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Post by cunningr on Sept 20, 2020 8:52:19 GMT -6
I guys I will kick off our weekly progress report! Hope everyone is staying safe and doing well.
i have been working on the rest of the AM lesson, and cleaning it up. Instructor wants me to review some of the old shuffles we covered in class, but not much time to find the videos we made. Did work on my pedal board, out of connectors again.
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Post by jack1982 on Sept 20, 2020 9:48:53 GMT -6
Very mediocre week for me, did get a bit of stuff recorded on my Metallica project. Like that little classical guitar bit I said I'd recorded to my satisfaction a month ago - I got that re-recorded and it is fairly satisfactory this time Definitely meaning to start working on the licks challenge - very soon!!! I got that M-Audio interface and of course, because it's me, it's not working right. No matter what microphone I plug into it, I have to turn the gain up to 9.5 in order to get a good recording level. called tech support and of course they'd never encountered anything like that before I can't see how it could be my equipment, the mic's and cables all work fine with the Focusrite. Ah anyway he's calling my back Monday and maybe I'll have to get it replaced, which should only take 2-4 weeks. Sigh... The thing actually does work, I did some recording with it, it's just a bit difficult to set the recording level properly when you have to turn the knob up to 9 before you get anything, and at 10 it's in the red, so your good range is between 9.4 and 9.6, which is about one millimeter of rotation of the knob.
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Post by joachim on Sept 20, 2020 12:16:56 GMT -6
My week was a little bit better than the last couple. Worked on a couple of BB King songs as well as the studio version of Red House by Jimi Hendrix. For the moment I am just learning songs; BB King by ear and Hendrix from a play along book. I don't have enough time for "real" practice. Maybe when that changes, I will follow in Phil's footsteps - I loved all the stuff he played in his video from last week, the walking bass, etc.
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Post by Marc on Sept 20, 2020 15:34:53 GMT -6
I had a pretty slow week. My guitar practice has suffered due to this certification test that is set for Monday.
I went though one of Phil blog posts on jazz blues. It was a lot of fun and educational. It actually inspired me to try and get a DAW setup again and trying to find some plug-in's and try recording again.
I also was working a bit on that Licks challenge on 16 and 17. I need to work on the timing, which i always struggle with. I thought this might be a good time to jump back on that wagon.
jack1982 sorry to hear about your m-audio problems. Nothing is worse than getting some gear only to find it's borked.
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Post by bluesbruce on Sept 20, 2020 19:57:54 GMT -6
Kind of late to the party today. Been working the BLYCU 16 & 17 thing, seems a little more manageable than a lot of those slow blues licks we've been working. Still spending time on Fast Forward Lead Guitar Solos - I know it's hard to imagine, but my rock lead playing is even worse than my blues lead playing... I've also been thinking (again) about taking on some repertoire into my regimen (not that I really have an organized "regimen"). Jack, hope you get your interface straightened out. Marc, good luck on your exam.
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Post by Phil on Sept 20, 2020 20:08:04 GMT -6
A shout out to Marc for giving me some good feedback and suggestions about an article I wrote. Thanks, Marc. I'm trying to power my way through the rest of the Mickey Baker book once and for all. I have 7 lessons left. That's not the proper way to do it. However, all I'm trying to do is see if any of those final lessons are worth going back to and spending time on. The book was written in 1955 so there are no audio tracks, and no one has ever uploaded themselves playing any of these final lessons on YouTube. I have to decipher the standard notation and play it to see what it sounds like. That is getting easier the more I do it, but it's still tedious. I'm done with thinking that I have to spend time on stuff I don't like or find useful just because it's in a book I'm working on. I'm using Bruce Lee's philosophy from here on out - "Take what is useful, discard what is not, and add something uniquely your own." I probably mangled that quote, but you get the gist. Next week I'll be buying my son's Fishman Loadbox Mini amp. He discovered by accident that his nylon string Godin Multiac Duet actually sounds best through a powered speaker that he tried and not through a guitar amp. He almost bought a very expensive AER amp and ended up buying a $300 powered speaker which should arrive later in the week. He said the powered speaker gave him the more natural nylon string sound he's been searching for. We figured out that it must be the pre-amp in any guitar amp that was coloring the sound. A powered speaker doesn't have a pre-amp, but the guitar itself does. It has a Fishman mic type active pickup and a piezo which can be blended together. Anyway, it's interesting that nobody seems to recommend a simple powered speaker for this guitar. At least nobody who posts demos of the Godin on YT. BTW, my Ibanez archtop sounds very nice through the Fishman. Much better than through my Fender Mustang I. I'll have to do a video sometime.
