What Are You Working On Right Now?

[Byrdman]

Currently working on Whitesnake's Give Me All Your Love. I'm the rhythm guitarist and the rhythm's are pretty cool. I have the Intro & first 2 verses and going to try and nail down the chorus this weekend.

Our new singer is a huge 80's guy and so far we have learned Bathroom Wall, New Girl Now, Dancing the Night Away, and Just Got Lucky. It's been a lot of fun learning these songs from my High School years. Challenging, but definitely a lot of fun so far!

 

[Byrdman]

Currently working on Whitesnake's Give Me All Your Love. I'm the rhythm guitarist and the rhythm's are pretty cool. I have the Intro & first 2 verses and going to try and nail down the chorus this weekend.

Our new singer is a huge 80's guy and so far we have learned Bathroom Wall, New Girl Now, Dancing the Night Away, and Just Got Lucky. It's been a lot of fun learning these songs from my High School years. Challenging, but definitely a lot of fun so far!

I got lucky since the chorus is the same as the verse, lol... On to the next section, rhythm behind the solo parts....

 

[László]

I've been beating myself up to finish this piece. It started as pure improv, but I have tweaked it here and there and punched in to make it suck less. The changes are small. So is my talent level.

I've also been working with some new processing plugins to make the audio quality better. I think it's gradually getting there. This is the third iteration. The tempo is slow because I can't come up with ideas all that quickly when improvising!

A Snack

A Snack by Leslie Schefman

leslieschefman.com

 

[Stratzrus]

I've been getting to know my Tone King Imperial Preamp using it with a pair of Archangel V3 Fender FRs.

The tone is exactly what I wanted from it. I can practice using a classic '60s Fender combo tone then switch to the Lead Channel for some Blues Rock gain when I just want to have some fun after practicing. It's like a baby brother to my '66 Vibrolux Reverb.

It's a great little preamp intentionally limited to the basics. Many are integrating it into a pedalboard but I've been enjoying using it by itself plugged straight into an amp.

Surprisingly, for a pedal of its type, it has a very powerful routing design with a multiplicity of in/out options.

I'm looking forward to getting a Fractal AM4 but I'll definitely keep the TKIP. It's a wonderful piece of gear to use.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Gonna focus on some single nps riffs for a while. More hard shit. YEA! Stuff like Glasgow Kiss:

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

I've been getting to know my Tone King Imperial Preamp using it with a pair of Archangel V3 Fender FRs.

The tone is exactly what I wanted from it. I can practice using a classic '60s Fender combo tone then switch to the Lead Channel for some Blues Rock gain when I just want to have some fun after practicing. It's like a baby brother to my '66 Vibrolux Reverb.

It's a great little preamp intentionally limited to the basics. Many are integrating it into a pedalboard but I've been enjoying using it by itself plugged straight into an amp.

Surprisingly, for a pedal of its type, it has a very powerful routing design with a multiplicity of in/out options.

I'm looking forward to getting a Fractal AM4 but I'll definitely keep the TKIP. It's a wonderful piece of gear to use.

I love the routing they took from their syn preamps.

I pretty much hate their idea of how a power section should sound or maybe I just don’t like emulations for power stages.
I mean this, Syn2 and X88 all sound better through the real 1 watt power section of the Fryette GPDI-it than their built in 0 watt thing.

That said the routing and pres kill.
I got wired that in the Fryette’s external amp loop it goes into the TK, in it external p loop it goes into the Syn2, and in its thing goes to x88.

10 channel preamp. Routed into Ox, and AM4 as well as closed back greenback.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Working on a descending then ascending Pentatonic-based, mostly 2 n.p.s., lick, something that should be fairly easy. And if you play riffs w/o accents relative to the timing, it could be. But in this case it's triplets, which adds a whole other wrinkle to making it sound right.

The accents alternate btw downstrokes and upstrokes, which I have trouble with. So it's on the practice list tonight.

Since it's mostly an even # of notes-per-string, at least you can keep to a downward pick slant, (or upward, if you're a masochist, and start your licks on an upstroke, lol) until you get to the ending, where you can continue to alt-pick it, or do a mini-sweep.

Here it is. It's a nice-sounding lick!

And of course it's fast, 165 bpm, since it's Petrucci!

