just all-right but nothing special because i am playing them extempore while the song is playing.
5. I feel that i am just playing random notes of the relevant pentatonic in order to play the solo .
6. Honestly i don't think these solos are good enough that people would call them professional level
7. I would like to learn concepts like phrasing and repetitions so that i could write more interesting solos . How and when to use techniques like tapping , bending , vibrato , sliding etc. such that an audience would really consider spending money to buy my music smile.gif
8. Also i havent really understood what is the use of learning licks ? There are tons of study material containing thousands of licks ? Are they really useful to learn ? or should i just focus on creating my own solos ?

Cosmin I know i might have asked too many questions here but please take your time and try to answer all of them . I would really appreciate it smile.gif

thanks

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 12 2013, 10:48 PM

Hey man smile.gif

All these questions have one answer - your ears smile.gif I think that the best way to come up with an original and heartfelt solo is to play what you hear in your head and THEN after recording it, analyze it and see what you used and IF you want to modify it by using a certain scale here and there, you are free to do it.

Let's try the following drill:

- pick up a backing track you like and see that you know the chords that make it up
- listen to it until you know all the chord changes in the track
- once you are familiar with it, sing in your head any melodic line that comes to mind - do not think of scales or arpeggios, just sing smile.gif whatever comes to your mind, as simple or complex as it may be.

At first, it will be a few notes that may sound silly to you - this is where it all begins smile.gif Record those notes, and then try to find a suitable continuation in the same manner.

I know it sounds abstract but it's the only way in which you may create honest heartfelt music - I know you want that smile.gif

How does this sound to you? Can you send me a little recording of your first line, created in such a way?

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Jan 13 2013, 04:01 PM

This makes sense cosmin

In my next post i am going to give you the recording of the drill.

Thanks

Sumit

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 13 2013, 05:14 PM

Totally AWESOME! Let's see what you got! biggrin.gif biggrin.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 5 2013, 08:01 AM

hi cosmin.

i am back smile.gif

last time we were talking about creating my own music by first singing to a baking track and putting it on guitar . I totally loved the idea and it took away a lot of confusion of what to do with lot of theory about scales and an encyclopaedia of licks.

I however did not return with my own recording. Once i could see that creating my own music would not be as difficult as i thought. I then realized that it would be interesting now to do some cover songs . I then spent about one month practicing one particular section of sultans of swing solo of dire straits. now i am very close to playing it like original. also i picked up a 3 minute song on alternate picking practice by a teacher called Danny gill and am still in process of finishing it.

I am enjoying these cover songs a lot and now i am thinking of a new thing for which i need your help again.

cosmin my new idea is this - I want to combine two or three songs from Lessons of GMC and want your help regarding this.

I would be happy to do this with any lessons of diffuculty level 4 to 7.

the main idea is that there should be a continuity when moving from one song to other so that it all appears like one single solo

can you help me on this ?



Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 5 2013, 11:21 AM

Hey Sumit! Welcome back man!

Sure thing, let's start with the following:

- select three lessons of the desired levels which are played in the same key (look at the text description of each lesson and see what key they are being recorded in)
- post them here and we'll take it from there smile.gif

The styles don't matter, anything goes, as long as the keys are the same wink.gif

Deal?

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 5 2013, 12:32 PM

Cosmin 1 question

same key means - all 3 A minor
or
1 - A minor
1 - A major
1 - A dorian

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 5 2013, 12:55 PM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Mar 5 2013, 11:32 AM) *
Cosmin 1 question

same key means - all 3 A minor
or
1 - A minor
1 - A major
1 - A dorian


It is prefferable for them to be in the key of A minor for starters smile.gif (just an example) We will deal with more complex stuff later on after we take care of this wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 5 2013, 01:26 PM

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/writing_a_solo_dynamics/

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Melodic_Rock_Ballad_Solo/

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/am-intermediate-solo/

how about these ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 6 2013, 01:39 PM

Hey mate, here's a little vid to explain my idea in a better way smile.gif


Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 6 2013, 01:56 PM

very good explanation cosmin.
i am happy that things are so simple. Please give me some time now to test the theory.
I believe i am not only going to try and link these 3 videos but try out some more ?

you are the best smile.gif
thanks


sumit

another thing do you think the end product would sound professional if the backing tracks are linked using sound mixer / editor

or do you think the end product would sound better if i record chord progressions and program a drum track that fits all 3 songs ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 6 2013, 01:59 PM

Thanks man! Glad you liked it! It's entirely up to you buddy biggrin.gif but at first try to link the original tracks and then we'll see what the next step could be wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 7 2013, 09:42 AM

Hi cosmin

in the first video of our new idea song by muris - there is this tab that i am having difficulty understanding how to play using a pick . it looks like it is to be played by fingerpicking the strings B and D on the frets 10 and 12 . how do i play this using a single stroke of pick without hitting the G string in between. is the g string to be muted using on of the fingers of right hand ?



  Em                                                             
|--3-|

---------------------------------|------------------------------|
----------8--10--10g12-----------|------------------------------|
----------------------------9p-7-|--9s---12s-9--------7br--5----|
-----7g9--L--10--10g12-----------|---------------------------7--|
---------------------------------|------------------------------|
---------------------------------|------------------------------|

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 7 2013, 10:08 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Mar 7 2013, 08:42 AM) *
Hi cosmin

in the first video of our new idea song by muris - there is this tab that i am having difficulty understanding how to play using a pick . it looks like it is to be played by fingerpicking the strings B and D on the frets 10 and 12 . how do i play this using a single stroke of pick without hitting the G string in between. is the g string to be muted using on of the fingers of right hand ?



  Em                                                             
|--3-|

---------------------------------|------------------------------|
----------8--10--10g12-----------|------------------------------|
----------------------------9p-7-|--9s---12s-9--------7br--5----|
-----7g9--L--10--10g12-----------|---------------------------7--|
---------------------------------|------------------------------|
---------------------------------|------------------------------|


Hey mate - I think it's simpler than that - use the left hand to mute the G string just like you would play the shape of an octave:

e ----------------------
B -------9--------------
G -------x--------------- <-- muted
D -------7---------------
A ----------------------
E ----------------------

Is it clearer? smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 7 2013, 10:55 AM

thanks cosmin
also need to help understand how to play this ?
http://www.imgzzz.com/pic/1362649991

i don't understand that the curve / arc at the top means what ?

e.g is 12 13 12 a hammeron pullof or just simple note picking

similarily 12 13 15 13 12

if its simple note picking what is the meaning of this arc above the numbers ?

smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 7 2013, 04:10 PM

An arc above the numbers means that they are played using legato and if you notice, above the notes that are being picked, are some signs - the ones signifying down picking and up picking - lemme know if you got it, if not - a little video will do the trick aye? biggrin.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 7 2013, 04:14 PM

awesome smile.gif

what would i do without you smile.gif

although i understood .. a small video to show 12 13 15 13 12 would be great smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 8 2013, 10:53 AM

Sure thing buddy!

Check it out:


Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 8 2013, 02:45 PM

thanks cosmin ... appreciate it a lot smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 8 2013, 10:59 PM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Mar 8 2013, 01:45 PM) *
thanks cosmin ... appreciate it a lot smile.gif


The pleasure is all mine mate - hope it all went well wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 19 2013, 08:07 AM

hi cosmin,

i have recorded main solo part of sultans of swing on a backing track. let me know you feedback.
i was unable to upload on sound cloud so i have attached the file on the post.

rgds,

sumit

 sultans_solo.mp3 ( 2.13MB ) : 137
 

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 19 2013, 10:27 AM

Hey Sumit!