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Post by grampalerxst on Sept 21, 2020 4:26:44 GMT -6
Not a bad week for me. Major focus was on the BLYCU challenge. Now in section 2 those licks have a completely different feel, and one that like JGs approach to slow blues, is a little outside my comfort zone/the sort of stuff I'd explore left to my own devices. Where I'm at right now puts me on the opposite side of the coin from Phil in the sense I'm in a head space where learning things that I don't see immediate advantage to is still necessary. I overindulged on the buffet approach and now have to play catch up.
I've been influenced in my practice by Effortless Mastery and I'm getting some little practical use out of it, which I didn't expect.
On Electric Gypsy I identified a section in the intro/theme of a little over a bar where I had some technical problems that went unnoticed for a long time. So I've isolated that phrase and have been trying to improve it. Luckily it's a pretty decent standalone phrase so nerding out on it is kind of fun.
I think I mentioned having come up with sort of an epilogue for the project I'm working w/my s-i-l. It's been quite humiliating. It's basically just a sequence of arpeggiated chords that I want to be picked. One of the chords is tricky to grab but the rest aren't bad, and the picking pattern is very straightforward. I really suck at arpeggios! But I've learned over the last year that anything I work on that forces me to pay detailed attention to my picking hand pays fat dividends, so my attitude is positive despite the immense mountain of frustration.
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Post by Phil on Sept 21, 2020 8:05:14 GMT -6
Not a bad week for me. Major focus was on the BLYCU challenge. Now in section 2 those licks have a completely different feel, and one that like JGs approach to slow blues, is a little outside my comfort zone/the sort of stuff I'd explore left to my own devices. Where I'm at right now puts me on the opposite side of the coin from Phil in the sense I'm in a head space where learning things that I don't see immediate advantage to is still necessary. I overindulged on the buffet approach and now have to play catch up. I've been influenced in my practice by Effortless Mastery and I'm getting some little practical use out of it, which I didn't expect. On Electric Gypsy I identified a section in the intro/theme of a little over a bar where I had some technical problems that went unnoticed for a long time. So I've isolated that phrase and have been trying to improve it. Luckily it's a pretty decent standalone phrase so nerding out on it is kind of fun. I think I mentioned having come up with sort of an epilogue for the project I'm working w/my s-i-l. It's been quite humiliating. It's basically just a sequence of arpeggiated chords that I want to be picked. One of the chords is tricky to grab but the rest aren't bad, and the picking pattern is very straightforward. I really suck at arpeggios! But I've learned over the last year that anything I work on that forces me to pay detailed attention to my picking hand pays fat dividends, so my attitude is positive despite the immense mountain of frustration. I understand exactly what you're saying. There's a real balancing act here. However, I'm specifically talking about spending a lot time and effort learning licks, chord voicings, songs, etc., that you don't like the sound of. For example, there are 2 studies in MBYCU that I never recorded, "8-Bar Boogie", and "Rakin' in the Funk". I felt guilty about not recording both. I felt that I never really completed the book. I spent a lot of time and effort on both those studies. I liked "8-Bar Boogie" and got a lot out of it, but I couldn't get it up to speed. I should have just recorded it at a slower speed, but my ego got in the way. I never liked "Rakin' in the Funk" and had no interest in playing that style. However, I still spent a lot of time and effort trying to learn it simply because it was in the book. I wanted to be able to say (brag) that I completed the book. Looking back I don't think that was time well spent.