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Working on a descending then ascending Pentatonic-based, mostly 2 n.p.s., lick, something that should be fairly easy. And if you play riffs w/o accents relative to the timing, it could be. But in this case it's triplets, which adds a whole other wrinkle to making it sound right.

The accents alternate btw downstrokes and upstrokes, which I have trouble with. So it's on the practice list tonight.

Since it's mostly an even # of notes-per-string, at least you can keep to a downward pick slant, (or upward, if you're a masochist, and start your licks on an upstroke, lol) until you get to the ending, where you can continue to alt-pick it, or do a mini-sweep.

Here it is. It's a nice-sounding lick!

View attachment 59401
And of course it's fast, 165 bpm, since it's Petrucci!

Not sure you care but that hexatonic thing is like the go to thing for ambiguous situations.

You can see it as minor pentatonic plus the second, or major pentatonic plus the seventh.
Alternatively it can be seen as a subtracted scale, as in major without the 4th. Or aeolian without the b6th.

I just see it as the the minor triad with a major triad a whole step below as in Dm and C.

As for fast it’s the equivalent of 124 in 16th. So from the stuff you usually post it’s fairly mellow.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Not sure you care but that hexatonic thing is like the go to thing for ambiguous situations.

You can see it as minor pentatonic plus the second, or major pentatonic plus the seventh.
Alternatively it can be seen as a subtracted scale, as in major without the 4th. Or aeolian without the b6th.

I just see it as the the minor triad with a major triad a whole step below as in Dm and C.

As for fast it’s the equivalent of 124 in 16th. So from the stuff you usually post it’s fairly mellow.

Oh, no doubt it is one of his milder riffs. The triplet timing placed over top of mostly 2 notes on a string, is what trips me up. Somewhat.

And the more string changes there are, over a period of time, or the less notes per string, the harder it is for me.

You may not know this, but my back story as far as my playing history goes, is that I never started getting this serious about my technical abilities until I was in my early 50's. By that time I had so many poor habits, that I had to go backwards quite a ways before I could more forward.

Sometimes I feel like I've really only been playing for about 10 years, and only the last 5 years where I've been putting in serious practice time.

I've said it before- I so wish I'd taken my playing this seriously 30 years sooner.

I'm slowly making peace with the fact that I'm just too old to ever be able to do the things on guitar that I'd love to be able to do. I waited too long.

Some of these riffs I've practiced for years, and still can't get them up to tempo. That string-skipping arpeggio riff I posted a bit ago, I still can't get that past a comfortable 105 bpm. And I practice it for hours at a time.

I've literally held off on buying a new guitar I'd like to own, partly because of the age thing. Plus, most days when I practice, my hands hurt for at least 30-45 minutes. (Beginnings of arthritis.) It's almost to the point where it's getting to be not fun any more, because I don't see much improvement for all the effort I put in. And I have been practicing the lessons you posted too. I play every day.

Which really sucks overall for me, because playing guitar is my life's biggest joy. Well, maybe 2nd biggest, after music in general.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Oh, no doubt it is one of his milder riffs. The triplet timing placed over top of mostly 2 notes on a string, is what trips me up. Somewhat.

And the more string changes there are, over a period of time, or the less notes per string, the harder it is for me.

You may not know this, but my back story as far as my playing history goes, is that I never started getting this serious about my technical abilities until I was in my early 50's. By that time I had so many poor habits, that I had to go backwards quite a ways before I could more forward.

Sometimes I feel like I've really only been playing for about 10 years, and only the last 5 years where I've been putting in serious practice time.

I've said it before- I so wish I'd taken my playing this seriously 30 years sooner.

I'm slowly making peace with the fact that I'm just too old to ever be able to do the things on guitar that I'd love to be able to do. I waited too long.

Some of these riffs I've practiced for years, and still can't get them up to tempo. That string-skipping arpeggio riff I posted a bit ago, I still can't get that past a comfortable 105 bpm. And I practice it for hours at a time.

I've literally held off on buying a new guitar I'd like to own, partly because of the age thing. Plus, most days when I practice, my hands hurt for at least 30-45 minutes. (Beginnings of arthritis.) It's almost to the point where it's getting to be not fun any more, because I don't see much improvement for all the effort I put in. And I have been practicing the lessons you posted too. I play every day.

Which really sucks overall for me, because playing guitar is my life's biggest joy. Well, maybe 2nd biggest, after music in general.

