When I started with CTC’s volcano seminar, I was able to do a bad version of Far beyond the sun in 7 months, partially.
So two years ago I managed this abomination.
Two years later, it’s still an abomination, only this time I couldn’t play the slower bits, tracking the first part drove me mad, must have tried it 20 to 30 times trying to get it to not suck entirely. The second half took me two takes, and it’s got all the twiddly bits, this ain’t far beyond the sun, it’s far from anywhere near decent, I threw the towel in by the end of it. Felt like a wounded gazelle in a forest fire.
My conclusion is I need to revamp my practice discipline, have to play stuff I’ve worked hard at to keep the old noggin from fading into obscurity. Anybody else annoyed stuff you’ve worked hard at now feels like a distant dream somebody else had
I have an awful musical memory. It takes me a long time to learn phrases and make them stick, so you have my sympathy. I’m 37 now, so I’m just going to accept that I’m past my mental peak and its never gonna get any better. That being said, if your are technically capable, then the learning and relearning is easier. CTC has helped here in the sense that I can manage a lot more off the bat than I used to, so I can actually concentrates on the phrases a lot better.
I’ve forgoten loads of things that I used to be able to play. But it’s because I don’t play them for a year or so.
A good idea I learned is to put every song you know on a list. And from time to time play through them all. Just having a list you can turn to will give you some structure
If it makes you feel better, at the moment I don’t think I can play any of the Vinnie Moore covers on my YT channel I think shred pieces do require quite a bit of maintenance - I recall reading that Petrucci compares practicing for a dream theater tour to preparing for an olympic event!
In any case I wouldn’t call this an abomination
Sure, it looks like the various parts are not perfectly memorised, and I think your accuracy is a bit below your usual standard, but the basic vibe is there.
I think the problem that’s most noticeable in this take is timing. I struggle with timing too!
I think if you focus on locking with the drums on the “One” of each bar, it will make the whole thing sound much better even if there are tiny imprecisions in the parts in between.
So this is a thing, it’s not just me. I feel better already.
Thank brother.
I was fighting it, trying to play the notes and fit every major brake, need to focus on the little things too.
I’m at this funny place caught between the two different scale lengths on my guitars. Can’t decide if I should deploy the little finger if i can help it. There’s no room on the shorter scale length on the higher frets anyways. Also reading that thread about the 1-3-4 finger combination is playing on my mind. I hope all this will only make it better.
Such a cool guy, thanks for sharing that; I always think of all those jazz cats that seem to have an incredible memory for all those crazy complicated syncopated heads. Even the classical musicians. But I sure they have their troubles too.
Im trying to follow what i’m telling you! Memory and focus is always an issue for me… (i have some ADD).
I use caffeine like most… helps… I find that if i’m not rested my playing suffers. too many carbs… same deal. i’m trying to find and EFA supplement that i can digest… they play a strong part in memory.
Yes brother, memory is a slippery thing, don’t think mine was ever any good
So determined to get this track going again, here’s another attempt… in few days I should have this one sorted, to this point. I realized I had some setup issues, my saddles had kinda drifted to uneven heights. Did a full setup with intonation.
Some stupid clams, for some reason the harder parts are not as big an issue
There’s a ton of great stuff in there! You have the first solo run down really well, and that’s one of the most gnarly licks in the song; your “harmolian” runs are spot on, really nice.
Thinking about memory issues - can you sing the whole thing away from the guitar? Or play it back in your head? Either of those may help if you can practice them.
Another thought is that Yngwie’s style is probably your friend here. He tends to reuse and restate material like a classical composer, tweaking it a bit as he goes. I just did a quick count up and there are around 18 discreet sections or licks, give or take, before the first solo. So you could use a memory palace approach to link those together, or hell, just give em names and write out a cheat sheet and follow that.
You could also try focusing on the melody and not play any of the fills. The in the B section (0:29) you’re consistently a beat behind, and in what my transcription calls the G section (2:10) you’re rushing so I assume that’s an issue too. Could be worth a few trips through the original track with the guitar unplugged just to get it down - like I said above, if you can sing it as well, that will definitely help. Then you can have a solid spine to hang the other licks off.
Hope that’s useful. I absolutely cannot play this to your level atm, so I feel a bit cheeky offering advice. But keep going, can’t wait to see more.
It happens. Concert pianists have to maintain a huge repertoire. Your memory has several aspects: auditory, visual, kinesthetic, proprioceptive etc etc. Things cycle in and out of your memory and fingers. You could try mental practice away from the guitar, see if that keeps it fresh.
Thanks brother, I tend to work on those constantly and ignore the other bits over time.
I think that’s a good idea, kinda like race drivers preparing for a track!
His variations are incredible and numerous, I try to keep practising all those variations as experience proved that one could override all other patterns, basically, I have to try to improvise with lots of variations to achieve any sort of fluency in his style. He’s really amazing on this front, to an outsider it may all sound the same, but the details are many and varied. I think seeing the patterns on a sheet is a good idea, I will try that.
I definitely need to work on those sections, that entry transition still throws me off. It’s funny cause I don’t remember my old finger positions from two years ago
I’m so glad you posted this detailed response, can’t thank you enough. I shall PM you if you don’t mind about my next take if you have the time.
Is this your work? It’s my bible atm; I’ve changed some things around but I think of all the transcription I’ve seen; it’s easily the best and most detailed. Whoever did that is an angel for us mere mortals. I remember the author post here but I can’t remember these things until I have some personal contact. Bless his soul!
Ah, sorry mate, I have two threads in one here
I think this mental practice away from the guitar is a concept I need to work on, sound like it will take some effort. I will try this out, seems like a damn good idea. Thanks!
Once we understand that effective piano practice does not necessarily involve making sounds, we might begin to appreciate that solutions to passages we suppose are problematic because of some technical deficiency or other are actually problematic because we don’t have a detailed mental map of the terrain.
For things like pure technique, mental play is still good because, once you’ve started to get a clear physical picture of a moment via practising — it really clicks — then you can probably repeat that same feeling away from the guitar. Take something you’ve worked on recently, sit down away from the guitar, get relaxed and focused, and run through the whole thing in your head, with as much detail as you can. It’s actually a real mental workout. You might even feel the same tingling or whatever in your hands arms and fingers that you get when you actually play.
So it’s tough but fun, and you can do it wherever. Cheers!
I’ve gotta say I too suffer from forgetting things that I have learnt over the years.
It’s also very annoying that my guitar playing memory has been taken over or overwritten by work stuff over the years.
If only we could all play guitar and get paid hey ? Or have a real good SSD in our brains so we could learn something and always remember it.
The Mandela Effect
I recently relearned a load of stuff from years back, and was surprised that some things were different to how I thought they were, a sort of Mandela effect.
Crazy Train for example, I used to play it in a band so played that solo hundreds of times and I pretty much remembered it note for note when I started playing again. However, when I looked back at my old Ozzy tab book I was surprised to see there were things that I wasn’t playing right.
Did I always play them wrong, or did something get blurred in the meantime, because I am sure that I learned it from the same tab book I was looking at 30 years later.
Learning new Stuff:- Mentally playing
I find that if I am working on a lick or a phrase or an entire song, I will learn it and play through it a few times in one sitting.
Then when I go to bed that night, I am kept awake, mentally playing the piece in my head, playing over and over until I have to interrupt it or my brain just switches off from tiredness. Whether this helps me with learning a piece or not I don’t know, It’s not something I am doing consciously, it just happens because I have been so focused on learning that piece.
Also when I am mentally playing a piece in my head my fretting hand is normally moving in time.
I’ve got a mental block I need to start working on, I’ve procrastinating on this with great efficiency I think I have no choice but to start reading tab at the least getting into the mind set. I haven’t had a guitar with me for two weeks now; I think this may be the longest in 3 years
I think shred pieces do require quite a bit of maintenance - I recall reading that Petrucci compares practicing for a dream theater tour to preparing for an olympic event!
I think I have no choice but to start reading tab at the least getting into the mind set. I haven’t had a guitar with me for two weeks now; I think this may be the longest in 3 years 