# Who's practicing what?



## Charles (Dec 28, 2009)

Gents,

Sometimes I feel the need for a little inspiration. I don't know a lot of other guitarists, so I don't get to have the "hey dude, what are you working on?" conversations that I'm sure a lot of you do to put your guitar playing in perspective, but I'm hoping this thread will accomplish that.

Quite simply, what are you working on? Do be as specific as you can so that maybe others will attempt it too and as a result better themselves as guitarists.

Personally, I'm hammering away at Altitudes by Jason Becker. A transcription was in this month's Guitar Techniques (brilliant magazine by the way) and, despite a lot of warning, I'm not finding it too terrible. The five and six string sweeps are a ferocious bitch, but other than that, the tune's not at all too bad.


----------



## Prydogga (Dec 28, 2009)

I've been working on improv alot, not as practice but ass fun, trying to keep things original and still keeping things fast when thinking on the spot, I've been trying to incorporate alot of sweeping and tapping thrown in there. I'm also working on getting some of my own stuff alot cleaner and trying to clean up the first solo in Holographic Universe, along with trying to learn the 2nd solo by ear which is a bitch, it's such an awesome solo though. Lastly, besides occasionally playing to some Paul Gilbert to get my fast picking better, I'm working through Ow My Feelings! by Periphery, by ear.


----------



## ShadyDavey (Dec 28, 2009)

Just waiting to get my fingers back into shape so at the moment it's slow and steady practice on whatever I feel like with a few excercises for building up strength thrown in. Come the New Year I'll make a concerted effort at getting back to a reasonable standard but right now - whatever


----------



## darbdavys (Dec 28, 2009)

finishing up Bland Street Bloom by SikTh and practicing alternate picking mainly. trying to nail that lydian lick in The Count Of Tuscany. damn my alt picking sucks  sixtuplets on 87 :/


----------



## Winspear (Dec 28, 2009)

I could say I'm learning the following songs, but rather I'll say I've been using parts of them for exercises for a very long time because I suck 

The leads from Erotomania by Dream Theater.
The Great Plains by Scale the Summit for my tapping, pretty much finished the rest of it.
On Impulse by Animals as Leaders to improve my chording and general awesome


----------



## distressed_romeo (Dec 28, 2009)

On top of general technique, which I try and work on every day, I'm working hard on my chord-vocabulary and grasp of voice-leading (due to inspiration provided by Eric Johnson!) and working at Shawn Lane's method of playing pentatonic sequences based on odd note groupings, and his one-note-per-string method (two picks and a pluck going up, one pick and two hammer-ons going down!). Also jamming out some groovy riffs in Drop C and Drop Bb tunings due to having received Page Hamilton's DVD for Xmas, and some Open C noodling on my acoustic twelve-string.


----------



## Daniel CR (Dec 28, 2009)

I´m working on 8 finger tapping right now from the guthrie govan book, trying to tame that right hand pinky to do as it´s told!


----------



## dpm (Dec 28, 2009)

I'm getting back into the old thrash stuff after spending a lot of time noodling and improvising. Relearning Sepultura's Arise and picking up on some subtle little things in the rhythms I hadn't spotted all those years ago


----------



## caughtinamosh (Dec 28, 2009)

I'm currently working on learning "Hours of Wealth" by Opeth. It's been ages since I've delved into my beloved prog collection.


----------



## jymellis (Dec 28, 2009)

i quit playing guitar for a little over 10 years. started back again a bout a year ago. im trying to sweep again


----------



## Empryrean (Dec 28, 2009)

I've been spending these past few days trying to learn Skylines by Painted In Exile by ear... it's a losing battle, I can't figure it out passed 24 seconds


----------



## ShadyDavey (Dec 28, 2009)

distressed_romeo said:


> working at Shawn Lane's method of playing pentatonic sequences based on odd note groupings, and his one-note-per-string method (two picks and a pluck going up, one pick and two hammer-ons going down!)



