Phil66'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:
* Don't know where to start? Just pm me and we will sort it out directly, I am online every day.
* Join My Army. Sounds aggressive? It is! We can study anything from the most fearsome picking techniques to bombastic songwriting. A medal of honor awaits the brave. Seriously, this is an opportunity for you to get a personalised learning experience...what are you waiting for?!
* Join my next video chat! GMC startpage holds a video chat schedule. We always cover a lot of ground and have fun. Remember that you don't need any previous knowledge, and you can be passive in the chat.
* Jam with me - you will find active collabs here.
* Post a topic on this board, guitar related or not - doesn't matter! You will find that chatting with instructors boosts your motivation to practice.
* You haven't missed my latest video lessons, have you?
* Finally I want to tell you a secret. Nah I changed my mind - pm me instead ;)
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Sep 25 2016, 01:03 PM
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Thanks Gab,
Another morning session (September 25th), this time the A minor blues lesson. Really really struggling to hit the phrasing like Laszlo does. I can get most of it up to the 15 second point then the licks after that are tricky, very tricky for me. I can get an approximation but the timing of the phrases is extremely tricky. Also Laszlo is doing a lot of things that aren't tabbed that makes it sound so much better but I can't work out how to do them, I can't even do the tabbed bits so I guess I shouldn't be worrying about the embellishments  Thin Lizzy and some improv this evening. EVENING UPDATE: Got The Boys Are Back up to full speed. Still not getting the lead fills very good though, I think this one is a little out of my reach to be honest. https://soundcloud.com/gmcphil-1/tbabit-160bpm Also had a go at improvising over the A Minor Laszlo backing. It's a good track to improvise to, nice and slow which suits me  Cheers Gab, I may be up for the first punishment this week, it's not because I'm not trying though. I seem to have reached one of those sticking points that are hard to get through but when you do you move forward in leaps and bounds. This post has been edited by Phil66: Oct 1 2016, 03:02 PM -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE  “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Sep 26 2016, 02:48 PM
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Hi Phil! That sounds good! You still have two days! Please share the required videos on September 28th or at least on 29th.
-------------------- 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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Sep 27 2016, 09:00 PM
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Thanks Gab,
WOW, playing the solo in the car has really really helped, I'm not saying I can play it brilliantly, or even good but it's less to think about not having to try to remember how it goes or trying to mimic Laszlo when playing along with him slowly. I will ALWAYS do this from now on. Will Thursday be ok to post the videos? Sorry but I'm working late tomorrow, I was going to record and post tonight but I've done another Nirvana take for you just for fun so it's eaten up my time a little bit. I was actually going to be ready for this evening really until I decided to post the first Nirvana take and things went a bit tits up that night as I explained in the post. Cheers Gab. UPDATE: Not working late tomorrow (28th) now, just received a message to confirm, but i am going out for a bite to eat. I'll see if I get time to record. I'm not taking advantage Gab, those two Nirvana vids on two nights put me back a bit. I did enjoy them though  . I would have posted my assignment tonight or latest tomorrow if I hadn't done them. I'm still pretty slow at video editing  This post has been edited by Phil66: Sep 27 2016, 10:09 PM -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Sep 28 2016, 01:56 AM
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Hi Phil, great to know that the car idea worked! It's ok if you share the videos tomorrow! I know that I'm strict but I'm still a good guy!
-------------------- 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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Sep 28 2016, 09:25 PM
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Yes you are Gab but, the eve of deadline curse strikes again. I feel like I don't want to tell you because it just looks so unlikely, I feel like I'm at school and looking for excuses as to why I haven't done my homework
 My mom has been rushed into hospital in an ambulance, there is no visiting while she is being assessed, we are waiting on news at the moment. Hopefully it will be ok but it may mean I am at the hospital tomorrow evening, hopefully they will send her home tomorrow with some kind of treatment but as we don't know anything yet other than her symptoms which you don't really want to know about I don't know where I'll be tomorrow. We have only had phone calls from her husband (my step father) but he is hard of hearing and it's hard to get anything out of him. You know how vague parents can be about their illnesses even though I'm 50 years old FFS!!!! I've tried to practice the A minor solo this evening for an hour but I feel like I've gone back a month, my mind just isn't there, I was hoping it would take my mind off things a bit as I've also had a seriously stressful day at work too. Sorry Gab, this just keeps happening and I look a total waste of space, I feel like a total waste of space as far as the guitar is concerned at the moment. It's one thing after another this year. Sorry mate P.S On a lighter note, I've thought of possible "punishments" for people that don't make the grade second time around. Maybe they should have to learn a lesson from a level that is two down from where they are at, so in my case a level 1 lesson. If people are on level two then a level one lesson as there are no level zero. Just a thought. -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Sep 29 2016, 03:21 PM
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Hi Phil, I'm so sorry to know about your mother mate. I hope that everything get better soon. You have all my positive thoughts for her and your family.