This even notes with 3 feel/odd odd notes with 2 feel thing.
I battled that until realised sixtuplets are “merely 16th sped up to 1.5x speed. The accent thing came easy enough by consciously separating lines that were locked to rhythmically having the up/down locked to up/downstrokes and lines were I had to feel it opposite.
A mental rather than technical hurdle.

I previously tried it the practice everything starting on an upstroke. Made no sense for me.
What helped was learning to shift lines and still keeping the timing right.
What I mean is if I have a line that starts on a downstroke and belongs placement wise on the up I’ll be damned if I fight the easier way.

That was one of my big take aways when I transcribed for the Benson course.

As for health and hands not getting younger.

In October I suddenly had some medical issues. Among other things 3 1/2 fingers of my left hand were numb yet hyper sensitive.

The diagnosis and treatments were idiotic.
I gave up on what the docs muttered and decided to go with my old man’s advice he had when I got hurt as a kid. “Just walk it the fuck off”
It’s still affecting me but I clawed myself back from having a hard time going from C to Am campfire chords to be able to do what I could prior .
It feels hell but it is what it is.
I’m not gonna be any more resistance than my head already does. Lol

In other words maybe you seeing immediate or short term pay out might be deceiving.
Unless you’re still at it.

Instead of like others not even trying and blathering nonsense that there’s no use cause a lack of talent. Or whatever other weird reasons people find to have resistance they can fold over.

If you like, since I’ve done this at college level for a living I’d get together with ya via zoom and see if I can spot some obvious things that might keep you from getting to your goals.

And no I’m not trying to sell you something. This is a freebie offer.

 

[la szum]

There is no one right way to technique. There just isn't. A million and one influencers
and wanna be influencers on the Youtubez and Interwebs will try to convince people
otherwise (Hello conflict of interest!). They are wrong.

It doesn't matter how you hold the pick (within obvious, common sense reason). It
doesn't matter where you rest your hand, or if you float your hand. It doesn't matter
if you play lightly and pick softly.... or if you have a deathgrip on the guitar and pick
and squeeze the ass out of every note.

In this day and age we can literally compare the different approaches and methods of
the most iconic players, and when we do, we realize there is virtually ZERO consensus
about how to approach it all.

You can shred with the fingers on your picking hand flayed outward (George Lynch, EVH) or
you can shred your ass off with your fingers damn near in a fist and folded into your palm
(Zakk Wylde).

Heck, you can even employ the odd looking Marty Friedman method of holding a pick....
which it seems no one else uses..... but he is able to wail with.

The absolutism related to guitar technique is akin to a veritable religion with the assumption
that there is only "one, true, real" approach.

It's all bullshit. The greats prove it over and over and over and over again.

(Just an observation on general trends.... and cultural morasses.)

 

[TSJMajesty]

There is no one right way to technique. There just isn't. A million and one influencers
and wanna be influencers on the Youtubez and Interwebs will try to convince people
otherwise (Hello conflict of interest!). They are wrong.

It doesn't matter how you hold the pick (within obvious, common sense reason). It
doesn't matter where you rest your hand, or if you float your hand. It doesn't matter
if you play lightly and pick softly.... or if you have a deathgrip on the guitar and pick
and squeeze the ass out of every note.

In this day and age we can literally compare the different approaches and methods of
the most iconic players, and when we do, we realize there is virtually ZERO consensus
about how to approach it all.

You can shred with the fingers on your picking hand flayed outward (George Lynch, EVH) or
you can shred your ass off with your fingers damn near in a fist and folded into your palm
(Zakk Wylde).

Heck, you can even employ the odd looking Marty Friedman method of holding a pick....
which it seems no one else uses..... but he is able to wail with.

The absolutism related to guitar technique is akin to a veritable religion with the assumption
that there is only "one, true, real" approach.

It's all bullshit. The greats prove it over and over and over and over again.

(Just an observation on general trends.... and cultural morasses.)

I agree with you, except for the death grip part. Sure, there can be times when that's called for, but I can't see how playing like that constantly, can be good for your hand's health, long-term.

I took one of Baxty's classes at the Petrucci camp last August, and he encouraged something completely different than Jason Richardson, whom I also sat in one of his classes.

Baxty- Keep your palm at the same point on the bridge, and rotate your hand as you reach to the higher pitch strings, whereas...

Jason- Move your hand downward/upward as you traverse the strings.

