Thanks! As I wrote in there, money is a bit of an issue at the moment, but I'll definitely keep it in mind. Untill I get some more money, I'm just trying to get whatever materials I have around the house or that I can get very cheaply.

I had decided to sell one of my old guitars which is at my parents house, but I just got brilliant idea. Keep it, put some heavy gauge strings on and...DROP C tuning!

Much better idea than to sell it, right?

Actually it's not so much a drop C, it's an open Cminadd9 tuning that I like: C G C Eb C D. It's really cool. You have the drop C feel at the bottom strings, but can easily get some really cool chords on the top strings, cause you get some really nice intervals.

This sounds like a great idea man! But tell me, is there any band or artist that is currently using that tuning? I would be very curious to hear something played in that sort of tuning, so if there aren't any, I am waiting for a first recorded idea from you, of course

Not that I know of. I just stumbled upon it one day while playing around with tunings. I'll give you a little demo some time. I've got my mom visiting me for a few days, and she's...a "all over the place, have to do something all the time"-kinda person, so I'm being ordered around constantly.

Trust me man, I know how that feels. I live in the same building with my whole family and even if we have separate apartments, the only way I could keep my mom out of my flat would be to take her key away Or change the lock Whenever you feel ready

I'm not sure I could do that! Not with my mother! She'd come barging in all the time. I appreciate her, her being here, her mother-ness and all that she does and wants to do for me, but sometimes she's just being silly if you ask me. I've got a dishwasher, but still she insists that we just do the dishes in hand, "cause it's just as easy" etc. I don't mind, but then afterwards she wants to watch a movie or something tonight with me, while I really want to go to the attic to practice guitar

I spend time with my mom and dad pretty much every day. It's cool, but up to a point. They started interfering a bit too much in my daily life and I am starting to like that less and less. Was it at least a good movie?

Escape from Alcatraz. My mom liked it, so that is good, but I prefer other kinds of movies. On my phone, hence the short reply.

I'm starting to lose my mind with this lesson: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guit...evels-beginner/

Whenever I play it, I end up playing on the wrong beat cause the drums put me off. Any advice on that?

Hey mate Sure thing. Play it against the metronome and understand the length of the notes and the way in which they clash with the beat. Learn to hum the piece against the backing and against the metronome - I know you are looking at tabs - FORGET tabs. They only take your attention away from what you really should be focusing it on - the voice of your guitar and keeping it aligned with the context in which you perform

It's all a matter of discipline

I'll try it. I end up playing on the snare, which is off beat.

How are you progressing with this man?

No progress. My mom is still here, but she's leaving in 30 minutes. Then it's guitar time!

Ah, I see Well, let me know when you have practiced and have results

I promised you a small demo of the tuning I was speaking about, so I just made a very quick spoken video with a bit of playing as well:

Wow Thanks very much man! This is surely amazing and I would like to use it in a demo If you don't mind of course. I will have a few PRS guitars on my hands each month, to review from next week onwards and I need to think of creative ways of coming up with vids. This would surely make up something great!

Absolutely!

It's great having this guitar on my hands now, it means I can have my 7 string in regular tuning or drop A, and my strat in Eb, my Wolf (the one in the video) in Cminadd9 (or just drop C).

That sounds perfect - your arsenal is ready! Now go gittem and thanks again for making the review! Would it be ok if i share it with the rest of the guys? It's very well done and I think everyone should benefit!

Of course, share it! It was done very quickly though, so it could be better, but it's what it is and it is okay

Great It is very well done mate, I think it can be really inspiring for people to start exploring things!

You know those times when you think: "Hey, I'm gonna start saving up for a new guitar!" or somthing similar...

...and the moment you think that in comes an extra electricity bill at £250, eating up all your savings.

Jesus man... 250 pounds? Do you own a huge generator or so? Our home has three apartments and together we pay about 170 pounds/month.

It's £250 extra for the whole year, so it's not too bad, just means I paid about £20 too little every month for the last year. I thought I had everything balanced, but apparently not.

Turns out it's only 150 extra, so a tenner and a bit each month would have made it.

I always hate it when some extra bills make surface when you least expect them... grrrr!! Well, have you managed to move headquarters yet?

Unfortunately I managed to make things even worse with my laptop and I've been trying to fix it for 2 days now without any luck. I get errors when trying to update Windows.

Ah mate, sorry to hear that.. Don't you have a friend who can fix it for ya? I have friends in a lot of fields and when something goes wrong with something, the answer is usually just a phone call away. Sometimes, trying to fix things on your own is way too time consuming and instead of focusing on what YOU should be doing, you're wasting precious time.

