What Are You Working On Right Now?

[PLX]

 

[la szum]

I've been focusing mainly on alt-picking technique, and I'm getting close to where I'd like to be, but I thought about it tonight, and there's still so much I want to get better at, that I also neglected when I was much younger:

• More legato
• Get faster at trills
• Single n.p.s licks
• Arpeggios- swept & string skipping, both picked and legato
• Tremolo use
• Tapping

My goal is to get really well-rounded as far as what I can play.
And then I want to go beyond my very basic understanding of theory, and learn the fretboard better.

It can take lifetimes..... .... simply because the guitar is so diverse and capable of
such a wide range of musical styles and sensibilities. Throw in tying it all together with
various amps/cabs/fx and it just feels like the journey is infinite and unending to me.

 

[TSJMajesty]

When you say you want to learn the fretboard better, where are you at with it right now?

Uh..., beginner. I'm bad. I have to think about the note names unless it's on the E string. I know patterns, but if I wanted to solo over chord changes (as opposed to just noodling in the parent key, which is not how I want to improvise), I'd have to work it out ahead of time.

 

[TSJMajesty]

It can take lifetimes..... :lol .... simply because the guitar is so diverse and capable of
such a wide range of musical styles and sensibilities. Throw in tying it all together with
various amps/cabs/fx and it just feels like the journey is infinite and unending to me.

Yeah, I think I'm coming to grips with that.

 

[TSJMajesty]

View attachment 46064

Back on this. Still at 100 bpm, same as where I left off, but I gotta think I can get it, if I just keep inching the speed up, bit by bit. I can play linear stuff faster than the 128 that this is, so all that's left is getting the motions ingrained I suppose.

The main reason I want this is because the picking pattern will then translate to other string-skipping arpeggios, and all I have to do is change the notes to form a different chord.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Got to 106, but felt like I was losing control, so I played it as triplets, then changed the tempo to that speed-80, then worked back up 5 bpm at a time, but when I got back to 105, it felt comfortable. So I went for 110. And then it felt out of control again!

Man this is difficult! So back it down again, and come back up. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Hopefully I can raise my 'back down to X tempo' by 5 bpm each time, and get it 5 bpm faster each time. Maybe after 1000 more reps I'll have it!

 

[TSJMajesty]

I would think this stuff would be coming faster for me by now, but this string-skipping shit is a motherfucker!

I can see why Petrucci practiced 6 hours a day.

 

[ᛗᛜᛜᚺDᛜᎶ Ꮤᛨᚳᚴ]

Whatever you are working on right now, you should prepare to start submitting it to the TGF "Do Something Challenge"! Season 9 will begin on June 29, 2025! Details can be found at https://thegearforum.com/threads/tgf-do-something-challenge-season-9-coming-soon.9190/

Looking forward to participation from each and every one of you ;~))

​

 

[TSJMajesty]

I just corrected a motion that I think is going to really help me get this up to tempo.

Every pick stroke needs to be straight, but as I got around 105, I was once again, "swinging" my pick up and over the 1st D/19 when changing from a upward to a downward pick slant, which made me lose control, and miss the B/20 half the time.

So I'm back at 70, and really focused on making that pick slant direction change immediately after I hit that D/19. And same thing on the e/17 (but that one wasn't giving me trouble.)

And now I'm thinking of my motions as "cutting Z's through the strings", with NO 'rounded/circular' movements, and it is definitely helping.

I realized the same exact thing when doing that fast riff in Home, but not sure why I didn't catch it sooner in this lick.

 

[TSJMajesty]

View attachment 47479

I just corrected a motion that I think is going to really help me get this up to tempo.

Every pick stroke needs to be straight, but as I got around 105, I was once again, "swinging" my pick up and over the 1st D/19 when changing from a upward to a downward pick slant, which made me lose control, and miss the B/20 half the time.

So I'm back at 70, and really focused on making that pick slant direction change immediately after I hit that D/19. And same thing on the e/17 (but that one wasn't giving me trouble.)

And now I'm thinking of my motions as "cutting Z's through the strings", with NO 'rounded/circular' movements, and it is definitely helping.

I realized the same exact thing when doing that fast riff in Home, but not sure why I didn't catch it sooner in this lick.

70 to 90 is now no problem at all. I could play it @ 90 all day, with 99 out of 100 times being perfect. So now when I "reinforce" whatever gains in speed I get, I'll start at 80.

Took a break at 90, but when I get back at it, I'm gonna see if I can get to 120, 1 bpm at a time. I really wish I could set up a metronome to slowly increase its speed, without me having to stop each time.

I guess in the Axe III I could set up 20 presets in succession, and have the metronome go up 1 bpm on each one, then use a footswitch to just increment up.

Yesterday I did go for it @ 128, but even though I could get through it, every time there was some kind of mistake, or I just fumbled it completely. Might've gotten it 2 times out of 40 tries.

It sounds almost violin-like on the neck PU! Cool fuckin lick, for sure!

 

[metropolis_4]

I’m working on nothing, and it’s glorious

I’ve been too busy the past few months and it’s nice to take a break and not have something I have to work on.

The only thing I’m doing at the moment is reading Jeffrey Campbell’s memoir

 

[bikescene]

I went through a few pages of Noad’s Solo Guitar Playing 1 book for the first time in a few years.

I’ve been working on Bach’s Minuet in G on piano recently and figured I should work on applying sight reading to guitar as well. Sight reading on guitar usually ends up in memorization of a piece rather than real time reading for me.

 

[Warmart]

Diary of a Madman , so I can better deal with you dudes, lmao

 

[la szum]

Diary of a Madman , so I can better deal with you dudes, lmao

Love it! I remember learning that and being the first of my friends to do so, and boy were they all impressed.

Especially that intro. They all wanted me to show them how to play it. Which was the last time they were
impressed with anything I have ever done!

 

[la szum]

Still having fun putting on some solo Classical Piano and then trying to decipher the Key Signature
and work out some sections on the guitar.

 

[PLX]

Whatever you are working on right now, you should prepare to start submitting it to the TGF "Do Something Challenge"! Season 9 will begin on June 29, 2025! Details can be found at https://thegearforum.com/threads/tgf-do-something-challenge-season-9-coming-soon.9190/

Looking forward to participation from each and every one of you ;~))

​

 

[Warmart]

Love it! I remember learning that and being the first of my friends to do so, and boy were they all impressed.

Especially that intro. They all wanted me to show them how to play it. Which was the last time they were
impressed with anything I have ever done!

I hated it when I first heard the album, lmao. Stupid High School kid!

Honestly, it is now in my top 3 Ozzy songs and I feel like it has everything. Having a blast so far.

And I'm sure you impressed them many more times than you'll admit.

 

[Stone]

I hated it when I first heard the album, lmao. Stupid High School kid!

Honestly, it is now in my top 3 Ozzy songs and I feel like it has everything. Having a blast so far.

And I'm sure you impressed them many more times than you'll admit.

 

[Stone]

Some Tallica

For Whom The Bell Tolls