It is starting to take some shape but you need to focus on the pitch of your bends man - because of the actual speed, you tend to leave the bends unfinished somehow - by that I mean, that you rush to be in time with the backing and you are not taking those bends up to their intended pitch.

You need to practice this slower - can you slow down the backing track and do a recording focusing on getting the correct bends?

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 19 2013, 11:32 AM

sure smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 20 2013, 08:51 AM

Perfect smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 21 2013, 05:34 AM

cosmin, i have a question about recognizing the chords directly by listening to the song.
I heard that you start by picking up the bass line. then what ?
a bass line only provides 12 fret pitches for the song. And in all there are thousands of chords . how to go from 12 fret pitches to getting the exact chord which could be Bbsus4 or Ebdim etc. ??


Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 21 2013, 07:01 AM

Another Question cosmin smile.gif

I am asking this because i don't want to pickup a bad habit of strumming .

today i have started learning this song.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Hendrix-Meets-Sayce/

i have a question while playing the 2nd half of the first lick

     E  E  E   S S S  S E  S  S E      E  E  E  Q     E  S  S S S  
E||---------------------------------|-----------------------------|
B||---------------------------------|-----------9b----7--9p-7-----|
G||-----------------------------7~--|--L--------9b----7--9p-7-----|
D||--------9~--L-7-9p-7---------7~--|--L--9--7----------------9-7-|
A||---------------------9--7h-9-----|-----------------------------|
E||--7--7---------------------------|-----------------------------|



while playing the 2 string strumming part --



B||-|-----------9b----7--9p-7-----|
G||-|--L--------9b----7--9p-7-----|


I am not sure whether it should be an alternate strumming of down up down up ... or down down down down or something else..
My feeling is to play down up down up ... but i am finding it easier to play down down down down...

Also not sure which will produce the right sound...

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 21 2013, 05:46 PM

Hey Sumit - here ya go mate, a quick vid for you wink.gif


Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 22 2013, 06:43 AM

got it smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 22 2013, 08:52 AM

wink.gif Glad I could assist - let me know when you have that Dire Straits solo down at 75% k?

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 22 2013, 10:12 AM

I don't know if this will help you in identifying the problem because mic levels were too high

 slowed_sultans_solo.mp3 ( 3.97MB ) : 75
 

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 23 2013, 07:44 PM

hey cosmin whats up ? didn't see you ?? smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 23 2013, 09:40 PM

Hey mate - I had a gig last evening and I am shooting GMC lessons as we speak, but I'll get back to you as soon as I finish here smile.gif Stay tuned!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 23 2013, 11:52 PM

Alright Sumit I listened to it and I think that there is a lot of work to be done here regarding the following:

- you are missing some notes in comparison to the original
- the phrasing needs more work as it has some notes that are missing or aren't quite in timing compared to the original
- some of the bends and vibratos lead to notes which are out of pitch.

My recommendation would be the following:

Slow the original solo down in a DAW or with VLC media player - it is possible like that and try to record your version over the slowed down original and thus you will notice the imperfections. What do you say? Do we have a deal? smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 24 2013, 08:31 AM

sounds perfect smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 24 2013, 05:57 PM

Absolutely great man! It's a pleasure to work with you wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt May 5 2013, 09:02 AM

hi cosmin,

i was listening to cocaine ( eric clapton ) today and thought it would be fun to play some improvised solo over the chord progression of cocaine.
since i am new to the concept of improvisation, can you help me ? the chord progressions is simply E and D. I have created a backing track ( attached ) if you want to hear it.

I know its a blues song .. so E blues scale should be good to improvise right ?
I don't wan't to actually create a solo of my own rather to create small phrases and if possible spontaneously so that i can jam over the track continuously for hours tongue.gif

Cosmin can you elaborate the process of improvisation for me please ?

rgds,

sumit



 cocain_jam.mp3 ( 1.36MB ) : 85
 

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 5 2013, 01:48 PM

Hey man - it's a lot to write, so a video will be most appropriate smile.gif

Stay tuned and tomorrow I'll shed some light in a video that I'll prepare for ya, ok?

Posted by: sumitnxt May 5 2013, 02:49 PM

that'll be great smile.gif

here is a 5 minute jam i played over the same track , i just picked 5 notes ( mostly 4 ) from e minor pentatonic tried to play anything that would come across my mind at that time. let me know what you think about it.

rgds,

sumit

 jam_on_cocaine.mp3 ( 11.02MB ) : 105
 

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 6 2013, 09:14 AM

Hey mate smile.gif I will talk to you about in the video as well, but at first glance:

- there are a few ideas which are musical, they have direction and timing
- the bends are not reaching the desired pitch
- you are using too much of the track and thus you are getting lost - use a much smaller portion and you'll see that when you need to cover up less time on a track, you will be far more able to concentrate your ideas and give them a sense of direction.
- the timing is faulty in many spots

Stay tuned for the vid mate!

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt May 6 2013, 11:11 AM

thanks for the review cosmin, lets fix all of that smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 6 2013, 09:19 PM

Hey mate smile.gif Here we go:


Posted by: sumitnxt May 7 2013, 08:44 AM

great video cosmin, i seem to have understood the theory.
now lets see about practice smile.gif

here is a small jingle i have played over cmaj7 chord... let me know if i am on the right track and how to improve further ?

rgds,

sumit

 improv.L.mp3 ( 663.33K ) : 76
 

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 7 2013, 09:06 AM

Hey man!

I think the last lick in the row is the best one, so far.

Let's set some coordinates wink.gif I want you to come up with a lick over the CM7 chord in which you will use only the C, E and G notes in any octave you desire. Try to create a pattern of your own and make me - the listener - remember it smile.gif Deal?

Posted by: sumitnxt May 8 2013, 09:04 AM

hi cosmin,

there are some four or five things that i need to work on right now.

1. improve the quality of my bends.
2. follow a daily excercise routine to improve accuracy.
3. perform improvisations like the one you mentioned and eventually finish up cocaine jam.
4. i started doing the following songs - a ) europa , santana b ) black magic , santana c ) samba pa ti , santana d) sultans solo e) parisen walkaways gary moore e ) always with you , satrianyi but did not finish them
5. never started ear training and fretboard note recall.

if possible will try to give you the summary of what i am working on by the end of the day today.

rgds,

sumit

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 8 2013, 04:38 PM

Hey Sumit,

No problem man smile.gif For this, let set the following monthly schedule:

1) Bending - http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/String-Bending/

2) Accuracy and picking - http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Picking-Hand-Basics/

3) Invent 3 catchy licks using the Cocaine Jam and the indications I gave you

4) Which one of these songs is the one you think you can play the best? Tell me and I'll tell you what's next wink.gif

5) A first exercise on ear training will involve the following:

- play the C note in all its positions on the neck
- sing and play the C note in all its positions on the neck simultaneously
- play ONE C note in one position and then SING the rest without playing smile.gif
- tricky? With enough practice, it won't be tricky anymore!
- the next step: set a tempo and do it against the metronome at 60BPM for starters - how many full cycles can you complete without any mistake?
- record yourself on the camera doing 3 cycles in a row

Let me know if you can finish these tasks until May 31st smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt May 8 2013, 05:06 PM

great smile.gif
i pick" always with me always with you"

both gmc lessons are awesome .. i think i would request some more heavy shredding types lessons for accuracy something of petrucci or malmsteen style but only after you give me a green flag on bens alternate picking.