You know I was thinking about this yesterday and I was sure I used to have some tabs or GP files somewhere - you wouldn't happen to have any would you?

Here's an admission - I'm still getting my picking back in shape but it's probably 60% there so I'm reasonably happy with progress in that area.


----------



## telecaster90 (Dec 28, 2009)

I've been working on phrasing over ii-V-I's and my sightreading. I've just been reading tunes out of the Real Book and improvising over them, so that's been good for both things. Besides that, I've been picking up blues on my own terms the past couple of months. I've been working on both slide playing and more jazzy approaches to playing over a 12 bar blues. A cool scale that I discovered for playing over any dominant chord is Mixolydian b6 (1-2-3-4-5-b6-b7). It's pretty much the opposite of a melodic minor scale (1-2-b3-4-5-6-7) and it has a cool middle eastern flair. 

I've been working on drums, too. I've been picking up set again after taking some time off to focus more on guitar. I've been picking up latin and funk playing and I'm going to be drumming for a doom metal band when I get back to school for next semester


----------



## distressed_romeo (Dec 29, 2009)

ShadyDavey said:


> You know I was thinking about this yesterday and I was sure I used to have some tabs or GP files somewhere - you wouldn't happen to have any would you?
> 
> Here's an admission - I'm still getting my picking back in shape but it's probably 60% there so I'm reasonably happy with progress in that area.



Unfortunately no...it's been through a combination of studying his old REH videos and experimenting on my own. I'll get some tabs written out at some point.


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Dec 29, 2009)

I've been working on a few stuff depending on which instrument. 

Due to the past few weeks, I had to really brush up my piano chops to play christmas carols. 

Classical guitar is taking up a bit of my time as well. Namely Andrew York pieces like Marley's Ghost. My teacher has been giving me a ton of classical in general so I'm taking this quite seriously. 

As for electric, there's various. Lately I've been concentrating heavily on Janne Da Arc songs. There's so many great examples of using technique very tastefully in certain parts. The sense of arranging is great and I'm keen on developing my own arranging as well. Plus the songs also have their fair share of sweeps, string skips and taps and all sorts of tricks. 

That and constantly writing songs and various chordal music to jam and get ideas with. Sure a lot gets filed or thrown away, but gems do come out.


----------



## ShadyDavey (Dec 30, 2009)

distressed_romeo said:


> Unfortunately no...it's been through a combination of studying his old REH videos and experimenting on my own. I'll get some tabs written out at some point.



That would be cool! The DVD with those tabs and videos on is missing in action at the moment so I can't check them out myself


----------



## TonalArchitect (Dec 30, 2009)

Well, on guitar, I'm working on my picking, using Stick Control, a drum book, and converting the R L R R to D U D D etc. 

On drums, I'm, well, working on Stick Control.  Although I haven't practiced in a while (that is much during school), but I'm starting up again. I'm mostly working on my open rolls.


----------



## Maniacal (Dec 30, 2009)

At the moment I am trying to learn a solo I saw Nolly playing called Laser Lobotomy... although I havent actually heard the song which makes it difficult. 

I am also working on the material for my new book.


----------



## Cyntex (Dec 30, 2009)

Maniacal said:


> At the moment I am trying to learn a solo I saw Nolly playing called Laser Lobotomy... although I havent actually heard the song which makes it difficult.
> 
> I am also working on the material for my new book.



The song you mention comes from the album: "The Machinations Of Dementia" by "Blotted Science" (I saw his video on yt a couple months ago).

ot: Learning some songs from Satyricon's Volcano.


----------



## Metal Ken (Dec 30, 2009)

I just started tabbing out all the rhythm parts for Nocturnus' "Lake of Fire" 


actual song starts around 1:12


----------



## darbdavys (Dec 30, 2009)

Maniacal said:


> At the moment I am trying to learn a solo I saw Nolly playing called Laser Lobotomy... although I havent actually heard the song which makes it difficult.
> 
> I am also working on the material for my new book.


why not listen to it?


