Tag: songs

Week 30. Mostly String Skipping

Hey everyone!

There are holidays now in Russia, so a few days were spent with the family, hence the lack of exercise. But anyway I got something to share.

Mostly I focused on Module 29 routines which are on string skipping. 1234 exercises were a challenge mostly for the left hand, especially the one with skipping 2 strings at once. The right hand is not that big issue since I kinda feel what and where I need to play with a pick when I’m pressing something with my left hand. So I managed to play the exercise with skipping 1 string at 150 bpm almost right away. The one with skipping 2 strings is at 120 bpm for now though.

The next one (The Right Hand Muted Exercise) which I called just “String skipping exercise” in the video looks so simple yet I had to decrease the speed a few times in order to play it semi-consistently for some time.

I really liked Celtic Exercise cause it’s really simple yet sounds pretty cool. Again, not much time was spent practicing it, but the clip I recorded is pretty okay.

Also I continued increasing speed of muted strumming for The Kids Aren’t Alright. Not very happy about the progress but still I have one so it’ll do. I increased the speed to 180 bpm, but my right hand still stutters every now and then.

The same thing goes with the solo. It’s really much easier to play now, so the original speed of 200 bpm was not very hard to reach. But I really need some speed increase in the double stop strumming part in order to play it right.

Also, I kinda want to record something for my YouTube channel and start doing it on a regular basis. This thought appears in my head sometimes, but such a thing would take some time and planning in order to be able to do it. Just sharing my thoughts… Hopefully, this will turn into something solid in a few days or weeks.

Take care! See you next week 😉

The goals for this week were:

  • [Done] The Kids Aren’t Alright solo at 200 bpm
  • Learn the next part of Crowd Chant
  • Muted strumming exercise at 185 bpm
  • [Done] Implement Module 29 routines

My goals for the next week:

  • Clean up The Kids Aren’t Alright solo at 200 bpm
  • Learn the next part of Crowd Chant
  • Muted strumming exercise at 190 bpm
  • 1234 exercise skipping 1 string at 150 bpm consistently
  • 1234 exercise skipping 2 strings at 130 bpm consistently
  • 16th notes string skipping exercise at 100 bpm
  • Celtic tune at 120 bpm

Week 29. Back On Track

I’m quite happy with my practice schedule and results this week, so let’s go through all I’ve done.

The first thing is bends. I managed to decrease the time between them, so now they sound more “legato” 😀 It applies to Bending, Glissando, Module 28 and The Kids Aren’t Alright solos.

The second point of focus was on learning Count to Three voice melody to the end and playing it at the original speed, which is also completed.

Have a nice week everyone!

The goals for this week were:

  • [Done] Module 28 Solo at 120 bpm
  • The Kids Aren’t Alright solo at 200 bpm
  • Learn the next part of Crowd Chant
  • [Done] Learn the next part of Count To Three

My goals for the next week:

  • The Kids Aren’t Alright solo at 200 bpm
  • Learn the next part of Crowd Chant
  • Muted strumming exercise at 185 bpm
  • Implement Module 29 routines

Week 27. Getting Back To Work

Hey guitar chefs!

It’s good to finally play some guitar after the vacation and getting sick for a few days. Apparently, I decided to play almost each and every solo I know at that point 😀

Bending and Glissando Solos were like the warm-up. I was wondering if something has settled in my brain since last time I’ve played them. The bends feel really easier and convenient now, and I (hopefully) look more relaxed while playing those solos. There are some flat/sharp bends still though.

Module 28 Solo sound less cooler that the previous two IMO, but it was still fun to learn and play. The original tempo will be quite crazy, so for now I just remembered the notes and played the solo at 80 bpm.

On the other hand, The Kids Aren’t Alright by The Offspring solo is coming together quite nicely. I haven’s spent too much time on it and still managed to play it at 180 bpm in comparison with 160 bpm I played it at two weeks ago.

Crowd Chant by Joe Satriani needs a lot more work, but I managed to finally settle down where and how everything is being played. So now all I need for this first part is practice 🙂

The last song is Count To Three by The Chalkeaters. It’s a comedy song about Gabe Newell not being able to count to three regarding the games VALVe made. If you’re familiar with this meme as well as the games like Half-Life, Portal, Dota 2, Left4Dead I definitely recommend to check out this song. I can’t stop listening to it since I started a few days ago. I left a link in the video description.

The goals for this week were:

  • [Done] Clean up The Kids Aren’t Alright Solo
  • [Done] Module 28 Solo with the metronome
  • [Done] Have fun snowboarding 🙂

My goals for the next week:

  • Module 28 Solo at 100 bpm
  • The Kids Aren’t Alright solo at 200 bpm
  • Learn the next part of Crowd Chant
  • Learn the next part of Count To Three

Week 24. Summary

This week I’ve been mostly working on the Pinch Harmonic Solo, trying to start playing it consistently and adding palm muting in order to get the sound similar to the original. It doesn’t really work, but I’ve managed to record an attempt which is pretty okay. It’s been three weeks now, so I’ll drop this solo as it is in order to start Module 27.

