Welcome to SHRED BOOTCAMP! I'll be your Drill Instructor! And I do mean DRILL! As in a large power tool used in slasher films and Paul Gilbert concerts. Here is were you EARN THE LIVING DEATH out of your fingers and break through any speed bumps/barriers to become a MASTER CHIEF of Shred!

MISSON #1

THE MISSION

1.)Your mission is to go all the way back to the very start. The base of the mountain.

LESSON 1. http://bitly.com/gmclesson1

Which you will play SLOWWWWWWLLY, very SLOWWWLLLLYYYY until you master it at a crawl (As You'll Do With Each Mission, and focus on left hand FORM! Make it SUPER PERFECT!). Speed it up bit by bit until you feel your ready to take it to WAR (Any speed, it's up to you) Shoot a video and post it as a reply to this post. I'll then offer a constructive and brutally honest critique.

THE AFTERMATH

Upon nailing the crap out of lesson one at a speed you didn't think possible, and playing it a clean as a freshly waxed floor, you will be given your first insignia of Rank in BOOTCAMP!

Here is your link your personal training ground/HELL!


http://bitly.com/spacemoonkeysbootcamp

Practice!
Todd

This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jul 8 2013, 03:22 AM

60 bpm quarter/eighth
https://soundcloud.com/spasemoonkey/todd-01-60bpm

80 bpm quarter/eighth. Eighth notes start to suffer as seen very fast thats after kicking it up a bit and back down. I feel like I tense up with it.


Edit: now that I took time away and listened I'm way off beat lol.. Playing slow is harder than I thought could be possible.

Put some much needed time in and this is actually starting to feel more natural.
https://soundcloud.com/spasemoonkey/todd-01-100bpm

This post has been edited by SpaseMoonkey: Jul 11 2013, 11:21 AM

Soldier, you are on your way to full time DRILLING AND KILLING!!! This really is well done. You've got a really good grasp of the bits we are working on here. Nicely played!!!

I did notice that your arm is tensing a bit on the faster stuff but you manage to prevent "Picking from the Elbow" syndrome so well done on that! The instinct to "tense" when speeding up is natural. It's something you have to train yourself to fight as much as possible IMHO. Here is a quick tip to try.

RELAX DRILLS (not timed/counted/clicked)
1.)Sounds odd, but focus entirely on keeping your pick grip just tight enough to hold the pick, and keep your arm as slack as you can and pick from the wrist and or fingers.
2.)WITHOUT A METRONOME, start slow and ignore the precision of pace, just pick one note (say 5th fret A string) and alternate pick back and forth up down. Speed up in a very gradual way ignoring any slip in timing, just focus on staying relaxed.

The purpose of this drill is to train your brain in staying in "chill" relaxed mode even if your sending SPEED UP to your fingers. By ignoring any slips in timing, fretting, etc. you can focus on the staying loose and relaxed which is it's own skill!!

Once you have that well in hand, introduce the metronome again and come fretting, string traverse etc. So it is really two skills.
1.)Playing in time and on the proper note
2.)Focus on staying relaxed and not tensing.

At first this is a lot to do. But the brain adapts quickly!!

Let's Debrief this Mission!!!

Soldier you are Drilling it and Killing it!!! Really nice progress and a fine mission vid!!

Let's Debrief....

MEDAL OF HONOR

1.)Clean Strikes
2.)Even Pacing and Progression
3.)Good right hand position

You are getting the hang of it Soldier!! Even strikes, right hand planted firm, nice!!

In short Soldier, you just......

!!!!!!!LEVELED UP!!!!!!!!!!!


Soldier you are Drilling it and Killing it!!! I see a great body count in your future!

Nicely done Soldier!!! I think you are more than ready for the next Mission!!!

You can find every MISSION ready to RAWK @ this link.

http://bit.ly/twtgmc

Quick post on part 2 as I've been working on it since 1 was over just was like Hmmm is this next or no?

https://soundcloud.com/spasemoonkey/todd-02-80-bpm

You may try adding more clicks/etc in to the metronome/drum track to help tie you to the beat a tader more. I notice that your drifting just a smidge between the high hat strike. Try to place each pick strike either on an up beat or down beat, never between the beats of a given count for these workouts Make sense?

Todd

Yeah makes it more accurate that way, and easier to track overall. I double the clicks to give a 120 feel on this next one so that when I do double notes I can actually be more specific on the down attack oppose to the ghost open to try and stay on track by skipping that 3rd note down.

https://soundcloud.com/spasemoonkey/todd-02-60-bpm

Edit: Your picking is crazy to get that tight lack of hand/pick movement is that something you have to practice just say picking or something that comes in as you play more and become more experienced?

This post has been edited by SpaseMoonkey: Aug 29 2013, 04:20 PM

Thanks As for my picking technique, it's a bit of both things you mentioned. Try this tips to get you heading in the right directoin.

1.)Practice on ONE NOTE. A single note. No movement on the left hand. Play SLOWLY then bump the metronome by increments of 5bpm.
2.)PICK FROM THE WRIST (Never from the elbow)
3.)Try a SHARP pick if you are not already.
4.)Try to use 1.5mm picks at a minimum for BOOTCAMP work.
5.)Sit in proper classical position for BOOTCAMP work.
6.)Stay LOOSE. Don't let your body tense up. This takes work.
7.)Use very very short strokes. Don't let the pick go far beyond the string. Keep a very tight pattern.

BTW here is a quick demo of EXAMPLE 1, MISSION 1. Watch my right hand and listen to the strikes and where they hit with the beats. Let me know if this helps


Your most recent example here is better! But I think you could benefit from taking your metronome/drum click up to about 240 or even even higher. So there there are no real gaps in between clicks. That way you'll know your landing on a click. Your playing is still not quite locked in on this most recent example so there is still some work to do. The good news is I'm here for you all the way Soldier!!!