i think its also about time i ask for help regarding the quality of sound in my recordings. whenever i connect my guitar to amplifier and then the amplifier out on microphone plugin of laptop i get too much noise along with the guitar. also i see in your videos that your voice is quite clear even without having a mic near your mouth .. i am also a singer so i need to know how to record voice along with the guitar and if possible on seperate tracks
my resources are as follows
i have a logitech webcam which is pretty decent. my recording is a soundcard. my amp is a 15 watt marshall whose distortion sucks but i have a cool berhinger stompbox which produces some decent distortion and sounds. i have windows and have no shortage of software daws and line 6 pod farm software for software effects. i have a mic but the mic is just a low grade one so that if its not very close to my mouth it does not pick up audio well... so now you know what i have smile.gif oh forgot .. the guitar is an electric guitar by hertz its a humbucker it sounds quite powerful otherwise .. but the recording kills the power.


rgds,

sumit

Posted by: sumitnxt May 9 2013, 06:30 AM

hi cosim,

i had an idea today.
i had wanted to play some music over indian songs and figured out how i could combine it with alternate picking practice.

i am attaching a small clip of the idea. basically its a small portion of indian song over which i have recorded my vocals as a substitute for the guitar shredding part. ( song is a bit faster but i reduced the tempo because i couldn't sing that fast )

i have two limitations that i see right now..
1. at present i am unable to figure out the chords of the song myself.
2. i am also having trouble with reproducing the shred idea that i am singing on the guitar. don't seem to be getting the notes right.

i would like to add this routine to my this months practice also ..
and for the time being to help me get started can you help me identify the tabs of the small portion i am singing.

rgds,

sumit

 shred_idea1.mp3 ( 1.89MB ) : 98
 

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 9 2013, 08:28 AM

Hey Sumit,

I think that taking it easy and having achievable results is the way to go here smile.gif Don't throw yourself towards goals that might be so longterm that you would forget when you started them - see Yngwie, Petrucci and the likes, sort of stuff.

'Always with me, Always with you' can be a good choice, although it has difficult passages as well - have a go at it and send it my way.

In order to record vocals and guitars in the same time - you would need an audio interface that allows two inputs at least. Once you'd get this device, your troubles would be quite over smile.gif If you are up for buying this thing, you'd be able to ditch the amp and use digital devices in the daw. Tell me if you are in for this and we'll sort a good option for you, in respect to your budget.

Regarding that piece, stay tuned for a video smile.gif I'll show you how to play it slowly and then you work your way up through practice.




Posted by: sumitnxt May 9 2013, 02:10 PM

1. petrucci and malmsteen ... i know they are way long term but i love that kind of guitaring a lot smile.gif... lets pickup a series of lessons of this genre to gradually master their guitaring style , by which i mean the one in which a lot of notes are played in a very shot time.


2. i know about the difficult phrases and i like them more than the slower phrases smile.gif i am going to start with picking up one of the difficult licks of the song and send you my take ASAP

3. Please tell me about this audio interface i would try to buy it whenever possible .. although at present since i am not well at the recording stage and need huge amount of practice to be called an intermediate guitarist ... the only recording i will be doing for some time will be for you . perhaps we can take up perfecting the tone a little later and focus more on speed and accuracy and technique(s)

4. Waiting eagerly for the video smile.gif thanks for being the best smile.gif

rgds,

sumit


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 9 2013, 04:16 PM

Hey man! Here's the little vid and hopefully I figured things out right laugh.gif



As I said - let's take things step by step - I'd rather have you curse me now for making you take the long and certain way, rather than curse me later for making you think that you can fly over night wink.gif

Regarding the interface - this is a great option: http://www.thomann.de/gb/maudio_fast_track.htm

What do you think?

Cosmin


Posted by: sumitnxt May 9 2013, 06:09 PM

cosmin you are a rockstar man smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 10 2013, 07:46 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ May 9 2013, 05:09 PM) *
cosmin you are a rockstar man smile.gif


You are far too kind smile.gif Thank you for the nice thoughts, Sumit!

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 4 2013, 05:21 PM

hi cosmin...
i started out always with me always with you, last month, and even did some difficult licks of the song, but did not complete it. before finishing it i have realized that i must work on basics first.
right now i am working on alternate picking basics lesson... and try to perfect it before recording.
also i have picked Gabriel song on RHCP guitarist with difficulty level 2 and trying to perfect it as well.
i learned a number of simple licks lately from different sources last month and this has given me more confidence as a guitarist.
i think perhaps by tomorrow i shall be able to post the REC of the two lessons i mentioned.
Its now that i have started feeling more satisfied with my guitar approach, i have been stuck for a long time in deciding the approach. now i am happy to be starting with basic level GMC lessons and proceeding gradually.

rgds,

sumit

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 5 2013, 08:22 AM

Hey there man! I am glad that you realized you can't climb a mountain if you do not train before:) I will be on the lookout for your REC takes and give you the necessary suggestions to aid you on your quest!

Keep rocking, Sumit!

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 6 2013, 10:02 AM

hi cosmin,

checkout my take at -

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=49119&p=646531&#entry646531

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 6 2013, 10:51 AM

Hey mate wink.gif I'm on it!

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 6 2013, 12:12 PM

hi
Cosmin

i wanted to talk about the wrong note. I think my guitar does not sound right at the 20th fret of high e string. and also maybe couple of other notes near about that region.



the tabs from the original lesson are --19-20-19-17- and i am actually playing the 20th fret in the take

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 6 2013, 12:32 PM

Hey man! Well, maybe your guitar has a problem there? Do you have any luthiers that could take a look at it, in your city?

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 6 2013, 12:51 PM

yes man i hope they can do something about it and its not irreparable.

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 6 2013, 05:52 PM

hi cosmin,

below are two alternate picking exercises ( shows the notes involved in the excercises )

since practising with metronome is boring, can you help me create a backing track ( which chord / chords will go along well with the two excercies )


excercise 1

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/scalegenerator

excercise 2

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/scalegenerator


By the way cosmin, i have seen that at speeds above 120 bpm i can play but i am not clean. right now i am even stuck at the ben higgins basic alternate picking i can play upto 110 bpm but at 120 bpm the 1/16th are not clean. this is one area besides all other i want to focus more... i really dig shredding songs and if i can't play clean i can't attempt them. can you device a strategy for me to go clean at 180 bpm . i am ready to spend 8 hours on this every day.

Edit :

Attaching the attempt at 107 bpm 1/16th picking of bens lesson . Any suggestions ?


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 7 2013, 12:19 PM

Hey mate smile.gif I will make a little movie for you with some chord progression examples and stuff about your picking technique - I think I know where the issue is! Stay tuned, ok?

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 7 2013, 12:21 PM

cool smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 7 2013, 10:22 PM

Here ya go mate:


Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 8 2013, 03:53 AM

thanks for the video cosmin, i shall let you know soon about my progress smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 8 2013, 09:34 AM

Glad I could help! Please do and whatever you practice, take time to understand and then execute, ok? smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 8 2013, 10:01 AM

sure smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 3 2013, 07:11 AM

hi cosmin,
thanks a lot for the guidance on alternate picking.
please review my rec of muris - jumping around beginners

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 3 2013, 08:30 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Jul 3 2013, 06:11 AM) *
hi cosmin,
thanks a lot for the guidance on alternate picking.
please review my rec of muris - jumping around beginners


Hey matey! I am on it wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 3 2013, 08:57 AM

just read your comments on my take. regarding the effect - i do have to orignal video without the effect . would it help if i replace the video? Although even in the orignal video the right hand is missing. Regarding vibrato - i will work on it thanks.


Edit -
Going to post a retake with both hands this time smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 3 2013, 05:55 PM

TAKE 2 POSTED

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=49386&b=1&st=0&p=0&#entry0

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 4 2013, 10:49 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Jul 3 2013, 04:55 PM) *
TAKE 2 POSTED

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=49386&b=1&st=0&p=0&#entry0


Right on it mate smile.gif And regarding the vibrato - why not take a look at this video? Focus on ONE note and learn your vibrato technique on it:


Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 15 2013, 08:09 AM

hi cosmin, you had suggestied m audio fastrack mk2 for recording guitar and mic.
unfortunately m audio has stopped developing the fastrack device.