By know I would like to stop the workout until you feel more relaxed and that your find the time to practice and enjoy it. We are not here to suffer the journey, we are here to get better by playing music. So I was thinking that maybe we can start again in 1 month, if you notice that you have time enough to practice. The idea is that you use this time to continue practising, playing, at your own time, and reflect about how you could organise your time to be able to do your diary routines. Also, after this month, I'd like you to tell me how much time per day you think you'll be able to practice so I can structure the assignments with that in mind. In the meantime, you can continue sharing takes, videos, questions and whatever you need but please remind me on October 29th that we have to talk again about how to continue. -------------------- 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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Sep 29 2016, 09:29 PM
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Hello Gab,
No need to read all of this in one go in order to get a reply to me but I would like your thoughts please. Take your time to digest it. Just got back from the hospital. She is on an intravenous drip and oxygen and medication. She said that yesterday they told her it was pneumonia but today they aren't sure  The horrible symptoms they took her in with aren't related to pneumonia and they need to check that out. Something isn't right mate, I think she is keeping something from me so that I don't worry and doctors won't tell us anything without her consent. We will play it by ear. She has had these strange turns before and they've sent her home after a day or two. Very strange but worrying too.  I fully understand why you have removed me from the workout. It's a shame it's gone from THIS one month ago to where we are now I can answer the time thing right away. I have practically 60 - 90 minutes every single day unless life throws me a curve ball. I don't think my problem is time; it's stress. I work in the motorsport industry manufacturing bespoke components for race teams' engines up to Formula 1 level (www.omegapistons.com) It is very demanding, deadlines are always changing due to things like customers leading championships with one race to go and the engine fails so what they have on order for a month's time is required ASAP or they lose the championship and lots of £$€£$€£$€£$€s. It is very exacting, I personally have to work to +/- .003mm (an average human hair is approximately .060mm thick, so, twenty times bigger than my tolerance). We have to get things perfect because the end user, the driver/rider is travelling at speeds of up to 200mph+ so we can't risk failure due to negligence. It's hard these days getting money in and you have to try to stay afloat, you have your workers' livelihoods in your hands. On top of this most nights I only get around three hours sleep. All of these things, sometimes mount up and it's hard to get into the mindset to practise but I do still practise every single day unless something physically prevents me. It's just that some days it is not productive because I'm too stressed out to focus. As I've always said, it's not through lack of trying that I don't progress quickly. My short term (which appear to be becoming long term) goals are the same as HERE. Maybe having deadlines with a difficult lesson like the Laszlo one, (which I rate at a 4 - 4+) causes stress on top of my work stress. I know a little bit of stress is good for getting the buzz going but too much can be counterproductive. Maybe I need longer deadlines and/or smaller increments in difficulty. The Thin Lizzy song is harder than I thought but I was listening to it today in the car and some of the things I've been struggling with, like the four Fs in a row in the lead fill, I can hardly hear so is it actually worth learning them? Maybe after the completion of an assignment I could have a few days to find a song I like and have a try at it first to see if I think I can achieve it. You could suggest a lesson from GMC and I could also try that out in this trial period between assignments. The only thing with that is that it could keep me in my comfort zone too much. I'm on holiday from 8th-16th October too so maybe this is a good time to take stock of my lessons. I'm pretty upset about failing this current workout style Gab, I was on the crest of a wave a month ago, now I'm at the bottom of the ocean. Sorry for the long reply mate, hopefully it will help you with other students that may have the same issues. Thank you for everything buddy. Phil UPDATE October 1st: Mom's still in hospital so that is taking nearly all of my spare time at the moment. I've posted this to show you how poor my result with the A minor lesson is. I can't get it any better than this. Maybe it was a step too far too soon. I really need to concentrate on my bent note vibrato. As I said, I give this lesson a difficulty of at least 4 but maybe it's just me. https://soundcloud.com/gmcphil-1/a-minor-laszlo I'll post an improv tomorrow. Phil UPDATE October 2nd: Improv as promised. Only had a few minutes to do this one. https://soundcloud.com/gmcphil-1/a-minor-improv This post has been edited by Phil66: Oct 15 2016, 09:35 AM -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Oct 2 2016, 10:38 PM
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Hi mate, I'm sorry about your mother. I hope that things get better. Life is hard sometimes.
