Gabrielthorn progress thread

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#182

Today I spent my second practice session with Morning star. I ended the session by recording a take at 110 bpm. The goal here was to play continously the parts I’ve memorised without stopping. I’ve noticed the following things (on top of some missed notes) :

  • yes, I’m aware of my mosquito vibrato and I’ll dedicate sessions to improve on this in the near future
  • executing this fast runs even on 110 bpm are challengin (like the first descending scale pattern). It’s a very different thing practicing licks on high speeds and executing them in a musical context and switching back and forth between slow play and fast runs
  • the 3 string Yngwie style arpeggios are a NIGHTMARE for me, they sound horrible and I’ll spend time working exclusively on this, as it’s a weak point for sure
  • the tremolo picking run at the end is a hit/miss, I need to get used to repeating notes and making sure I repeat every note only 3 times and hit the accented notes on time
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#183

Definitely! I think this is the right type of challenge for you at this point :slight_smile:

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#184

Just chiming in to say, incredible playing @gabrielthorn! I watched almost all of your clips, and you were slaying it from the beginning. We’re the same age and it’s mindblowing how much you’ve achieved in such a short time with the guitar. Big thumbs up for also pushing past your own limits, and through to the next levels of ability.

Really looking forward to one day hearing your tips/approach to the Universal Mind lick. My own goal is to dominate the LTE and DT classics, and you’re well on your way already. Excellent stuff, keep it up! It’s super inspirational to see.

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#185

Thank you for your words! We have very similar goals then :slight_smile: I’d also like to learn my favourite Europe songs but my greatest nemesis is my favourite Hungarian band’s material, I’m far from the DT or LTE stuff but even further from that. I hope I can nail some of those songs one day :slight_smile:

And my first sloppy attempt of the Superstitious run I’ve started decoding today, which is also one of my bucketlist songs :smiley:

I’ll make a better quality recording once I’ve memorised the entire solo.

#186

So there it is, end of practice session 1 of the Superstitious solo. This is one of my favourite solos of all time, and been dreaming about playing it since I was a teen. Please note that I got a middle finger injury on my fretting hand yesterday wich makes bending super painful ( a string on my barely used PIA I’m still unfamiliar with slid under my finger nail and cut the flesh badly), so I’m aware of some bends not being perfect, also the fast run needs a lot more practicing. And I perform so much worse with my red button syndrome :crazy_face:

Anyways, it’s still a big day for me and I’m super happy for this.

Backing track is Dani Garcia Guitar on YouTube, all credits go to him. It’s the first time I’m editing anything with background music so the editing is not perfect.

P.s.: after watching it I was thinking about deleting it, but it will be a fun memory of the first day attempting this solo :smiley:

3 Likes
#187

Dont’ you dare delete it.

If I’d done that the first day of learning something this iconic, I’d be out in the street campaigning to get my neighbors to hear it.

Nice job

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#188

Thank @JB_Winnipeg :slightly_smiling_face: I’m waiting a bit more for inviting neighbours I think :smiley:

#189

Before my middle finger completely gives up for today, I made my first attempt of this too on the original tempo. Of course I messed up the last few notes. My secret strategy I used today, and it seems working: I did NOT watch my picking hand at all :smiley:

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#190

Superstitious solo practice #2

As my middle finger is still in bad pain, I changed the bends a bit to be less painful. Yes, it’s less authentic, but less out of tune bends.

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#191

Practicing an easy solo of my favourite band (relatively easy, compared to most of their stuff).

#192

Trying to make my tremolo more sustainable. I feel like the key will be to allow my wrist to be more “loose” and take part in the action with the elbow.

#193

Question about your tremolo, are you trying to get 4 notes per click at 240? I have trouble sorting out whether you’re close or not due to the audio compression and the tone you’ve got going.

Genuinely curious, not a critique of your filming practices!

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#194

I try to get 4 notes / click. Sometimes I can sustain it for 6-7 clicks sometimes not.

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#195

I vote to validate your opinion Pepepicks66!

I REALLY like the idea of pushing yourself into the higher speeds even if it doesn’t sound right. If you can do it once, you can gain endurence. I wasted at least 2 years worrying about playing 2nps pentationic licks PERFECTLY at low speeds based off the notion that you have to play slow to play fast. While this is true in the learning stages, I have since moved to higher speeds as soon as I have mastered the parrticualr lick. I remember seeing a Martin Miller video in which he told a student that playing slow is NOT the way to become fast magically. You HAVE to push yourself in order to teach your brain what playing fast feels like. If I remember correctly, MM said that his students idea was “categorically wrong”.

I have had great success in jumping around in tempos. For example, I start REALLY slow (40-60 BPM) and then up to 90, then back down to 70 etc. If my target is 90 BPM, I jump to 110 after trying 90, and then goto back to 90 as it makes it feel much easier. The tempo I used as an example is completely arbitrary BTW.

Bottom line, I can relate to your frustration. I think the way out is pushing yourself at the higher tempos, and perhaps looking at a regimented practice routine that includes strict monitoring of your progress via webcam or simply writing down your top speeds.

Finally, if you ever quit playing I would be happy to take that guitar off of your hands :sweat_smile: :sweat_smile:. What a beautiful instrument.

Keep it up, you CAN overcome this obstacle.

2 Likes
#196

I think that clip would make the worlds most shreddiest ring tone!

Sorry… I couldn’t help it…

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#197

I think I made good progress last month, so I’m not planning to stop playing the guitar (yet … :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: )

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#198

:crazy_face: It’s alright, it does sound shreddy and messy.

#199

All jokes aside, I am going through a similar thing- trying to make my tremolo more even at high tempos. I am now aware that I am not playing in time with a click as well as I thought I was - my timing is quite ropey at times :frowning:

#200

It’s definitely a struggle at these higher tempos, I still try to find how to relax my picking hand more and more.

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#201

The mess is bigger than ever (my stuff came home from London, finally), but practicing won’t stop. The transition with the 6 string sweep is far from perfect, but the whole thing is not terrible after a couple of tries.

P.s.: yes, I’m sweeping, not alternate picking everything :smiley:

2 Likes