Todd





This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 30 2013, 05:53 AM

250 as you said trying to strike every note with every beat. I'm not sure but that top E string feels awkward when trying to play notes. I can do gallops kind of, but straight notes it seems weird.

This post has been edited by SpaseMoonkey: Aug 30 2013, 04:22 PM

Your getting better with every fight Soldier!! Your picking is nice and even, spot on the beat! Well don there I did notice something about your right hand technique that can get your entire squad killed. Your right hand is a bit too high on the bridge but since you are doing the mission without any distortion, the sympathetic string vibrations are minimized. I'd like you to try this mission will FULL GAIN. This will make any string noise issues pop out like crazy. I see you have a KEMPER so choose one of the crazy gain marshals/boogies and go for it!

Those pickups are sure spiff BTW!! BKP? Look nice in that ibby That thing is begging for high gain

Tips and Tricks to help with the odd/awkward feeling on the low strings.

For all MISSION WORK try these tips.
1.)Put your left leg up on something to that it's about 6 or 8 inches off the ground. A classical footrest or stack of books, anything. This will correct the angle of the neck and provide a better angle of attack for these missions.

2.)Plant your right hand on the bridge so that you can effectively mute all 6 strings with the right hand. You don't have to mute all the time, but keeping your hand there preps you to mute anything needed and keeps your hand centered to provide access to all 6 strings.

3.)Once you master "center strategy" with your right hand, practice simply tilting your hand to reach each strings and try not to move the hand up and down towards the top of the guitar when playing low E, towards the bottom when playing high E.

4.)Reduce your pick sway. You're going a bit too far away from the string after each strike. Try to keep the pick as close to the string as possible after each strike so that you are close to it for the next one.

*P.S. Make sure to hit every string and jump around a lot between strings, not just between frets. This will force your hand to adapt to "Sticking the landing"

P.P.S. Watch the video I shared with you again and perhaps several times. Notice the short throw of my pick strikes? How I'm switching to different strings? When you can make your vid look like my vid, your ready to test out! I think your very close

Step by step Soldier!! I know you are ready to test out of this mission, but we have got to get the fundamentals down before we let you loose on the field of battle!!!

Onward!!
Sarge








This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 30 2013, 04:59 PM

I swear this is a horrible week for recording. Webcam had to be re-installed 3 times. Then I got it recorded, but then nothing wanted to render, it felt like crashing the pc. But learned something new, don't render in Premier. So I finally got it, but I believe now I can get 720p videos! Yey!

It also took awhile to get into the habit of picking as I am in this video.

Well fought Soldier!!! Are those BAREKNUCKLE BLACKHAWKS? NICE!

Let's Debrief....

MEDAL OF HONOR

1.)Clean Strikes
2.)Even Pacing and Progression
3.)Good solid mute and no string noise

In short Soldier, you just ...

!!!!!!!LEVELED UP!!!!!!!!!!!

Hahaha! I swore I answered this already maybe someone else asked me. Yes sir! Those are BKP Blackhawks. They made such a difference in that guitar I typically put my 7 up. I just love that S.

Also as for muting, with the curled fingers how do you really mute all the strings at the same time? Just kinda put the hand more so on the strings than I was with the open hand? I see so many guitarists play with their hands like that, felt the need to change it up.


Edit: Found a bit of time, to work on a clip for ya before I head out with friends.
https://soundcloud.com/spasemoonkey/todd-03-100

This post has been edited by SpaseMoonkey: Sep 10 2013, 10:35 PM

Many players will lean on their left hand to mute higher strings and right to mute low and this works fine until you start doing open string work on the G string and have two unmuted strings below. So I'd suggest focusing on keeping palm edge on the bridge. You can bend your fingers in (I do) as long as you keep your hand fairly straight.

It's un natural at first. Gripping the pick naturally wants to make the hand curl up a bit. And keep it flat for muting while alternate picking feels a bit bizarre until you get used to it and some players never do

BTW: Nice clip You are "rushing" just as smidge though. E.G. playing just ahead of the beat. One easy fix is to increase the number of beats/kicks so you can lock in to each one


Todd





This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Sep 11 2013, 07:54 AM

https://soundcloud.com/spasemoonkey/todd-03-260bpm

I like the added clicks as you keep telling me to do till I get to something around 220+ then they seem to blend. But I learned I can slow down the track when I listen back to get a better listen for the playing. This was kind of a weird lesson I'm use to more hammer-ons than off.

But this sounds much more improved over the last to my ears. Also noticed with the mute hand down and going back to curl is odd. But I am trying to also be focused on that as I think it will help. I never used the curled hand but with solos it seems like I'm causing less tension in my picking hand.

BETTER!!!! Much better timing on this Soldier!! I can hear your strikes on top of the beat instead of before/after. Much BETTER!!!!

As for the curled hand, you can always try the GEORGE LYNCH approach and keep your fingers all straight out on your picking hand (other than the ones holding the pick) and it straightens your palm making the mute easier. However, this technique requires you tighten one part of the hand and still keep your picking finger/thumb loose so it's a bit more advanced.

In the long run you have to use what works. I"m glad to hear the curl technique is reducing the tension on your picking hand!!! Getting that tension to a bare minimum is key to picking endurance.

I think you are ready to LEVEL UP Soldier, give this lesson a Video and try to start single pick, then transition to double pick, then transition to Quad Pick. Slow the speed down if needed to keep it all tight. I know this is asking a TON but I"m here to make you earn it!!!!

Sarge

Soldier!! You are ready to give this lesson a go!!! Don't stop now! So close to Victory!!

Sarge

SOLDIER!!! BACK TO THE FRONT!!!!