About the workout, I understand what you mean. You need to know that it's always better to work on less but deeper so every time you find a lesson that is hard, I prefer that you work on only 1 lick or a short part and master it instead of trying to get the whole thing and failing. LESS is MORE. That should be the rule number one of this workout. Besides this, remember that my first version of the assignment was to play the intro without the trick palm muted guitar of the song's riff. So you are always on time to just learn the chords and play them. It wouldn't be a fail. In the future, I can suggest the songs in order to stay on the safe level. I propose you to go on vacation, and talk again when you are back in order to plan a new beginning. What do you say? -------------------- 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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Oct 3 2016, 02:25 PM
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Thanks Gab,
OK I'll do that but I really don't want to be wasting your time so please tell me if you want to drop me from your mentoring, I will understand. I do try but as I said I'm often so stressed it's sometimes hard to relax enough to play guitar even though I do every single day. Do you agree that solo is above my ability at the moment? What did you make of the improvisation? There's one lick I like in it, the rest is mundane. Cheers Gab. -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Oct 5 2016, 12:08 PM
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Hi Phil, I think that you just need more time to get familiar with the lesson. It's tricky but taking just 1 lick and polishing it is totally at your level. I don't expect that you play it with the intensity of the instructor but that you put your own personality on it. By the way, don't worry about it now.
I honestly think that the improvisation doesn't reflect what you can do. It is clearly based on you feeling stressed about job and the deadline. Let's talk when you are back! -------------------- 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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Oct 5 2016, 07:45 PM
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OK Gab,
Thanks. I've done a creativity workshop thing just for the hell of it. I've lost my mojo a little bit lately and was trying to re-ignite it. Life has got on top of me lately. My job will never change I just need to learn how to relax. Cheers Speak when I return. Phil -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Oct 7 2016, 04:42 PM
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Good journey!
-------------------- 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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Oct 7 2016, 05:13 PM
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Thanks mate
-------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Oct 11 2016, 11:22 PM
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Hello Gab,
Been thinking about my lessons. This is just an idea. I really think deadlines are very good but, I think if the student is trying to reach a new level it's too stressful, especially if they already have a lot of work related stress. Maybe it would be an idea to say to me, "here is your task, post a video when you have spent X hours on this lesson" I wouldn't be dishonest so it could work. I'm just thinking of the borderline thing that was done, I know ,Bleez couldn't handle the pressure and bailed out, I think that's what I'm experiencing. I've had a few beers so please excuse any bad English -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Oct 12 2016, 08:57 PM
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Hi Phil, good point.
I've been experiencing this with some students so I'm interested on knowing more about your idea.... -------------------- 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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Oct 14 2016, 10:46 AM
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Thanks for your understanding Gab.
