Hey mate this is your personal mentoring thread write a few lines on your current knowledge (music theory and guitar wise) and your personal goals so we can start focused

thank you

Cosmin

Yeah,cool.

I started playing guitar 4 months ago , nearly from scratch. I played bass guitar a few years earlier, but I had a relative long break and I also played fingerstyle , so picking was new for me. I know some basic patterns ( minor scales and pentatonics), but music theory in general is "unexplored territory" for me .
I did some lessons on diificulty 1 and 2 till now, at the moment im focussing on the lessons "Inside/Outside picking" from Ben Higgins and " Easy AC/DC" from Adrian Figallo.
My music taste: Mainly I am child of the 90s ( 35 years old), AC/DC was my first favourite band ( I guess I was 12-13years old) , later Thrash and Death metal bands became my favs, but I was always open for alternative sounds. Faith no more,Rage against the machine and the whole crossover stuff was great. Later, bands from with this style were called new metal, but who gives a shit? I liked them . Limp Bizkit,Papa roach,Slipknot , System of a down and so on. My favourite band of all time is machine head because I think they combine metal trademarks without sounding "retro". "Burn my eyes" is still one of my favourit records and in my opinion it has a timeless sound.
So , my goals... hm, what can I say?
When I started playing guitar, I thought: " Ok, lets do this AC/DC stuff the first 2 months and after that Metallica is on my list." Well, that "AC/DC stuff" is still on my list (seemed a little bit more tricky than I thought ) but I guess my goal is still to become a thrash metal guitar beast like Kerry King ..... ok , this will stay a dream I guess, since I have not the time to practice 15 hours a day.
I try to practice one hour a day, but often I fell tired after work and I reduce it to half an hour sometimes less.So what is a realistic goal? I guess maybe that I can do lessons of difficulty 5 in a year, but maybe it is too optimistic. Let´s see.

Greetings

Marfol

hey mate! one hour per day will do when we have limited time we learn to use it better out of what I am deducting, my suggestion would be to focus on rhythm and theory - all the bands you have mentioned have VERY strong rhythmic approaches

How does that sound so far?

all the best

Cosmin

Sounds good to me.

Which lesson would you recommend first? Should I do the Easy AC/DC first? Seems to me a good foundation for rythm focussed guitar playing ...

Good morning man - yes, I do believe it would be a fine choice, so let's go with it let me know what sort of troubles you might have with this one, k?

Yeah, I think I can do this one till end of the week and post a REC take. Little trouble with grabbing the chords clean, but I think practice will do this.

Looking forward to your take my friend don't shy away from asking things on the way

Yeah, I do, thank you.

So, when I am doing my daily 1 hour "practice routine" , I start with warming up 5 minutes, after that I play scales and technical things for about 15 minutes. Than I play some songs/lessons , which I already mastered for 15 - 20 minutes and the rest of the time I practice new lessons (1-2 maximum). Does this make sense or would you cut time from any section and expand it to another?
I am thinking about doing a "guitar day" once every 2 weeks (since my normal "working rythm" is 10 days work - 4 days leisure time) but I really don´t know how to structure the time ( 8 - 10 hours) : Do you have ideas for this?

Hey mate, I think the hourly program is good so far, but you should stick to only new lesson each day, until you nail it. Focusing on smaller tasks will get them done

Now, I'd say t'would be better to play 3-4 hrs each day in those 4 free ones, rather than playing 10 hrs in one day the secret lies in being constant, not in punishing yourself away in one day and not playing for 10 days afterwards.

in 3 hrs of practice a day, you can involve ear training and rhythmic training - I will be presenting a very cool exercise this evening at the v-chat if you wish to attend (8PM London time) and phrasing if you'd like.

