So my goal in the long run is to have the skills and knowledge to play my favourite tracks by these guys and then be able to solo etc in the style of them.
I will hopefully use this page to track my progress as it progresses.
So to start the ball rolling here is my first video, I first played some chords into the looper and then tried to improvise over the top of them in the style of Peter Green.
It might sound like a song you have heard before 🙈😜
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Nice one Danny, so where do you see the work best put in to take this one to the next level?
The question still stands ... " What speed do you have to go to be sure that everything's correctly in place?" That's where we need to work from.
The stance to take is that if you don't know for sure that it's right then it's probably wrong! Let's get you so you don't need to add the question marks next time ;)
Watch it back at half speed, or even slower so you can tap and count along. Can you see where things are straying?
Looks way better ... it's functional now and almost at record speed! Only glitch is the timing of the release and re-bend (the release has moved to where the re-bend should be and the re-bend has moved to the foot tap on beat one of the following bar). This doesn't affect the overall shape of things but will be the final piece in the jigsaw!
What speed do you have to go to be sure that everything's correctly in place?
Not posted in a while, so here's one for you, just to let you know i'm still practicing. Reduced BPM to 30. I think the third time round was better than the first.
The second one's certainly better although you can hear that the metronome and the backing aren't in sync. Maybe try it at 30 rather than 50 bpm (or slower using the method discussed above of using three metronome beats as one). Keep the out loud count as an essential part of things until you know for sure you have it right! To make it easier to count try simplifying the pattern by omitting the release and re-bend of the bent note on beat one and just holding it instead.
As an aside, what do you make of this one? You'll know it well and it should help with the project at hand!
This video includes the taplature for the chords and first lick played over in a loop. Getting so you can do this right every time is a great first step!
This video should fill in the gaps. Notice how I'm timing the chord changes, lifting off the old chord on the 3 count (as the foot comes up) and dropping the new chord each time on the beat (as the foot goes down). Feeling both chord and foot moving up and down together is the key
(see https://www.oldswannerguitartuition.com/blog-1/guitar-chord-changes-the-missing-link).
I noticed on the double-stops towards the end you're changing the shape whch makes it more awkward than needs be. Try this:
... or you could play the same notes on the B and G strings all the way up (starting at frets 10 and 11) though this benefits from a bit more left hand muting to let you loosen up with the picking hand.
Wow! If you put that next to the video you posted on 26th April they're worlds apart! How about re-recording what you did that day with the looper for a true like by like comparison?
Here's another angle to attack things from. Let's see how the pattern you've been working on links to the next bar. Taking the note our lick leads to and placing it at the start of our practice pattern we create a loop that should be more recognisable from the song.
Over to you Danny. Is this easier or harder?
ok! kick and man when he's down lol
how's this? 70bpm
It looks like you've jumped the speed too far and lost your mojo. Let's get things so you don't need anyone to let you know what's going on. The maxim is "If you don't know 100% that it's right then it's probably wrong!" ;)
The cure ... take it back to the speed at which you know it's definitely right (which it was in your previous video) and only notch it up 5bpm at a time. Keep the out loud count until you know you don't need it any more. Jot down your top speed for the day and forget about it for a while. Rinse and repeat!
Something else you could try is singing the notes in time with just the foot tap. No guitar required!
Maybe you've hit mental overload with this one for now and there's benefit in letting the new pattern sink in a bit ("latent learning"). This one is purely a mental challenge and it's possible a switch-off from it for a day or two yields more improvement than trying to force it. I'm sure there's plenty of other things you'd like to look at!
Paul, Please tell me I'm getting closer! The long pause before I start is me trying to find the beat haha.
Here's one for you Danny if you've never tried it before. Watch your last video at double speed (click on the gear icon at the bottom of the video box for playback options). Sounding pretty good!
Great stuff, that's the hardest bit out of the way! The original runs at 50bpm which equals 150bpm as you're currently viewing it. If that seems like a long way off ... it's not! Once you've pushed it to about 100bpm I predict you'll feel the "magic" as you start to hear the pattern as music rather than thinking of it purely in mechanical terms. Watching with interest!
Paul, Video helped a lot, thanks. So think I'm getting there now couple more days and I should be able to practice this without the brain hurting. Ill upload another video over the weekend. I had my daughter come up out of bed asking why I was repeating Hick -o -ry dick -or -y Up -or y over and over again so she became the director for this one.
I think this was at 50bpm
Try this for size!
" On the plus side my normal triplets are getting better " - Great point! You're working on a tougher but fully related challenge and when dropping back to plain triplets things should feel a whole lot better.
Next step has to be with the metronome and I bet you'll see your speed come up pretty steadily. If it's tough to get going at 30bpm get rid of the triplets within the triplets on the metronome and use three beats as one. At 30bpm that would give you 2 seconds between each of the nine syllables of the challenge and would equate to a speed of 10bpm (30/3). By the time you get to 90bpm this way it's the same as 30bpm with the subdivisions.
If that doesn't make sense let me know and I'll post a video.
Ok so here is the only video I can show as the others had a lot of swearing, however I will post another video shortly this week showing my progress. On the plus side my normal triplets are getting better.
Ok, here it goes
Busy weekend ... quick video before bed demonstrating the notes placed on the "zoomed-in" foot tap and count!
I'd say "Need Your Love so Bad" fits your description. How about zooming in on some of the building blocks of that intro? Here I've drawn up a loop in Taplature of the first couple of licks with the first three notes ("pick-up") leading back in each time from the end.
This is a bit more intricate than the swing stuff we've seen up to now. Here some of the triplets have been split into triplets themselves! Let's zoom in on beat 4 of the top line.
To time these triplets within triplets first try saying "Hick -o -ry dick -or -y Up -or y" while tapping your foot down as you say "Hick" and lifting it as you say "Up". Then add the notes on the correct part of the count.
If this seems tough, try zooming in even closer. This gives you more foot movements to tie the notes to until the pattern starts to make musical sense (ie. you can "hear" it).
See what you make of that lot! A video of your practice on it would be good.