----------



## Fzau (Dec 31, 2009)

Just got the intro down, now it's time for the rest 




Guthrie Govan


----------



## jjjsssxxx (Dec 31, 2009)

dpm said:


> I'm getting back into the old thrash stuff after spending a lot of time noodling and improvising. Relearning Sepultura's Arise and picking up on some subtle little things in the rhythms I hadn't spotted all those years ago



Right on dude! I've been going back and relearning that album too. Best thrash album ever! (IMO) Definitely a picking hand workout.


----------



## Hollowway (Jan 1, 2010)

I'm practicing Serrana and Perpetual Burn (not learning them - I learned them a while ago, but I STILL work on the fluidity of those things). And I'm learning Old School by Rob Marcello. And for rhythm work I bust out Keith Merrow stuff or Bulb's Zyglrox. Basically I'm working on sweeps with some tapping thrown in, and then a lot of djenty type stuff.


----------



## dpm (Jan 1, 2010)

Neal said:


> Right on dude! I've been going back and relearning that album too. Best thrash album ever! (IMO) Definitely a picking hand workout.



Absolutely agreed. The other album it reminds me of is Carcass' Necroticism, because of the, I suppose, 'evolving' riffs. You spend a while learning one part, you think you've got it nailed, then it evolves into a variation of itself with some subtle little changes. I suppose that's what makes them interesting. Chaos AD is fantastic too, not complex like Arise but teeming with raw and legitimate aggression


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 1, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> As for electric, there's various. Lately I've been concentrating heavily on Janne Da Arc songs. There's so many great examples of using technique very tastefully in certain parts. The sense of arranging is great and I'm keen on developing my own arranging as well. Plus the songs also have their fair share of sweeps, string skips and taps and all sorts of tricks.



I just fell over watching these:


----------



## DIOBOLIC5150 (Jan 1, 2010)

Metal Ken said:


> I just started tabbing out all the rhythm parts for Nocturnus' "Lake of Fire"



"The Key" is one of my favorite albums. Would it be too much trouble to hook me up with the tabs whenever you complete them? I'd greatly appreciate it if so.


----------



## Hollowway (Jan 1, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> I just fell over watching these:




Dang! I'd love to learn Warning, but there's no tab I can find, and no way I'm going to do one on my own (it takes me forEVER to tab). Cool post, though - never heard of them. Thx.


----------



## DeathMetalDean (Jan 1, 2010)

Learning a 7 string sweep etude atm


----------



## Joeywilson (Jan 1, 2010)

trying to really understand what goes good with what: i.e.- my goal is to think about each note in relation to the chord being played and where im going to go from there, all before i play "said" note.

and of course, improving my sight reading before i go off to school in september


----------



## jufob (Jan 1, 2010)

Segovia scales, trying to create melodies, cleaning up my phrasing during improv.


----------



## omgmjgg (Jan 1, 2010)

learning more danza


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 21, 2010)

Hollowway said:


> Dang! I'd love to learn Warning, but there's no tab I can find, and no way I'm going to do one on my own (it takes me forEVER to tab). Cool post, though - never heard of them. Thx.