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Post by joachim on Sept 21, 2020 11:00:27 GMT -6
Not a bad week for me. Major focus was on the BLYCU challenge. Now in section 2 those licks have a completely different feel, and one that like JGs approach to slow blues, is a little outside my comfort zone/the sort of stuff I'd explore left to my own devices. Where I'm at right now puts me on the opposite side of the coin from Phil in the sense I'm in a head space where learning things that I don't see immediate advantage to is still necessary. I overindulged on the buffet approach and now have to play catch up. I've been influenced in my practice by Effortless Mastery and I'm getting some little practical use out of it, which I didn't expect. On Electric Gypsy I identified a section in the intro/theme of a little over a bar where I had some technical problems that went unnoticed for a long time. So I've isolated that phrase and have been trying to improve it. Luckily it's a pretty decent standalone phrase so nerding out on it is kind of fun. I think I mentioned having come up with sort of an epilogue for the project I'm working w/my s-i-l. It's been quite humiliating. It's basically just a sequence of arpeggiated chords that I want to be picked. One of the chords is tricky to grab but the rest aren't bad, and the picking pattern is very straightforward. I really suck at arpeggios! But I've learned over the last year that anything I work on that forces me to pay detailed attention to my picking hand pays fat dividends, so my attitude is positive despite the immense mountain of frustration. I understand exactly what you're saying. There's a real balancing act here. However, I'm specifically talking about spending a lot time and effort learning licks, chord voicings, songs, etc., that you don't like the sound of. For example, there are 2 studies in MBYCU that I never recorded, "8-Bar Boogie", and "Rakin' in the Funk". I felt guilty about not recording both. I felt that I never really completed the book. I spent a lot of time and effort on both those studies. I liked "8-Bar Boogie" and got a lot out of it, but I couldn't get it up to speed. I should have just recorded it at a slower speed, but my ego got in the way. I never liked "Rakin' in the Funk" and had no interest in playing that style. However, I still spent a lot of time and effort trying to learn it simply because it was in the book. I wanted to be able to say (brag) that I completed the book. Looking back I don't think that was time well spent. I remember John G. said that Rakin' in the Funk is inspired by Albert Collins' playing, a player I've only listened to casually. But I started noticing that BB King also often played chord stabs with rakes, especially in his earlier playing, albeit much more sparingly.
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Post by cunningr on Sept 21, 2020 13:26:08 GMT -6
I understand exactly what you're saying. There's a real balancing act here. However, I'm specifically talking about spending a lot time and effort learning licks, chord voicings, songs, etc., that you don't like the sound of. For example, there are 2 studies in MBYCU that I never recorded, "8-Bar Boogie", and "Rakin' in the Funk". I felt guilty about not recording both. I felt that I never really completed the book. I spent a lot of time and effort on both those studies. I liked "8-Bar Boogie" and got a lot out of it, but I couldn't get it up to speed. I should have just recorded it at a slower speed, but my ego got in the way. I never liked "Rakin' in the Funk" and had no interest in playing that style. However, I still spent a lot of time and effort trying to learn it simply because it was in the book. I wanted to be able to say (brag) that I completed the book. Looking back I don't think that was time well spent. I remember John G. said that Rakin' in the Funk is inspired by Albert Collins' playing, a player I've only listened to casually. But I started noticing that BB King also often played chord stabs with rakes, especially in his earlier playing, albeit much more sparingly. Hmmm I might need to look at that funk lesson. I am supposed to be reviewing various rhythms for the class where we function as a band.
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Post by Phil on Sept 21, 2020 14:16:43 GMT -6
I remember John G. said that Rakin' in the Funk is inspired by Albert Collins' playing, a player I've only listened to casually. But I started noticing that BB King also often played chord stabs with rakes, especially in his earlier playing, albeit much more sparingly. I love Albert Collins. I didn't mean for my post to be a criticism of funk Blues. I was just saying that I'm not interested in playing it and I didn't like that particular study. My point was not to waste precious time on licks and songs you don't like and will never play.
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Post by joachim on Sept 21, 2020 14:51:08 GMT -6
I remember John G. said that Rakin' in the Funk is inspired by Albert Collins' playing, a player I've only listened to casually. But I started noticing that BB King also often played chord stabs with rakes, especially in his earlier playing, albeit much more sparingly. I love Albert Collins. I didn't mean for my post to be a criticism of funk Blues. I was just saying that I'm not interested in playing it and I didn't like that particular study. My point was not to waste precious time on licks and songs you don't like and will never play. I didn't mean for my post to be a criticism of your non-criticism of funk Blues either.
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Post by grampalerxst on Sept 21, 2020 16:00:14 GMT -6
I understand exactly what you're saying. There's a real balancing act here. However, I'm specifically talking about spending a lot time and effort learning licks, chord voicings, songs, etc., that you don't like the sound of. ... I get it. That's what a big chunk of BLYCU Section 1 was for me. Maybe 40% of it. When I talk about where I'm at and what I'm doing, it's never meant as an assertion of what is right or superior in a sense that extends beyond me. Grampa's gotta Grampa. No one else does.
