Had to quit for a bunch of reasons that COVID threw at me, but I'm back and can afford videos once more. I kept my skills up a bit but I haven't really progressed over the summer. Time to change that. Can't wait to get started again
Here are some selected exercises from the one of the videos that was sent to me this month. Unfortunately I spent most of winter break away from my guitar, but I think I shook off the rust and am back in the swing. Silver lining I spend a lot of time on music theory worksheets. Anyway, here are some vids of me trying out the exercises:
Currently focusing on 5 notes per beat 1 note per string
During holiday break I've been away from my guitar so I went through music theory for guitar 1A-1F and although I'm not the fastest, I completed the worksheets a buncha times and feel more comfortable writing out keys and scales, knowing what key signature corresponds with what scale, etc.
Starting today, my next step is to do this daily in the "Dick Grove" style that Pebber talks about, where roll call was taken via writing out scales in 5 mins or so. To do this, you gotta randomize the 15 major scales, so I found this handy little site that does it for you:
therandomscalemachine.com
If you select the checkbox to generate the list and hit GO, it will give you a page of randomly sorted scale names.
cheers
Adrian
edit: the site doesn't allow links, so sorry if I am breaking rules here by circumventing it. I presume it's just to stop spammers but lt me know if this is a no-no
Its great to see someone on here with similar skill level to me! Yay!
I am definitely not qualified to comment on these videos as far as technique goes, but I wanted to share some feedback I also got relevant to your first video. I was advised to make sure, even when you are practicing strictly picking, to hold the guitar in the proper classical style. Specifically angled up more, not folk style, and don't rest your fret hand on the body. I'm only guessing, but it assume it has something to do with REALLY hammering down muscle memory and training your hand and wrist to be at the correct angle/positions at all times.
Thanks for the feedback:) I didnt know about the picking over a pickup but now thinking about it, it makes sense.
I think from now on I will plug my amp into garageband and sync the audio to video in final cut or something. Hopefully it will up the volume a bit. Unfortunately I live in a tiny paper-walled apartment and anything above volume level 0.003 will get my neighbors kinda pissy.
I currently use a Korean LP copy called an Agile 3200 It is very well made imo, and as a lefty I had to look outside the box to get a decent selection.
For my amp I am running a 50w Boss Katana MK-II, which makes pretty much any sound I could ever want.
No pedals yet, but my first one will probably be a blues driver or a simple overdrive.
I am super new, but to put into perspective what I have been doing during a 2 hour-ish practice session:
For warmup I spend 10 minutes stretching and 20 minutes doing all sorts of stuff I am already comfy with (upstroke, downstroke, alternate, maybe a chord or scale or two) at a comfortable pace while simultaneously watching videos on music theory/blues/whatever doesn't actually require playing along. I just stretch until the video is over. Sometimes I set the speed to 1.5x if it is something I am just reviewing and I am anxious to get started.
30 minutes 1 string exercise. 10 of that no metronome; just getting the hand warmed up all over every string. After that turn on the clicker and work on timing from 1note per beat and crawling up, stopping to focus on the tough ones. Turn up the metronome when you feel you are flawless, jut one or two bpm, or if you are like me and using standard metronome ratios, one click up might take you up in 4bpm bump. I usually stick to a single string for the entire exercise, and I pick it on a whim. Most of the time I leave my frethand in my pocket, but sometimes I will pick a random key and scale (that I kind of know) and mess around with it while I pick.
30 minutes adjacent strings. Same rules as above. This way I cover two subjects in module 1. I may trade out 1 string or adj strings for non-adj once I feel more comfortable (whatever that means lol). I have been using the pentatonic forms for this currently, but if i am trying to get my picking speed and timing down more than anything, I wont bother with the fret hand and just put it in my pocket.
10 minutes classical form at a very slow tempo. I know I should do more but it just isn't my current focus. maybe next month.
30 minutes spiders. I have only been working on the first three permutations since that is all Pebber has shown so far and I didn't want to get too far ahead. I do not go faster on one spider than any of the others. for example. if I can get 5.21 and 5.22 to 70 bpm @ 16th notes but only get 5.23 to 66bpm with 16th notes, I will only work on 5.23 until it is caught up. I hope that made sense.
After that, I noodle around a little as a reward if I have any extra spare time. I either mess around til I play something that sounds familiar and explore that, or maybe look up tabs, or if I am feeling especially motivated go back and work on more exercises.
For the entire session I choose only one picking style to focus on, and currently I have been really trying to hammer down scalpel. I will probably continue to do so for a long time as I slowly introduce sarod for the faster rates.
Although I am new and don't have too many exercises to choose from yet, I think the main Idea is to pick a couple stretch goals from each module and hammer them down with extreme focus for a couple weeks, splitting up your time (equally?) between each module. I do 15 days so that way I can set semi-monthly goals for myself.
Thanks for the feedback @Adam ! Much appreciated, I will take it all into consideration during my practice routine. Unfortunately I am away from my instrument for the holidays, so I am taking this time to get as much music theory down as I can, while working on stretching and mobility of my hands and wrist. I will be home Jan 4 and will get right back at it.
Do you happen to know where I can get the video for the 7's that @pebberbrown was talking about? I would really like to get back to that once I'm home.
Also, is it sacrilege to look ahead a little bit into module 3/4? maybe dig through the free lessons on YT to learn about some scales, chords, or something? I got the 5 pentatonic forms down now, I'm not terribly fast at them but I (think I) am ready to add more. I also understand the main open shapes and how they correspond to bar chords, but not all of the dots are connected quite yet I think.
My name is Adrian, I've been at this just a couple months. Before that I was one of those directionless self-"learners" and honestly during that time I didn't learn crap except maybe I was able to get over the hump of the instrument being comfortable to hold. This was ~6months long. I never worked on timing, didn't own a metronome. Just open cowboy chords and one minor pentatonic shape (you know the one).
Signed up mid October. I put in ~2 hrs a day, weekends more, although admittedly I am still bad at focusing and end up doing unproductive things like practicing things I already know or just messing around, especially during long sessions. Here are some videos of my current skill level:
5.23 @ 50 bpm
First few spiders are now at 66bpm 1/16th notes, I recorded these @50. I haven't seriously attempted anything past 5.23. It was like rewiring my brain trying to get my fingers to move like this at even snail pace.
1-9 notes per 2 beats @ 100 bpm
After submitting this video to Pebber, one response was that I was asked to hold off on 7's until I watch and master doing quarter notes to seven. Anyone know where I can find that, on Youtube? Or is it something to come in a monthly lesson video? And finally, something I just did today, is attempt sarod:
My wrist slowly locks up as strumming goes on, I can feel it and try to relax it every few seconds or whenever I notice. I feel that I might at least be getting the "stirring" motion with my thumb and finger 1 down okay, maybe not tho.
I know I could definitely be farther than I am after 2 months. I just gotta get a grip on my focus. Any tips? I bought a standalone metronome so I can ditch my phone and the distractions that come with it. That helped. Still get sidetracked noodling or with other things around me.
Looking forward to your responses. Thanks in advance.
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