What Are You Working On Right Now?

[la szum]

I should do that myself. I normally get up between 5-5:30am during the week, would be a nice change to just drink my coffee and play guitar. Not something I've ever done before work.

I found I have too many excuses, and far less focus and energy after work in the evenings. I
also have chores and food to prep and make if I want to eat.

So getting up and playing first thing in the morning seemed like a good thing to do. I am
not 100% in my commitment and some days I have to pass, but most days I follow through
with this and it has helped both my mood and my chops. Mostly.

 

[duzie]

I’m programmed to be an early riser.
Unless recovering from a late night.
I believe my mind is fresher and more accepting of learning before the drama of the day ensues.

 

[Fishbulb]

Outside of songs to teach students/play at cover & fill-in gigs, lately I've been slowly working on:

- Clint Black - Summer's Comin'
- Whitesnake - Bad Boys
- whatever Van Halen stuff strikes my fancy
- I'd like to go back and work on the Master of Puppets record and get my downstroke picking back to where it was when I was 16
- working thru Chris Brooks' Advanced Arpeggio Soloing book

This year I wanted to put an emphasis on expanding my repertoire in two ways: learning the guitar parts to the glut of cover songs I know on bass (been playing bass as a working musician more for the past 15 years) and learning songs I dig, but treating that process the same as if I was learning the song in order to play it for somebody live. This means making a really good chart, dissecting the parts note for note, and dialing in the tone as best I can. For way too long I have put anything I've wanted to work on for myself on the far backburner, treated it as an afterthought really.

 

[la szum]

Been diving into using Diminished Arpeggios. 1 b3 b5 bb7 repeat.

They really sing with my diminished and diminishing existence.





Really neat hearing these being used all over Dream Theater's Parasomnia. Getting some
definite Mastodon vibes with them, too, and it also sounds killer weaving in some hyper-muted
Al Di Meola alternate picking. Like a convergence of worlds. Love it!

 

[la szum]

Never really dove too much into Vinnie Moore before this past year.
Why not? Because I am dumb.

I knew who he was. I heard his music, but I don't think I owned any
of his work---while I did own Albums by MacAlpine, Gilbert, Racer X,
Yngwie, Greg Howe, Friedman, and Becker.

Man, I am really digging his melodicism. Was he the most melodic of all
the Shrapnel Shredders? Maybe he was.

Just really tasty playing. And still shreddy.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I found I have too many excuses, and far less focus and energy after work in the evenings. I
also have chores and food to prep and make if I want to eat.

So getting up and playing first thing in the morning seemed like a good thing to do. I am
not 100% in my commitment and some days I have to pass, but most days I follow through
with this and it has helped both my mood and my chops. Mostly.

I've noticed something about myself with guitar, I seem to practice in my head a lot when away from it - if that makes sense? I try to visualize the experience and go over chords and scales, theories and melodies in my mind. Not sure how much it helps overall, but it's at least a good primer for when I actually pick up a guitar. Mental is half the battle.

 

[la szum]

As you probably know, there have been double-blind studies done on the
power and efficacy of visualization and mental imagery. Shit works.

It's massively popular in sports and athletics, because it is so effective.

 

[FuzzyAce]

As you probably know, there have been double-blind studies done on the
power and efficacy of visualization and mental imagery. Shit works.

It's massively popular in sports and athletics, because it is so effective.

It does make sense, just not something I'm always consciously aware of. I do it with woodworking too, I guess it's like a designer's way of thinking (but also knowing how to construct)?

 

[la szum]

That reminds me of a cool story, FA. If I can remember, I'll share it tomorrow. Have to
head off to practice with the guys right now---where my mental work will be put to an
actual test!

 

[TSJMajesty]

Never really dove too much into Vinnie Moore before this past year.
Why not? Because I am dumb.

I knew who he was. I heard his music, but I don't think I owned any
of his work---while I did own Albums by MacAlpine, Gilbert, Racer X,
Yngwie, Greg Howe, Friedman, and Becker.

Man, I am really digging his melodicism. Was he the most melodic of all
the Shrapnel Shredders? Maybe he was.

Just really tasty playing. And still shreddy.

"You could be Vinnie Moore and you are hammering me like that I am out. "

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Just recorded an intro line and going to have lunch and then teach...

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

You don’t happen to write articles about blues triads and PRS Hollowbodies do you?

Not really
I did make this a while back:


And I wouldn’t mind a PRS archtop

 

[TSJMajesty]

Playing around with stuff from the new DT Parasomnia. Shit I'll never get, but still fun to play, because it stretches me.

Atm, the fast riff towards the end of the Bend The Clock solo (yes Dave, lol, had to go there!)

It's a bit different than any other JP stuff that I've come across, in that it involves playing 4 notes on the high e. Which is totally new territory for me. You have to rearrange your fingers as the solo ascends. And of course, since that's not quite hard enough, it skips over the b string!

Oh and this part, which is such a cool-sounding lick!

Cued to it here:

 

[Mikael Dez]

I decided jazz wasn’t scratching my itch so I asked my teacher to teach me Bluegrass - I learned Wildwood Flower this weekend:

Wildwood Flower

Listen to Wildwood Flower by Mikael Dez #np on #SoundCloud

on.soundcloud.com

 

[Fishbulb]

I decided jazz wasn’t scratching my itch so I asked my teacher to teach me Bluegrass - so I learned Wildwood Flower this weekend:

One of my fav records gives you both.

 

[la szum]

I decided jazz wasn’t scratching my itch so I asked my teacher to teach me Bluegrass - so I learned Wildwood Flower this weekend:

Wildwood Flower

Listen to Wildwood Flower by Mikael Dez #np on #SoundCloud

on.soundcloud.com

Sweet! You watch this yet, MD??

 

[la szum]

One of my fav records gives you both.

Love it! Billy talks at length about Grisman as an icon and seminal influence on him growing up.

 

[la szum]

Playing around with stuff from the new DT Parasomnia. Shit I'll never get, but still fun to play, because it stretches me.

This is pretty much me with everything I work on.

I do think incrementally it adds up. I think.

What's that saying, "Aim for the Stars and you might just reach the Moon?"

 

[Mikael Dez]

Sweet! You watch this yet, MD??

Oh yes lol - that’s the goal!

 

[Mikael Dez]

Working on this now: