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Post by grampalerxst on May 10, 2020 5:44:01 GMT -6
It was a pretty busy week for guitar for me.
The BLYCU challenge is well-documented elsewhere.
On the Electric gypsy intro I've had to slow the tempo back down to where I was before I recently raised it--below the prior level on some days. Once I realized I had been missing one of the notes this one seems to be disintegrating before my eyes. To accommodate the missing note I've been experimenting with altering my fretting hand position slightly and combined with the BLYCU bending leaves it pretty stiff and sore (in a benign way akin to how lifting weights does). I'm also isolating the sub-phrase where the note in question figures in, and moving the extract around to different places on the neck. It's the second note, and the first 9 notes make a standalone bluesy phrase, as does the first four. Someday I'll get there with it. This is the hill I've picked to die on, if necessary
So those two things have been the main thrust of the week. Still worked through the s-i-l project a few times, but decided to back-burner it this past week so it will sound fresher this coming week. I'm pretty close to re-recording all the guitar "bed" tracks, hopefully for the last time, then working on some complementary parts and maybe a solo of sorts.
I'm in one of those periods where I feel myself transitioning from one plateau to the next. Based on the stuff I practice daily I would never know it. Where I see it is when I "just play", which I try to do a few times a week, noodling around with other ideas I've come up with or going back to the 70s and playing fragments of songs I've picked up over the years. The plateaus are only separated by about six inches of elevation, but at this point in my life I'll take what I can get. Unfortunately the jumps seem pretty random. I used to try to figure out what I'd been doing just prior to a jump and then double down on it afterward, thinking that would speed up the journey to the next plateau, but that never worked.
Another thing I spent some time on was playing around with creating tones on my modeler (Helix). Traditionally I would stop as soon as got to something that was acceptable for the task at hand. But too much time on youtube listening to how darn good people can dial in the various modelers out there (granted, the skill of the guitarist reigns supreme in the end) I decided 15 minutes a couple of evenings a week was worth the time. Usually I do it when I'm done practicing or on nights when I just don't have the motivation to do practice proper, so it isn't hurting anything. And I find fresh sounds can be motivating and lead me down rabbit trails I wouldn't normally visit.
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Post by wannaplayblues on May 10, 2020 6:04:26 GMT -6
Lots to share.
Firstly, did another lesson from the other site. Enjoy:
Secondly: Bought a new amp, 'cos, you know - more amps are better!?!
Seriously, the amp is awesome! It's the Spider V 120 Mkii. 120watts so I can use it on stage and LOADS of amp models. The video above was recorded using the amp. Even better, it has XLR out that can be used to plug directly into a PA system or a mixing desk - even when the amp volume dial is at 0! This is how I recorded the above video. Amp volume at zero - but XLR to my USB PC interface. WORKED PERFECTLY. Volume was ideal. All effects were beautifully recorded.
Even better - the amp also recreates the sound of different mics being used for recording (4 of them) and you can *really* hear the difference selecting different mics results in. I think I chose the classic Sure 57.
Thirdly: The amp has allowed me to find my perfect tone - it's what you hear in the recording, a Fender '64 Blackface Delux. I tried to go for a light crunch sound - giving me room to kick on the overdrive pedal for leads etc. Considering the amp goes for about $2000 - I'm glad i can reproduce it and affordable cost.
I can't sing enough praises about the amp. Just read up on it. Truly great work by Line6. You can also plug in your PC, IOS or Android device to change settings and store presets (if the available 128 are insufficient for you)
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Post by grampalerxst on May 10, 2020 6:16:20 GMT -6
Lots to share.
..
I can't sing enough praises about the amp. Just read up on it. Truly great work by Line6. You can also plug in your PC, IOS or Android device to change settings and store presets (if the available 128 are insufficient for you)
Excellent playing wpb!
I looked at those Spider amps a few years back, although I think I was looking at a much smaller wattage. They're pretty cool for sure. I wound up going with a Helix LT because at the time I didn't really want a full amp and had grown pretty comfortable with "direct box"-style solutions via the POD line. I'm a pretty big L6 fanboy I'd have to admit.
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Post by bluesbruce on May 10, 2020 6:34:21 GMT -6
Been still working on some simple rock solos - maybe I'll try to record some of these. Still using "Bending the Blues" to try to get bends (and calluses) going again. Played at least some every day this week. Having fun with the BLYCU challenge. WPB, sounding good, man! I have a Spider IV 60 and have had a lot of fun with that amp, as well. If you can, get one of their foot pedals - opens up even more options. If i get started, I can waste incredible amounts of time playing with wah...
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Post by jack1982 on May 10, 2020 7:47:03 GMT -6
Great stuff WPB! Love the tone and that's a beautiful guitar as well Great playing. Those 3 chords at 1:11 in the video are so darned familiar, I swear I knew how to play a song with those exact chords once but I'll be darned if I can remember what it was. I worked a fair bit on our lick #2 last week, and also joined the site WPB posted the lesson from - I'm working on a little unaccompanied electric guitar piece that's somewhat reminiscent of Little Wing over there. I NEED to get back into my Van Halen song as well lol. I downloaded the free trial of the Ableton DAW; I got a 4K monitor about a year ago and although Reaper itself works fine on it, the VST plugins are displayed way too small, they're either difficult or impossible to use. Everything seems to work well with Ableton, now just give me a year to figure out how to use it I already figured out what 3 buttons do...pretty proud of myself. The pickup selector switch on my Epi Les Paul pretty much completely quit working so I tried replacing it with a Switchcraft switch. Hooked it up just like a guy on YouTube demonstrated - I got silence. Switched two wires around, now I get a little hum. Well, it's only 4 wires so what's that, 16 possible combinations? Only 14 more to go.
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Post by Phil on May 10, 2020 8:51:36 GMT -6
WPB: That sounded great. That's the kind of thing you can play by yourself with no backing track - chords interspersed with single line runs. I love that kind of playing and it's exactly what I want to do with the Jazz stuff.
I went from one extreme to the other with my practice. I used to plan out and then document every single minute of my practice. Last Aug I loosened it up a bit on planning and just documented total time each session. A month or 2 later I went with a rough weekly plan (that I rarely looked at) and stopped noting time spent practicing.
I let it go too far to the other extreme. Now I'm finding that I need more structure to my practice. So, it's back to the drawing board and write up some kind of a more detailed practice plan. Not quite as OCD as I once was, but definitley more strucure. I'm jumping around too much and forgetting what I wanted to focus on.
I'm thinking out loud here. General structure: Warm up, work on something new or polish up things that need it, go over repertoire by rotating thru song list. Detailed structure: Make notes today of what I want to do tomorrow. Then jot down what I actually did. Every second doesn't need to be accounted for. Just some kind of rough documentation to keep me on track.
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Post by blackcountrymick on May 11, 2020 10:47:12 GMT -6
WPB, I really liked that piece, keep on posting!!
This last week I had intended to work on the DC lesson to get to a video posted, but hey, good intentions and all!!
Instead I somehow got into working on a beginners improvising DVD, an 8 bar blues in the key of Am. So I put some of the ideas into practice with the Lick 2 challenge, I really felt I had achieved something this week and a lot of fun.
I must get back to working on a video now and relearning the software etc, so hopefully next week!!
Cheers, Mick
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Post by cunningr on May 12, 2020 9:04:25 GMT -6
WPB nice playing great tone.
Well working on the Thrill is Gone, and Modes instructor piled a lot of stuff on so really havent had a chance to do lick 2 with any justice.
I ordered a new keeley pedal was on sale Red Dirt Germanium need it like a hole in my foot, but been wanting it for awhile and decent sale.
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Post by Marc on May 15, 2020 0:01:49 GMT -6
Nice playing WPB. I'm a fan of the solid state modulated amps. My current rig is a Boss Katana, and I love it. I've been a little all over the place in my playing. I started off with moving off of lazy day blues and onto 9th chord blues. But then got distracted with some 1-2-3 Jazz course and Billy Bailey. Then I ended up somehow playing my acoustic and pulling out an old Koala press Progressive Finger Picking Book. I ran though the book pretty quick since I can finger pick pretty well, but had a lot of fun playing though the chord progressions section.
I have been spending a lot of time playing guitar recently. I'm debating getting the all access to true fire. They seem to cover all the basis of my musical interest...Jazz, Blues, Acoustic, Banjo, Bass....
Not sure if any of you remember those Progressive books. I remember when i was just starting every music store had a stock pile of those books but not I don't even seem them at the half price books stores. Oh the nostalgia of memory lane.
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