OK Cliff, time for me to open up, ready or not.

I read very clearly the advice above which suggested we do things like this hundreds of times and check back in every so often. Here's me ignoring that advice and posting an early take with tons of problems. But hey, it was fun and I could use some feedback. Got the track from Pebber months ago. In retrospect, I stayed pentatonic way too much for my liking. I'll work on that. Also playing "out" still sounds like I'm just messing up. I'll work on that too.

I would greatly appreciate any and all advice the forum has to offer. Thanks in advance to those of you that watch.

Rock on dlraben! Good stuff!

I love the fact that you took it beyond just one position and played up the neck. Great licks as well. Keep posting when you can (let me know how your doing with those voicings!)....

:D

Quote: dlraben wrote in post #26

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OK Cliff, time for me to open up, ready or not.

I read very clearly the advice above which suggested we do things like this hundreds of times and check back in every so often. Here's me ignoring that advice and posting an early take with tons of problems. But hey, it was fun and I could use some feedback. Got the track from Pebber months ago. In retrospect, I stayed pentatonic way too much for my liking. I'll work on that. Also playing "out" still sounds like I'm just messing up. I'll work on that too.

I would greatly appreciate any and all advice the forum has to offer. Thanks in advance to those of you that watch.

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Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback.

I know the 14 pos major (nat. minor) scale forms pretty well, but I need to work at moving more than 1 or 2 positions in a single shift. I can derive the Har M and Mel M forms from the majors very slowly, but I need to run these WAY more to have them cold enough to use them when jamming. Maybe I'll put more time in on fewer positions so that I can at least be able to go to those scales. I was the backwards guy that learned all 14 majors/n.minors instead of learning like 1 position in 5 scales first, then 5, 7, etc.

Sorry about the mix. It sounds good from my PC. You probably have or can get the backing track. He called it "15X3B" in the "Solo_Basics" series. It's a B-minor jam with a subtle bass throughout. There are also bits where the bass drops out to let you go to stranger things. Pebber said to use Bb Blues as a common theme throughout, but to heavily branch out so as to keep it interesting. At least that's my take given my current understanding. Then he demonstrated several other ideas (Dorian, Aeolian, some symmetrical stuff & chromaticization, etc.). I find that one really fun. You should check it out.

Hey dlraben

If you have any vids showing how you go through the 14 pos that would be interesting to see. If you have the time. No worries... I'm always looking for new ways to practice.

:D

John, I apologize in advance for the tone in this one. My webcam sucks and I didn't have time to run the signal to my PC and mix it with the video. Anyway, since you were so very helpful to me in the chord thread I figure I owe you several videos. Let me know if this isn't helpful, and what could be helpful, and I'll shoot you another one. In the meantime, hopefully this gives you an idea of what I do when I practice scale patterns.

My son came in at the end so I had to shut it down. One additional thing I need to start working on much more is phrasing. I can play tons of licks that I read in books, but it's becoming very apparent to me that I can't draw upon many of them when I improvise. So, I plan to work on taking licks I like from books and then playing them in tons of different keys/modes. This is slow going, but I think it will pan out in another couple years.

Anyway, let me know how else I can try to help. If anyone has advice for me, I'm interested in that too (obviously I know this wasn't tight playing ... that wasn't the point here though).

Dlraben, not sure this is helpful, but I've got zero licks to draw on, which became apparent to me at a time I needed it. I do, however, have lots of melodies and riffs stirring around in my head. I've found I hum a lot of music when I do my daily abouts. I think most people with an interest for music do.

When these two realizations intersected, I began keeping track of the riffs and melodies that come to me. I'd make a voicenote of a diddle in my mobile phone so I wouldn't forget. Including drums and all that stuff, because a riff or a lick can suck on its own, but be magic together with other instruments.

When I picked up the guitar, I'd check out the backlog on my phone and work until it sounded EXACTLY as I'd imagined it when I made my voicenote in the phone. Sometimes it turns to shit, and other times it ends up kinda good. Either way, I think the practice of getting something exactly from your mind to the guitar is important. I'm sure you've got music going around in your head, especially when away from the guitar, so unless you do already, I recommend keeping notes of what you hum or do. Regardless of how outrageous the beats and rhythms and notes may seem when you hum it, I think the important part is to not compromise when translating it to the guitar. Be sure to get it note for note like how you'd imagined it. That way, I think sooner or later, we'll all play exactly what we're thinking and that creates this unique, personal sound.

for jhon
haven't watched dlraben's vid yet so could contain all this. steps to learning the 14 position system

Incremental adding one note at a time. up and down
hand to single shapes(chord memorize technique).
play string pairs. then non adjacent,
3 & 4 string groups
visualize,,, close up
write and play.
All timings,
play and sing,
sing scaletone numbers
sing scales against chords
Sing volume off,
sing harmony's above and below
sequences all of 'em
oh and double pick everything.
Oh and add legato practice.
and trill patterns.

Pebber has a video somewhere containing all this

The jam sounds great Damon - nice work!

