What can I improve upon the most
- Thread starter cream123
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larry_emder
New member
Re: What can I improve upon the most
What do YOU think you should focus on?
What do YOU think you should focus on?
daemon barbeque
Zuhahahaologist
Re: What can I improve upon the most
^ yeah!
What do you think you need most now!
Scales and rythm could be trained together without any problem!
Writing "can't" be learned.You have it or you don't.
So just broaden your imagination and playing abilities that you can play anything that you can imagine of!Or just analyze your musical character and try to reflect it on your playing!
^ yeah!
What do you think you need most now!
Scales and rythm could be trained together without any problem!
Writing "can't" be learned.You have it or you don't.
So just broaden your imagination and playing abilities that you can play anything that you can imagine of!Or just analyze your musical character and try to reflect it on your playing!
larry_emder
New member
Re: What can I improve upon the most
Playing/Jamming with others always helps to show up your weaknesses. So try jamming with some others and report back!
Playing/Jamming with others always helps to show up your weaknesses. So try jamming with some others and report back!
cream123
JustAskinologist
Re: What can I improve upon the most
yeah, I got what your saying, I just want to know what part you guys think I should work on. IMO, my phrasing is decent but sense of rythm isn't very good at all....
my writing issue is that I can't really think of what I want to do and make it happen. The material just kind of comes out. I have a pretty good musical sense, IMO. but my actual skill could use improvement....
yeah, I got what your saying, I just want to know what part you guys think I should work on. IMO, my phrasing is decent but sense of rythm isn't very good at all....
my writing issue is that I can't really think of what I want to do and make it happen. The material just kind of comes out. I have a pretty good musical sense, IMO. but my actual skill could use improvement....
cream123
JustAskinologist
Re: What can I improve upon the most
yeah, I jam pretty often, that's where the lack of sense of rythm idea comes from....
yeah, I jam pretty often, that's where the lack of sense of rythm idea comes from....
Re: What can I improve upon the most
As I said before! You need to concentrate one style. Knowing your styles is important because each style has its own attributes that you need to become familiar with. For instance if I listen to a Count Basie Big Band recording, then what is the guitar player doing? I'll bet that he'll be comping chords quietly in the background using a 1,2,3,4 rhythm ala Freddie Green. Once you hear it you should make a record of that in your mental database as, "Ok this is what I should be doing in a traditional big band setting"!
Likewise, if you hear a death metal you should note the rhythms and feels just like we did in the Basie example above and record that into your mental database as "Ok this is what I can do on a death metal jam!".
As you can see the focus is on playing a support role rather than lead. I think by learning to support via rhythm playing allows you the ability to learn many styles a lot quicker. The main thing is to learn all of the different groves that these styles posses and be able to "IDENTIFY" a given style and fit in with other players.
The most important thing is to play! If you don't have fellow musicians that you can practice with then play along with records and try to imitate the player as closely as you can. This will teach you which tone settings work best with different styles. Now you know how each style is supposed to "feel" as well as which tone setting work best for a given style.
The next level is to study the different aspects of lead guitar in each of the styles that you have learned to play. You can use the same approach of "LISTENING" and "ANALYSING" that you did for your rhythm playing, but you should expect that learning to play lead in each of the different styles that you have learned will take a considerable amount of time.
This is were complicated aspects of playing come together. It's like multitasking. To play lead for many different stlyes of music you have to be able to scientifically study harmonic structures in order to develop improvised melodies over them. As you can imagine harmonic structures and rhythmic structures will vary from one style to the next. Therefore, certain melodic and rhythmic ideas may work for one style but not the other. It takes more time and experience to sort these sorts of things out.
This is why I suggest focusing on learning to play rhythm first. Because if you try to play lead and everything else then it may take years to become fully proficient in a single style. Limiting you role at first allows you to gain more experience sooner.
Once you have built your stylistic vocabulary (both rhythm and lead playing) then it's time to try creating stuff on your own like original compositions or even the creation of a so-called "new" style of your own. Importantly, I think you'll find the "new" styles, if they are successful are often derived from being able to fuse old style together or at least draw creative ideas from old styles into new styles. Either way having a vocabulary of styles to draw from is a major advantage to an adventurous composer.
Usually, we like to say that a person that has done this type of homework has deeper pockets! This means he has more experience from which he can draw ideas from than the average player that just researches superficially or simply tries to play what they "feel". This is evident in the finished results of whatever the player is participating in either performance or musical composition. The person who has cheated on his homework maybe successful at the onset, but will soon run out of ideas and frequently suffer from creative blocks!
As I said before! You need to concentrate one style. Knowing your styles is important because each style has its own attributes that you need to become familiar with. For instance if I listen to a Count Basie Big Band recording, then what is the guitar player doing? I'll bet that he'll be comping chords quietly in the background using a 1,2,3,4 rhythm ala Freddie Green. Once you hear it you should make a record of that in your mental database as, "Ok this is what I should be doing in a traditional big band setting"!
Likewise, if you hear a death metal you should note the rhythms and feels just like we did in the Basie example above and record that into your mental database as "Ok this is what I can do on a death metal jam!".