According to my suitable budget range, i am being suggested this product.

https://www.icondigitalusa.com/content/micu-solo

this does not record mic and guitar at the same time but one at a time . what do you think about it ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 16 2013, 08:24 AM

Hey Sumit!

It looks ok'ish, but about the recording part - this is entirely up to you and to sum things up:

- either you get this one, being totally conscious that you won't be able to use it for recording both guitar and vocals at the same time
- either you search for something in the same price range that offers this feature as well, such as:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/emu_0204_usb.htm - one of my friends has this one and he is very happy with it
http://www.thomann.de/gb/focusrite_scarlett_2i2.htm - I received recommendations about this one here on the forum
http://www.thomann.de/gb/maudio_fast_track_c400.htm - this one looks too fancy not to be good laugh.gif - kidding, but it seemed fair priced for all it offers

Let me know on what you decide to get wink.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 16 2013, 01:44 PM

These two options are cheaper for me compared to your links. can you check it out ?


http://www.thomann.de/gb/m_audio_m_track.htm


http://www.rajmusical.com/roland-tri-capture-usb-audio-interface.html

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 17 2013, 09:13 AM

I dunno man... I mean, I haven't heard anything about them... so I wouldn't know what to say, but hey why not wait a bit more and get one of the ones I have shown you - for 50 euros more, at least you would know where you stand smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 20 2013, 09:30 PM

yeah you are right, about that. I'll probably go with focusrite when i can afford it.
before buying though can you tell me , would i be able to use software's like guiar rig and amplitube such that i would be able to hear the processed sound from these softwares ( i.e. computer speaker ) with enough low latency that it would appear to me while playing the guitar that i am using a hardware effect processor. This is one of the crucial reasons for me to buy an audio interface. otherwise i might consider buying a guitar tone / effect producer at this time and later invest on recording.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 21 2013, 08:40 AM

Hey Sumit, yes, of course you will - it also depends on your computer - the more powerful it is, the better they will work (i.e. faster response etc.). In my opinion, this is a very beneficial step - getting an audio interface and learning how to use a DAW such as Cubase or Reaper or Logic, or any other which is popular and you happen to like, alongside guitar oriented pluggins.

Look at the specifications on each pluggin and software that you plan on using in order to see the needed configuration for the PC - if there are any necessary upgrades, you will know and make them at the right time.

Buying an effects processor would not be a good step, if you are to ask me, because it limits your possibilities immensely in comparison to having an audio interface and the freedom of software usage. Plus, recording is crucial for your evolution.

These being said, you know what you have to do in order to make a right step for yourself wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 25 2013, 06:59 AM

hi cosmin,

bought focusrite scarlett 2i2 . very happy with it. thanks for all help you gave regarding this.

I would like to share my next long distance goal with you. I have seen many guitar contests going on in youtube. I would like to participate in it. within 2 years time i wan't to win one of these competition. Now i know very well that these guitarists have been practicing for years. and i take that as a challenge. I think its possible. I know i am just a beginner right now but its just like climbing a huge mountain you always start at the beginning and if you have the right attitude and right trainer nothing can stop you. I think i have both wink.gif. Let get started from today. smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 25 2013, 08:18 AM

Hey Sumit, glad to have been of help and thank you for your nice thoughts smile.gif

Now, in order to be able to participate in such a competition, you need to be able to create music basically - this involves good lead playing technique combined with theoretical knowledge, great rhythm and last but most important, a good ear.

So, as I see it - 2 years of hard work can get you far, but do not make a goal out of a competition, when it comes to music smile.gif be there for the thrill of the competition but do not let the chances of losing, beat you down from your path. Music is a friend that will stay with you all your life and if you put your friend in danger, you might lose him for good.

Now, I will need you to make video recordings of the tasks I will give you, so that your progress will be faster - the more I see and hear the stuff you are doing, the better I will be able to tell you what you need to work on, ok?

I suggest we tackle the following:

- ear training
- theory
- rhythm
- alternate picking and legato
- articulation - bending and vibrato
- applying theoretical concepts

I think there are the essential things you need to have under your thumb before going on any musical road smile.gif

How does it sound to you?

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 25 2013, 08:29 AM

great!!..

I would suggest one thing that would also speed up the process. when it comes to stuff like theory , scales etc. instead of you yourself teaching me all small bits. just make small goals for me i have hundreds of lessons available with me that i have gathered with time i would try to learn my self and then you can put me to an examination.

I cannot agree more with you that music is a friend and not taking winning the competition too seriously. Infact the paradox is the people who treat music as a friend tend to win these competitions rather than those who wan't to win. Am i right ? smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 25 2013, 08:54 AM

Alright - but keep in mind that you need to be very disciplined in order to be able to cover the small parts that make up the big ensemble, ok?

For instance, let's begin with theory and as a main goal let's try this: learn the notes in the major scale in every key until next month on the 25th of August smile.gif

Steps:

1) Learn how to apply the major scale formula from each key - W W H W W W H
2) Write down each note of each major scale you discover in each key
3) Learn the scales based on intervals - i.e. each note can be associated with a number - the scale steps and when I will ask you which is the 6th in the E major scale, you will be able to tell me that the answer is C#

What say you? smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 25 2013, 09:02 AM

ok sounds good

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 25 2013, 09:18 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Jul 25 2013, 08:02 AM) *
ok sounds good


Chop, chop! Let's get to it then!

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 25 2013, 01:00 PM

i have already made some progress on the task. i found out that memorizing the circle of fifths helps a lot.
cosmin please suggest can we simultaneously work also on the goal of strumming. I am a little confused with strumming.

( please read the below information i know its a long one but probably this would help you to understand my confusion with strumming )


first of all = there is a lot of difference between pop song strumming and rock guitar rhythm strumming.
Actually i love both. If you recall the song 2 steps behind from def leppard. that kind of strumming i can already do. also the strumming like " i used to love her = guns and roses " these 2 songs have been strummed in my idea not by following any down up down up kind of pattern. when i tried strumming these songs i strummed by heart and it sounded almost identical to the original.

Now here lies problem number 1 = even though i can strum quite efficiently with my hands i have never been able to learn the skill of fast strumming using the pick. so i cannot strum the songs that i play using the pick.

Now when it comes to rhythm guitar I like all genre's of music e.g from cliff Richard songs to Metallica. i like cat stevens on one hand heavy riffing metal songs also.
So here lies my problem number 2 = How much rhythm guitaring skills do i really need in order to accomplish our 2 year goal. perhaps we should go for the minimal and carry on further on rhythm guitaring goals after the 2 years time.

problem number 3 is if we decide to include sufficient amount of rhythm guitaring skills = should i working on various strumming patterns like down up down down up etc. there are lots of patterns. is it a right approach to learn them one by one ?

I would like to mention that through years of practice i have some fingerpicking skills as well. using which i don't do hyprid picking stuff to play lead but can instantly play an arpegio rhythm on almost any slow song . unlike actual fingerpicking however i don't use thumb. I am sure this skill can be developed into a proper fingerpicking so maybe we can think about working on that as well. but then again for the next 2 year goal should we include it or not i am not sure.






Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 26 2013, 07:53 AM

Hey Sumit,

To sum things up, rhythm is an essential part of your training and there is no understanding lead without rhythm, they go hand in hand smile.gif

Question 1 - I have a task for you which I will talk about in a little movie, so stay tuned! It will help you get a hold of strumming with a pick!