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Post by Marc on Sept 21, 2020 22:55:31 GMT -6
A shout out to Marc for giving me some good feedback and suggestions about an article I wrote. Thanks, Marc. I'm trying to power my way through the rest of the Mickey Baker book once and for all. I have 7 lessons left. That's not the proper way to do it. However, all I'm trying to do is see if any of those final lessons are worth going back to and spending time on. The book was written in 1955 so there are no audio tracks, and no one has ever uploaded themselves playing any of these final lessons on YouTube. I have to decipher the standard notation and play it to see what it sounds like. That is getting easier the more I do it, but it's still tedious. I'm done with thinking that I have to spend time on stuff I don't like or find useful just because it's in a book I'm working on. I'm using Bruce Lee's philosophy from here on out - "Take what is useful, discard what is not, and add something uniquely your own." I probably mangled that quote, but you get the gist. Next week I'll be buying my son's Fishman Loadbox Mini amp. He discovered by accident that his nylon string Godin Multiac Duet actually sounds best through a powered speaker that he tried and not through a guitar amp. He almost bought a very expensive AER amp and ended up buying a $300 powered speaker which should arrive later in the week. He said the powered speaker gave him the more natural nylon string sound he's been searching for. We figured out that it must be the pre-amp in any guitar amp that was coloring the sound. A powered speaker doesn't have a pre-amp, but the guitar itself does. It has a Fishman mic type active pickup and a piezo which can be blended together. Anyway, it's interesting that nobody seems to recommend a simple powered speaker for this guitar. At least nobody who posts demos of the Godin on YT. BTW, my Ibanez archtop sounds very nice through the Fishman. Much better than through my Fender Mustang I. I'll have to do a video sometime. Congrats on the new amp, soon. Talking about acoustic guitars and amps got me thinking. You know, back in the day when I would see more local live music, none of the acoustic acts where carrying around amps, instead they had full little powered PA systems and the guitar would go direct into there along with the microphones. All you had was an EQ. I wounder when that all changed. I guess an amp is less combersome to carry than a PA. I have to admit that one of the selling points for on the Boss Katana was that it had an 'Acoustic' voiced channel model. I'm not crazy about it with my acoustic but it has a usable jazz tone.
Any amp with an effect loop should be able to work as a powered cabinet if you plug direct into the effect return. I know about a year ago some metal guys on youtube were talking about running the metal zone direct into the effect loops and it made it good (i would beg to differ). This forced me to try all my overdirve pedals that way. It was interesting experiment.
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Post by wannaplayblues on Sept 23, 2020 1:50:40 GMT -6
Well, I've been working on a Gilmour piece from the other site. Managed to record it last night. The signal was dry from the amp to Reaper - compression, delay and reverb were added with Reaper's standard plugins. Pleased with the overall result, especially as I don't do much Gilmour style. The "pick-double-bend-release" at the 0:37 mark is a nice moment in the piece for me Finally, have to record another thing this week - the monthly challenge - which was to be submitted this weekend!!! Enjoy the piece:
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Post by bluesbruce on Sept 23, 2020 6:33:00 GMT -6
Beautifully done, WPB, all around. I enjoy these Active Melody pieces, keep 'em coming. If I disappear from this board, you guys might find me at AM! LOL
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Post by jack1982 on Sept 23, 2020 17:02:39 GMT -6
Really nice stuff WPB! Great playing and wonderful sound. How in the world do you learn so much stuff so fast?!?!
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Post by Marc on Sept 24, 2020 1:59:33 GMT -6
Really nice stuff WPB! Great playing and wonderful sound. How in the world do you learn so much stuff so fast?!?! My guess is practice but maybe wannaplayblues pulled a Robert Johnson (allegedly)
Nice work
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Post by wannaplayblues on Sept 24, 2020 7:40:27 GMT -6
Really nice stuff WPB! Great playing and wonderful sound. How in the world do you learn so much stuff so fast?!?! My guess is practice but maybe wannaplayblues pulled a Robert Johnson (allegedly)
Nice work
I've always thought about sharing how I practice guitar - but worry I'll come accross as condescending or a know-it-all. I'll write it here, if people think there's any value to it, I'll copy-paste it to a full post. So, here goes:
IMPORTANT BASICS- The guitar is ALWAYS close by! It's either on a stand or on the wall near me.
- I have an app on my phone that allows me to slow down the example/backing track so I can play at various speeds - like 40% of full tempo or 80%, etc.
- Most of my playing is un-plugged. It's just the electric guitar unamped. It allows me to get going quickly and to hear how things sound clean, without distortion/effects masking mistakes. I read this in a book once and thought it was a neat idea.
- I grab every 5 minutes I can! If there's 5 minutes before work, I grab the guitar! If there's 5 minutes before dinner, I grab the guitar. If there's 5 minutes... you get the idea!
- Focussed task! Read on...
