Progress: Solo vs Duet/band practice
masterofpuppets79
This is my first post! I've been playing acoustic guitar (fingerstyle
mainly) for about a year - making 'slowww progress'. It wasn't until I
started working on duet pieces with a friend of mine that I really
started to advance. I put it down to homework. If you have something
to aim for, surely you're more focussed and make the effort to 'get it
right' ...not wanting to let down your band or playing partner. I also
find that you help each other - picking up on bad habbits and sharing
new techniques and riffs/licks. We've just put our first video on
YouTube (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohpg3dLY1Xs) and have a
plan to work on more throughout 2010. Surely having an aim spurs you
on, 'forcing' you to practice, especially when you're depended on by
your playing partner (and are at the mercy of YouTube comments!!!!!).
Please have a look at our first video and place a comment (...don't be
too harsh!! - we're still learning).
Master Betty
"masterofpuppets79" <brian....@northumbria.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:09c247b4-6291-40ae...@e27g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
Bitchin! Great post and welcome to the group.
Jim
tafg
fine. When I'd been playing that long I was having trouble with Bm
sounding cleanly, and finger picking was a year and a half in my
future. Good job from the sound of it.
One note: Never apologize or make excuses in advance. If you feel
it's not good enough to present don't present it. If you do feel it
is good enough, put it out there and take what comes in response.
One guy complained about finger squeaks. He wouldn't have liked a lot
of what Segovia did.
.
Sean
I think you've got it right. Having a performance to prepare for, or a
practice where your playing partner expects you to know your part...
These are great motivators.
Your duet piece is good. That performance represents a lot of work, eh?
And it isn't just "good boys for doing your homework." I enjoyed it as
music too.
String squeak. For some reason it hasn't been a big issue for me, so I
can't offer suggestions on how to deal with it. A certain amount of
string squeak has a certain charm, but there's a tipping point where it
becomes distracting and irritating. On your youtube you're just this
side of that tipping point.
Learnwell
> of what Segovia did.
What Segovia did is dated and would not pass for good playing
currently (interpretively he did a good, but overbearing, job). Bless
him, he was a great performer for his time, but don't confuse that
with current abilities.
Tony Done
"masterofpuppets79" <brian....@northumbria.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:09c247b4-6291-40ae...@e27g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
What's the "Premium-Guitar-Tutor" thing at the end of the vid? My reaction
was that this is a lead in to some kind of promo. I'll put my evil thoughts
aside and assume it is genuine one-year effort.
I reckon that is fantastic for one year of playing, way ahead of where I
would have been at that time. Were you completely new to guitar a year ago?
I think you are right, you progress faster if you have a target and
someone/something to keep you challenged. Your right hand technique still
looks "new" to me, not yet the relaxed but focused effort that comes with
practice. The one in black (nail biter?) might do better with a thumbpick so
he isn't having to hook his thumb to catch the strings.
Fingerboard squeaks are not unusual in acoustic playing, I try to EQ some of
it out, but I don't worry if I can't get it all.
I see you have posted to several groups, it was smart not to cross-post.
Tony D
Tony D
Tony Done
"Learnwell" <learn...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:bb24daca-baaf-43ce...@g22g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
He was a (the?) major step in the evolution of classical guitar. Who do you
like now? I know very little about classical, but I like the lean decisive
style of John Williams.
Tony D
Derek
>
> He was a (the?) major step in the evolution of classical guitar. Who do you
> like now? I know very little about classical, but I like the lean decisive
> style of John Williams.
Give me Parkening and Bream. Plus, I have a soft spot for the guy I
studied with.
masterofpuppets79
criticism ...I haven't had a guitar teacher so am fully aware that
I've picked up some bad habbits. If people don't point these out,
they'll end up ingrained in my technique (and be very hard to shake
off!!). I'm going to work on my 'squeek', and will hopefully have it
rectified by my second YouTube offering. BTW I'm the guy in the green
(not the nail biter!).
Learnwell
He marketed himself well, and there is no question that helped an
instrument that was on the fringes of serious music when he started.
That part of the change coincided with the incredible popularity of
the electric guitar is a chicken and egg thing.
> Who do you
> like now? I know very little about classical, but I like the lean decisive
> style of John Williams.
Williams is an incredible technician, no doubt. An example of a
current (somewhot newer) face on the scene who plays with a lot of
depth (and no strig squeaks) would be Jason Vieaux. His Ponce CD is
wonderful.
masterofpuppets79
superb!
David Raleigh Arnold
If you can't find a band, get a metronome. It is a second choice,
but it does many of the same things for you, and it doesn't get mad.
Regards, daveA
--
For beginners: very easy guitar music, solos, duets, exercises. Early
intermediate guitar solos. One best scale set for all guitarists.
http://www.openguitar.com/scalescomparison.html ::: plus new and
better chord and arpeggio exercises. http://www.openguitar.com
Music theory should be clues you can use,
not blues you can't lose.
Tony Done
>> He was a (the?) major step in the evolution of classical guitar.
>
> the electric guitar is a chicken and egg thing.
>
<g> I think there is room for an interesting debate there. It is true that
many of us baby boomer folkies started with classical guitar and maybe a few
lessons. However, I think the electric bit comes from a different tradition,
American acoustic (which evolved concurrently with the classical guitar),
especially blues, and Hawaiian.
Tony D
jimmy
<d...@openguitar.com> wrote:
>On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:36:29 -0800, masterofpuppets79 wrote:
>
>> Hi all...
>>
>> This is my first post! I've been playing acoustic guitar (fingerstyle
>> mainly) for about a year - making 'slowww progress'. It wasn't until I
>> started working on duet pieces with a friend of mine that I really
>> started to advance. I put it down to homework. If you have something to
>> aim for, surely you're more focussed and make the effort to 'get it
>> right' ...not wanting to let down your band or playing partner. I also
>> find that you help each other - picking up on bad habbits and sharing
>> new techniques and riffs/licks. We've just put our first video on
>> YouTube (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohpg3dLY1Xs) and have a
>> plan to work on more throughout 2010. Surely having an aim spurs you on,
>> 'forcing' you to practice, especially when you're depended on by your
>> playing partner (and are at the mercy of YouTube comments!!!!!). Please
>> have a look at our first video and place a comment (...don't be too
>> harsh!! - we're still learning).
>
>If you can't find a band, get a metronome. It is a second choice,
>but it does many of the same things for you, and it doesn't get mad.
>Regards, daveA
Yeah, and a tape recorder. Reality check kit.
Nice job masterofpuppets79. I hate that f'n song but I could almost
forget that listening to you guys.
tony
Paul L
"Tony Done" <tony...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:zWaXm.63319$ze1....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
Per-Olov Kindgren on You Tube. He is a composer as well as playing
classical compositions as well as covers of popular tunes.
http://www.youtube.com/user/AndanteLargo
Paul
Alan Meyer
> ...
> Per-Olov Kindgren on You Tube. He is a composer as well as playing
> classical compositions as well as covers of popular tunes.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/user/AndanteLargo
>
> Paul
>
>
I second that. His music strikes me as clean, straightforward,
and quite romantic.
He sometimes plays an interesting 7 string guitar.
Alan
Alan Meyer
> ... It wasn't until I
> started working on duet pieces with a friend of mine that I really
Some guitar teachers, including John Williams I believe, insist that
their students do some ensemble playing. IIRC Williams once said
that a student who plays solo all the time may concentrate on mastering
the notes in the right order instead of on the music. Working with
other musicians forces each player to think more about the music.
Alan
oasysco
wrote:
I was going to say that there is no better way to make music than to
do it with others, whether you are playing with others or playing for
others, but it seems to me that you have learned that important lesson
and are teaching the rest of us.
And the tune is excellent, which goes to prvoe that something doesn't
have to be complicated to sound really good.Good job!
Greg