I've actually got parts for the song taken from Janne Da Arc guitarist's instructiona vid:
*
Warning Chorus* (tapping part only)



```
T      T      T      T      T      T   
e|--12-8-5-12-8-7-12-8-5-12-8-5-13-8-5-12-8-5--|
B|---------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------|

    T       T         T      T       T
e|---------------------------------------------|
B|------------------5-12-9-5-------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------|
D|----------14-6-9-----------14-9-6------------|
A|--14-7-9---------------------------14-9-7----|
E|---------------------------------------------|

    T         T          T       T        T
e|---------------------8-15-12-8--------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------|
G|------------17-9-12------------17-12-9------------|
D|--17-10-12------------------------------17-12-10--|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

    T       T         T      T       T      
e|--------------------------------------------|
B|------------------3-10-7-3------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------|
D|----------12-4-7-----------12-7-4-----------|
A|--12-5-7---------------------------12-7-5---|
E|--------------------------------------------|

    T        T          T       T        T
e|------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------6-13-10-6-------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------15-7-10------------15-10-7-----------|
A|--15-8-10------------------------------15-10-8--|
E|------------------------------------------------|

    T         T          T       T        T
e|--------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------8-15-12-8--------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------|
D|------------17-9-12------------17-12-9------------|
A|--17-10-12------------------------------17-12-10--|
E|--------------------------------------------------|
```
It's more or less Nuno Bettencourt style tapping. 
*
Warning Solo* (first sweep picking part)


```
P                         P                              P    
e|--------------5-8-5--------------------8-12-8------------------------12-15-12-----------------|
B|------------5-------5---------------10--------10------------------13----------13--------------|
G|----------5-----------5-----------9--------------9-------------14----------------14-----------|
D|--------7---------------7------10------------------10-------14----------------------14-12-14--|
A|------7-------------------7-12------------------------12-15-----------------------------------|
E|--5-8-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
     H                       H                            H
```

*Warning Solo* (last 2 bars/string skipping part)


```
H         P        H         P        H         P
e|---------12-16-12-----------12-15-12-----------12-16-12-----|
B|------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--14-17-----------17-14-17-----------17-14-17-----------17--|
D|------------------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------------|

      H         P        H         P        H         P
e|---------12-16-12-----------12-17-12-----------12-17-12--|
B|---------------------------------------------------------|
G|--14-17-----------17-14-17-----------17-14-17------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------|
```
Most of the song is pretty straight forward sans the chorus and the full solo. Damn I should have bought the tabs when I had the chance...


----------



## Nomad (Jan 28, 2010)

Learning various King's X songs by ear. Sometimes it's frustrating, like when I just can't get it to sound right. Other times its rewarding. The riff in "Lost in Germany" was beyond me for a long time but one day after a long interlude I attempted it again and got it on the first few tries. Times like those are nice because they show that we are measurably improving.


----------



## matty2fatty (Jan 28, 2010)

Stabwound by Necrophagist and the arpeggios for the Glass Prison.....I can't play either cleanly or at tempo though, so I need a lot more practice


----------



## JohnIce (Apr 18, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> I just fell over watching these:




I honestly never really cared much for You's soloing, but what always made him interesting for me is his rhythm playing. Not just because it's all over the place, hard to play and very creative, but because it's so well implemented into the songs that you barely even think about it. I hadn't even noticed that Stranger and Warning were that complex  Most guitarist would fail horribly if they tried to arrange their guitar parts like You, but he pulls it off so damn well. To me he's one of the best in that department.

On-topic, I'm currently mostly working on songwriting and arranging, aswell as improvising over my own recordings. While doing so, I try to approach my soloing more from a compositional point of view than just a soloist's, trying to come up with compelling, catchy phrases on the spot. This also puts your command over the instrument and interval knowledge to the test, as you try to bypass muscle memory and play what you're hearing in your head instead of a bunch of pre-rehearsed "licks".


----------



## right_to_rage (Apr 18, 2010)

Making backing tracks, and practicing improvisation so i'm prepared when I start auditioning for bands this summer.


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Apr 19, 2010)

JohnIce said:


> I honestly never really cared much for You's soloing, but what always made him interesting for me is his rhythm playing. Not just because it's all over the place, hard to play and very creative, but because it's so well implemented into the songs that you barely even think about it. I hadn't even noticed that Stranger and Warning were that complex  Most guitarist would fail horribly if they tried to arrange their guitar parts like You, but he pulls it off so damn well. To me he's one of the best in that department.


 
Some of his solos are indeed at times questionable (Child Vision), but yeah, his rhythm parts tend to overshadow his leads. The early albums were more flash and technique, but got more melodic and soulful towards the latter. He share's a similar style to Daita, but I like Daita's solos better. Though IMO his best leads are in his solo material. 