I wonder if it could use some space in places, and maybe a change of pace with some slower notes? Also, maybe work a little more on some sequences to take you quickly and cleanly up and down the fretboard.

Just thoughts really - it's much tighter and more musical than I can do, it goes without saying :).

Jeez Ursin, that was amazing vibrato, sounded so fucking fluid. Watched that vid quite a few times
Is the vibrato movement(the one you used mostly on the high e string with your index finger) almost like a 'sarod' movement ?

Quote: student wrote in post #36

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Jeez Ursin, that was amazing vibrato, sounded so fucking fluid. Watched that vid quite a few times
Is the vibrato movement(the one you used mostly on the high e string with your index finger) almost like a 'sarod' movement ?

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"I will have to make another video on vibrato. I had one but I erased it. I'll make another one soon."

Hell YES!! This will be like the "icing on the cake" for practicing the 5 position system using the scale sequences vid you recommended to me.

Again, just THANKS for all your effort that you put into the forum !!

Hey Damon

I have a question about the interval sequences. I've just started out with these. I notice with some intervals that I wind up needing to fret the same fret on adjacent strings. 5ths in Am is a good example: E string 5th fret, A string 7th fret, E string 7th fret, A string 8th fret, E string 8th fret etc.

Is the idea here to use finger rolls?

Zitat

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Hey Damon

I have a question about the interval sequences. I've just started out with these. I notice with some intervals that I wind up needing to fret the same fret on adjacent strings. 5ths in Am is a good example: E string 5th fret, A string 7th fret, E string 7th fret, A string 8th fret, E string 8th fret etc.

Is the idea here to use finger rolls?

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Yep.

Check out this video series. 5ths start at about 22:45 or so.

Thanks! I think Ursin posted that one quite recently, but I was having trouble finding it again. Also, first time watching it, I hadn't noticed Pebber using the finger rolls since the motion is so subtle. When I try and do a roll, my entire left hand ends up splaying out. Still working on that, but any tips much appreciated :).

Cliff, when you have some spare time perhaps show us the roll situations that are causing you trouble. I'm betting the group will just tell you to keep with it.

If you're at a total loss, there are boring exercises like this:

|---1-----------2---3-----------4---etc. go up and
|-------1---2-----------3---4-------etc. come back down

You could also use your time a bit more wisely and do similar exercises up and down various scale patterns. Slightly fewer rolls, but more bang for your buck, in my opinion. Of course the intervals/arpeggios you're evidently doing are certainly good as well.

Thanks Damon. To be honest, this isn't a technique I've practiced a great deal. I'll work through it some more, and if it seems like I hit a road block, I'll post a vid.

I've been getting some really great help and advice from Scottulus. He taught me a bunch of Em licks and encouraged me to string them together to try and make solos with a little more flow. Here's one of several improvisations I've recorded using this method, played over an 80s-style backing track I found on Youtube. I'd love to gear any feedback you guys have:

Man, sounds great. Keep on trucking' dude, steady improvement with every track!

Good stuff Cliff. Keep going! Do it 100 times and post the 100th try.

Thanks for listening fellas!

Scott - you've been such an enormous help and encouragement - I really appreciate it. I've always struggled soloing over more up-tempo tracks, but you've given me some confidence (and a vocabulary) to give it a go. I know there are plenty of clangers in there, tedious repetitions etc. But there are a few bits when I listen back and I think 'yeah, that's not too bad.'

Ursin, thanks man. I've been using the same licks over a few different tracks, all in Em. The goal is to do this 25 times. Given that I spend 1-5 attempts on each track, I'm pretty sure I'll be up to the 100 mark before long. So far, these have all been improvised. So the first couple of times I'll try some ideas, and by the time I record I have some notion of which ideas seem to work better than others. Even then, it's still very much off-the-cuff, so I can't repeat it exactly. With this particular backing track, it was really my first try. From now on I'm going to try a bit of a more structured approach and try and refine each idea measure-by-measure.

Here's another one folks. I took the chords for Parisienne Walkways (more or less, not entirely sure about that Bm I put in there), played them with a bit of a Latin feel, then improvised over the top:

Cliff this is great man! I'm such a huge sucker for anything in a minor key! Started off VERY strong I thought. The comping throughout is a little weak. Something to work on. It's not totally steady is what I mean. The first 30 seconds of the solo was fantastic I thought. Really Santana type vibe. After that, it seems like you run out of ideas but, more importantly, sounds like you don't know how to end the ideas you do have...landing on not very strong notes and just not being able to send the phrase home or weave it into the next phrase.

Just my .02 for what it's worth. You've come a long way. This is solid work. Keep at it!

Thanks Ursin! This is great feedback.

Yep, I was pretty disappointed with the comping: poor timing and zero feel. Definitely something to work on. I've been spending too much time on single-note stuff and no time on playing chords. (My friend jokingly described chords as 'the things someone else in the band plays while you do your solos'.)

Yep, I totally hear what you're saying about the ideas, too. Definitely something to work on.

Again, thanks for the compliments and the criticisms - very much appreciated!