|
Post by jack1982 on May 26, 2019 5:16:18 GMT -6
I'm still working on that "Someone" song, got a rough draft version: I submitted it over at that "other site" and Griff gave me a whole pile of feedback on it. One interesting thing he told me (after he pointed out which of my bends were off ) was that with the rhythm part, being a slow song, it's rather hard to stay in the groove with those sparse chords. He said when he played it, he kept his picking hand moving the entire time in triplets - one-and-a two-and-a three-and-a four-and-a, so twelve strums but only hit the chord twice. So I'm just beginning to experiment with that. I'm still hoping to get a better version of this recorded by next week - I think it would help a ton if I did it in sections instead of trying to play the whole 6+ minutes in a single take. That would let me concentrate on each part much more intently. If I ever get the damned yard work done and get a few minutes to work on it that is lol.
|
|
|
Post by grampalerxst on May 26, 2019 5:49:35 GMT -6
Sounds really good Jack. I like how you get a really strong tone out of those high notes at the climax of the solo. When I play that high up the neck I get weak farty sounds mostly. Relatively good week for me, pretty sure I got in over 10 hours. On good days I can touch 90% tempo w/Electric Gypsy--at least I get the notes mostly right that fast. The feel/flow is definitely lacking. Also still spending time on one-bar blues phrases slowed way down to try and catch all the 1/4-tone nuances (from Wyatt's blues lead book). Also getting a big dose of humble pie from working on the first three phrases of BYCU #3 trying to get the bends in the first and third phrases to be automatic. Same bend in both places except the "approach" (what you are doing right before the bend) is different. At times this whole guitar thing is just a big pile of steaming frustration.
|
|
|
Post by bluesbruce on May 26, 2019 6:29:19 GMT -6
Wow, Jack, that was the full package for sure! Absolutely beautiful tone, and a full 6+ minutes of tasteful playing. Interesting advise about keeping the R hand moving - it seems a lot of teachers stress this point, so there must be something to it. You really blended in well with the band on your mix. Nicely done all around!
I've kept on my same trajectory - working mostly on "Total Rock Guitar". I'm having fun with these, and I feel I've definitely improved my rock playing (there's nowhere to go but up in that department). I think I played for at least half an hour every day this week. I've also played some blues, and actually recorded video of my playing, which is always a humbling, but very beneficial exercise.
|
|
|
Post by Phil on May 26, 2019 8:13:31 GMT -6
Great to see some videos of you guys playing. Nice playing Jack and Bruce. I'm rethinking my whole approach to practice. I still haven't hashed it out yet, but it's going to be significantly more structured than what I've been doing. I should probably start with reading some of my own blog posts. I've always been better at giving advice than taking it even when it's my own advice. For many many months now I've had a very unstructured practice routine. Every week I made a loose and flexible plan of things I wanted to work on. I don't think I've made much progress with this approach. It's too flexible and unstructured. When I first joined this forum a few months after picking up the guitar again I had an extremely detailed practice plan. However, I incorporated way too many things. I was trying to cover everything under the sun in 3 to 5 minute timed segments. But, I stuck to the plan religiously and I think I made some progress even though I was trying to cover too many things. And, like many of us often do, when something is working really well I change it.
|
|
|
Post by jack1982 on May 26, 2019 9:03:07 GMT -6
Thanks so much guys, glad you liked it! Grampa, for the sound what I did was to actually have a fair bit of overdrive (simulated Tube Screamer pedal with the drive on 3 and the level on 10), and then just use the volume knob on the guitar to control everything. For that opening solo the volume is at 10. Once the rhythm part starts, I turn it down to 1. It stays that way through the first 8 bars of the main solo, then I turn it up a bit. After 16 bars I turn it all the way up to 10 again. Then back down for the closing rhythm part. That way you can get a nice mellow tone and still do some nice screaming on the high frets when you want to Bruce, yeah he gave me the same advice about keeping the strumming hand going constantly for the acoustic version of "Can't Find My Way Home." And sure enough, a quick check of the YouTube video showed that's exactly what Steve Winwood was doing Phil, totally agree about working on too much stuff at once. I've been working ONLY on this song for close to two months now, and that's the only reason I've been able to get it recorded. Heck memorizing the whole thing took a pile of time all by itself lol. I figure you've got rhythm, lead, a few fast licks, plenty of easier tasty licks, etc., pretty much a full practice routine all in one place. Another big "light bulb going off" thing I got from Griff was that I've kind of got the solos (marginally) technically correct, but there's a whole 'nother level of musicality that I'm only beginning to explore. Picking stuff really soft, other stuff quite hard, getting the subtleties of the timing just right, really putting feeling into it, and oh yeah getting some of the bends right
|
|
|
Post by joachim on May 26, 2019 10:35:09 GMT -6
That sounded really good, Jack! Great playing and wonderful tone.
I started working on the lead part of Makin' Changes last week. I will continue with that for the next weeks, and start on a new Fleetwood Mac song, very BB King like:
|
|
|
Post by cunningr on May 27, 2019 14:00:46 GMT -6
How are you guys doing? I got really busy so no time to post. Been practicing as much as possible from 30 min to 1 hour a day. Working on 4rth section of so.o from chili con carne. Bout it here.
|
|
|
Post by blackcountrymick on May 27, 2019 15:33:00 GMT -6
Jack, totally awesome mate, I'm simply gobsmacked!!!! You're really feeling the blues man. I'm still plugging away doing 1 to 2 hours most days. My main problem is trying to stay focused on what I am supposed to be working on, then along comes Jack with an absolutely awesome blues tune,...….. Loving the Stetina stuff Bruce, I stopped just short of that tune with"Strummer"......there I go again......stay focused Mick!!!!! Cheers.
|
|
|
Post by cunningr on May 27, 2019 15:42:52 GMT -6
Jack that was totally awesome!
|
|