I was just relistening to DNA again. I'm trying to learn all of Vanity. That song also has it's fair share of complexity, but it sits so well in the mix.  Basically what I'm trying to go for with my 2 new bands.


----------



## JohnIce (Apr 19, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> Some of his solos are indeed at times questionable (Child Vision), but yeah, his rhythm parts tend to overshadow his leads. The early albums were more flash and technique, but got more melodic and soulful towards the latter. He share's a similar style to Daita, but I like Daita's solos better. Though IMO his best leads are in his solo material.
> 
> I was just relistening to DNA again. I'm trying to learn all of Vanity. That song also has it's fair share of complexity, but it sits so well in the mix.  Basically what I'm trying to go for with my 2 new bands.


 
I might become your enemy when saying this wub but to me both You and Daita have a tendency to shape their notes, or not shape them, in a way that I don't really dig... Daita for example, in a lot of his leads, including his solo instrumental songs, he barely uses vibrato at all and his picking is pretty "toneless" in a way... for a guy coming from the Petrucci side of things, it makes me a bit uneasy  My favourite You solo is probably the one in "Destination", I think most of all his picking but also his general tone is very different from most of his stuff and I really dig that approach... that's why I appreciate You's arrangements and rhythm playing much more than his solos. When it comes to note choices though both him and Daita are great in my book


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Apr 19, 2010)

JohnIce said:


> I might become your enemy when saying this wub but to me both You and Daita have a tendency to shape their notes, or not shape them, in a way that I don't really dig... Daita for example, in a lot of his leads, including his solo instrumental songs, he barely uses vibrato at all and his picking is pretty "toneless" in a way... for a guy coming from the Petrucci side of things, it makes me a bit uneasy  My favourite You solo is probably the one in "Destination", I think most of all his picking but also his general tone is very different from most of his stuff and I really dig that approach... that's why I appreciate You's arrangements and rhythm playing much more than his solos. When it comes to note choices though both him and Daita are great in my book



Nah not really. We're still cool. It's about time we have a bit of a difference in opinion anyway.  

If anything, Daita and You's choice in notes is EXACTLY what I love about them. I do see where you're coming from though. Daita at times does sound a little too much like Petrucci. And his picking technique does taint his tone somewhat (which is gorgeous by the way). But his ultra-melodic sense is what appeals to me most. Blue Passion and Bineck's Light of Love are the best examples of this. In fact, everytime I pickup my Les Paul, I always play Blue Passion for tone test, and with my new Charvel, it's been a Daita learning binge all over again. 

You on the other hand I'll have to admit is a little less unique. There's plenty of technique and flash there, in fact that's why I'm relearning the JDA solos to keep on my toes. His tone isn't as good as Daita's (though Sakura, Kaze Ni Notte, also favorite solos are awesome), and has a tendency to use the bridge pickup a tad too much (see how much I pay attention ). But then again, You doesn't need a crushing or oversweet tone when there's too many things going on. As his solos got less flashy over the albums, he did get better. Wild Fang is simple and fantastic, as is Destination and Mobius. 

Also, OT and quite possibly a severe case of fanaticism, I'm astually trying to shape my notes based on Alan's singing.   Marty Friedman already beat me to the punch.  That and Masashi Hamauzu's choice of notes as well...


----------



## minusthemonkey (Apr 19, 2010)

Wooten style thumping à la Tosin. Assuming you don't know what I'm talking about, JamPlay has a little preview vid up (thumping starts about 4:38)



I think my thumb's too fat. Oh, and, of course, I also suck.


----------



## Charles (Apr 19, 2010)

Slapping is REALLY tough. I'm trying to do it on my six string so I can cover Wonderful Slippery Thing.

Lemme tell you, it's not easy.


----------



## cvinos (Apr 19, 2010)




----------



## minusthemonkey (Apr 19, 2010)

Charles said:


> Slapping is REALLY tough. I'm trying to do it on my six string so I can cover Wonderful Slippery Thing.
> 
> Lemme tell you, it's not easy.



