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Post by bluesbruce on Mar 24, 2019 7:08:12 GMT -6
Again, got in at least half an hour every day the past week. Still working on "Total Rock Guitar" by Troy Stetina. Got several of these in a state where I could maybe even do a video, but haven't made one in so long, I'm not sure I can do it anymore. Unfortunately, have still kind of let "technique" exercise go by the wayside - maybe I should pick one or two and make myself do it for 5 minutes daily.
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Post by joachim on Mar 24, 2019 7:33:26 GMT -6
I started working on Groovin' Easy in MBYCU, which is a study about using interval of sixths across the fretboard over the different chords. I think it's finally starting to sink in.
For those of you who are intimidated by MBYCU; it's not as daunting as you perhaps think. It's packed with cool songs, useful information and great exercises. What *is* daunting is playing the studies at full tempo, but I don't think John had that as a set goal for his students. I am trying to be more focused on working the material in each chapter into my noodling. It requires more discipline at first. For example, this week my main practice goal is to work in intervals of 6ths into my noodling, moving across the neck with the chord changes.
Bruce, I talked about speed- and technique-exercises with John the other day. His opinion is that if you just keep playing then technique and speed will follow automatically. Unless maybe you plan to adapt a very fast playing-style.
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Post by Phil on Mar 24, 2019 8:34:55 GMT -6
I only got in 4 hours. I missed 3 days because I went out of town. 1.5 of those hours was spent practicing with another guitarist. This is proving to be more beneficial than I ever imagined. One thing I started doing recently is to really look at how the melody of a song relates to the chords. I'm talking about Jazz standards like "Moonglow," "Autumn Leaves," "Body and Soul," etc. Even though I can play a few standards as solo guitar guitar arrangements I've never taken the time to do this in depth. If I keep doing it it's going to help accelerate playing solo arrangements. I was over thinking the process of playing solo guitar before and missed the most important aspect. Of course, this is typical for me. Bruce, I've rarely ever been able to do exercises consistently for any length of time. I start one and without even realizing it I let it fall by the wayside. I was doing this Phil Keaggy stretch regularly for a few weeks and it just occurred to me that I haven't done it in a week. And this was an exercise that that was providing tangible benefits that I could readily see. An exercise has to have a practical application or I don't see the point of doing it. I think your idea to pick one and do it for 5 minutes a day is the way to go. However, I found that I have to do this kind of stuff first in a practice session or I'll never do it at all. Get the "work" out of the way first and then have fun. I have to get back to practicing some of the self-discipline I had a couple of years ago.
Joachim, I agree with everything you said about MBYCU. The quality of those studies is amazing. They're filled with useful material. Those studies made me realize what a good guitarist John Ganapes is. There is also a lot of jazzy stuff in some of those studies. I would definitely benefit by revisiting those studies.
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Post by jack1982 on Mar 24, 2019 8:57:08 GMT -6
Well, I bought a mouse pad with a treble clef on it, so I'm counting on that to motivate me to practice more this week I should get into some of that Troy Stetina stuff again, some cool songs in there. My favorite was always "New Lands" out of Heavy Metal Lead Vol. 2.
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Post by bluesbruce on Mar 24, 2019 9:27:52 GMT -6
Joachim and Phil, thanks for your insightful comments. I often find that my playing is limited by certain technical factors - like right hand picking speed and accuracy (probably never well-developed as a result of bygone years of acoustic finger-style playing) or legato playing. I agree whole heartedly that these things would improve on their own by just playing songs that incorporate them, but I can't help but feel they would improve faster with some dedicated attention. Joachim, I also agree with you 100% about playing all of these at 100% speed. The true value is learning the sounds and techniques, then incorporating them into your own playing. Spending the time trying to get a study up to 100% speed is probably not one's best use of time, and probably leads to frustration rather than enjoyment (which is what keeps you coming back and moving forward). Oh, and Jack, if that mousepad doesn't work it's inspirational magic, maybe one with a kitty on it?
