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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 10:31 pm
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Sorry, but... I'M THROWING UP IN MY MOUTH !!

I HATE this age of Political Correctness where Everybody gets a Trophy !!

FACT IS: You're CRAP at this point of your developement!!

...And so am I !!

If you don't want to be CRAP... Work... Practice... until you're not CRAP ! There is no other answer !!

If this criticism causes you to weiner out and give up... sobeit... GIVE UP !! No Skin off my A** !!

I'll NEVER Give Up... Someday... many thousands of practice hours from now... I KNOW I won't be CRAP !!

But the LAST thing I want to hear along the way is FALSE compliments and hollow encouragement.

If that's your deal, you'll never achieve proficiency... You'll simply become a Legend in your own Bathwater !!

You NEED to be your own Worst Critic !!

Ask the question again... after a very difficult year of practicing,... the answers you recieve will likely be more genuine and deserved !

NOT trying to hurt you so much as telling it like it is. I hope, and expect, that you'll improve with effort and time!

I Wanna be able to salute your talent... make that happen !!

cheers!

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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 1:01 am
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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 1:10 am
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SteelyRayVaughan wrote:

Is there an easy way to find fellow musicians?


Answering this question first: the answer is NO! (unless stumbling across the right persons by coincidence.
It's not easy to find people with the same attitude, the same taste in music, a matching personality, the same plans for the band's future AND who are on the same proficiency level.
Keep searching, they're out there but not easy to find.

Now to your playing:

Considering your age, it's delighting to see, that you're interested in Blues. Most younger people are into full-throttle-angry-death-metal-stuff, so you give me some hope for todays youth! :lol:

First bend made me curious but then .... :roll:

You've come a good way forward during this year but you could be way better considering playing 6 hours a day.
You are terribly off timing. Practice your timing .... A LOT!
Your improvisation is really bad. It sounds lifeless and has no feeling. Get yourself TABs or a music sheet (if you can read music) and try to play the song note by note, concentrating on each note and trying to play it as SRV does (feeling, vibrato ... all that stuff). Once you've learned playing many songs like that,you can start improvising by taking a part of this sond and a part of another song .....you know what I mean). Your improvisation sucks big time, which is not surprising given the time you've been playing. By covering the song note by note, you will learn faster.

To be honest: the first bend was the best note played in this video (if not the only one).

You must use those 6 hours a day more focussed!
Like, for example, if you improvise like that for 6 hours a day, it'll get you nowhere.
Make yourself a practice plan: 1 hour chords, 1 hour blues licks, 1 hour articulation & forming notes, 1 hour jamming for fun, 2 hours playing the song note by note. Seriously(!!) work on your techniques and TIMING!!

Even after just one year you could be much better instead of sounding like a mistreated cat.

You seem to know your way around the fretboard already, now start using it in a sense of the song.

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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 1:24 am
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Lightnin MN wrote:
I HATE this age of Political Correctness where Everybody gets a Trophy !!

FACT IS: You're CRAP at this point of your developement!!


Point 1 : I totally agree . The whole idea of praising someone in a learning situation , is to encourage them , so they want to go on with further development . If the student does not do well - then it is better with criticism than not knowing . How much criticism/praise you should give , is dependent of what kind of personality this student has ( we don't really know SteelyRV very well, do we ?)
On the other hand - if we want students to achieve something ( i.e. play like StevieRV) - we can NOT all the time compare a newbee with SRV's records and tell him (or her :wink: ) that their playing is CRAP ! If you do so it will be a LONG period of negative response to the student . Then most of the students will give up before they even get close. Of course !!! We are only humans !
The correct approach , is setting up some sub-targets . THEN we (as a teacher) can criticize or praise the achievements ! That way is leading to main target (play like Stevie Ray ? ) How long it takes , is depending on the talent of the student , and how much time is spent - AND how good the practicing is . Here it can be crucial how good the teacher is .
Do we reach the goal we set ? Hmmm - how many out there are as good as SRV ? I would say - just a few , in other words ; it is unlikely to get there :( But you should never give up trying :D

I , for one , am regarding this training a way of exceeding ones limits , and having a great time doing it! Hopefully this will let the student develop his own style during the efforts , and still be a happy musician :D

I think guitslinger had some good points , here, and Smokin' Frets has a kinda sketch for the way further

And yes- there is a bit too much praising around here , IMO . But SteelyRV definitely is on his way to something, IMHO

Cheers !

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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:19 am
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Lightnin MN wrote:
Sorry, but... I'M THROWING UP IN MY MOUTH !!

I HATE this age of Political Correctness where Everybody gets a Trophy !!

FACT IS: You're CRAP at this point of your developement!!

...And so am I !!