This is one of those, "If it works for you, fine. Use it," but, if you keep your palm in the same place, as you rotate your hand, the pick angle changes from string to string. Unless you also adjust the pick grip with your fingers, which just seems to add more complexity.

I've tried it both ways, and to me, having basically the same pick angle when hitting different strings certainly seems better for consistency. And if I was a teacher, I'd let students know about both, while making them aware of the pros and cons, and just let them decide. Tell them to stay with whichever method gives them better results.

Both are beasts when it comes to technical playing (even though I don't dig the music- I just don't hear the musicality like I do with JP), so clearly it works for them, to be using such differing approaches.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

I agree with you, except for the death grip part. Sure, there can be times when that's called for, but I can't see how playing like that constantly, can be good for your hand's health, long-term.

I took one of Baxty's classes at the Petrucci camp last August, and he encouraged something completely different than Jason Richardson, whom I also sat in one of his classes.

Baxty- Keep your palm at the same point on the bridge, and rotate your hand as you reach to the higher pitch strings, whereas...

Jason- Move your hand downward/upward as you traverse the strings.

This is one of those, "If it works for you, fine. Use it," but, if you keep your palm in the same place, as you rotate your hand, the pick angle changes from string to string. Unless you also adjust the pick grip with your fingers, which just seems to add more complexity.

I've tried it both ways, and to me, having basically the same pick angle when hitting different strings certainly seems better for consistency. And if I was a teacher, I'd let students know about both, while making them aware of the pros and cons, and just let them decide. Tell them to stay with whichever method gives them better results.

Both are beasts when it comes to technical playing (even though I don't dig the music- I just don't hear the musicality like I do with JP), so clearly it works for them, to be using such differing approaches.

There’s another thing to observe with the not moving the hand from string to string in addition to the pick angle, that semi circle move it makes increases the distance between string changes slightly.

 

[FuzzyAce]

There is no one right way to technique. There just isn't. A million and one influencers
and wanna be influencers on the Youtubez and Interwebs will try to convince people
otherwise (Hello conflict of interest!). They are wrong.

It doesn't matter how you hold the pick (within obvious, common sense reason). It
doesn't matter where you rest your hand, or if you float your hand. It doesn't matter
if you play lightly and pick softly.... or if you have a deathgrip on the guitar and pick
and squeeze the ass out of every note.

In this day and age we can literally compare the different approaches and methods of
the most iconic players, and when we do, we realize there is virtually ZERO consensus
about how to approach it all.

You can shred with the fingers on your picking hand flayed outward (George Lynch, EVH) or
you can shred your ass off with your fingers damn near in a fist and folded into your palm
(Zakk Wylde).

Heck, you can even employ the odd looking Marty Friedman method of holding a pick....
which it seems no one else uses..... but he is able to wail with.

The absolutism related to guitar technique is akin to a veritable religion with the assumption
that there is only "one, true, real" approach.

It's all bullshit. The greats prove it over and over and over and over again.

(Just an observation on general trends.... and cultural morasses.)

I totally agree. To further expand on this: adversity or no formal training early on can lead to uniqueness in one's creative approach. Which in the musical world is mostly a positive thing, imo. Though that may not hold as true in classical music, due to the higher level of expectations involved, although no two players are the same either...
We often sight our favorite musicians/guitarists for their prowess and creativeness, and almost without fail they do something against what is considered the norm. That is the overriding lesson to be learned imo, as I think that's what you're getting at @la szum .
With that said, it is also good to learn as many things as your mind and hands can handle because it opens up other possibilities (and work opportunities ), as long as you're happy and not going against your true nature.

 

[ibmorjamn]

Oh, no doubt it is one of his milder riffs. The triplet timing placed over top of mostly 2 notes on a string, is what trips me up. Somewhat.

And the more string changes there are, over a period of time, or the less notes per string, the harder it is for me.

You may not know this, but my back story as far as my playing history goes, is that I never started getting this serious about my technical abilities until I was in my early 50's. By that time I had so many poor habits, that I had to go backwards quite a ways before I could more forward.

Sometimes I feel like I've really only been playing for about 10 years, and only the last 5 years where I've been putting in serious practice time.

I've said it before- I so wish I'd taken my playing this seriously 30 years sooner.

I'm slowly making peace with the fact that I'm just too old to ever be able to do the things on guitar that I'd love to be able to do. I waited too long.

