Hi Cosmin,

Great idea. I will start today and work my way up along the structure you have written down. I'll keep you up to date with my progress. Let's evaluate in a week's time with a take 3?

Jeroen

Practice log - The Voice of your Guitar.

Here's a little practice log of my first practice day.

Day 1

Metronome 50 bpm - Played the licks
At first I was struggling to stay in the beat. But after 10 minutes or so it started to work better when I focussed on which notes should land on the first beat

Backing track 50 - Played the whole piece several times
At first I was totally lost where phrases start and end because of the slow tempo. Resulting in playing totally out of the beat. After a while I started to catch the flow of the song. I noticed that I especially play notes at the end of a phrase to short, which makes me rush in to the next phrase ahead of the beat.

Analysis of the first lick and chord progression
Notes of the 1st lick: C# E C# // D# C# B G# // B B C#

Over the chord progression:
Aadd9 - Notes: A, E, A, C#, B, E. (TAB: 577600)
Badd11 - Notes: B, F#, B, D#, B, E. (TAB 799800)
G#m - Notes: G#, D#, G#, B, D#, G# (TAB 466444)
Aadd9 - Notes: A, E, A, C#, B, E. (TAB: 577600)

Total time spent: 2 hours

Jeroen

Hey mate! Glad to see you are working on this so diligently! One of the best ways to make sure that you know each little thing in a track, as well as note and rest lengths, is to learn it by heart in your head and become able to hum along with the track. Once you can do that, it's only a matter of time to learn it on the guitar, but all the note lengths will be in your head already Have you tried that?

Hi Cosmin,

Today I worked on my string bending as Gabriel advised me to do. Here's the result:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...p=0&#entry0

Jeroen

Howdy Jeroen - I commented and graded in the REC zone Keep up the good work mate!

Thanks for the 8 !!

Looks like this will be the first REC take I'm going to pass. But I will still work on this one, because I know I can improve it.

Hi Cosmin

I have practiced the beginner rock rhythm lesson over the original recording over and over again. I feel that my right hand is a lot more relaxed and will have another recording of it up this weekend for you

Hi Cosmin,

Here's my practice log of day 2 and 3.

Day 2
Beginners corner 21: String bending
Worked on my string bending technique. I noticed that my bends were around the right pitch when I started this lesson. Not exactly spot on, but a little bit off. By practicing this over and over I am able to reach the exact pitch.

Day 3
Beginners Corner 21: string bending
Adding vibrato to the bends. It's quite hard to get nice even vibrato's while bending! Although I use a lot of bends and vibrato in my playing I never really paid attention to my vibrato while bending. This can definitely be improved.

The Voice of my guitar
Played over backing track 50 (the slowest). Works out pretty well now.

Dave Murray style - Ben Higgins
Started with a more "long term" lesson, this one will take me a few weeks. It's good to work towards a goal and this is a lesson I want to nail, no matter what!

You should always strive for better, man 8 is ok, but you can do A LOT better!



That sounds great man I know that the feeling of certainty is always there when you have to double something that is already recorded, especially when it is recorded well, so make sure that you will keep this feeling of certainty when you have to record over the bare backing yourself, ok?



Thanks for keeping me updated man As I probably stated before - bending and vibrato are generally improved over time, so keep at it and you'll most likely get there

About Ben's lesson - first things first, make sure you can play everything clean, tight, articulated and in good timing at the slowest tempo Once you have it perfectly done at that tempo, all you have to do is raise it

Ans 1: 10 Years
Ans 2: intermedium
Ans 3: Not much
Ans 4: 1 hour
Ans 5: Hammer On
Ans 6: I would like to improve Speed, combination of the diferent scales.
Ans 7: I used to play at the church, just playing rhythm Guitar
Ans 8: Electric Guitar and acustic/electric guitar, Amp.
Ans 9: Jimmy Hendrix

Thanks, Mr Cosmin

AND I WILL!!

Hey mate Based on your answers, I think that the following schedule covering one week should be a great start:

This week's lesson: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beginn...r-22-Hammer-On/

- understand the theoretical concepts - know what and why you are playing!
- learn the lesson structure - things will flow naturally once you know what's next when playing any piece
- learn each part and reproduce it slowly with the metronome - you will learn the lesson and become accustomed with the timing and feel
- put all the parts together and practice them against the slowest available backing track - respecting timing and phrasing will provide essential advantages when you will face the details of any piece!
- work your way up tempo with the available backing tracks

Day 1-5:

Based on the fact that you have one hour a day, I think that the lesson above is pretty much a sufficient load to handle this week, so please follow the steps indicated in order to understand, learn and perform it as best as possible.