As you can see the focus is on playing a support role rather than lead. I think by learning to support via rhythm playing allows you the ability to learn many styles a lot quicker. The main thing is to learn all of the different groves that these styles posses and be able to "IDENTIFY" a given style and fit in with other players.
The most important thing is to play! If you don't have fellow musicians that you can practice with then play along with records and try to imitate the player as closely as you can. This will teach you which tone settings work best with different styles. Now you know how each style is supposed to "feel" as well as which tone setting work best for a given style.
The next level is to study the different aspects of lead guitar in each of the styles that you have learned to play. You can use the same approach of "LISTENING" and "ANALYSING" that you did for your rhythm playing, but you should expect that learning to play lead in each of the different styles that you have learned will take a considerable amount of time.
This is were complicated aspects of playing come together. It's like multitasking. To play lead for many different stlyes of music you have to be able to scientifically study harmonic structures in order to develop improvised melodies over them. As you can imagine harmonic structures and rhythmic structures will vary from one style to the next. Therefore, certain melodic and rhythmic ideas may work for one style but not the other. It takes more time and experience to sort these sorts of things out.
This is why I suggest focusing on learning to play rhythm first. Because if you try to play lead and everything else then it may take years to become fully proficient in a single style. Limiting you role at first allows you to gain more experience sooner.
Once you have built your stylistic vocabulary (both rhythm and lead playing) then it's time to try creating stuff on your own like original compositions or even the creation of a so-called "new" style of your own. Importantly, I think you'll find the "new" styles, if they are successful are often derived from being able to fuse old style together or at least draw creative ideas from old styles into new styles. Either way having a vocabulary of styles to draw from is a major advantage to an adventurous composer.
Usually, we like to say that a person that has done this type of homework has deeper pockets! This means he has more experience from which he can draw ideas from than the average player that just researches superficially or simply tries to play what they "feel". This is evident in the finished results of whatever the player is participating in either performance or musical composition. The person who has cheated on his homework maybe successful at the onset, but will soon run out of ideas and frequently suffer from creative blocks!
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Re: What can I improve upon the most
I've just returned from your soundclick page. I feel I'm dead on with the idea that you need help with styles. Here is my assessment of the tune you posted on your sounclick:
Mysterio: Your description calls this a finger picking jazz style. But the tune is really closer to a neo-classical style. The chord progressions in most genres of jazz would include more dominant 7th, Major 7th and minor 7th type chords as well as chords with extensions and altered 5ths and the like. This tune is arpeggiated triads (chords based on 1,3,5) which is typical classical music. Jazz guitar chords are typically strummed for the most part. The arpeggiated rhythms are unpsynchopated (on the beat) were as jazz often utilizes psynchopated (uneven) beats. Listen to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and tell me if you agree: Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfu1PNjO8p0
Ice Box Blues: This sounds like a 70's R&B/Pop Jam ala Average White Band's Pick Up the Pieces or Cut the Cake but it could also fit into a Funk/Soul Jazz genre or perhaps an Acid Jazz ala Herbie Hancock's Headhunters LP. Listen to these to see if you agree:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBnVo3BXQyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzNXUUSFF0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXurhDMrdzs
Da Galaxy Burger: This one just confuses me, but if I listen for a while I hear whispers of Hendrix's The Wind Cries Mary minus the Spanish bridge of course! So this suggests Classic Rock tune. Listen here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-lIhikpMlo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAG-kX_IlUw&NR=1
The Ducks Freeze: Sounds more like a Soul/R&B love song. Maybe a Stevie Wonder tune or something of the sort! Couldn't find an exact example but go listen to some Stevie Wonder ballads and you'll see what I mean.
I've just returned from your soundclick page. I feel I'm dead on with the idea that you need help with styles. Here is my assessment of the tune you posted on your sounclick:
Mysterio: Your description calls this a finger picking jazz style. But the tune is really closer to a neo-classical style. The chord progressions in most genres of jazz would include more dominant 7th, Major 7th and minor 7th type chords as well as chords with extensions and altered 5ths and the like. This tune is arpeggiated triads (chords based on 1,3,5) which is typical classical music. Jazz guitar chords are typically strummed for the most part. The arpeggiated rhythms are unpsynchopated (on the beat) were as jazz often utilizes psynchopated (uneven) beats. Listen to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and tell me if you agree: Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfu1PNjO8p0
Ice Box Blues: This sounds like a 70's R&B/Pop Jam ala Average White Band's Pick Up the Pieces or Cut the Cake but it could also fit into a Funk/Soul Jazz genre or perhaps an Acid Jazz ala Herbie Hancock's Headhunters LP. Listen to these to see if you agree:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBnVo3BXQyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzNXUUSFF0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXurhDMrdzs
Da Galaxy Burger: This one just confuses me, but if I listen for a while I hear whispers of Hendrix's The Wind Cries Mary minus the Spanish bridge of course! So this suggests Classic Rock tune. Listen here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-lIhikpMlo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAG-kX_IlUw&NR=1
The Ducks Freeze: Sounds more like a Soul/R&B love song. Maybe a Stevie Wonder tune or something of the sort! Couldn't find an exact example but go listen to some Stevie Wonder ballads and you'll see what I mean.
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