Some of these riffs I've practiced for years, and still can't get them up to tempo. That string-skipping arpeggio riff I posted a bit ago, I still can't get that past a comfortable 105 bpm. And I practice it for hours at a time.

I've literally held off on buying a new guitar I'd like to own, partly because of the age thing. Plus, most days when I practice, my hands hurt for at least 30-45 minutes. (Beginnings of arthritis.) It's almost to the point where it's getting to be not fun any more, because I don't see much improvement for all the effort I put in. And I have been practicing the lessons you posted too. I play every day.

Which really sucks overall for me, because playing guitar is my life's biggest joy. Well, maybe 2nd biggest, after music in general.

“I'm slowly making peace with the fact that I'm just too old to ever be able to do the things on guitar that I'd love to be able to do. I waited too long.”

I am exactly where you are . I just turned 66 and still think I can play songs like “ Let it Roll” by UFO.
My fingers are so bad that when I sleep the knuckle gets painful and I have to move it, it is like cracking your knuckles only the one left index.
I think my guitar days are numbered.

 

[TSJMajesty]

“I'm slowly making peace with the fact that I'm just too old to ever be able to do the things on guitar that I'd love to be able to do. I waited too long.”

I am exactly where you are . I just turned 66 and still think I can play songs like “ Let it Roll” by UFO.
My fingers are so bad that when I sleep the knuckle gets painful and I have to move it, it is like cracking your knuckles only the one left index.
I think my guitar days are numbered.

I was the first grandchild on my father's side, so his sister was only 10 years older than me, and still a young teen when we would visit her and my grandmother. I loved music so much, even as a very young child, that the first thing I would ask when we arrived was, "Hey Aunt B! Can I play your records?" To which she'd always say, "You know where they are." (The 2nd thing I'd ask, after bringing her one of the 45's was, "Which side do I like?" Haha I couldn't yet read; I was that young!)

Even with no one else in my family being nearly as musical as I was, music was my love. I'd take my little record player or transistor radio outside with me while I played in the dirt with my Hot Wheels and Tonka trucks. Later on, I did very well in school band, but dropped it in favor of guitar.

But my big trip-up was my parents' divorce, and my losing my way. And when that happens in the way it did, it can take a long time to recover from. It steals your desires of things you used to love. I refuse to take all the blame, because I wasn't yet old enough to make the best long-term decisions for myself. So never truly applying myself to guitar for those decades frustrates me.

If I'd reached my potential along the way, then started to see it slip due to age, I could handle that. But this feels like I was sort of cheated out of being able to develop a natural bent to its fullest potential, so to speak.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Guys, I can't speak for your personal situations, or the pain in your hands, but I hope you don't give up on playing guitar all together.
I don't play everyday anymore, as it gets harder after long days of working with my hands. My expectations are to do what I know I can within the limits of a particular day. Nothing wrong with pushing yourself, but time is important and playing music should be a cathartic experience more than anything. I think we all wish we could do things and play a certain way, but maybe it's not meant to be the right path for us. It doesn't make us any less of a person or musician to admit that. We can spend a ton of time chasing the wrong things, but it's never too late to chase the right things no matter how old you are.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Guys, I can't speak for your personal situations, or the pain in your hands, but I hope you don't give up on playing guitar all together.
I don't play everyday anymore, as it gets harder after long days of working with my hands. My expectations are to do what I know I can within the limits of a particular day. Nothing wrong with pushing yourself, but time is important and playing music should be a cathartic experience more than anything. I think we all wish we could do things and play a certain way, but maybe it's not meant to be the right path for us. It doesn't make us any less of a person or musician to admit that. We can spend a ton of time chasing the wrong things, but it's never too late to chase the right things no matter how old you are.

Oh I'm with ya there. I just get down on myself at times, but I still enjoy this crazy pursuit of shit I'll never be able to play up to tempo! Hell, memorizing it is a lot of fun too.

Heck, I just went back to the Bark At The Moon solo last night after not playing it for months, and was surprised at how much faster I could play it. So I'm still progressing, albeit slowly.

And if I ever give up playing (highly unlikely), it won't be because of my hands.

 

[FuzzyAce]

And if I ever give up playing (highly unlikely), it won't be because of my hands.

When Ernie Ball stops making guitars?

 

[TSJMajesty]

When Ernie Ball stops making guitars?

There'll always be plenty of used ones!