What Are You Working On Right Now?

Bruce said:
This song took about 10 hours of my life to really get under my hands.





If anyone sees anything I’m doing wrong (calling @metropolis_4 ) please, I’m all ears. School me.
Click to expand...


I thought it sounded great!

If I were being really picky I might say there are a couple spots in the second video where the tone is maybe poking out just a bit too much (a couple chords maybe you hit a bit harder or were voiced on the higher strings so they poke out a touch more).

But I only say that in the interest of trying to provide some constructive feedback, I think you sound fantastic :beer

I’ve never played that show before, sounds like fun music
 
Still this (among other things): In The Name Of God
ITNOG Legato 109.png

Harmonic minor, so some wide stretches that need that pinky STRONGER!! Takes lots of practice to land the 'hammer-ons-from-nowhere' on the next-lower string, cleanly.

But it's a fun riff, and good for the fret hand muscles, for sure!

Plus, it's at 109 bpm, and I still can't do sextuplet hammer-ons at that tempo yet, so I'm hoping that practicing them repetitively will also build speed, but I just don't know.

This is one Dream Theater song that I "think" might be within reach, and I have most of the main parts very close. I'd LOVE to get this song some day!

I tweaked my Virtual Capo preset for this song yesterday, and today when I fired up the Axe, it still sounded awesome! (You know how sometimes you get a tone sounding sweet, but the next day with fresh ears, it's not quite there? I think this one is!)

Loads of low-end crunch! And kerrang. And harmonics. And... BALLZ!
 
So I have almost 3 groups of Paganini's Moto Perpetuo tabbed out so it can actually be played on a guitar neck, and wow, this piece is so amazing!!
I've said it before (I played around with the beginning of Caprice in Am)- the way the chords weave through his melodies is nothing short of magical! It's really something, if you're into that sort of thing, or even have a passing appreciation for Classical music. I'm blown away.

Might be a while before I get back to learning any new DT. This piece has me hooked!
 
Playing intense classical pieces is hard enough on the guitar, but when I think of them originally being played on a violin, I'm absolutely amazed. Paganini was the EVH/JP/YJM/Vai of his day! The frets get small enough as it is to be able to nail 2-octave, 16th-note arpeggios, @ 150 bpm..., I can't even imagine doing this stuff accurately on a fiddle! And, it only has 4 strings to boot! Talk about your position shifts!!

:rawk
 
Started writing a song for the new ska band. Simple ABCABC format and words. Verse one and verse two I wrote in parallel. Verse one is more of a love song and verse 2 is more of an apocalyptic song but the words are very similar. Verse is catchy.
 
Get something totally new under your fingers, memorized for the most part, only to find as you progress to the tempo, you (I) need to go back and change some fingerings/positions. :facepalm

This Moto Perpetuo by Paganini I've been working on has a series of descending, triads across the 3 top strings, like G/18 B/17 E/17, with descending notes that connect them. And I simply cannot play that triad, and bend my 1st finger across the barre on the 2 top strings, and keep those 2 notes from overlapping as I speed it up. So after working on it for a few weeks, I've given up trying to play it that way, shifting instead to: G/18 G/21 B/22, etc.

And I'm terrible at knowing the chord notes on the fretboard, so I have to just memorize the patterns. Measures 10-11-12: (This is my original way of playing it, the one I can't do!)

Moto1.png


This classical stuff is totally different than a lot of stuff I practice (which is one reason I love it!), what with all the arpeggios sprinkled throughout. Seems to be a common thing for Niccolo.

Dude was an amazing composer, (and player of course.) If any of your solos are feeling 'stale', I highly recommend stealing some of his ideas! Or at least taking a look at some of his pieces.
 
I practiced a TON this weekend. It's about all I've done. :sofa

Getting further into my Paganini Moto Perpetuo, and have the first half memorized (no leftover brain-CPU for my mind to wander when playing that!)

Then the past couple hours been really pushing my picking speed, because I still have that really fast riff in Home in my sights. But I'm really starting to think I just can't do it. I can pick 16th notes at 160 bpm, but that seems to be my speed limit. Which bums me out! :( That riff is 32nd notes @ 88 (or 16th notes @ 176.)

I've been messing with that (and many other fast licks/solos) for literally the past 5 years, with an honest average of 2 hours every day of practice, most of which is trying to build my speed, since I've always been kinda slow and sloppy. It's just something I want to do.

