What Are You Working On Right Now?
- Thread starter Jarick
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Ed DeGenaro
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Cheesecake
That record also has Tony Rice on guitar, the GOAT of bluegrass guitar in my mind (I don't think that's a particularly hot take)
Mikael Dez
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Unfortunately I’ve found Bluegrass on my own - really wish this stuff was played around me when I was young. Too much Guns N Roses, not enough Tony Rice lol
TSJMajesty
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Man, I've pretty much given up on that one. My left hand just doesn't have that speed, yet I can pick sextuplets about 15% faster than that, depending on the riff. It's the pull-offs that do me in.
Maybe if I worked on building strength in those fingers...? Idk. Fuck it.
TSJMajesty
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The ending breakdown solo in Innocence Faded.
Ever since I first heard that, I fell in love with it! Even before I understood what it was he was doing. How he follows the chord progression with arpeggios is simple, elegant, yet genius!
Each time I go back to it, it takes me less time to memorize it again, and I get a little closer to the tempo. This is one JP solo I'd really love to get, and I think it's within reach.
And for some reason, it reminds me of Steve Vai. Probably not the arpeggios, but the part that precedes it.
SO tasty!
Cued-
Ever since I first heard that, I fell in love with it! Even before I understood what it was he was doing. How he follows the chord progression with arpeggios is simple, elegant, yet genius!
Each time I go back to it, it takes me less time to memorize it again, and I get a little closer to the tempo. This is one JP solo I'd really love to get, and I think it's within reach.
And for some reason, it reminds me of Steve Vai. Probably not the arpeggios, but the part that precedes it.
SO tasty!
Cued-
TSJMajesty
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Man I am so stoked!! I got that end solo arpeggio section of Innocence Faded totally memorized, then after trying certain sections different ways, I landed on the best fingerings for me, while keeping all the positions the same as its played (even though I did try it in the past w/o the string skips, but it's actually the easiest way to play it.)
It's 16th notes @ 128 bpm, so I started at 100, but playing 8th notes, making sure I have all the proper muting so as to keep all the string changes clean. Went up 5 bpm's until I got to 160, then took it down to 80 and played 16th notes.
From there I bumped it up in real small increments, and ended up at 90.
And even at that tempo, it sounds fast to me, but getting the rest of it is going to be a bitch!
BUT, that's the best I've ever played it. So that makes me happy, since I know I'm getting better. Even though my progress is slooooowwwww.
So that's like 80% up to tempo, just like most everything I try to learn now, that I never bothered with back when my fingers & brain would've been much more receptive to pushing myself like I've been doing the past 6 years!
Learn the difficult stuff when you're young, boys & girls! Allz I'm sayin...
It's 16th notes @ 128 bpm, so I started at 100, but playing 8th notes, making sure I have all the proper muting so as to keep all the string changes clean. Went up 5 bpm's until I got to 160, then took it down to 80 and played 16th notes.
From there I bumped it up in real small increments, and ended up at 90.
And even at that tempo, it sounds fast to me, but getting the rest of it is going to be a bitch!
BUT, that's the best I've ever played it. So that makes me happy, since I know I'm getting better. Even though my progress is slooooowwwww.
So that's like 80% up to tempo, just like most everything I try to learn now, that I never bothered with back when my fingers & brain would've been much more receptive to pushing myself like I've been doing the past 6 years!
Learn the difficult stuff when you're young, boys & girls! Allz I'm sayin...
TSJMajesty
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Got 95, 3x's in a row with no mistakes, but starting to get some note overlap.
I get like this and just don't want to put the guitar down. But then I don't want to get up for work in 5 hours either!
D
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Try taking a rest day. When shedding a fast lick, I find that if I return to it after a day away from it, my speed has increased.Got 95, 3x's in a row with no mistakes, but starting to get some note overlap.
I get like this and just don't want to put the guitar down. But then I don't want to get up for work in 5 hours either!
TSJMajesty
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That's exactly what I was thinking.
I played it some more, lol! But I jumped from 95 to 105, and it wasn't terrible. I might've made it through once. But then, to reinforce it, I stayed at 105, but cut back to 8th notes, played each one once (unless I made a mistake), went up 5 beats each time, and stopped at 160. Started having brain farts (getting sleepy), but the muscle memory carried me through about half of them. Which is what this whole thing will need at tempo.