FOCUSSED TASK - I ALWAYS have a "thing" I'm working on. This is my immediate, short-term, goal. At present it is usually one lesson from the AM site. I pick it and endevour to complete it, come what may. I print out the sheets, download the backing tracks and start at bar one!
- Generally, it's one bar at a time, unless it's a phrase that spans 2-4 bars, in which case I learn the phrase. The aim is to play the bar/phrase up-to-tempo, starting wherever I need. I've gone down to 40bpm before moving it 5bpm at a time up to the right tempo which could be 80bpm. I don't mind where I have to start.
Little tip - every now and then up the speed by 5% beyond your ability and try and play it. You'll fail. BUT, when you remove that 5% and immediately try again, the whole section will feel MUCH slower than before you upped it by 5%. It's a trick in your mind but helps with faster segments IMHO
- Every time I grab my 5 minutes I know what to work on, it's the bar or phrase I'm currently on. Getting it to tempo. All my 5 minutes are focussed and not noodling.
- When I have more time than 5 minutes I also play the piece through to the bar/phrase I'm up-to, in order to start hearing the piece as a whole and to get the phrases flowing together better. As of late, I've also noticed that it's at these play throughs that MY individuallity starts appearing. I add little bends, slides, or alter the phrases slightly to what sounds nice to me; perhaps I'll hybrid pick the notes, slide into something rather than hammer-on. They're minor, few and far between, but it's what I like to hear.
SECONDARY TASKS - These are the slower back burners. After the FOCUSSED TASK, if I have time, I hit these.
- The AM monthly challenge is here. This is an item I have 4 weeks to develop and record, so the timescale is longer.
- Another example could be a phrase that is 100bpm 16th notes and will take me a while to get to tempo. This is usually a bar/phrase in the FOCUSSED TASK piece. This piece now gets shelved as a whole, I keep the difficult phrase as a SECONDARY TASK, and select a new FOCUSSED TASK.
HOWEVER - when the phrase is achieved, the piece that was shelved is then pulled back to the FOCUSSED TASK at the next opportunity.
EXTRA FREE TIME
- This is pure enjoyment time. This happens usually over the weekend as they're additional tasks. This is also where the AMP comes out and the sound gets real. I'll certainly go through the piece with the amp at least once before other tasks. I'll start to dial in a tone, effects, etc. Gearing up for the next stage...
- Record a piece that is finished. Setup and recording takes time - and the red-light-nerves make things even worse, so I need more time here!
- Grab the guitar and play through some of the completed pieces - keep them fresh in mind and the techniques in practice. Pieces that are done that I'm not fond of will get dropped off here - they'll vanish into obscurity in my mind as I don't desire to play them in EXTRA FREE TIME. I'm ok with this, I can't expect to remember everything I learn forever, and I'll always have the recording to look back on!
- Most recently I played one of the fastest pieces in memory at 105% of speed (yes, faster than needed) and I was able. Weird to think I once was struggling with it at 85% of speed!
- Just hold the guitar and make things up - play a blues rhythm, noodle, try silly things out. Waste time having fun!
WHERE IS THE FUN WPB?!? Looking back at what I've written I would understand if you asked where the fun is at - it just looks like endless work for the majority of the time. But what's weird, is it doesn't feel like that. What keeps me going is the run-throughs up to the bar I'm at and thinking "cool, that's upto bar 22 cleanly done, 9 bars left and it's finished!" This really motivates me, especially when I finally start playing through the tough bars/phrases that I struggled with.
When you finally play the whole piece, up-to-tempo, fluidly and comfortably, all the way through, it's a great feeling. That's where I get a sense of achievement and accomplishment. Task finished and abilities gained along the way!
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Post by Phil on Sept 24, 2020 9:02:16 GMT -6
I've always thought about sharing how I practice guitar - but worry I'll come accross as condescending or a know-it-all. I'll write it here, if people think there's any value to it, I'll copy-paste it to a full post. So, here goes:
IMPORTANT BASICS- The guitar is ALWAYS close by! It's either on a stand or on the wall near me.
- I have an app on my phone that allows me to slow down the example/backing track so I can play at various speeds - like 40% of full tempo or 80%, etc.
- Most of my playing is un-plugged. It's just the electric guitar unamped. It allows me to get going quickly and to hear how things sound clean, without distortion/effects masking mistakes. I read this in a book once and thought it was a neat idea.
- I grab every 5 minutes I can! If there's 5 minutes before work, I grab the guitar! If there's 5 minutes before dinner, I grab the guitar. If there's 5 minutes... you get the idea!