And I'm definitely a much better player than I used to be. But there's just this thing about wanting to get at least a couple things under my fingers from my favorite guitar player. I imagine most of us can relate to that. I'm close on several things, but that last 10% is a muthafocker!!

Idk..., not giving up yet, but if I get it, it's probably gonna be a few more years. And part of me thinks, What's the point? Maybe that's why I've dug into this Paganini lately. :unsure: Shift my focus into the melodic part, using the level of technique I have.

WTF didn't have this dedication when I was 20, instead of 60? (Oh that's right. I was chasing girls.)
 
TSJMajesty said:
I practiced a TON this weekend. It's about all I've done. :sofa

Getting further into my Paganini Moto Perpetuo, and have the first half memorized (no leftover brain-CPU for my mind to wander when playing that!)

Then the past couple hours been really pushing my picking speed, because I still have that really fast riff in Home in my sights. But I'm really starting to think I just can't do it. I can pick 16th notes at 160 bpm, but that seems to be my speed limit. Which bums me out! :( That riff is 32nd notes @ 88 (or 16th notes @ 176.)

I've been messing with that (and many other fast licks/solos) for literally the past 5 years, with an honest average of 2 hours every day of practice, most of which is trying to build my speed, since I've always been kinda slow and sloppy. It's just something I want to do.

And I'm definitely a much better player than I used to be. But there's just this thing about wanting to get at least a couple things under my fingers from my favorite guitar player. I imagine most of us can relate to that. I'm close on several things, but that last 10% is a muthafocker!!

Idk..., not giving up yet, but if I get it, it's probably gonna be a few more years. And part of me thinks, What's the point? Maybe that's why I've dug into this Paganini lately. :unsure: Shift my focus into the melodic part, using the level of technique I have.

WTF didn't have this dedication when I was 20, instead of 60? (Oh that's right. I was chasing girls.)
Click to expand...
Well yah do know girls are a lot slower at 60? :pickle
 
TSJMajesty said:
I practiced a TON this weekend. It's about all I've done. :sofa

Getting further into my Paganini Moto Perpetuo, and have the first half memorized (no leftover brain-CPU for my mind to wander when playing that!)

Then the past couple hours been really pushing my picking speed, because I still have that really fast riff in Home in my sights. But I'm really starting to think I just can't do it. I can pick 16th notes at 160 bpm, but that seems to be my speed limit. Which bums me out! :( That riff is 32nd notes @ 88 (or 16th notes @ 176.)

I've been messing with that (and many other fast licks/solos) for literally the past 5 years, with an honest average of 2 hours every day of practice, most of which is trying to build my speed, since I've always been kinda slow and sloppy. It's just something I want to do.

And I'm definitely a much better player than I used to be. But there's just this thing about wanting to get at least a couple things under my fingers from my favorite guitar player. I imagine most of us can relate to that. I'm close on several things, but that last 10% is a muthafocker!!

Idk..., not giving up yet, but if I get it, it's probably gonna be a few more years. And part of me thinks, What's the point? Maybe that's why I've dug into this Paganini lately. :unsure: Shift my focus into the melodic part, using the level of technique I have.

WTF didn't have this dedication when I was 20, instead of 60? (Oh that's right. I was chasing girls.)
Click to expand...
Definitely take a break from it and circle back in a little while.

The Paganini is a great distraction

I always found that "sleeping on it" made my subconscious, muscle memory, or whatever catch up to what I wanted to do. If I kept hammering on it I'd always hit a wall.
 
Sleezy E said:
I always found that "sleeping on it" made my subconscious, muscle memory, or whatever catch up to what I wanted to do. If I kept hammering on it I'd always hit a wall.
Click to expand...

I do more "practice" this way than physically playing.

I really don't like writing out solos, occasionally there'll be a part I have to practice to play right, but overall I prefer the feel of them if I improvise them and out of 300 takes, nail something appealing. Some times it just doesn't happen, so I'll marinate on it over night, come back the next day and usually get it in the first 20 takes.

The book I always talk about, The Science Of Mind, teaches that the mind is made of two parts; the Thinker and the Doer. The Doer does whatever the Thinker tells it to, it's our conscious and subconscious minds working on autopilot and whatever you empower The Thinker with, the Doer sets about doing. Which is why it's so important to monitor and be aware of what thoughts you're giving power to and which ones you're dismissing.
 
I've been spending an equal time or maybe more lately on drums.. My goal is to produce what I hear in my head and being able to physically play the drums is an integral must in doing so.. I'm starting way too late :confused:
 
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