I don't know about you, but me, I am not at all an adept of the theory in which you have to know how to do everything. It's important to understand how things work but if you would take the time to do everything yourself, you would end up more cluttered than the seeds in a pomegranate

Hope the problem will be solved soon

I'm usually capable of fixing computer issues myself, but this time around it has just been more troublesome than I have ever tried. But I should be done with things and ready to rock tonight.

So How'd it go with the laptop matey?

As of today it's all fixed and everything is installed. I would have made it yesterday, but a friend asked if I wanted to drink some beers and just chill and listen to some music, so a handful of beers and a bottle of rum shared later I wasn't really up to installing anything, but it was a nice evening/night though. I love drinking when it's not about drinking, but just about having a good time and talking about anything that comes to mind.

I really want to get more into playing more djent and progressive stuff again (I know, I know, I'm all over the place and don't stick to one thing!), so I was looking for videos to making Superior Drummer 2 sound more djenty. While doing that I came by Corelia and this song:



Do you know them? I love the transition to the chorus around 2:30!

Oh my god, shoot me now, the sound card issues are back...

This is my favorite recording from their album I am a fan!

Hehe! Mate, it's not a bad idea to explore more genres, but try to get a composition finished in each style if you feel like it - whatever you do, aim for a tangible result I want to learn that - why? Because I want to use it in a song. Let's write the song with the certain something I am learning, or place the certain something in an already existing piece. You got the idea, right?

Hey Cosmin,

I finished the Gary Moore collab take last night, let me know what you think and if there's still anything to work on:

Hey Ben I wouldn't change a thing mate - I mean you are playing correctly and with a nice touch - if that's what you felt in respect of note choice, that must be it

Hey Cosmin!

As I can't comment in the REC section, I just wanted to say that I actually haven't posted it before. I just decided to record it tonight. I was working on it for 15 minutes the other day and half an hour today or so and decided to post it

Hehe!

But you did a very good job man

What do you think if I would raise the bar a bit and suggest this one for ya?

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guit...ssical-etude-1/

It doesn't have to be ready tomorrow

It's not a bad idea at all. Though I know I will struggle with even the first note, as it comes in after the first 16th note, but hey...that's something I need to work on, so why not?

That's my boy Now, I don't want you to play it THAT fast initially, but respect the note lengths and interpretation at a slower tempo Deal?

No way I could play it at 140 bpm anyway at the moment. I'll play it slow to begin with! It's Friday and I'm not doing anything for the rest of the day, so there's time to practice!

I'm really struggling with remembering the "chromatic" passage. Any tips to remembering difficult passages?

Alright, here's after 1½ hours of working on it:



And I now remember the piece!

I think we have brought up this topic at some point, but maybe in another form - When I have to learn something, I listen to that piece for a long time. I try and see if i can sing it by heart - I can sing almost ALL of Steve Vai's solos It will be in your head and automatically in your fingers as well



Hehe! Good work mate! It looks like you have a great picking exercise - it sounds very correct so far, which is great!

Around 0:30, I think you missed a note? Other than that, just keep pushing the speed until you reach the top, slowly

I'm nearing 120, but struggling, and I bet the last 20 bpm will be a rough ride!

It's always like that man! But keep pushing! I know you can do it No rush though, ok?

Hey Cosmin,

Did you see my thread about my "new 8 string" guitar? Or rather, I've taken the lowest 7 strings from an 8 string set of strings and put them on my 7 string and it's working surprisingly well.

Howdy man, not yet - I will check it out tho I have been busy these days with a martial arts seminar that started Friday and ended today Banzaiii! How is your practicing coming along, eh?

Busy, busy Cosmin! How was the seminar then?

Since I've now put "wrong" strings on my 7 string for the Neoclassical Etude lesson, I need to practice it on my stratocaster, which has a slightely different feel, so there's been a small set back in that, but I'm getting there.

And cool, check it out!

I sure will - I have the thread opened Now, the seminar was a blast, but VERY tiring.. I can barely feel my soles and my legs as well.. That Japanese master with whom we have been training, is one hell of a fighter..

Then you know you've worked well!

I played the first football game of the season yesterday. First time I played as a goalkeeper for 11 years, but I made some good saves and we won 2-1. Hopefully we can carry that form to the next match.

Hehe! yes it was mate You know, yesterday, in the end when we had to demonstrate what we have learned, our dojo did the best.

I didn't know you are into sports! That's very nice I don't like soccer and watching soccer and all the crazy thing about the team supporters and all, BUT I enjoyed playing it when I was a teenager It was all about playing for me.. But, I realized I am more of an individualistic guy - being all into martial arts and that sort.

I like team play, but usually there's a lot of egos you need to hold together in a team am I right?