If you don't want to be CRAP... Work... Practice... until you're not CRAP ! There is no other answer !!

If this criticism causes you to weiner out and give up... sobeit... GIVE UP !! No Skin off my A** !!

I'll NEVER Give Up... Someday... many thousands of practice hours from now... I KNOW I won't be CRAP !!

But the LAST thing I want to hear along the way is FALSE compliments and hollow encouragement.

If that's your deal, you'll never achieve proficiency... You'll simply become a Legend in your own Bathwater !!

You NEED to be your own Worst Critic !!

Ask the question again... after a very difficult year of practicing,... the answers you recieve will likely be more genuine and deserved !

NOT trying to hurt you so much as telling it like it is. I hope, and expect, that you'll improve with effort and time!

I Wanna be able to salute your talent... make that happen !!

cheers!


+100. I laughed so hard, and totally agree.

Don't for a second think I'm super special or amazing. I just wanted to share with you guys since I don't have any appreciative friends. But I totally agree, and thank you for your feedback. It gave me a good laugh ;)

Smokin' Frets wrote:
SteelyRayVaughan wrote:

Is there an easy way to find fellow musicians?


Now to your playing:

Considering your age, it's delighting to see, that you're interested in Blues. Most younger people are into full-throttle-angry-death-metal-stuff, so you give me some hope for todays youth! :lol:

First bend made me curious but then .... :roll:

You've come a good way forward during this year but you could be way better considering playing 6 hours a day.
You are terribly off timing. Practice your timing .... A LOT!
Your improvisation is really bad. It sounds lifeless and has no feeling. Get yourself TABs or a music sheet (if you can read music) and try to play the song note by note, concentrating on each note and trying to play it as SRV does (feeling, vibrato ... all that stuff). Once you've learned playing many songs like that,you can start improvising by taking a part of this sond and a part of another song .....you know what I mean). Your improvisation sucks big time, which is not surprising given the time you've been playing. By covering the song note by note, you will learn faster.

To be honest: the first bend was the best note played in this video (if not the only one).

You must use those 6 hours a day more focussed!
Like, for example, if you improvise like that for 6 hours a day, it'll get you nowhere.
Make yourself a practice plan: 1 hour chords, 1 hour blues licks, 1 hour articulation & forming notes, 1 hour jamming for fun, 2 hours playing the song note by note. Seriously(!!) work on your techniques and TIMING!!

Even after just one year you could be much better instead of sounding like a mistreated cat.

You seem to know your way around the fretboard already, now start using it in a sense of the song.


Thanks for answering my musician search question.
I have noticed that my timing is bad, but I thought maybe it was just 'hearing things' because I listen to myself play so often that bad timing just became the norm :P It's good to have a confirmation of my terrible playing.

Yes, my improvisation skills are garbage I agree. Most of the time when I record a video or some audio, I'm doing it for the intention of showing people, and I try extra hard, which makes me sound much worse (you know how it goes). So that doesn't help my case.

I think it's funny how different people here had complete polar opposite reactions to my playing. Bahaha.

Anways, I now know what I need to work on. I gotta stop jamming for 9 million hours a day, and start up on some technique. You guys have been great!

Cheers
Nick


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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:55 am
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Timing, Rythm actually, is not a natural talent for anyone. It is a learned skill.

Human beings will always tend to miss the downbeat and then play at too fast a tempo.

Sometimes people will say so & so has natural rythm, but that's nonsense. Almost always, if you look back into that person's past, usually when they were very young, they had some kind of rythmic influence... lived next to a railroad track, or a factory, had a loud cloths dryer etc. Unconsciously, these people were hearing these things and developing rythm.

Every beginner should be spending at least 5 min. per day developing theirs.

Get a metronome (they can be had for as little as $10 today) and spend 5 min./day literally toe-tapping along with it at 60bpm, 120bpm for one month. I guarantee your timing will improve.

cheers!

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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:46 am
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Lightnin MN wrote:
FACT IS: You're CRAP at this point of your developement!!
That was not a constructive criticism, that was mean-spirited trolling.

Lightnin MN wrote:
FALSE compliments and hollow encouragement
False compliments? You think your opinion is more valid than anyone else's? Seriously? I went back watched it again 3 times, and I stand by my original comment. The playing was quite fluid for someone who has only been playing for a year, and it was not "crap".

Even Frank Zappa, who was a master of improvisation, said it only works about 1/5 of the time.

And the OP asked for opinions on his playing, not his work ethic, which already seems to be excellent - 6 hours a day!

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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:57 am
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Lightnin MN wrote:
I'M THROWING UP IN MY MOUTH !!

