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Guys, practice the Etudes!!

idssdi

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@Dominik Graeber (Or Chad for that matter). I checked out the first etude and decided to try it out myself. Besides practice, practice, practice...any suggestions? At 6:23 is where I halved the original 120 to 60 and played 1/8ths. Playing that note in between the clicker was honestly a lot more mentally challenging than I thought it would be. And I haven't even attempted the 16ths yet. But hopefully this is a good baseline to mark improvement off of down the road.
That halving the BPM is a great idea! I do it to with sextuplets. It is actually better for your timing than just playing one note per beat.
 
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Kai C

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That's exactly it. There are so many patterns. You really just gotta decide how you want to take the trip yourself from a to b. That's what really makes you yourself as a guitarist. You can sound like someone.. but be usually a completely different scale then they are. AMD that's what makes you you. And the good ones will see the difference whole the casual cliche type will think you're "trying to be like syn"

Fuck those guys.

Exactly. For me, I still don't know what I want to play because I listen to a wide variety of genres. But taking a master's lessons and "trying" to be like him is at least a start because he has a sound I want to make myself. Just like you said though, be you. I think it will come with time.
 

Calvin Phillips

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That halving the BPM is a great idea! I do it to with sextuplets. It is actually better for your timing than just playing one note per beat.
The 1 note per beat was to help him get the beat in his kind subconsciencly. Because it sounds like it's not there. You definitely arent gonna get it better if you pretend its there when you think it's not. And you'll definitely not try to 16ths or 8ths or whatever if you cant do a half.
 

Calvin Phillips

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Exactly. For me, I still don't know what I want to play because I listen to a wide variety of genres. But taking a master's lessons and "trying" to be like him is at least a start because he has a sound I want to make myself. Just like you said though, be you. I think it will come with time.
I dont know either. So I've been trying new things. The sweeps have added a new flavour to my playing. I'm not sure where I want to add them in yet though. They sound great ending a solo on a descending run. I like that one a lot. Or harmonies with penatonics and sweeps.

But theres still more to try. The 3 1 3 is one I want to mess around with next. But if I do that I may change my whole dimension of my playing because 3 1 3 is different then doubles with penatonics. It's a big step.
 
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Kai C

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Oh no doubt it definitely will, but like now, with my skill level it’s just going to piss me off 😂😂😂😂😂

That's how I felt the whole time haha, but I feel like this is a challenge level you should try. If I were to try and learn a solo that's at that speed I'd get pissed off because it would inherently sound off, even with the correct notes. But an exercise like this that's meant to build speed feels ok to mess up on. Plus it's a building block for those fast solos
 
Synner Endless Summer Collection

Kai C

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@MidnightA You shouldn't be nervous about doing them or rule them out in the near future but for now you should get used to your hand placement and using a metronome.

The exercise I'd recommend for you is called a chromatic spider walk. If you remember in one of PGs first lessons he talks about the chromatic scale - all 12 notes in sequence - and how they can be played on the first 4 frets across all strings. Assign your fingers to a fret and then play in sequence on the 6th string; 1st fret 1st finger, then 2nd, 3rd, then 4th. Then move up a string and repeat. When you get to the top string, move your whole hand up one fret and go down the strings. Same thing, move up one fret and go up. Repeat until you finish your last string with your fingers on frets 12-15.

Use a metronome at whatever pace starts you off moving consistently. And start breaking away from looking at anything. You can look down to readjust when needed, but the whole point is to adjust you to your guitar's neck. Do this for however many times you can stomach it. I'd recommend 10-15 mins at first. Stop to adjust for a faster metronome as needed, because it's really the only tool out there that'll keep you honest about your speed and consistency.

Hope that helped, happy practicing.
 

Dominik Gräber

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    So @Ids Schiere and @Calvin Phillips , you guys are telling me two things here, and I think both are good suggestions. So I'll work on both; faster single beats as well as timing in between slower beats. Does anyone else have any input to the discussion?

    I started using the Metronome to it Like Ids recommends, which is how the Beats in the etudes Fall. I believe it's sixteenth notes? I'm Not good at this. It's one Beat each 6 notes which totally sucked at the beginning, cause there's a Lot of time between the beats and you really have to think about on which notes the Beats are. But doing that helped me playing in time... After it cost me a Lot of nerves😂
     

    Kai C

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    I started using the Metronome to it Like Ids recommends, which is how the Beats in the etudes Fall. I believe it's sixteenth notes? I'm Not good at this. It's one Beat each 6 notes which totally sucked at the beginning, cause there's a Lot of time between the beats and you really have to think about on which notes the Beats are. But doing that helped me playing in time... After it cost me a Lot of nerves😂

    So in the etude I followed yesterday, and it seems to be a commonality, is a simple 4 beat per measure backing track. His first "slow" run through was 1/8th notes; 2 notes per beat. Then he did 16ths; 4 notes per beat. I couldn't keep time with the 2 notes per beat so I doubled the bpm and went up from there. Then finally I went back to the original bpm and played between notes like Ids says is good. I was able to finally hit the notes on time, but just as Calvin said it looks like I'm struggling. Believe me it felt like it too. I know it'll just take practice. The debate Calvin has is that if I stick with the twice as fast bpm it'll become natural when I'm playing with the backing track.
     

