Aris's Thread, for Gab's Army |
HEY MAN, I really need your help...
...the thing is, I need you to start progressing faster then ever, but to achieve that I need your help:
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Dec 5 2014, 05:49 PM
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Thanks Gabriel,
I 'll do one of the two backing tracks that you proposed since you know better what should I be trying next. I 'll check other lessons too. just to have an idea on what else is around. Please also check the below post I sent earlier and let me know. QUOTE (Aris @ Dec 5 2014, 02:01 PM)  Hi Gabriel, I found some time that I could play loud and recorded some of my practice routine. Please let me know on your thoughts. Some quick comments on the takes: - phrasing(Guitar loves piano): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHpZxKdGXws...eature=youtu.be I have set some landmarks in the backing track as indicators to know how if I m on the right track and sometimes how long I should hold the silences or some notes with longer durations.Otherwise I can't trust my mind completely for this yet. Am I supposed to be able to play this with the right timing even without using the backing track? - rhythm (SD style lesson) - I have uploaded too pretty similar takes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDFw3WFISNk...eature=youtu.be - should be best in overall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC-hNWeyClI...eature=youtu.be - I think this is a better take for the solo in the end I 'll keep on playing this to improve timing and speed eventually. Since this may take a while though until I build up my overall speed ability so to be able to play over the 160bpm backing track, do you think now would be a good time to pick a different rhythm or you would suggest to stay in this lesson as long as it is needed for better and quicker results? Also I wanted to ask you about the way I record my videos (so that you have a better sound quality and visual on my hands movements). I use a laptop to record the video (pc_1) and a second pc to play the backing track from its speakers (pc_2). Then I play the guitar using my amp's speaker. After tunning the volume of my guitar and the speakers playing the backing track, I hit record button on pc_1 which has the camera. Another alternative would be to import the backing track in cubase and make both my guitar and the backing track sound via cubase, thus from the same speaker. Then record it using pc_1 with the camera. I 'm not sure if this will have better video and sound results. What kind of setup and software are you using for this? |
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Dec 5 2014, 07:48 PM
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QUOTE (Aris @ Dec 5 2014, 11:01 AM) Hi Gabriel, I found some time that I could play loud and recorded some of my practice routine. Please let me know on your thoughts. Some quick comments on the takes: - phrasing(Guitar loves piano): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHpZxKdGXws...eature=youtu.be I have set some landmarks in the backing track as indicators to know how if I m on the right track and sometimes how long I should hold the silences or some notes with longer durations.Otherwise I can't trust my mind completely for this yet. Am I supposed to be able to play this with the right timing even without using the backing track? This one is evolving ok but it still has some things to improve. The most important is timing, sometimes you tend to go faster than you should and you lose the rhythm of some phrases (for example at 00:11 and 00:15, 00:58). About your question, yes, you should be able to play the lesson without the backing, just tapping the beat with your foot, but it can be trickier than doing it with the backing. However, as this one doesn't include a drum track, I think that it's essential to practicing the lesson tapping the beat. Besides this timing issues, you should polish some ascending passages (00:15, 00:42), as well as your vibrato and bending techniquesw which are a bit weak on this one yet. QUOTE (Aris @ Dec 5 2014, 11:01 AM) - rhythm (SD style lesson) - I have uploaded too pretty similar takes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDFw3WFISNk...eature=youtu.be - should be best in overall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC-hNWeyClI...eature=youtu.be - I think this is a better take for the solo in the end I 'll keep on playing this to improve timing and speed eventually. Since this may take a while though until I build up my overall speed ability so to be able to play over the 160bpm backing track, do you think now would be a good time to pick a different rhythm or you would suggest to stay in this lesson as long as it is needed for better and quicker results? Great to see you working hard on rhythm! You have to be careful with the first part when you just have the hi hat because you are not totally tight when the drums start. Then things sound better, just be sure to now hurry up. You tend to strum a bit before the beat in some parts. I think that it would be really good to start with another lesson but keep on playing this one 2 or 3 times every day. QUOTE (Aris @ Dec 5 2014, 11:01 AM) Also I wanted to ask you about the way I record my videos (so that you have a better sound quality and visual on my hands movements). I use a laptop to record the video (pc_1) and a second pc to play the backing track from its speakers (pc_2). Then I play the guitar using my amp's speaker. After tunning the volume of my guitar and the speakers playing the backing track, I hit record button on pc_1 which has the camera. Another alternative would be to import the backing track in cubase and make both my guitar and the backing track sound via cubase, thus from the same speaker. Then record it using pc_1 with the camera. I 'm not sure if this will have better video and sound results. What kind of setup and software are you using for this? I go for the second option. I use Cubase to play the backing and record the guitar, to then later mix it and replace audio on video using a video editor like Premiere or Vegas (there are lots of other ones, and some are free). This is the best way to get a high quality audio that will improve your videos and also let us listen to your playing in a more precise way. Please try it and let me know if you need some help. Checking this video is a must! -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Dec 8 2014, 01:42 PM
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Hi Gabriel,