I think I can get it, but I can tell there will be some bits that will need repetitive practice, just in certain parts. Just to tie it all together.
Jazz Padd
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My music activities are two, participating in jazz jam sessions and performing solo sets. However, these are more or less mutually exclusive; I can only do one at a time, as I’m not very adept at code switching.
Just finished a solo set, a “Beatles Suite,” that took 2 months to prep, culminating in a performance for an audience of 120. With that behind me, I’m now re-adjusting back to the jazz jam session modality and plan to re-integrate into the jam scene in mid-April.
I usually do a couple of those formal one-off sets per year, 2-3 months of focus for each, and then back to informal jazz jams, which needs a different sort of attention.
I wish I could do both simultaneously, but my mind and hands don’t work that way so I’ve learned to work with my limitations. It’s almost like an ongoing cycle of learning and forgetting, and then re-learning, etc.
So at the moment I’m revisiting the jazz standard repertoire, style and sensibility. I usually begin with the oft-called tunes, eg. Days of Wine and Roses, Autumn Leaves and a few other core tunes that everyone knows. Jams are a social activity and one needs a baseline from which to join. Each time the jam cycle returns I try to add a few less oft-called tunes, like Well You Needn’t or Watermelon Man. There are five venues nearby that hold open jazz jams, so I can join up to 7-8 per month, pending my non-music work schedule, which is demanding.
I just got an invitation to do a one-off set in August, so to prep for that I’ll need to jazz jam less during June, July. And so it goes.
It’s all just playing guitar of course, but the repertoire, technique and audience differ, and takes me time to switch. But it’s fun.
Just finished a solo set, a “Beatles Suite,” that took 2 months to prep, culminating in a performance for an audience of 120. With that behind me, I’m now re-adjusting back to the jazz jam session modality and plan to re-integrate into the jam scene in mid-April.
I usually do a couple of those formal one-off sets per year, 2-3 months of focus for each, and then back to informal jazz jams, which needs a different sort of attention.
I wish I could do both simultaneously, but my mind and hands don’t work that way so I’ve learned to work with my limitations. It’s almost like an ongoing cycle of learning and forgetting, and then re-learning, etc.
So at the moment I’m revisiting the jazz standard repertoire, style and sensibility. I usually begin with the oft-called tunes, eg. Days of Wine and Roses, Autumn Leaves and a few other core tunes that everyone knows. Jams are a social activity and one needs a baseline from which to join. Each time the jam cycle returns I try to add a few less oft-called tunes, like Well You Needn’t or Watermelon Man. There are five venues nearby that hold open jazz jams, so I can join up to 7-8 per month, pending my non-music work schedule, which is demanding.
I just got an invitation to do a one-off set in August, so to prep for that I’ll need to jazz jam less during June, July. And so it goes.
It’s all just playing guitar of course, but the repertoire, technique and audience differ, and takes me time to switch. But it’s fun.
Byrdman
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Man, I've pretty much given up on that one. My left hand just doesn't have that speed, yet I can pick sextuplets about 15% faster than that, depending on the riff. It's the pull-offs that do me in.
Maybe if I worked on building strength in those fingers...? Idk. Fuck it.
My instructor told me that I may never be able to play it at speed, but we are going to learn it. The concepts, lack there of (like that chromatic stuff going on after the 2 runs down and up in the beginning) , and techniques are what he is wanting me to learn.
Doing this probably a thousand times over the weekend, has helped me relax my picking arm better which has made me faster with better accuracy already.
Jarick
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Bit the bullet and bought the "Anytune" app for Mac, which seems like an updated version of the Amazing Slow Downer. Turns out it's not really compatible with Apple Music because of DRM which is annoying. But found a way around that exporting audio from YouTube.
Works really nice for really hearing what's going on in a song. I wanted to learn to play King's X Over My Head really clean, and now can really slow down and listen to the details like what Ty's doing in his attack. And even in the solo, I hadn't heard before the 7th on the opening bend so clearly, and can just hone in on those little details.