No what I'd suggest, is me making up a list of rhythm oriented lessons which you can tackle one by one how does that sound - will you be up for mastering 3-4 of them a month? Or is it too much?

let me know

Cosmin

Yeah, I think that sounds better. 3-4 lessons is absolutely possible. Looking forward to the list :=)
Thanks for your help and see you tonight

Greetz Carsten

I have a question about the AC DC lesson ... when i am striking the D chord I used to grab with index and ring finger the second frets on G and high E string , but in the video Adrian uses his index to cover both frets ... what is the technical "better" play? Or is it matter of personal taste? Greetz

Hey man, good morning as I see it, you have to pick the one version which works for you it's your hands and you should feel what is easier and in the same time provides the desired result let me know how it goes, k?

Cosmin

Hi, short update: I am not happy with my "actual version" of the AC/DC lesson, so I keep practicing it this week... maybe I can upload a decent take this weekend. Greetz Marfol

Hey man! No problemmo, I'd rather have you go slower than rush things and not get the best of results each in his own time and speed if there's anything, I am here!

Cosmin

Hey. man .... my job owned me lately... so practicetime suffered a little bit, but soon I am going to finish the ACDC lesson... biggest problem for me are the bends in this lesson or better the correct "pitch" (don´t know if this is the right english term for it, I mean to "hit" the right note)....

I know what you mean mate no problemmo, take your time about the bends, yes, getting them in pitch is very important once you'll get there you can work on becoming expressive with your bends. Is there anything else I can assist you with?

Can't wait to see the vid

Cosmin

Taaaa - daah! Tommorow is REC day! Although I don´t think it is perfect but I need some feedback on the lesson.

P.S. Nice cut !

Awesome man! I'll be looking forward to that and thanks for the encouraging of the new look

Sorry, need one more day, weren´t able to record just one decent take... just garbage... do you have any hints for recording? When I am practicing I definitly play the lesson and it sounds good, as soon as I have to do all this settings with recording and stuff (software,camera etc.) my finger seem to become stiff... if I don´t record a decent take tommorrow I will upload one to this thread.

Good evening man it's the pressure of knowing somebody will take a look over your materials I know how it feels. Relax and record A TON! The more you record, the better you'll become at this send the take to me in any way you want. We will discuss without any fear of anything. I will not punish you, only help you get better

Thank you,man. It can be frustrating sometimes. I will post it here soon.

Awesomeness let's take a look

Good evening! So, here is a version that you can listen to without running away screaming

http://youtu.be/8azYgu-lI5Y

HEy Cosmin, I did a slightly better version (in my opinion ) of the lesson today. Your advice recording a TON was very good, I renderd and recorded even very bad takes and listenend to them... so I hope I improve on this. Unfortunately , I did one good take but I the video didn´t record....
So here is the version: http://youtu.be/eHZfmZLPCIA

Hey man I think your timing is pretty tight and if you'd focus a bit on the following things:

- the tone is too fuzzy - what sort of amp/ preamp are you using to record and what settings?
- once we'll sort out the tone, your tightness will greatly improve

..we'll transform this into something better!

Cosmin

Good morning! Yeah, the tone is problem, I have to admit. This is still undiscovered territory for me, to be honest. I usually plug in and tune some buttons untill I got a decent distortion and thats it for me .
Actually, I use Amplitube 3 and Reaper for my recordings. In amplitube 3, I use the british tube lead for distorted sounds.
I have gain 9, Bass 2 , Middle 10 , Treble 3,Presence 4 and Spring Reverb 0.
Anyway, I will have to change strings soon, I guess.
I am not totally sure about the sound of my guitar, do you think it needs some professional adjustment? I am not sure if it is 100% "bundrein" (couldn´t find the english word, it means that the frets sound clean in a whole together)

Hey mate! There's a lot of stuff you can achieve by using guitar tone software such as amplitube - though I am a tube guy and I like the stuff I can put my hands on and that does not have too many buttons. Out of what I have heard your tone lacks a bit of consistency, it is not necessarily because of the guitar but, I think that more tweaking from the software can do it could you try a more rectifier oriented amp in there, for instance?

Cosmin

Yeah, always thought about using my Amp for recording, but I am not really into this stuff, I have to admit. Is a USB interface enough or do I have to buy additional hardware for it?
I am not totally sure what you mean with more rectifier oreinted amp, do you mean less distortion?