Question 2 - more basic tasks which will get you used with various types of strumming can help a lot - at one point, the ear will be the one that will help you sort out ANYTHING, regardless of how it's played.

Question 3 - experience will gather in time and as I said at number 2 - at some point you will not think about up down up down etc. - your hands will automatically react as your brain already understands what it has to do.

Stay tuned for your first strumming/rhythm task!

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 26 2013, 12:39 PM

cosmin i need some advice regarding connecting the audio interface to speakers.
presently i have not connected any speakers and just using headphones with the focusrite audio interface.

there are 2 ways to connect audio out.

1. there is a headphone out at front which i am using for headphones.
2. there are two left right audio outs at back

all these 3 outs have the same kind of female socket = the one which is usually present in amplifiers to connect the guitar.

question 1
I have a logitech IPOD dock speakers ( great sound quality ) which also have 3.5mm audio input which i usually connect to my laptop or mobile phones. Do you think I can connect the front headphone out of audio interface to this 3.5mm audio input of speakers . will this not damage the audio interface ?

question 2
Do you think i can connect the 2 left right audio outs to Either my Desktop computer speakers which have left and right cables for input ?
Do you think i can connect my marshall 15 watt amp , which has only one guitar input socket
to either the front audio out or the back left-right audio out ?

Also since guitar is mono- can i direct only the one side at the back of audio interface ie the left or right usin the daw, so that without using any connectors i can connect using single guitar cable from audio interace to marshall amp guitar input ?

I am attaching the device manual.

thanks

 Scarlett_2i2___User_Guide.pdf ( 1.19MB ) : 130
 

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 26 2013, 09:16 PM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Jul 26 2013, 11:39 AM) *
cosmin i need some advice regarding connecting the audio interface to speakers.
presently i have not connected any speakers and just using headphones with the focusrite audio interface.

there are 2 ways to connect audio out.

1. there is a headphone out at front which i am using for headphones.
2. there are two left right audio outs at back

all these 3 outs have the same kind of female socket = the one which is usually present in amplifiers to connect the guitar.

question 1
I have a logitech IPOD dock speakers ( great sound quality ) which also have 3.5mm audio input which i usually connect to my laptop or mobile phones. Do you think I can connect the front headphone out of audio interface to this 3.5mm audio input of speakers . will this not damage the audio interface ?

question 2
Do you think i can connect the 2 left right audio outs to Either my Desktop computer speakers which have left and right cables for input ?
Do you think i can connect my marshall 15 watt amp , which has only one guitar input socket
to either the front audio out or the back left-right audio out ?

Also since guitar is mono- can i direct only the one side at the back of audio interface ie the left or right usin the daw, so that without using any connectors i can connect using single guitar cable from audio interace to marshall amp guitar input ?

I am attaching the device manual.

thanks


Hey Sumit - let's make things easy smile.gif

To connect the speakers, you will probably need a couple of these:



One for each speaker - they can be connected separately, yes? It is ideal to have two separate speakers and connect one to the left and one to the right output.

Regarding the guitar, I would connect the guitar without the Marshall and record using Guitar Rig or other such software - it will provide far better results than connecting the guitar in the amp and then using the line out from the amp to go into the line in for the instrument in the Scarlet.

And not to forget, here's your first rhythm/ strumming task:


Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 26 2013, 11:17 PM

thanks cosmin you rock smile.gif

regarding speakers here is a few things -

1. I am not talking about recording guitar here , I understand i don't need speakers for that just the headphones is good enough. I am talking about practicing guitar with guitar rig effects and speakers.

So my Setup is

Electric Guitar > Audio interface Input > Guitar Rig Effects on laptop > Audio Interface output > Speakers

2. studio monitor speakers are quite expensive and i can't buy them right now so thinking about using marshall amp as a speaker.

3. Can i connect the Marshall Amp to Audio interface Without burning the audio interface in any way ?

focusrite output

http://www.image-share.com/ipng-2230-284.html

marshall amp input
http://www.image-share.com/ijpg-2230-283.html

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 27 2013, 07:58 AM

Now I understand what you mean - you want to use the Marshall as a monitor smile.gif Hmmmm, I don't think that would be a problem in the technical sense, but it would not serve the purpose of the interface - you should find a way to connect your monitors or work with the headphones - I think that until you get a pair of dedicated monitors, the headphones are the best solution.

The idea is that if you use Guitar Rig in your DAW and run the guitar straight into your interface, you don't need the Marshall. The Guitar Rig software and the Scarlet will take care of all the work.

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 27 2013, 08:04 AM

thanks cosmin. that answers it smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 28 2013, 06:25 AM

hi cosmin,

first of all i have done the strumming task you gave and will post the video soon.
right now i have one question for you -

How can i quickly record guitar practice video so that i hear the guitar rig sound in the webcam ? One way is to record the audio in cubase and muted video in webcam and mix the two. but that is a bit lengthy process.

When i select ( Line in from focusrite ) in the webcam i am able to record guitar but without the effects of virtual amp.

I don't wan't to use the mic , so is there any way to do this ?

I am also posting this as a forum post so that others can answer as well.

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 28 2013, 08:30 AM

Hi Cosmin -

I got worried with bass not coming from focusrite but problem was solved when i changed the cables and Y connector.

I have still one question though - It is very convinient for me to connect the headphone out of focusrite to the speakers as compared to the Left-Right Line outs from focusrite ? But will it be safe to connect headphone out to speakers instead of headphone ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 28 2013, 02:40 PM

Hey Sumit, my friend!

Hmmmm, the best and most hi quality video/ audio recording would definitely be the one which you would obtain by using the first method - mounting the web cam video with muted sound, with the sound recorded through the Scarlet. It is lengthier, but once you nail the thing, you're good to go smile.gif

On the other hand, why would you like to connect the headphones where the speakers should be? I mean - the slots for the speakers are one for the right one for the left - for the headphones you only have 1 jack smile.gif Use the headphones dedicated out and you should be good.


Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 28 2013, 03:05 PM

i agree with both your points smile.gif
thanks

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 28 2013, 03:19 PM

wink.gif let's see the vids rolling amigo!

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 29 2013, 06:14 PM

https://soundcloud.com/sumitnxt/practice-dorian-phrasing-muris

hi cosmin,

this is my first recording using scarlet and cubase. Its a practice session of GMC lesson by muris.
This is quite basic because , I am still learning how to get good tone and better recording quality .
Maybe you could help me with some tips e.g. i don't even know what a compressor does smile.gif
and what should be the sequence of a chain when creating a tone.

Will try to post the strumming video tommorow.

thanks.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jul 30 2013, 07:41 AM

Hey Sumit - out of what I can hear, this tone is not bad at all - now, the piece seems a bit too difficult for you at this point and it is not played clean and with good timing, so I would suggest orienting towards simpler stuff, if you want to do test recordings. You need to see how your tone sounds, so you need clear long notes at the beginning.

Now regarding tone building, it's a matter of trial and error - I am not a user of digital guitar emulating devices. I like tube based gear and analogical devices, so I can't tell you too much about this - you need to follow your ears and use the forum for more info on using Guitar Rig. Todd Simpson is the man to speak with when it comes down to using such software smile.gif

But, please, post more samples of your tones - the ones you will build, ok? I can tell you what sounds good or bad, for certain and possibilities on making it sound better smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jul 31 2013, 02:24 PM

hi cosmin , here is the 16th notes strumming practice video


and also i recorded a strumming practise for a song called a horse with no name so that you can assess my areas of improvements.