I HATE
FACT IS: You're CRAP
If you don't want to be CRAP... Work... Practice... until you're not CRAP !
If this criticism causes you to weiner out and give up... sobeit... GIVE UP !! No Skin off my A** !!
I KNOW I won't be CRAP !!
LAST
FALSE compliments
you'll never achieve proficiency...
Legend in your own Bathwater !!


The emphasis on these harsh words made it somewhat enjoyable to read, and gave it a hint of humour.

Don't worry spacewolf. I appreciate your kindness, but I don't want this to turn into a flame war thread, otherwise I'll consider deleting it.

I still read the negativity above and laugh. After all, in this age, where you can't laugh at other people, and you can't laugh at a beach boys parody video, if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

I take it all in, and don't take it too seriously but rather try to find what he's really trying to point out, and I did so.

Cheers!


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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 10:02 am
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SteelyRayVaughan wrote:
Don't worry spacewolf. I appreciate your kindness, but I don't want this to turn into a flame war thread, otherwise I'll consider deleting it.
Don't worry, I'm a little old for flame wars :D , but I'm certainly willing to state my opinion. Offering constructive criticisms is the standard on the forum, I think you have gotten quite a few of those. And I really do think you are doing quite well for someone who has only been playing for a year.

But as someone who teaches college part time, unless you're a fine arts major and guitar is part of your curriculum, I'm more concerned that you are spending too much time practicing guitar. :shock: You have an opportunity for a university education - don't blow it!

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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 10:17 am
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spacewolf wrote:
unless you're a fine arts major


Haha, I wouldn't be caught dead practicing the fine arts. I make fun of them all the time (in a friendly way of course).

I'm in a Biochemistry Specialization and its what I'm interested in so it doesn't feel like work to me. Don't worry my skewl is fine :P

But the blues is always more important than school. That's my rule of life

xD cheers


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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 4:07 pm
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I'm actually a bit shocked at Lightning's post, he's one of the coolest guys around here. Did he stay logged in and his kid started posting? LOL!

I do get his post as harsh as it was. But sometimes you just have to watch how you say things.

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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:15 pm
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Practicing six or more hours a day is quite a lot,...I will not ever have that amount of time once I get started playing again here in another month,...working ten or more hours a day I will be doing darn good to get maybe a half hour to an hour of practice time! As for the video and some of the criticisms I have read here,(...well,...though I have heard of Stevie Ray Vaughn),...I don't listen to his music,so I really can't make a fair comparison and it would be totally wrong for me to compare you to him. SRV most likely had hours of practice to get as good as he was,and if you have in mind to play like him or play his style,you have a very long way to go,but I would not give up. Get your timing down,for one thing,...I'm not one to have natural rhythm,so it will take me some time to work on that skill,...and the metronome may very well be a good idea AND a good investment to help in your practice time. As to whether or not your playing stinks,...I can't answer that,either,since I am not familiar with SRV's music and the song you were trying to play since I'm not into Blues music. You must have a heck of a LOT of time on your hands to be able to practice as long as you do! Maybe I have helped you,...maybe I haven't,...but that's my five cents worth!
Asking us on here as to whether or not your playing stinks may not have been the right way to approach this subject. Maybe something like 'What am I doing right and what am I doing wrong" on the song in the video would have been a much better approach for this thread.

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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:08 pm
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Thanks for all of the tips guys. I decided to take you up on all of your criticisms and play the ever-famous Tin Pan Alley.

https://soundcloud.com/steelydanick/tin ... m-w-lyrics

Things to note:

I did it all in one take, on my first try! Yay!
I just changed my strings, so thats why my tone sounds pretty awesome!
I wasn't really warmed up when I played this, but no excuses!

I loved how I sounded and loved the tone, so listen to this and tell me what you think.

Listen to at least 2 minutes of it because when I know I'm being recorded it usually takes me a little longer to get into my groove. A few mistakes at the beginning but then pure soul from thereon out.

Cheers!


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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 7:34 pm
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I enjoyed that. I'd use a bit less reverb but that's just me. 8)

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Post subject: Re: How's my Playing?
Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:07 am
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Well, to be honest, I don't believe you played it yourself!

The improvement is so astonishing that I assume you either pulled our leg on the first one or you're doing it with this one!

Anyhow, to whom it may concern:

Timing is off again!
Sound is good. Reverb is at upper limits for my taste.
Balance between backing track volume and guitar is very bad. I could barely hear the backing track.
Improvisation is generally ok but overall it's just noodling around on the same notes without following a blues scheme and without following the song progression.
There's worlds between the bending notes in the video and the much better (but not totally accurate) bending notes in this recording.

I think I've listened to two different players. You've been playing for so long before the video, I don't think you could make yourself sound so much better and different within just a few days.

If it is you and if it is your improvement: keep going!! You're on the right way!

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My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!


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