Carsten

Hey Carsten, by rectifier, I mean some amp model in that software, which resembles a Mesa Boogie and a bit of gainwouldn't hurt either the POD Farm and the POD Guitar Port are very good and sound awesome!

Hey man,

I found that POD Guitar port on the internet and it sounds good... actually I have an USB Interface by Behringer, but it kind of sucks... I already thought some time about investing into some decent hardware like this one Line6 pod UX2.
I am using a demoversion of Amplitube 3 with just 3 Amps at choice, so I give the others a try and make some experiments for now to get a decent sound.

So, I uploaded two more versions. The problem is that from the 3 amps there is only the british tube with an gain potie, so no distortion on the others.
There are also some pedals which I tried: Chorus,Overdrive,Equalizer etc. but the sound remains not the best.

http://youtu.be/E0Lb0FlIY6c Take 1

http://youtu.be/oXVVGKu6ZsY Take 2 with alternate ending (which I like better)

hey mate, I can't see the links as they are on private

Sorry for that, I fixed it...

Hey man! The second is better indeed, if you could add a bit more gain and lower the bass a little it would get close to a good tone. Also, the flow of the piece should be a bit taken care of as, you are cutting out some chords earlier than you should in order for them to sound tight over the track.

Let's try and tweak the tone in that direction

Cosmin

Yeah, the Gain is already at 10 The bass is at 2 so I can lower it still... should I use a overdrive stomp with it to get more gain?

Hey man, I decided to put one take in the REC Forum... don´t exactly know what I changed but I think it is soundwise a drastic improvement... but listen yourself Easy AC/DC

hey man! No biggie, take your time and RELAX record 100 times if you need to there are times when I record 60-70 times over and over until i get things to sound EXACTLY as I want them to

Cosmin

Hey Cosmin, you quoted an older post (last post from page one) Anyway , thank you for the 9 in the REC .

You're welcome mate! Let's see : what would you like to work on now? Some more rhythm, I'd say, to tighten up your grooving skills

Cosmin

Yeah.sounds good. I try to improve just a little more on the AC/DC one (I think there is still little room ), but to be honest: I am getting tired of it!
So lets work on my groove... do you have a lesson for me ?

Of course, man! But first, because it's important to like what you are learning, I would like to know if you would like taking things in a sphere which is a bit further from rock/ metal I mean funk maaaan!

let me know and we shall proceed

Cosmin

Sure, Cosmin. I am openminded in music and I always liked funk rock bands like Faith no more and RHCP . I like also James Brown when it comes to party making

Mate this could be the next step in your evolution be careful about the phrasing, timing and the details what do you think? It will most likely improve your rhythmic sense and articulation!

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Groovy-Duo/

Cosmin

Sounds great! Awesome lesson, will start to groove soon

Hey Cos,

this lesson is fun, I learned the parts so far, now I just have to play them in the correct order Soon I will upload a version of it.
I am also going to change my strings, bought some tools today to adjust my guitar. So far I had always tuning issues on my REC Takes and I was wondering because I always tuned my guitar before recording something. After watching Ivans tuning lesson I found out that on the 12th string the higher strings are always out of tune a little, so I will fix that later today.

great to hear man!

Honestly speaking, I have been placed in the situation where because of the cold, while I was onstage, I had to bend almost every note so that it would sound in tune. New strings will do the trick and out of what I've noticed, you have an SG which seems to be a pretty solid axe, am I right?



Cosmin

Yeah, an Epiphone SG. Glad to have it, it was part of a beginner bundle. When I changed the strings I noticed that I had them already more than 2 months ;( ... I am still on bassplayer mode I guess

no problem man, we live we learn, as the saying goes! let's see the new lesson and start workin on it! If you have more time on your hands I would like to see your lead skills in action as well

Cosmin

Hey man, cool, I would like to do some solo work

I recorded 2 takes of the groove lesson:

GroovyDuo6

Groovyduo7

The first five takes ... ehem, maybe I upload them sometime in a best of video "Marfols Epic guitar fails" or something