Thanks for your review. I need to work on foot tapping, since I often loose the beat over rhythms with lots note alternations within the same beat. I will also follow the vibrato workout that you recommended and look for a bending exercise. You are right about the first round of the chords in SD lesson. The high hat volume is too low at the start and I can barely hear it when I play. Tapping my foot to stay on beat has already solved this issue though  However, I noticed that if I keep tapping my foot during the rest of the parts. I always loose it when it comes to the part with the mutings. About the new lesson for rhythm practice, I did a search at GMC for rhythm workouts and found a lot of interesting lessons. Most of these are based on my assumption that rhythm practice should be basically focused on riff patterns with variety in strumming patterns(down/up motion), muting etc. Based on the above assumption, the below lesson would be great but maybe it's not recommended for my stage since it may take forever to learn. https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/offspr...le-riffs-medley So, I think any of the below lessons maybe suitable too. Amonst the two I would choose Rise Against. I think it has more variety in strumming patterns and mutings. Let me know if any of these would be more suitable than the others. https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Rise-A...-Hardcore-Punk/ https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Offspring-Style/ I am not sure if I should be looking for rhythm exercises (like the following) instead of style lessons. What do you say? https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/rhythm-gu...c-metal-rhythm/ https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/rhythm-gu...ds-rock-rhythm/ https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/rhythm-gu...hythm-exercise/ I will also try your suggestion for better recording quality. Thanks!!! |
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Dec 8 2014, 04:33 PM
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Hi Aris, thanks for the update! You technique is evolving well so we are on the right track with this practice. I think that all the lessons that you checked are very fast so maybe it will take some time to master them, but it's not a bad idea to start working on this kind of rhythms. You can use the slower backings to polish the sound and then slowly try to reach the normal tempo. For this purpose, one of my lessons (Offspring or Rise Against) can really work. I don't think that you need to work on a "technique lesson" if you feel comfortable with the "musical lessons". You can create shorter exercises based on loops of the trickier parts of your lesson if you notice that a part is giving problems.
It would be important to organize your routine, how is it looking now? Do you have it written on a paper with lessons and time for each one? -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Dec 9 2014, 02:46 PM
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Awesome!! You're very clever mate. The routine that you have created based on our work here and the ideas suggested by Kris and Cosmin is so interesting and what's even better, it's exactly designed for you. I have nothing to add to this current plan, but I'm really curious to know how it feels each day, and to monitor the evolution.
-------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Dec 9 2014, 04:45 PM
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Thanks Gabriel! Great to know that I'm on course with the planning of the routine. I 'll be in touch This post has been edited by Aris: Dec 9 2014, 04:46 PM |
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Dec 9 2014, 05:44 PM
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QUOTE (Aris @ Dec 9 2014, 12:45 PM) Thanks Gabriel! Great to know that I'm on course with the planning of the routine. I 'll be in touch Great!
-------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Jan 12 2015, 05:39 PM
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Hi Gabriel,
I hope you had a great time over your vacations and you enjoyed NYC to the max. I wish you all the best for the new year and to bring only happy moments to you and your loved ones. I haven't posted any samples for a long time. Maybe now that things have progressed a little it seems harder for me to play well while increasing the speed so I don't have any decent takes yet. I would also like to send better quality samples working with video software and cubase in parallel as we have discussed but the editing takes a little longer. So given the limited time I have I always tend to lean more in practicing more time rather than editing recordings. Nevertheless, I know that sending quality samples is as much crucial as practicing so that I can receive accurate feedback and helpful tips which can save me from playing in the wrong way for longer. I 'll do my best to send some recordings. I guess the video doesn't have to be perfectly in sync with the imported audio as this does not seem humanly possible since the only way to sync the two is to eyeball the start of the waveform (from imported audio) to be as close as possible to the start of the waveform of the webcam audio. I also wanted to ask you about another issue I have and I believe is also time to fix it. I 'm trying to learn some easy songs with chords so I can sing along to my little boy. He really seems to enjoy it and he literally forces me to play the guitar and sing. Playing the guitar only is not enough for him  and I am always very glad to play for him.So I picked up a song I liked which supposed to be easy but still I find it difficult to play and sing along keeping a steady beat and singing over the right strums. The specific tune I picked up is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WqJwpOpCU8 Do you have any suggestions or guidelines in this case? Perhaps I can make some room in the routine if you think is appropriate. BTW the social D lesson has helped a lot my rhythm playing and and I m glad to see this when I play chords. |
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Jan 13 2015, 05:49 PM
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Hi Aris, thanks for your message and your words! I wish you a year full of happiness, great things and goals achieved for you and your family.
It's good to know that you are starting the year with new ideas to make your practice and your videos better. Improving the quality of your work is not only a better way to let us monitor your progress, it's also a great practice of things that are also important for a musician which are recording, mixing, mastering techniques, video production and more precisely for guitarist, working on improving your tone. If you use a video editor to sync audio mix with video there won't be notorious sync issues so go for it. I recommend Vegas or Premiere among the professional and paid video editor, but you can also check some free editors. About your question regarding singing and playing... yes, you're right, doing both things at the same time can be tricky when rhythm and vocal melody don't go with the same rhythm. As everything else, it requires practice. You have to isolate your right hand, and try to "automatize" it to be able to play it without thinking to much on it, while you sing. Work on small sections, as a loop, as we do with guitar exercises. You can definitely dedicate 20/30 minutes to it every day. I think that it must be so awesome to be encouraged to sing and play guitar by your own son.