I am so completely not getting it. Like at all. I learned standard slapping on bass years ago, but I can't get the hang of Wooten-style slapping.


----------



## Thaeon (Apr 19, 2010)

I've been working on modal progressions and improvising over them.

I'm also working on using arpeggios (not sweeps) to improvise with.


And a Taylor Swift song... It's actually for school. The song sucks balls but the arrangements are pretty genious.


----------



## Stealthdjentstic (Apr 20, 2010)

The beginning of Spawn of Possesions "In my Own Greed" and Painkiller by Judas Priest.


----------



## Esp Griffyn (Apr 20, 2010)

minusthemonkey said:


> I am so completely not getting it. Like at all. I learned standard slapping on bass years ago, but I can't get the hang of Wooten-style slapping.



That's because it's not really slapping at all, it's more like using the edge of your thumb like a pick. Go to TalkBass Forums and look up "double thumbing" or "double thumping", there should be loads of instructional advice that you might find helpful.

I'm currently working on my improv, learning the modes and trying to break out of using scales. I'm coming along alright, been playing so much I've got callused fingertips for the first time since highschool. I still find it difficult to be sympathetic to the chord changes of whatever I'm playing over, but hopefully learning the modes will help me with that. I sound a bit Frank Gambale sometimes when I'm not hitting the chord tones when the chords change, except Frank misses them on purpose and I miss them by accident. I have worked on the improv style that comes naturally to me, lots of majorish, modal licks strung together by chromatically ascending or descending 3 note arpeggios.

I'm also learning "To counter and groove in E minor" by Spastic Ink, the timing in the intro solo throws me a bit. The rest of it is coming along alright, not sure how I'll cope with the sweeping outro, since I can't sweep for shit


----------



## jymellis (Apr 20, 2010)

im working at playing gwars decay of granseur perfect all the way through (not a hard song but it is for someone thats 10 years out of practice like myself lol)


----------



## chucknorrishred (Apr 20, 2010)

going over theory on my 7 string, working on eco picking with extended scales, 7 string sweeps, brushing up on scales getting hand cramps cuz i havent played in a good while.......


----------



## Charles (Apr 20, 2010)

minusthemonkey said:


> I am so completely not getting it. Like at all. I learned standard slapping on bass years ago, but I can't get the hang of Wooten-style slapping.



I'm in the same camp as you. Played bass for YEARS before I touched a guitar seriously.

The only advice I think I can offer is that bass is very much more of a physical instrument. You can get away with really cracking away on the thumb and because the strings are so big the tone will be fine. The string spacing is also very forgiving.

By contrast, the guitar strings are tiny, and if you hit too hard in the wrong area all you'll have to show for it is a really sore thumb. In addition, the "popping" action done on bass is virtually impossible on guitar because of the string spacing and the by-contrast small strings.

Just some thoughts...


----------



## minusthemonkey (Apr 20, 2010)

Esp Griffyn said:


> That's because it's not really slapping at all, it's more like using the edge of your thumb like a pick. Go to TalkBass Forums and look up "double thumbing" or "double thumping", there should be loads of instructional advice that you might find helpful.



Tosin does a pretty good job of explaining the method, but doesn't really explain how the devil I get my thumb comfortably in between the string like that without accidentally sounding the string below. I'll check out the talkbass forums though. Gotta be someone else trying it on guitar, right?



Charles said:


> I'm in the same camp as you. Played bass for YEARS before I touched a guitar seriously.
> 
> The only advice I think I can offer is that bass is very much more of a physical instrument. You can get away with really cracking away on the thumb and because the strings are so big the tone will be fine. The string spacing is also very forgiving.
> 
> ...



Yeah, there could be a slightly better close-up on his right hand in the vids. There was a vid I saw once explain Victor Wooten's popping method and how it differed from standard popping. Still a bitch to get your fingers in comfortably. Tosin has insane control.


----------