Day 6-7 - Revision (you practice the lesson, assuming you that you already know the structure and you can play it) - focus on timing, definition, clean playing, articulations and details! Recording - it's not mandatory but it can help A TON - and writing conclusions so that we may draw a line and see what have you learned out of this lesson

How does it sound to you mate?

Cosmin

Hi Cosmin

Here is another take of the basic rock rhythm lesson. Hopefully its better that my first take. I noticed that during the solo I rushed a bit that I am usually don't do.I will keep practicing everything you give me until I get everything sorted out

Hey mate Can you please record against the original take of this lesson and post a video? You seem to miss some notes and not really reproduce the phrases in their entirety, as they are being played in the original recording. Please try my suggestion, so that you may be able to compare the takes.

Day 4/5/6

Practiced "The voice of my guitar" with the middle speed backing track.
Practiced String Bending with vibrato.
Started learning the notes of Dave Murray style lesson.
I created a GMC collab Gary Moore tribute solo http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=51553

I am feeling happy because of the effort I'm putting in it

Glad to hear you are motivated and pushing forward, man Things are not as difficult as they may seem, when you are focused and you practice smart I am very curious to see what happens next, so keep me updated and send me some recordings if you have some. You know, a good way to dissect things even better, would be to record small portions of the pieces in order to make sure you have them all done well and then put them together. Have you tried that?

Hi Cosmin, I'll record some pieces tonight. Get back to you soon. Thanks for your support

Looking forward to it mate Let's see how it goes with this one and then we can look at the other lessons as well

Hi Cosmin, I recorded the voice of my guitar phrase by phrase to figure out if I'm playing every phrase correct. It turned out that I was still rushing some pieces. So I'll redo it tonight and see if I can improve..

I also recorded take 2 of beginners corner string bending. See REC takes.

Here's my third take on The Voice of my Guitar. I didn't submit this one as REC take yet. I want you to look at it first.

Jeroen

Hi Cosmin

A possible stupid question How do I record against the original if I can not download the original to place into my DAW.

To be honest Cosmin I am still struggling to get to grips with timing when playing through the lesson as a whole. I am not always sure whether am to fast or to slow.

I take the following steps when learning a lesson

Learn each part of the lesson and play it over the metronome.
Listen to the original lesson multiple times to hear what is happening.
Humming over the lesson as you suggested.

I am practicing different sub divisions everyday over the metronome for 30 minutes as well.

When it comes to playing over the backing track all the parts don't fall into place. I unable to really get a feel for everything.

Even with songs I know all the lyrics to and have probably listened to hundreds of times I can not sing along on time to it.

I am never going to give up but it does feel like its something that I will never really get the hang off.

Hi liveOASISforever,

You can go to the lesson and play the main part of the lesson while you record it with Audacity or some other recording program.. Works pretty good

Hi Jeroen

Thanks mate. A thought a needed to get the main part of the lesson into my DAW

Your sense of rhythm needs more time, I guess Don't worry, but be conscious and focused and for instance if you don't have the guitar with you and you listen to that backing - can you hum the exact guitar line or riff with the EXACT timing? The voice is far easier to control than the guitar and I am not talking about singing like David Coverdale here, but about being able to use your voice as a means to check if you can reproduce a line and respect timing and note lengths. Please try this as it will help tremendously!




Thanks to Jeroen for sorting the answer out Just push the record button on your cam and do a take like this - we'll see what you get and discuss over it - deal?



Hey man! This is MUCH MUCH better! You are indeed still rushing a few phrases especially in the second part, but it's nothing that can't be fixed, so please practice against the original recording a few more times and then I think we can see if it's ok to head on to the REC zone You have made a lot of progress man!

What I meant is that Audacity or another recording program can digitally record what you hear through your speakers in WAV format, I didn't mean recording with a camera.

Thanks for your feedback, here is an analysis recording. You play on the left and I play on the right:

https://soundcloud.com/jeroen-van-der-put/the-voice-of-my-guitar-take3

I noticed that
0:55 phrase can be played better
1:18 and 1:27 small timing mistakes

You forgot to put the link in there, but that's actually a really clever way of doing it. I never thought about that!

Hehe! Everyone learns something in this thread, eh Ben? Very good approach Jeroen! I also noticed a bit of a rush around 01:58 but aside the ones you spotted, it sounds pretty solid man Now, can you do it against the backing and keep the same great playing?