I always feel like a hack playing solos, so learning some of these in detail at slow speeds and coming up to pitch could be great.
Works really nice for really hearing what's going on in a song. I wanted to learn to play King's X Over My Head really clean, and now can really slow down and listen to the details like what Ty's doing in his attack. And even in the solo, I hadn't heard before the 7th on the opening bend so clearly, and can just hone in on those little details.
I always feel like a hack playing solos, so learning some of these in detail at slow speeds and coming up to pitch could be great.
TSJMajesty
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So I went back to Innocence Faded again tonight, and I was again reminded of a pretty important fact about getting these types of Petrucci solos up to tempo...
Rather than just try to learn this solo, the better approach would be to zero in on just practicing string-skipping arpeggios. JP probably sat for hours and hours at a time, for days/weeks/months just doing them, and then he ended up incorporating them into a solo. (Or maybe he even wrote that particular riff around an etude that he came up with for practicing them, who knows?)
The point is, if I wanted to become a good baseball player, I wouldn't just try to swing a bat fast enough to hit a fastball. I'd workout, learn all the basic skills, do all the things that form a foundation first.
And once again I'm reminded that I so wish I'd done this stuff in my 20's, instead of just winging my way through the shit I used to play (and partying too much!).
I love learning his stuff. But if I'm being real, I'm never gonna play any DT songs with any other musicians. But I may very well someday get the itch to play with other people again. And if/when that day comes, I'd be a better, more well-rounded lead guitarist if I could whip out these kinds of riffs/techniques, and put them into something of my own. Or improvised solos.
I never even played sweep-picked arpeggios until I started learning his stuff. So to practice a sweep-picked, C major arpeggio, just because it exists in one of his solos, is kinda short-sighted.
I think it's time to change my approach a bit. Things I'd really like to get better/faster at:
Single-string licks
Arpeggios, of all types and modalities- major, minor, diminished..., legato & picked, string-skipping and swept
3 nps licks, picked, and legato
As a start.
And being able to string any of this together, within an actual chord progression. Or at least know where I want to go, to be able to play this kind of stuff over chord changes. Cuz knowing the board is definitely my weakest point.
Rather than just try to learn this solo, the better approach would be to zero in on just practicing string-skipping arpeggios. JP probably sat for hours and hours at a time, for days/weeks/months just doing them, and then he ended up incorporating them into a solo. (Or maybe he even wrote that particular riff around an etude that he came up with for practicing them, who knows?)
The point is, if I wanted to become a good baseball player, I wouldn't just try to swing a bat fast enough to hit a fastball. I'd workout, learn all the basic skills, do all the things that form a foundation first.
And once again I'm reminded that I so wish I'd done this stuff in my 20's, instead of just winging my way through the shit I used to play (and partying too much!).
I love learning his stuff. But if I'm being real, I'm never gonna play any DT songs with any other musicians. But I may very well someday get the itch to play with other people again. And if/when that day comes, I'd be a better, more well-rounded lead guitarist if I could whip out these kinds of riffs/techniques, and put them into something of my own. Or improvised solos.
I never even played sweep-picked arpeggios until I started learning his stuff. So to practice a sweep-picked, C major arpeggio, just because it exists in one of his solos, is kinda short-sighted.
I think it's time to change my approach a bit. Things I'd really like to get better/faster at:
Single-string licks
Arpeggios, of all types and modalities- major, minor, diminished..., legato & picked, string-skipping and swept
3 nps licks, picked, and legato
As a start.
And being able to string any of this together, within an actual chord progression. Or at least know where I want to go, to be able to play this kind of stuff over chord changes. Cuz knowing the board is definitely my weakest point.
This is a lofty goal but knowing the board is definitely going to help just about everything else come into much sharper focus, at least it did for me. And I was like you, someone who didn't learn this stuff when I was in my 20s when I should have!
TSJMajesty
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I agree. I just played Pachelbel's Canon as a string skipping exercise, and made it a point to name the chord shapes as I played, and identify which note of each one was the root. I think if I start to name whatever patterns I happen to be playing, to whatever chord they're based on, that'll greatly help.
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If anyone wants to know how this turned out, you can check it out here. There are some metal vibes in it to dedicated to this forum (wait for it):
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