Maybe the format could stay the same, a GMC lesson, a real song and some improvisation and some theory based on the song. The thing I've found with deadlines is it prevents me from doing other things like Todd's bootcamp, collabs, the Sunday shed fest, etc. Also if something happens in life and the student can't play some days it puts more pressure on them and that can be counterproductive for some people, I guess it works for some too. It worked for me when the lesson wasn't too demanding but the last one was difficult for me and I put myself under so much pressure I actually went backwards. How about the student posts a video for assessment of each part of the lesson when they have spent a total of say three hours on a part. I found some days that I got so into one party of the assignment, maybe the rhythm pay off the song that for that day I neglected the other parts of the assignment, that's down to my lack of self discipline I know but at fifty that's hard to change. This would allow the student to have the flexibility to go with their heart each day. They could post part 1 after three days, part 3 after 5 days, part 2 after 6 days etc, however it happened for them, as some parts progress better than others. For the assessment, the instructor could say, "Take three more hours on this part" or "Yes, that's a pass keep polishing it until the other parts of the assignment are complete". I think to keep it structured the whole assignment should be completed before any new parts are added. Even if one part is nailed to perfection within three days. This would automatically create more focus on the unfinished parts. If it was done the other way and new parts added as parts were completed the student may keep on focusing on the fresh stuff rather than the older bits. I hope this makes sense Gab. Cheers buddy Phil This post has been edited by Phil66: Oct 14 2016, 10:51 AM -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Oct 14 2016, 01:50 PM
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Hi Phil, thanks! I think that the overall idea can be a bit complex and having in mind that deadline is always flexible and that assignments are not build with a lot of stuff, these are some ideas that I get from your idea.
- Dividing the assignment in small goals that build the assignment goal. (This could be done by the instructor, but it could also be done by the student) - Being precise with the level of the lesson chosen for the assignment. (Instructor's responsibility). - Being precise with the amount of material related to the amount of time set by the deadline. (Instructor's responsibility) -------------------- 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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Oct 14 2016, 02:26 PM
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Thanks Gab,
I think I may have made it sound more complex than I intended. Basically the instructor chooses assignments, there isn't a deadline as such just video submissions when the student has completed a specified amount of time on each part. They don't have to be done in any particular order but no new assignment will be given until all parts of the assignment are passed. I'm not sure having a flexible deadline is a good idea because, for me anyway, the student might feel bad having to ask for more than one extension to the deadline, this makes a deadline pointless in this instance The way I meant was to allocate a specific amount of time to be spent on each part of the assignment and the student can then work around life's hurdles without worrying about feeling like they are messing the instructor around asking for deadline extensions etc. This also allows the student to do other things like collabs etc without worrying that they are using up the time as the deadline approaches. So basically, instead of a deadline is a timeline to work to Hope this makes sense, the written word can be hard sometimes. Cheers Phil UPDATE: In summary. 1/You pick the assignment based on where you think my current skill level is at in order to progress in small steps. 2/ You give me a time allocation for each part of the assignment, let's say three hours but whatever you think. 3/ I work in any order I feel like going with on any particular day, and given time that life allows. 4/ When I have totalled three hours (or whatever is decided by you) on any one of the parts I post a video of that particular part for you to assess. You then either pass it out give me more time. 5/ This process continues until ALL parts of the assignment are passed and then a new assignment is given. The reason I think a time allocation is good is that you will know exactly how much or how little I have improved for a precise amount of time spent on a given part. I should still try to do some of each part each day but if I want to do a collab it can give me time to do that without feeling the pressure of a deadline. Hope this makes sense. Cheers Phil
This post has been edited by Phil66: Oct 15 2016, 09:16 AM -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Oct 15 2016, 04:17 AM
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Thanks Phil. I'll be out this weekend because we will be playing in Uruguay. I'll think about this and will be back.
-------------------- 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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Oct 15 2016, 09:34 AM
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Thanks Gab,
Enjoy the gig. You should read the post above again as I've had to edit it due to some errors that may have confused you. I'm doing this on a tablet and sometimes they seem to have a mind of their own and if you don't proof read before posting, it can be embarrassing I also need to find time to get some fitness levels back. I can fit some of this in at weekends walking with my wife or on my cross traning machine if the weather is no good but some time on one or two evenings will be needed. I've let myself get too much out of shape. I've also tried to summarise my thoughts to simplify it all. Here's how I see a possible assignment. Learn the rhythm part of "Rock Song" up to chorus. (3 hours) Learn the solo of "Rock Song" (or part of it if it's long) (3 hours) Learn first part of GMC lesson up to 0:30 (3 hours) As and when you have totalled three hours for any part, you submit a video for assessment, you will either pass that part or be given more time. Submit videos for other parts as and when the three hours are completed. A new full assignment will be given once all are passed This post has been edited by Phil66: Oct 16 2016, 06:14 PM -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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