I'm going to try. Let's see how it works out. I'll play over the backing, get the camera rolling and make a REC take of it. Let's Rock!!

Let's rock, then!

Hi Cosmin

Here is a recording against the original



I think I struggle to get the 16th note palm muting part tight.Playing at 90BPM I am a lot more comfortable at it but 100BPM it just becomes more messy. I will keep practicing this with the metronome

Hi Cosmin, the voice of my guitar is in REC takes. Time to look forward to new lessons, although I will keep the voice of my guitar in my practice routine!!

Hey mate It's indeed better, but please focus on not moving your right hand around so much when picking single notes - see 0:22 where you tend to lose timing and in the following phrases it's the same You need to move less and keep a vertical up down movement of the wrist. Right now you tend to wiggle the fingers that hold the pick and that gets you losing a lot of time!



Let's see what you got

7 ?? The first time I recorded it, it was also a 7. I feel like I definitely improved it.. better timing, better bending. I know you want me to play it (almost) perfect. I've been practicing really hard. Many hours in this one. It's kind of frustrating, because I want to play it perfect, but I just can't seem to get it done!

I have been playing for quite some time. I first picked up a guitar when I was 16, I played it a few years and stopped. I started again 18 years later (oct 2009) and decided to get serious about the guitar . Now I wish I never stopped playing when I was young.

I always thought that my string bending and vibrato was good. But I found out that it needs serious practice.

I know what to do. I'll first start working on my vibrato technique with Ben's vibrato Odyssey and see what it brings me. In the mean time I'm also working on Winter Tune and on Dave Murray style.

Besides that I will keep on practicing on exact string bending.

Don't now if there's gonna be a new take on The Voice of my Guitar, I think I'll let it rest for now and get back to it when my vibrato and string bending is improved..

Hey mate Don't be frustrated You are doing this to yourself by trying to improve a technique and set of senses which evolve in months or even years of practice in just a few days. None of us is Superman and we should accept this.

I am being honest to you, because i want to help you, so even if you don't like it I will be like that

If you want to improve a certain technique, for instance the vibrato and bending - focus indeed on Ben's series, but don't trey to perfect the lessons overnight. Enjoy the process, learn, assimilate, play and accept it takes time

Deal?

Cosmin

Hi Cosmin, you are right. I need to enjoy the process of learning. I somehow feel like I have to catch up for all the lost time of the past years. But that doesn't help me, so I'll get myself together and keep on learning in a positive way.

Thanks Cosmin

Catching up is good, but if you try to run when you can only walk slowly, you will trip and hurt yourself. This is a matter that everyone is struggling with. Now, start with Ben's Vibrato series! They will offer great insight that you will later use on the Voice or other articulation based lessons

Thanks for your feedback Cosmin. I am working on the advice you gave me and will have another video up soon with my progress mate

Cheers

That sounds very good mate!

I'll be here to assist when the time comes

Hi Cosmin

Here is another recording against the original. I am trying to reduce the movement in the picking hand. I feel that I have reduced movement in comparison to my last take but I still need to get it tighter.

The section with the chords after the 16th note rhythm I go off time. I find it hard to hear the track over my guitar but I need my guitar to be loud enough to be picked up with my iPhone camera.

It seems that this lesson is slow progress for me but hopefully once I get it down future lessons won't be so bad.

I have being focusing my practice on a lot of different things recently. The following is what I have being practicing

1)I know the shapes of the Am pentatonic but I am trying to be able to move between the shapes and improvise instead of feeling stuck in 1 or 2 shapes.
2)Learning all the notes on the fretboard which is going well.
3)Bending to pitch.Being working a lot on this recently and feel my fingers are a lot stronger.I still find it hard to bend to pitch fast and precise but with slower bends I am more accurate.I know I just need to work on the ear training and muscle memory in the fingers.
4)Learning more chords and how the chords are built up and adding this in with learning the notes of the fretboard.
5)Working with the metronome and playing different sub divisions over it at different bpms and trying to keep the movement of my picking hand short and precise.
6)Lessons that I have learned in the passed that I am trying to polish up and hopefully be able to enter the REC zone for the first time.

Hey mate I listened to your take and aside that part which gives you trouble indeed - everything else sounds MUCH MUCH better! Good going! Now - in order to get the rest in shape, focus on listening to the original recording and counting over it - on which beat is every chord falling? Once you understand things it will be easier to perform - in respect to this - I know that one of the first suggestions I wrote in your practice schedule, was the one regarding understanding the lesson that you are playing. This idea goes for EVERY aspect - timing included

If you feel uncertain about something - count over the original recording to see where each chord/note falls into place.