Please work with me to get this strumming song right. can we get this song perfect in all respect ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 1 2013, 11:20 AM

Hey Sumit - I think that these two examples that you recorded are perfect in order to make you understand what you have to correct in what regards the first one - the exercise I gave you. You are playing it with the same shuffle feel as the second one, but you should play it straight. 16th notes not dotted 16th notes - play 4 strokes over each beat without the shuffle feel - you need to make it sound straight. Listen to the recording in the video I sent and try to emulate the feel I have in there.

As for the second video - I think it's pretty much ok - but is that how all the song sounds like? You have slight chord shifting problems - by that, I mean that you push some notes a bit too hard when changing the chord shapes - that will disappear once you become more and more acquainted with the shapes.

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 2 2013, 07:54 AM

hi cosmin, thanks for guidance.

I noticed the shuffle feel.

here is second attempt at the 16ths excercise


I also recorded two excercise videos of 8ths
mixed 8ths


all 8ths


I noticed that while making the upsktrokes i was not feeling confident that the strum was going to sound right.
Can we arrive at creating a daily strum routine to enhance stamina and sound.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 2 2013, 10:36 AM

Hey there my friend - of course we can smile.gif It is part of your goal, right?

Now, before doing that, I would very much like to help you correct your approach towards the videos that you posted:

1) The 16th notes one is still having a shuffle feel - please practice by focusing on excluding this feel.

2) In the second video - the only thing that should demand a bit of attention is when you are shifting the second chord - the shift is a bit delayed, so try to get it on the beat, ok?

3) Indeed, the upstrokes seem to be a little bit delayed - it's simply a matter of balance - be focused on this when practicing them, ok?

Record 4 bars of each of these exercises in one video, ok? If they are good, we can move forward! biggrin.gif

Please let me know if there are any questions!

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 11 2013, 04:17 AM

Hi Cosmin,

thanks for the support.
I have a question for you today -
what kind of strategy is involved in guitar playing of this video.
I am guessing that this person is not composed the tune in advanced and is improvising the scales.
As your student i know that you advice that the tune should be played using your voice first. But in this case I don't think the person is having the time to use his voice. Is another strategy involved here ? ( guitar playing starts at 37 seconds )


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 11 2013, 08:31 AM

Hello Sumit smile.gif

It's simply a pentatonic improvisation - when the guitar starts at 0:37, he plays around the pentatonic scale and phrases in a bluesy style. Basically, you need to have a good grasp on the following:

- learn the pentatonic scale
- listen to a lot of John Mayer
- work on your articulation skills, because, as you can see there's a lot of bends and vibrato in that phrase

The Two Rock is John Mayer's amplifier - have you listened to John Mayer? He is a very well known blues/ pop player. If you want to have a go at this style, definitely listen to his album called Continuum - released in 2006. And furthermore, you can take a look at these lessons:

Mine is a bit more oriented towards his lyrical side while Ivan's is more oriented towards John's bluesier side smile.gif

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/John-Mayer-Style-Ballad/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/rhythm-guitar/john-mayer-style-lesson/

Let me know if everything is cool, aye?

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 11 2013, 03:47 PM

thanks cosmin,
i was listening to continuum just now.. good music. smile.gif
I am going to follow your advice on pentatonic and blues improvisation.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 12 2013, 07:05 AM

Hey again Sumit! Continuum is among my favorite albums!

For a good start with Pentatonic learning - I totally recommend this series:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/pentatonic-workshop-level1-caged-format-timing-exercises/ - look at the bottom of the page for all the lessons in this series, as are about 6 of them smile.gif

What do you think?

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 12 2013, 07:58 AM

awesome !!
thanks cosmin smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 12 2013, 11:52 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Aug 12 2013, 06:58 AM) *
awesome !!
thanks cosmin smile.gif


wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 21 2013, 08:22 AM

hi cosmin, could you let me know some good important lessons before i take a 2 month membership break on 22nd.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 21 2013, 09:22 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Aug 21 2013, 07:22 AM) *
hi cosmin, could you let me know some good important lessons before i take a 2 month membership break on 22nd.


hey Sumit - assuming you will be on a lesson for a week - that gives you space for approximately 5 lessons and about other 3 weeks to chisel them and record. Split into important aspects of playing, we would have

2 on Rhythm

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginners-Corner-16-Slash-Chords/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginners-Corner-7-5-string-Barre-Chords/

1 on articulation

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginners-Corner-26-Beginner-Slides/

1 on alternate picking

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginners-Corner-25-Alternate-Picking/

1 on legato

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginners-Corner-24-Beginner-Legato/


What do you think mate?

Cosmin

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 21 2013, 10:01 AM

cosmin, they look great. please add some harder difficulty as well please. also add one for tapping and one for whammy bar.

rgds,

sumit

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 21 2013, 10:13 AM

Hey Sumit - you will have access to the forum - how about finishing these perfectly first and then tackling others?

I think that if you finish the first 5 perfectly, you can try this one as well:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Basic-Tapping/

But that is a lot of work and honestly I'd rather have you play these 6 lesson top notch, rather then learn 9 and not play them well smile.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Aug 21 2013, 10:26 AM

looks like a great plan smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 21 2013, 10:46 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Aug 21 2013, 09:26 AM) *
looks like a great plan smile.gif


May the wind be in your sails mate!

Posted by: sumitnxt Feb 8 2014, 01:02 PM

hi cosmin,

i'm back after a long time whats up ?

straight away i need your hlep ..

please see this shred lick..






i am practisiing it over metronome or a drum only track..

i would like to practise it over a proper backing track..

can you tell me what scale is this ? and help me with creating a chord progression that would sound good with this ?


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 8 2014, 03:24 PM

Hey mate - this is the Phrygian mode smile.gif The B Phrygian mode, more exactly. As a formula you have 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 (B Phrygian is B C D E F# G A B )

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/scalegenerator

You can use B5 C5 A5 B5 for instance and you have an efficient progression to work with!

How's life for you man?





QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Feb 8 2014, 12:02 PM) *
hi cosmin,

i'm back after a long time whats up ?

straight away i need your hlep ..

please see this shred lick..






i am practisiing it over metronome or a drum only track..

i would like to practise it over a proper backing track..

can you tell me what scale is this ? and help me with creating a chord progression that would sound good with this ?

Posted by: sumitnxt Feb 8 2014, 06:40 PM

hi cosmin,

thanks man.

life is good. had been very busy with non musical work for past 3 months. now i found some time and joined GMC back. but i feel i am slowly and steadily working my way to reach my musical goals.

thanks again..
bye

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 9 2014, 09:40 AM

Hey mate, hope it helped smile.gif Good to know you are back and kicking again. Let me know when you need my assistance wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Feb 9 2014, 04:13 PM

QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Feb 9 2014, 08:40 AM) *
Hey mate, hope it helped smile.gif Good to know you are back and kicking again. Let me know when you need my assistance wink.gif



hey man,
just wanted to let you know i am having a great time practising that shred lick over a number of b phrygian tracks i got from youtube. its so much more funt. thanks pal.


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 10 2014, 08:21 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Feb 9 2014, 03:13 PM) *
hey man,
just wanted to let you know i am having a great time practising that shred lick over a number of b phrygian tracks i got from youtube. its so much more funt. thanks pal.


Always a pleasure - record some ideas and send'em over if you'd like wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Feb 17 2014, 11:14 AM

hi cosmin .. when you play midis in daw you can select a vst plugin to substitute the particular instrument midi track with a real sounding plugin..

in this context i am trying to substitute the drum track of midi with fruity loop vst , but when i do the fruity loop loads with these set of instruments ( see attachment ) instead of a rock or metal drum setup. and so the sound of midi drums track is played with these set of soft instruments . do you have some knowledge as to how i can substitute with a rock drum set instead.


in case you don't know any idea how to find help ?