    Dominik Gräber

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    So in the etude I followed yesterday, and it seems to be a commonality, is a simple 4 beat per measure backing track. His first "slow" run through was 1/8th notes; 2 notes per beat. Then he did 16ths; 4 notes per beat. I couldn't keep time with the 2 notes per beat so I doubled the bpm and went up from there. Then finally I went back to the original bpm and played between notes like Ids says is good. I was able to finally hit the notes on time, but just as Calvin said it looks like I'm struggling. Believe me it felt like it too. I know it'll just take practice. The debate Calvin has is that if I stick with the twice as fast bpm it'll become natural when I'm playing with the backing track.
    I can't really tell you what's best here as I am really on the beginning myself. Only thing I know is that I practice this since weeks and progress comes shows slowly.
     
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    idssdi

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    So in the etude I followed yesterday, and it seems to be a commonality, is a simple 4 beat per measure backing track. His first "slow" run through was 1/8th notes; 2 notes per beat. Then he did 16ths; 4 notes per beat. I couldn't keep time with the 2 notes per beat so I doubled the bpm and went up from there. Then finally I went back to the original bpm and played between notes like Ids says is good. I was able to finally hit the notes on time, but just as Calvin said it looks like I'm struggling. Believe me it felt like it too. I know it'll just take practice. The debate Calvin has is that if I stick with the twice as fast bpm it'll become natural when I'm playing with the backing track.
    Effectively playing in time is playing in sync with a drummer and other musicians. When you see 8th notes in 120 BPM you should practice it like 8th notes in 120 BPM because that's the tempo the drummer will be doing. It's a pain in the ass to get right at first but in the end it helps you play in time with other musicians. Keep it up!
     
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    Synner Endless Summer Collection

    Calvin Phillips

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    So @Ids Schiere and @Calvin Phillips , you guys are telling me two things here, and I think both are good suggestions. So I'll work on both; faster single beats as well as timing in between slower beats. Does anyone else have any input to the discussion?
    Everyone has methods that work for themselves. I'm just saying what helps me. What helps me may not help you. And vice versa.
     

    Calvin Phillips

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    Nov 11, 2019
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    So in the etude I followed yesterday, and it seems to be a commonality, is a simple 4 beat per measure backing track. His first "slow" run through was 1/8th notes; 2 notes per beat. Then he did 16ths; 4 notes per beat. I couldn't keep time with the 2 notes per beat so I doubled the bpm and went up from there. Then finally I went back to the original bpm and played between notes like Ids says is good. I was able to finally hit the notes on time, but just as Calvin said it looks like I'm struggling. Believe me it felt like it too. I know it'll just take practice. The debate Calvin has is that if I stick with the twice as fast bpm it'll become natural when I'm playing with the backing track.

    Theres 2 ways to look at it. You can double the bpm and try it with single beats. Or slow right down and play single beats on the metronome til it's right again. Your fingers essentially just arent strong enough yet. Either way will work but I know which one jak would choose. But a lot of us can be impatient. That's the route I suggested.
     
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    Calvin Phillips

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    Effectively playing in time is playing in sync with a drummer and other musicians. When you see 8th notes in 120 BPM you should practice it like 8th notes in 120 BPM because that's the tempo the drummer will be doing. It's a pain in the ass to get right at first but in the end it helps you play in time with other musicians. Keep it up!
    the snare drum does a good job reminding you of your tempo in gigs. That's all you look out for. Or what I'd look for. Mind you I havent jad a great drummer to jam with yet to do that for me.
     
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    Alicia Willis

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    That's how I felt the whole time haha, but I feel like this is a challenge level you should try. If I were to try and learn a solo that's at that speed I'd get pissed off because it would inherently sound off, even with the correct notes. But an exercise like this that's meant to build speed feels ok to mess up on. Plus it's a building block for those fast solos
    True. I mean I’m definitely going to try it....I just gotta get my mind right first 😂 I’m going to have to be in a a super chill mood where I’m not easily frustrated
     
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    Jak Angelescu

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    Should I try the Etudes even though I'm on the CAGED lesson series from the Beginner section? I cannot play well or with the metronome yet because I have to look at the screen and fretboard at the same time. I'm slowly progressing through the tutorials, but the more tricks I learn to it, the more I'm seriously LOVING IT. I just might faint haha
    Yes. There are parts in certain etudes you can do that when in tandem with the CAGED lessons really shuttle launches your improvement
     

    John Robinson

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    That's exactly it. There are so many patterns. You really just gotta decide how you want to take the trip yourself from a to b. That's what really makes you yourself as a guitarist. You can sound like someone.. but be usually a completely different scale then they are. AMD that's what makes you you. And the good ones will see the difference whole the casual cliche type will think you're "trying to be like syn"

    Fuck those guys.
    i told my kids....im not trying to be like syn...we have a syn..im just trying to learn how to play well