Regarding the rest - everything sounds great, but please make sure you aren't trying to cram up too much in a short time interval I would be happy to see more recordings from you, of the lessons you are planning to take into the REC zone.

Thanks for your feedback Cosmin it put a big smile on my face.All advice is taking on board and I will be putting it into action
The lesson that I feel most confident with just now is Darius's Alternate Picking Workout 2.There is a couple of things that I am working on it at the moment one being trills.It is the first time I have came across them and I am just practicing them with the metronome at a slower bpm to get them sounding even and precise. hopefully I should have it up soon once I sort out the parts I need to work on

That sounds excellent, mate Glad to see and hear that we are making progress and I am waiting to see the video or any other questions you might have on the way

Hi Cosmin,

I'm currently enjoying my new PRS. What a nice guitar I love the sound of the EMG's (because I'm a heavy metal dude) and the Floyd Rose is fulfulling it's promise.

I'm practicing a variety of lessons

String bending
Ben's Vibrato Odyssey
Dave Murray style
Winter Tune

And I'm recording a new instrumental song which I will release on my youtube channel very soon.

Hey Jeroen, sounds like fun indeed Just make sure you practice them well and focused so that you won't end up burned out and with far less results than expected because of spreading yourself too thin If you already have vids, you can post them here when you want Keep rocking, mate!

Here's my first tryout of the rhytm guitar of Winter Tune:

Hey man!

Very clean and articulated playing! You tend to rush a bit against the groove, in moments such as 0:32-0:33, but otherwise I have nothing to observe, on the bad side, of course Good going - let's see the rest now

Hi Cosmin,

I'm now working on the first part of the solo.

-I need to play it a bit cleaner or lower the gain.
-Add vibrato on certain notes
-There's a mistake with the hammer ons/pull offs at around 1:08

Hey mate Aside from the stuff you have noticed - which is a very good way to improve: record and then listen You can usually say what you don't like immediately. I would also point the timing issue - there are a few phrases which are particularly rushed, even though out of what I can figure out, you have recorded over the original recording.

Please focus on the phrases around 0:39 and 0:44 for instance and try to move your picking hand and left hand less - you will gain more accuracy for certain!

to be honest, I did not record over the original take. Still work in progress this. Especially the final piece with the bend notes + vibrato are really challenging for me..

Ah, my bad - I had the impression you have recorded over it - please do It's a very good method of finding out if you are in tune or not, if you nailed every form right, or not or if your bends are accurate and so on I am curious about the outcome of the first try, so let me know how it goes, ok?

I started out as a classically trained pianist at the age of 9. My parents said you are going to play music and we had a piano in the house sooooo that`s where it all began. I had to do the old black tie on stage alone on the grand piano in a huge auditorium full of people. But no pressure right. hahaha oh man I used to feel like i`d pass out I was so uncomfortable. But yeah playing live in a band is way easier than the solo performance show.

At the age of 15 I found my moms old acoustic guitar and started trying to play, classical music was a bit unfulfilling for me and I loved classic rock. One day the song Limelight from RUSH was on the radio and I just started playing it with the radio, the opening riff the cords, it`s as if my hands knew what to do. The lightbulb went ON------ I can actually play whats on the radio because I did`nt think it was possible to do that for anyone, it was like mere mortals cannot play as good as whats on the radio. I was so happy.

Quit piano, started guitar and now its over 20 years later......

Skill level ??? I have no idea, I have been paid to play live and in the studio and many big shows been very lucky.
My first big accomplishment was learning Adrain Smiths guitar part note for note on the Iron Maiden Live after death album when I was a teen. I used to play along with the album and freak my friends out.

What do I know? I have been exposed to a lot but I seem to only retain what I use the most and much of the music theory, modes and altered scales I don`t really like the sound of so I don`t use it much. Major, Relative minor and some modes makes up the bulk of what I use and remember.

I practice up to 6 hours a day if I need to but I try to at least play for two every day.

I like too much stuff, I do love blues and classic rock but I played in speed metal bands, pop stuff, jazz, garage rock, I pretty much studied to be a lead guitarist that could cover lots of ground. Which has`nt helped my personal songwriting at all.

What do I want to improve? I`m not sure- my vocabulary I would like to incorporate more modes and cord structures but in a useful way.

Current events?- Band, Studio work.

Too much gear to name at this time, but my moniker says it all.

Taught myself how to edit video yesterday-