 

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 18 2014, 08:29 AM

Hey there Sumit, I frankly have no clue how to do this - I mean, in other DAWs you just select a channel - make sure it's a MIDI track and assign a certain VST to it in order to writ the virtual instrument of your choice there. I would suggest the following:

- either write this question in the Practice room, where chances are that someone who already did this to be able to come up with an answer

- or see if this helps out - this guy has a lot of tutorials on Fruity Loops:


Posted by: sumitnxt Feb 18 2014, 09:11 AM

thanks cosmin , i found a way myself to get some rock drums smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 18 2014, 09:38 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Feb 18 2014, 08:11 AM) *
thanks cosmin , i found a way myself to get some rock drums smile.gif


The most rewarding way! smile.gif Isn't it? When you get something done all by yourself! I remember each little discovery I made and how it made me feel! biggrin.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Feb 18 2014, 10:00 AM

yest, sometimes i find that you find the answer yourself but only you have asked for help smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 19 2014, 07:41 AM

Hehe smile.gif I know the feeling, mate smile.gif Well, keep me updated on your progress, will ya?

Posted by: sumitnxt Feb 19 2014, 08:21 AM

sure smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 20 2014, 07:41 AM

Perfect!

Posted by: sumitnxt Mar 10 2014, 03:35 PM

hey cosmin !!

i need your help again smile.gif

i have been practising the phrygian jam and a muris lesson for alternate picking and will post it once i think i am ready.
right now i want to talk about strumming. i am stuck at trying to strum like the video i am attaching but i need your help understanding how to practice it and get it upto speed. the chord changes is no problem but how do i get the strum to sound exactly like the video. i even have a tab but still having trouble getting into flow. when i try to forget about getting the exact replica strumming and try to create my own strumming flow i am able to get a groove but it does not sound as nice. so help me in developing strumming. how is strumming practised btw.. is it practised like lead by going from very slow to fast . or is there a different technique in replicating a strumming like the video. ( i have attached the video and the chart )

regards,

sumit

 strumming.avi ( 3.71MB ) : 91
 strumming.pdf ( 57.92K ) : 271
 

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 11 2014, 08:37 AM

Hey mate smile.gif Watch the video carefully and observe that the right hand moves in 16th notes but it moves in the air except for the chords it strikes. It is important to understand that and to listen to the video to see where the chord changes occur. Otherwise, it should be practiced like anything else on the guitar - slow at first, only after you have understood where the chord changes occur in respect to the 4/4 time signature and then slowly speeding up. Use your ears and the chord sheet and you will most likely get there. Also, please post a video in order for me to see what you are doing and point out things I notice smile.gif Deal?

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 11 2014, 05:15 PM

hi cosmin,

writing after a long time. how are things at your end ?
i have some confusion about pull offs, my pulloffs are not sounding as loud as i hear in different videos on youtube.
i am wondering is it because i am not using a correct tone to make them sound loud enough ? or are the supposed to sound as loud as the picked notes irrespective of the tone.
i have seen with some high distortion and high reverb / delay effects i don't have to do anything extra to get enough sound on a pull off.
( e.g satriani tones )

but my feeling tells me , the pull off should sound as good as the picked note without any effect.

please put some light.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 12 2014, 10:57 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Jun 11 2014, 04:15 PM) *
hi cosmin,

writing after a long time. how are things at your end ?
i have some confusion about pull offs, my pulloffs are not sounding as loud as i hear in different videos on youtube.
i am wondering is it because i am not using a correct tone to make them sound loud enough ? or are the supposed to sound as loud as the picked notes irrespective of the tone.
i have seen with some high distortion and high reverb / delay effects i don't have to do anything extra to get enough sound on a pull off.
( e.g satriani tones )

but my feeling tells me , the pull off should sound as good as the picked note without any effect.

please put some light.


Hey mate smile.gif Just returning from an Alter Bridge concert in Hungary and I am currently in the Belgrade airport in Serbia biggrin.gif Your feeling is correct smile.gif

You need to develop finger stamina and strength in respect to your left hand and that is done by practicing legato! I totally recommend you to begin working on this by using Ben's Land of legato series - here's the first lesson smile.gif

The idea is to focus on getting each note to sound even in terms of loudness and duration: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Bens-Land-Of-Legato/

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 12 2014, 01:15 PM

great to hear about your tour.
thanks for your guidance on pull offs.

Cosmin another question. i have seen that since the time i started working on lead guitar. i find it very difficult to focus on completely learning a long solo or instrumental song. e.g santana's europa . quite frankly i want to learn it . i would love to perform it . but when i sit and learn two three licks from the song and in order to master those licks i put in the effort . Soon my mind starts playing tricks with me i take a look at the tab for the entire song and see that its too huge (8 pages ) . my mind just finds it overwhelming thinking about how much effort and time will i have to put really.

i don't have this problem at all with small solos where i could see that 2-3 days of practice would finally make it happen. i develop some strategy and finish learning the small solos. but i don't know what happens with the long 4-5 minute solos. Those are the real ones i'd like to play.

i have heard a lot of advice that break the large solos down and master the small parts first to complete the songs but somehow after learning like 1/4th of the song i start procrastinating and find it easier to pick up a new song.

i am approaching you because i have a feeling that this might be a common problem and your guidance can help me get over it.


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 13 2014, 01:05 PM

Hey man smile.gif

It's simply a focus and experience problem. When you will become experienced enough, you will learn how to break songs down and learn them piece by piece. You are not yet able to focus on such large pieces, so the solution in my opinion, is to keep working on smaller ones to build experience and in the mean time, break down the Europa song into more small pieces smile.gif Set a deadline for each one - let's say 4 days in which you should focus only on that part and revise the ones you already know and you'll see that in sometime you will have it nailed entirely.

The idea is to become disciplined in order to reach your desired goal. That's the only obstacle really wink.gif Deal?

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 16 2014, 08:27 AM

thanks for helping out cosmin,

i am working both on europa and legato lesson from ben.
I have now been playing for some time and have got better at hand movements , speed and accuracy . which has been my first priority on guitar. But now I need to get back at learning music theory . I have heard that it is very important to apply the concept you learn in music theory otherwise it is useless for you. I think its true . So can you teach me some concept on music theory and then show me how i can apply that concept ? please pick some concept that you think is more important.

thanks

sumit

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 16 2014, 10:27 AM

Hey Sumit smile.gif

Learning music theory and applying it, is pretty much one of the most important elements in learning how to better express yourself as a musician.

In my opinion, you should begin by understanding the major scale:

- how it is constructed
- its intervals
- how to derive chords and arpeggios from it by using harmonization
- how to learn a solo and see the relationship between notes and chords in it

First things first, please start by reading the theory chapter here:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=47641

I am waiting for your questions on the matter and then, I think that the next most important step would be to tackle the first of the lessons here:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Triads_in_Major_Scale_Series_Part_1/

Please let me know what you think and we'll take it from here, deal?

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 16 2014, 11:18 AM

hi cosmin thanks for refering me to the theory lesson. I understood the method to build major scale for all keys. so how can i apply this knowldedge now ?


also i have one question -
is there anything as A# or we call that key as B flat only ? and why

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 16 2014, 11:21 AM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Jun 16 2014, 10:18 AM) *
hi cosmin thanks for refering me to the theory lesson. I understood the method to build major scale for all keys. so how can i apply this knowldedge now ?