- Focussed task! Read on...
FOCUSSED TASK - I ALWAYS have a "thing" I'm working on. This is my immediate, short-term, goal. At present it is usually one lesson from the AM site. I pick it and endevour to complete it, come what may. I print out the sheets, download the backing tracks and start at bar one!
- Generally, it's one bar at a time, unless it's a phrase that spans 2-4 bars, in which case I learn the phrase. The aim is to play the bar/phrase up-to-tempo, starting wherever I need. I've gone down to 40bpm before moving it 5bpm at a time up to the right tempo which could be 80bpm. I don't mind where I have to start.
Little tip - every now and then up the speed by 5% beyond your ability and try and play it. You'll fail. BUT, when you remove that 5% and immediately try again, the whole section will feel MUCH slower than before you upped it by 5%. It's a trick in your mind but helps with faster segments IMHO
- Every time I grab my 5 minutes I know what to work on, it's the bar or phrase I'm currently on. Getting it to tempo. All my 5 minutes are focussed and not noodling.
- When I have more time than 5 minutes I also play the piece through to the bar/phrase I'm up-to, in order to start hearing the piece as a whole and to get the phrases flowing together better. As of late, I've also noticed that it's at these play throughs that MY individuallity starts appearing. I add little bends, slides, or alter the phrases slightly to what sounds nice to me; perhaps I'll hybrid pick the notes, slide into something rather than hammer-on. They're minor, few and far between, but it's what I like to hear.
SECONDARY TASKS - These are the slower back burners. After the FOCUSSED TASK, if I have time, I hit these.
- The AM monthly challenge is here. This is an item I have 4 weeks to develop and record, so the timescale is longer.
- Another example could be a phrase that is 100bpm 16th notes and will take me a while to get to tempo. This is usually a bar/phrase in the FOCUSSED TASK piece. This piece now gets shelved as a whole, I keep the difficult phrase as a SECONDARY TASK, and select a new FOCUSSED TASK.
HOWEVER - when the phrase is achieved, the piece that was shelved is then pulled back to the FOCUSSED TASK at the next opportunity.
EXTRA FREE TIME
- This is pure enjoyment time. This happens usually over the weekend as they're additional tasks. This is also where the AMP comes out and the sound gets real. I'll certainly go through the piece with the amp at least once before other tasks. I'll start to dial in a tone, effects, etc. Gearing up for the next stage...
- Record a piece that is finished. Setup and recording takes time - and the red-light-nerves make things even worse, so I need more time here!
- Grab the guitar and play through some of the completed pieces - keep them fresh in mind and the techniques in practice. Pieces that are done that I'm not fond of will get dropped off here - they'll vanish into obscurity in my mind as I don't desire to play them in EXTRA FREE TIME. I'm ok with this, I can't expect to remember everything I learn forever, and I'll always have the recording to look back on!
- Most recently I played one of the fastest pieces in memory at 105% of speed (yes, faster than needed) and I was able. Weird to think I once was struggling with it at 85% of speed!
- Just hold the guitar and make things up - play a blues rhythm, noodle, try silly things out. Waste time having fun!
WHERE IS THE FUN WPB?!? Looking back at what I've written I would understand if you asked where the fun is at - it just looks like endless work for the majority of the time. But what's weird, is it doesn't feel like that. What keeps me going is the run-throughs up to the bar I'm at and thinking "cool, that's upto bar 22 cleanly done, 9 bars left and it's finished!" This really motivates me, especially when I finally start playing through the tough bars/phrases that I struggled with.
When you finally play the whole piece, up-to-tempo, fluidly and comfortably, all the way through, it's a great feeling. That's where I get a sense of achievement and accomplishment. Task finished and abilities gained along the way!
Great tips here, WPB. Don't worry that someone might think you sound like a know-it-all. I always feel like I'm coming across like that and people are thinking, "Who does this wannabe think he is?" I think everybody here knows and appreciates that you're just sharing what you've discovered and are excited about. That thing about forcing yourself to play 5% (or even 10-15%) above your comfortable speed is something that has worked well for me. I like all your other tips to. Just last night I was watching Jazz guitarist/instructor Rich Severson. He also recommends to pick up the guitar throughout the day whenever you can even if it's just 5 min. Regarding fun: just seeing yourself improve should give you a lot of enjoyment. It's fun to be able to play something that you found almost impossible a few months ago. If someone doesn't find enjoyment in witnessing their own incremental improvements then they need to do some deep introspective thinking. Thanks for sharing.
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