Quote: uderoche wrote in post #198

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As long as you can do what you want to do and sound like you want to sound. That's the whole point. You know that but I think since this forum is primarily dedicated to technical development people easily forget that PLAYING MUSIC is the point! People get confused. Trust me, Pebber knows the point is to to JAM AND MAKE MUSIC! I was just talking to him the other day and we were talking about what ever happened to just going out and being a solid MUSICIAN! People get too caught up with playing in their bedrooms. It's one thing to play in your bedroom. It's another thing to stand in front of 250 people in a club with a band and make it happen. So many players can shred in their bedrooms but can't make it happen live. So, what's the point.

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Yep. Find someone, or something to play with. If it is only the CD's in your collection, or a Guitarpro file then so be it.
But if you can find someone to do some playing, and exchange some ideas, whether cover or original... man, THAT is rewarding. On any level. Different challenges get presented depending on what level the players are at, but you can get so much better by playing with others... Teaching and being taught. Playing "that cool lick" you slaved over in a real world setting... Being heard. And of course, listening.

Hmmn, pretty dead around here lately. Anyways; here is a performance video of some improvising over a track I made up in predominantly G Mixolydian (That is the notes of C Major played mostly over G7). I touch on some of the other modes briefly as the chords go by.... Just a 'for fun' sort of thing, really. (Yes, modes are real!)

Anyways, just thought I'd post a progress vid for those who are interested. Scalpel is still something I practice, but I don't really use it as a 'main' technique, mostly to help relax a bit and keep me from using my arm too much. There's a lot of finger-style stuff that I've been working on also, but mainly learning to relax has been the biggest facilitator for improvement. As far as picking, lately it's been isolating up and downstrokes that have been yielding the biggest benefits. The scalpel work that I do is primarily to get my pick hand thumb a bit looser. I guess that instead of learning a whole new thing I thought it might be more productive to take what I know already and maybe 'deconstruct' it until I find a happy medium.


I'm not really a shredder, but it is fun to rock out once in a while! Anyways, have a good one fellas... More to come.

Good stuff!

Awesome stuff, Scott - rock on!

I love that little phrasing trick you have. Not sure if you'd call it staccato, but the way you'll got a not a little short and leave a bit of space before playing the next. Very cool.

hahah thanks for noticing that, Cliff! It's like this... when I went to music school all the teachers were jazz fanatics, and loved horn players' phrasing (I mean, what's not to love, right?) I was criticized a lot for playing too many notes (I still overplay, but hey, working on it...) so I was taught to 'take a breath' every now and then, even when playing fast stuff. Also, I try to avoid always playing on the first beat; I attempt to start on the 'and' of 1 whenever possible (Although I phrases almost everything ON 1 in this video!). I still accent the first note of every rhythmic grouping a lot, but hey I will get to that later.

Thanks for watching, guys!

So, I've been practicing like crazy, and have noticed a huge improvement in technique, but lemme level with you all it feels weird. Weird! Here's a video of some playing on a DanElectro Baritone

So here's the thing; I just have been focused on a changed grip, and NOT using my arm so much when I pick. The thumb and first finger act as a sort of steering wheel, and the wrist provides power/speed. In the course of 3 weeks my speed and technique have really improved!

It sounds great, Scott. I really like the tone you're getting with this style of picking.

Fugly-looking guitar, though ;)

Scott, nice man!

Thanks guys; I'll tell ya it's a lot better on a "real" guitar, but it's a good standard to start with. Reference point and all... Roughly 3 weeks since I had a bit of a picking hand "epiphany" if you will...

Sounds sick man!

Been working hard on this Em sequence for the last week. This is at 144bpm. Let me know what you guys think!


Apparently I can't post links today.

Just to let you guys know, though it sounds legen.... wait for it.... dary! Legendary!

Nice! Coming along. Make sure you use the neck pickup. Yngwie rarely uses the bridge pickup past the 12th fret. He mostly uses the bridge for rhythms and for notes lower than the 12th fret when he wants the bite, harmonics, legato, tapping etc.

Also, another thing I hear is, seems there isn't enough sustain. Sounds like you aren't using enough gain.

Try those ideas. keep the pick hand fingers curved in. It's sounding better! You're getting there. Keep pushing it.

Thanks Ursin!

Believe it or not, I am using the neck pickup there (I actually much prefer that tone). Maybe I need to dial back the treble on the amp, or switch off the 'bright' switch.

There's a *lot* of gain, but I'm damping quite a bit to try and keep the string noise under control - maybe that's what you're hearing. The end note I fluff as often as not - a full 12-fret slide at that speed is still quite challenging for me, so often I'm not hitting it cleanly.

But thanks for listening and thanks once again for the great advice!

Great improvement, Cliff. Really motoring along, buddy. From the first clip of you playing stuff to this clip, the improvement is really impressive. Keep going, man!

Thanks Scott! I really appreciate the advice and encouragement.

ok...here i go...I know I am not yet cool enough to start levitating during my sarod making to bust out perfect strings of 7 like those sarod masters that we do not speak of...and while my timing has not acheived the state of perfection, my understanding/perception is that I am slowly getting "there" as per it starting to be "timed" on a more frequent basis...I other words the sarod seems to becoming more efficacious at being rhythmically relavant to the time its being diddyed in...but I dunno, maybe I and really just full of it and perhaps a bit to self biased to realisticaly here it for what it is.

woa Cliff you hot doggy yngwie picker you are advancing allong markedly...I must say though man, if getting to where you can take licks like this and just let them rip because you just had the fleting fancy to do so at the drop of a hat, then I would bet you are gonna really love what you can do easier when you learn to bust out sarod...

in addition to the whole neck pickup thingy...I personally think that Sarod style makes these kind of lick more desirable as far as the asthetics are concerned....even when you arent actually gonna be choosing to sarod all its notes from start to finish...It replaces the picking chips with a quaint yet pleasant little "phwift" sound that makes these things all sound even more kick ass; They are also delightfull when sprinkled sparringlity into little ornamental additions when put into the mix of most legato souflees.