You will know the harmonic contexts in which you will play from now on smile.gif If someone tells you - We are playing in the key of F major, you will know the notes that make up the F major scale and how to harmonize it and understand the chords that you can use to build chord progressions based on the key. After you will tackle the lesson I recommended wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 16 2014, 12:16 PM

thanks cosmin,

i just read the theory part of the Triad lesson you referred.
i understand that triads are 3 note chords made up of diatonic notes.
i understand triads are formed using the root 3rd and 5th notes.

but i don't see the application.
1. can you show me a practical problem that can be solved using triads.
2. As far as i can see knowing how to build a major scale is not going to much use unless i know exactly where is each note on the fretboard. even the triad lesson requires doesn't it ?

As you can see the theory is consfusing me now smile.gif

thanks


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 17 2014, 10:29 AM

Hey Sumit, there can be many applications - you may see this as a building biceps in order to be able to become a better climber wink.gif

If you know the notes on the neck, you will be able to find your way around with pretty much everything. I will give you an example in which knowing triads and your fretboard is mandatory in order to solve the task at hand:

Build a progression in the key of C major and improvise over it, in the following manner: on two bars using only the C major scale and on the next two bars only the C major pentatonic scale, and so on. You are not allowed to use more than one string and you are restricted to half step bends only.

Please tell me what your approach on this would be wink.gif

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 17 2014, 11:24 AM

theoretically this would be my approach.

i would pick a popular progression 1 4 5 to play the chords C F G

i would strum c chord for first two bars and F and G for next two bars and repeat.

i would play the solo on high E string.

for first two bars i would make a tune out of the CDEFGAB notes and use E and B notes for half bends.
for next two bars i would make a tune out of CDEGA and not have any bends.

i already know how to play C F and G chords so i will not use the knowledge of triads to form these chords .

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 17 2014, 12:11 PM

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Jun 17 2014, 10:24 AM) *
theoretically this would be my approach.

i would pick a popular progression 1 4 5 to play the chords C F G

i would strum c chord for first two bars and F and G for next two bars and repeat.

i would play the solo on high E string.

for first two bars i would make a tune out of the CDEFGAB notes and use E and B notes for half bends.
for next two bars i would make a tune out of CDEGA and not have any bends.

i already know how to play C F and G chords so i will not use the knowledge of triads to form these chords .


What if I would give you a progression such as Dm Gmaj Cmaj but I would only allow you to use the G B E and E strings to form it?

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 17 2014, 12:59 PM

right , so triads are required .

thanks

By the way i wanted to share my daily practice routine with you.

today i have included an excercise to remember notes on fretboard into my daily practice routine.
also included are legato , vibrato, alternate picking excericises.
I am working on santana europa as well.

What I also want to include is music theory. I have understood that the triads lesson you referred. i understood it theoretically do you think i should practice playing that lesson ? or can i present you with a problem of my own that would be an application of triads.

lets say i create a tune by playing randomly on the guitar. i just played one and attached it .( its a Bollywood style tune )
how can i now run a background chord progression on it ?
if i were to spice up the tune to include some chords in the melody ( so that it could be played by a single guitar player ) what do i do ?



 TapeDeck_2__Jun_17_17_21_12.mp3 ( 566.4K ) : 88
 

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 18 2014, 09:41 AM

Hey Sumit smile.gif I do think you should learn the lesson and practice it and most of all become able to play the triads in EVERY key.

Your example is a very good application: having a lead line that needs a chord or a chord progression over which it should fit smile.gif

Once you will become acquainted with using triads and building chords and then chord progressions, you will be able to hear chord changes over the lead lines you are inventing or building lead lines over the progressions you are given or invent yourself.

Don't forget that lead lines are made up of chord tones in their most basic of forms, so it's only fitting that they should fit well over some chords or others. What I am trying to say here is that you need to learn music theory, so that you may become able to understand the relationship between notes and chords. For instance, in your example - I would use a simple progression such as:

Bmaj, C#m, F#maj, Bmaj - the scale in which you play is B major

The chord tones you are using have lead me to try these chords smile.gif The first one is D# the major third of B major, then I discovered the C#m because of the E which is its minor third and the F#maj appeared because of the A# which is its major third and then you landed on the B and the B major was suggested by it to conclude.

If you learn the triads and train your ears with every scale, you will be able to do this yourself smile.gif Please let me know what your thoughts are.

What sort of an exercise do you use for remembering notes on the fretboard?

Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 18 2014, 01:41 PM

thanks cosmin for all the information and how you explained the solution to my problem.
1. i will include triad workout in every key a part of my daily routine
2. on my own i cannot figure out which scale the tune belongs to. whats the process for that ? ... can you develop an excercise for me in which i would be able to figure out easily what scale a random tune belongs too. I would practice it and would like to get better at it.
3. The fretboard visualization excercise is this -

a ) its a fun excercise.

i start out with low e string . i play the open string and speak out "E" and then i play the first fret and speak out "F" and then third fret and speak out "G" . Also between playing two notes i speak out eight "whole to" or "half to"
And i am using a metronome to maintain consistent timing while playing notes and speaking out.
When i reach the 23rd fret ( last fret on my guitar ) i repeat backwards on the same string.


this is how the low E excercise vocally sounds

E half to F whole to G whole to A whole to B half to C whole to D whole to E half to F whole to G whole to A whole to B half to C whole to D
Then Backwards on same string
D whole to C half to B .......... half to E

Then i move to next string. I think this is also going to associate the sounds of the notes with their names because i speak them out when i play the note. Also i will increase the metronome speed gradually

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 19 2014, 09:56 AM

Howdy Sumit! smile.gif I am glad that i could help and that I provided a little glimpse in the amazing world of theory wink.gif To take things one at a time:

- in order to become able to figure out what scale you are in, you should be able to know how to form any major scale available and then its modes. Once you are able to do that, you can easily analyze a piece, see what notes and chords it contains and based on that, you should become able to recognize the key.

That is EXACTLY what I did smile.gif So as an exercise:

- apply the major scale formula - I do believe you encountered it in the theory link I gave you, correct? - from each available key and see what notes form each major scale.
- write down all the notes you are playing in your example - the one you sent me in your previous message and see what notes make up the lines - do they all belong to the B major scale?

The exercise you told me about is EXCELLENT smile.gif I have something similar, which you can use to take things to the next level - that is learning a certain scale or mode using the one string approach, so please check it out here and let me know what you think biggrin.gif

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=39243&view=findpost&p=671081

QUOTE (sumitnxt @ Jun 18 2014, 12:41 PM) *
thanks cosmin for all the information and how you explained the solution to my problem.
1. i will include triad workout in every key a part of my daily routine
2. on my own i cannot figure out which scale the tune belongs to. whats the process for that ? ... can you develop an excercise for me in which i would be able to figure out easily what scale a random tune belongs too. I would practice it and would like to get better at it.
3. The fretboard visualization excercise is this -

a ) its a fun excercise.

i start out with low e string . i play the open string and speak out "E" and then i play the first fret and speak out "F" and then third fret and speak out "G" . Also between playing two notes i speak out eight "whole to" or "half to"
And i am using a metronome to maintain consistent timing while playing notes and speaking out.
When i reach the 23rd fret ( last fret on my guitar ) i repeat backwards on the same string.


this is how the low E excercise vocally sounds

E half to F whole to G whole to A whole to B half to C whole to D whole to E half to F whole to G whole to A whole to B half to C whole to D
Then Backwards on same string
D whole to C half to B .......... half to E

Then i move to next string. I think this is also going to associate the sounds of the notes with their names because i speak them out when i play the note. Also i will increase the metronome speed gradually


Posted by: sumitnxt Jun 23 2014, 01:18 PM

thanks cosmin , i am working as per your guidance . will give more details in next post.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 24 2014, 07:23 AM

Alright Sumit smile.gif I'll be around and I am glad I could help out wink.gif

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