This post has been edited by Gabriel Leopardi: Jan 13 2015, 05:49 PM -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Jan 20 2015, 04:13 PM
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Hi Gabriel,
Thank you also for your warm wishes. Yes it is surely the best thing to see my kid pleased so much by something I also love so much. Often, he is staring at me like I am about to perform the biggest miracle in the world and hanging from my lips to sing even when I play terribly. He seems to like music a lot. I have placed my portable sound system on the floor for him so he has it there on demand. He is only 17 months yet but I hope he is always close to music. I have made my first two clips on one of the workout routines following the guide that you sent me. I used cubase and movie maker (free software) as shown in the guide. The recordings has a few bites but overall I feel better about it. I have tried to get rid of much of the unwanted sounds in my playing and increased the speed by 15 BPM this time (at 145BPM). Only +15 BPM left to go until I can play as fast as the original. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRB-JtujNFM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cIVUM3vMbQ I'm planning to send more from the other routines also, but it takes me a lot of time until I am able to record a decent take. So I usually spend more time practicing all of the stuff instead of recording just one thing. Please let me know on your comments and also if audio and video are in good sync. This post has been edited by Aris: Jan 20 2015, 04:14 PM |
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Jan 21 2015, 01:20 AM
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hahaha that sounds epic! I love the way babies appreciate the world when they are discovering. We should never lose that sensation of "the biggest miracle in the world". If you ask me, I think that music, being able to hear is and to play it IS one of the biggest miracles of the world, and there are lots more but we get used to this and forget it with the pass of time... but music is so powerful.
The alternate picking lesson is evolving well, but there is still more work to do since your picking is sounding a but sloppy yet. This tempo is appropriated to keep on practicing the lesson, but in shorter blocks, trying to play tight, but also trying to pick strong to get a fuller sound of each note. Also, experiment with the position of the palm of your right hand since I think that it's muting too much the notes and the staccato becomes a bit excessive. So please keep on working on this and off course post new videos as soon as you have them.
-------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Jan 22 2015, 01:15 PM
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Nice words Aris.
I'm glad to know that the comments helped, please practice having those tips in mind and feel free to share a new version here.
-------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Feb 11 2015, 12:57 PM
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Hi Gabriel,
How are you doing? I look forward for the VChat today. I have decided to send you at least one recording per week even if I have not entirely corrected all spotted issues from previous feedback.( I will target to record 3 different lessons from the routine each week but 1 recording per week sounds very doable as a bare minimum). I see that when I try to record I play more with a purpose and will also give me the chance to have more of your valuable feedback. However on a recording day, I barely play the rest of the stuff in my routine. I have also sinned with my improvisation practice , since I feel somehow weak about it and I end up not putting the hours to experiment. Instead I tend to play my technique routine where the results seem to be more measurable (more like I can play cleaner, faster instead of searching for a nice lick which may never come for hours)Anyway, below I am sending you a take of my rhythm lesson (Social Distortion). This time I matched the speed with the lesson. Sorry for the sound , later I figured that tone should be lower for cleaner sound and guitar should be a bit louder compared to the backing track but I couldn't hear what was playing in the backing while I was playing my part. I tried many takes and got too late at night, so I let a few bad looking mistakes in this take (e.g. first round of chords is ugly, and solo moves faster slower to much the backing) . The good thing is that I can finally play the muted part at such high speed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFGax-3phmI...eature=youtu.be If this is too bad for comments I will send an even better version soon. |
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Feb 11 2015, 07:25 PM
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Hi Aris, great stuff here. Weekly updates and videos sound good for me. It's a good way to keep you motivated and with clear short term goals. Let's go for it.
This take shows that you still need to work at a slower tempo, mostly during the guitar solo where the timing issues are important and I can relate them to the tempo that is not comfortable for you yet. The rhythm section seems to be ok during the intro, but the palm muting section is also having some timing issues. The melodies played during the second intro and chorus are not bad but I notice little timing issues too. SO please work at a slower tempo (maybe 10 or 20 bpm less) and share a video here after at least 3 days of practice, or a week as you said. Your guitar tone is also weird on this take, it seems that you are not using a cabinet simulator, it sounds like a pedal by line. What are you using? -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Feb 12 2015, 01:28 PM
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Ah! That's the reason! You will be able to improve your tone a lot if you use amp simulators. Please go to the following thread, download the plug ins and follow the video tutorial with every details. Then let me know if everything works or if you need some more help.
The change will be really important!
-------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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Feb 14 2015, 10:51 PM
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Great!
I look forward to it.Please also send me the link of the thread that you just pointed out. It seems that you missed it out from sending it to me. |
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Feb 15 2015, 01:39 PM
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This is the thread: LINK
-------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
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