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Post by jack1982 on Mar 24, 2019 10:14:13 GMT -6
Oh, and Jack, if that mousepad doesn't work it's inspirational magic, maybe one with a kitty on it? I don't need a kitty mousepad, I've got a whole cat
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Post by grampalerxst on Mar 24, 2019 14:41:51 GMT -6
Another 5ish hour week for me. I listened back to some recordings I'd done over the last few months and there was something that bothered me about any single note lines I was playing. It sounded like I was sort of tiptoeing through them. It bothered me so much I've been trying to figure out the cause and reverse it. One thing I noticed is that I seem to have more up-and-down motion (relative to the plane of the strings) than I need, meaning tiptoeing is maybe a more apt description than I first thought. I'm also working on some phrases with a lot of micro-tonal bends in them. Bluesy micro-tonal bends can't really be notated, so it's another excuse to get Transcribe fired up and work on imitating what I hear using using my ears at slow speeds. Pretty demanding on my fret hand index finger. I've got about as far as I can with my revisit to Blues Rock Tune. Decided not to record it because if Phil doesn't have to record stuff, I don't have to either . Actually, that's not the reason. The reason is I still suck at that one. So towards the end of next week I'll proceed on to the next one.
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Post by cunningr on Mar 24, 2019 16:57:38 GMT -6
I got in at least 5 hours this week also. Pretty much all the way through Floyd Guitar, working on integrating some of the licks from floyd guitar into just playing. Focusing on the section of the progression that goes from 5 to 4 chord just before the turn around. Also working on transforming lick to different keys. I structor showed me a trick on how to target my note i need to land on for the 4 chord. Not sure i can explain it though basically you find the 6th and work off of that.
Jack i had a cat for 2 weeks until we found a home, mmy wife refused letting me keep him. Your cat looks board you need to play some get him animated!lol
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Post by Phil on Mar 24, 2019 23:31:16 GMT -6
Another 5ish hour week for me. I listened back to some recordings I'd done over the last few months and there was something that bothered me about any single note lines I was playing. It sounded like I was sort of tiptoeing through them. It bothered me so much I've been trying to figure out the cause and reverse it. One thing I noticed is that I seem to have more up-and-down motion (relative to the plane of the strings) than I need, meaning tiptoeing is maybe a more apt description than I first thought. I'm also working on some phrases with a lot of micro-tonal bends in them. Bluesy micro-tonal bends can't really be notated, so it's another excuse to get Transcribe fired up and work on imitating what I hear using using my ears at slow speeds. Pretty demanding on my fret hand index finger. I've got about as far as I can with my revisit to Blues Rock Tune. Decided not to record it because if Phil doesn't have to record stuff, I don't have to either . Actually, that's not the reason. The reason is I still suck at that one. So towards the end of next week I'll proceed on to the next one. Jeez, we're starting to be like a real family on this forum.
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Post by cunningr on Mar 24, 2019 23:42:33 GMT -6
Another 5ish hour week for me. I listened back to some recordings I'd done over the last few months and there was something that bothered me about any single note lines I was playing. It sounded like I was sort of tiptoeing through them. It bothered me so much I've been trying to figure out the cause and reverse it. One thing I noticed is that I seem to have more up-and-down motion (relative to the plane of the strings) than I need, meaning tiptoeing is maybe a more apt description than I first thought. I'm also working on some phrases with a lot of micro-tonal bends in them. Bluesy micro-tonal bends can't really be notated, so it's another excuse to get Transcribe fired up and work on imitating what I hear using using my ears at slow speeds. Pretty demanding on my fret hand index finger. I've got about as far as I can with my revisit to Blues Rock Tune. Decided not to record it because if Phil doesn't have to record stuff, I don't have to either . Actually, that's not the reason. The reason is I still suck at that one. So towards the end of next week I'll proceed on to the next one. Jeez, we're starting to be like a real family on this forum. Yeah recording hmmm whats that? Actually I have been recording and letting my instructr check my lick timing, not very good or long.
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Post by blackcountrymick on Mar 25, 2019 17:14:12 GMT -6
10 hours for me, mainly on acoustic. Got lesson tomorrow, all ready to go.
If I can find a bit more practice time I intend to revisit BYCU to do a better job with understanding the theory parts.
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