What playing technique are you working on?

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

Picking technique I'm always working on and my legato phrasing..I'm a blues guy,but lately want my lead playing to be a more fluid,quicker,smoother if you will.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

Learning bass well enough to play it onstage.

Smart move Rick...Around here,and probably everywhere,the good bass players can write their own ticket and be in several band/gig situations..Us guitar players are a dime a dozen(Maybe not the really good ones) but you know..

 

[Chocklit_Thunda]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

For me it's fingerpicking and bluesy improv at the same time. Combining the 2 techniques.
Also trying to learn that Malian style of guitar like Ali Farka Toure and Tinariwen.
And trying to learn that South African "Kwela" style of rock. It's mainly in the rhythm. Very upbeat and lots of augmentations to chords as you go along

Also watch this!

 

[Matt42]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

Smart move Rick...Around here,and probably everywhere,the good bass players can write their own ticket and be in several band/gig situations..Us guitar players are a dime a dozen(Maybe not the really good ones) but you know..

I think it's like that everywhere. I wish I were a better bassist, but I've never been able to stick with it.

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

Sobriety.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

FLIPS!;

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

Also trying to learn that Malian style of guitar like Ali Farka Toure and Tinariwen.
And trying to learn that South African "Kwela" style of rock. It's mainly in the rhythm. Very upbeat and lots of augmentations to chords as you go along

Do we need to set up a vuvuzela forum in here now? I thought the boundaries were being pushed when we went down the b*ss route...

 

[tombogiri]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

:eek13: I'm afraid I need work on all of them.

 

[Chocklit_Thunda]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

Do we need to set up a vuvuzela forum in here now? I thought the boundaries were being pushed when we went down the b*ss route...

Haha you know, I've actually seen some groups try and incorporate vuvuzela's into their music..... It's awful
Some things should just be left alone.....

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

I've been spending the last few months working out how to improvise some Hendrix style chord melody stuff. It seems to be a combination of major/minor pentatonic scales, arpeggios, and sus2/4s with a particular style of phrasing that follow the underlying chords of a song. Mother****er was a genius!

How is this going for you? Do you have any reference material or exercises that you are working on or are you just studying songs? I've been trying the brute force method, listening to and emulating Little Wing, Castles Made of Sand, Wind Cries Mary and Lenny. At this point I think it's muscle memory and learning the "Jimi" chord shapes (that thumb bass can be tough depending on the position) and hoping the theory will be learned by osmosis...

Those 9th position E major pentatonic licks are beginning to fall under my fingers comfortably but it would be nice to take it to the next level rather than pure emulation of a select few songs.

 

[Brow]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

I'm not working on anything in particular; but I am trying to generally improve overall.

I've bought a book of 10 and 30 hour guitar workouts/exercises that Steve Vai has put together. Whilst I don't particularly class him as any sort of musical influence, the exercises are based a lot around getting your fingers moving, improving dexterity, and overall improvement of technique.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

How is this going for you? Do you have any reference material or exercises that you are working on or are you just studying songs? I've been trying the brute force method, listening to and emulating Little Wing, Castles Made of Sand, Wind Cries Mary and Lenny. At this point I think it's muscle memory and learning the "Jimi" chord shapes (that thumb bass can be tough depending on the position) and hoping the theory will be learned by osmosis...

Those 9th position E major pentatonic licks are beginning to fall under my fingers comfortably but it would be nice to take it to the next level rather than pure emulation of a select few songs.

I've been working on getting a bunch of Hendrix tunes where he uses this (Wait until tomorrow, Little Wing, Castles Made of Sand, Wind Cries Mary, Axis Bold As Love) really solidly under my belt along with taking a lot of the lick ideas from this book:
http://www.melbay.com/Products/20679BCD/mbgu-rock-curriculum-fluid-soloing-book-3.aspx

The book kinda goes into an explanation of what he's doing and where the extra (non-pentatonic) notes are coming from, then shows you a bunch of hendrixy riffs that help you get down the timing. Since I learned the riffs in the book inside and out, forwards and backwards I've been working on integrating similar improvised phrasing over the songs that I've been learning. Working the same riffs in different areas of the fretboard has really helped me visualize the scales behind the riffs as I'm playing too, so I've been tossing some of the chord lead stuff into my solos as well.

It's coming along . . . and the pieces are all starting to fall into place now. It's cool because I find myself grabbing some of the extra notes to do fills and stuff in all kinds of songs that I'm playing now. Keeps you from getting bored while playing riddim.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

Sounds like a great plan! I may need to check out that book, thanks for the link!

I've always read that Curtis Mayfield was the bedrock that Jimi based his style off of, have you delved into that at all?

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

While I love listening to Curtis, I don't get along with the open F# tuning that he used.

 

[JeffB]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

I choke down way too much on picks, and extraneous noise and tension is the result. Working on holding my picks/picking differently.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

I'm working on being able to get up early enough to be able to have breakfast comfortably before going to evening rehearsals.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

I've been working on sleep picking.

 

[DreX]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

I'd like to be able to sweep pick in order to play some particular lead parts I really like, but every Youtube video I've seen either glosses / completely skips over crucial details, or serve to remind me that sweep picking is the trade of the ******bag, as I so often forget. There's nothing quite like being belittled by a twenty something who starts his bedroom guitar lesson with "hey kids..."

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

I'd like to be able to sweep pick in order to play some particular lead parts I really like, but every Youtube video I've seen either glosses / completely skips over crucial details, or serve to remind me that sweep picking is the trade of the ******bag, as I so often forget. There's nothing quite like being belittled by a twenty something who starts his bedroom guitar lesson with "hey kids..."

You don't need a video to learn to sweep pick, just a metronome and some patience.

 

[DreX]

Re: What playing technique are you working on?

You don't need a video to learn to sweep pick, just a metronome and some patience.

In your opinion, will most people who sweep pick have learned how to do it with a guitar teacher, or through trial and error?