The other stuff was easier, so I’ve been practicing Chords Using Thumb and Santa Monica Intro as well. They sounded decent the last time, so now they are okay as well.

Next week – Bending solo. I listened to it and it’s really cool. Can’t wait to learn it!

I beat my record of interval ear training. Now it’s 138 of 140 correct guesses. Soooooo close to 100%… 🙂

Yeah, also my friend and I finally released the cover for Kids by MGMT. So if anyone haven’t seen it, you may do it here: https://vskolos.ru/covers/mgmt-kids-guitar-cover-with-seva/

The goals for this week were:

  • [Done] Clean up Pinch Harmonic Solo
  • [Done] Clean up Chords Using Thumb
  • [Done] Clean up Santa Monica Intro

My goals for the next week:

  • Bending Solo with the metronome

Practice time

Day 162 – 15 min
Day 163 – 15 min
Day 164 – 107 min
Day 165 – 25 min
Day 166 – 35 min
Day 167 – 39 min
Day 168 – 55 min
Total – 4 h 51 min

Solo

Module 26 – Pinch Harmonic Solo – 120 bpm

Strumming

Module 26 – Chords Using Thumb – 130 bpm

Songs

Module 26 – Santa Monica Intro – 70 bpm

Ear training

Intervals – 14 intervals – 138 of 140 – 98.57%

Day 168. Unsuccessful solo attempts

Today I failed to get a single perfect take of pinch harmonic solo in order to finalize the week. So I’ll drop it for now and maybe return to it later.

Practice time – 55 min

Solo

Module 26 – Pinch Harmonic Solo

120 bpm

Strumming

Module 26 – Chords Using Thumb

130 bpm

Songs

Santa Monica Intro

70 bpm

Ear training

14 intervals

Day 167. Adding palm muting

Today I tried adding some palm muting into the solo. It went quite well but needs some practice. Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll manage to make some decent attempts to finalize the week.

Also I beat my ear training record. Now it’s 138 of 140 intervals guessed right.

Practice time – 39 min

Solo

Module 26 – Pinch Harmonic Solo

120 bpm

Strumming

Module 26 – Chords Using Thumb

130 bpm

Songs

Santa Monica Intro

70 bpm

Ear training

14 intervals

Day 166. Trying out new tones

Today my friend and I finally released our MGMT – Kids cover. Also, I continued practicing Module 26 routines trying some different tones.

Practice time – 35 min

Solo

Module 26 – Pinch Harmonic Solo

120 bpm

Strumming

Module 26 – Chords Using Thumb

130 bpm

Songs

Santa Monica Intro

70 bpm

Ear training

14 intervals

Day 164. It’s getting easier

I really feel how pinch harmonics are becoming more natural for me to play. Hopefully by the end of the week I’ll be able to play the solo more consistently than ever.

Also I finalized my part of the cover me and my friend have been working on for a few months now. It will be released soon.

Practice time – 107 min

Solo

Module 26 – Pinch Harmonic Solo

120 bpm

Strumming

Module 26 – Chords Using Thumb

130 bpm

Songs

Santa Monica Intro

70 bpm

Ear training

14 intervals

Week 23. Summary

Well, that week had a lot of holidays and family stuff in it 🙂 So, unfortunately, I only had time to practice 4 of 7 days. Other 3 times I did only ear training. But anyway, let’s summarize what I’ve managed to do.

Still struggling with pinch harmonics. In order to get two takes which are in the video I had to record myself for 40 minutes straight. And these two attempts are not even perfect – just close to being perfect. So I’ll continue practicing this solo next week.

Playing that chord progression with the thumb was fun and almost not hard at all. Fun stuff, I’ll be playing it a few more days just ’cause it sounds pretty cool.

Fun fact – I haven’t heard the original Santa Monica Intro, just repeated what Brandon was playing in the video. So if it’s incorrect, my hands are clear 😀

The goals for this week were:

  • Clean Pinch Harmonic Solo at 120 bpm
  • [Done] Chords using thumb
  • [Done] Santa Monica Intro at the original speed

My goals for the next week:

  • Clean up Pinch Harmonic Solo
  • Clean up Chords Using Thumb
  • Clean up Santa Monica Intro

Practice time

Day 155 – 15 min
Day 156 – 15 min
Day 157 – 15 min
Day 158 – 60 min
Day 159 – 93 min
Day 160 – 46 min
Day 161 – 49 min
Total – 4 h 53 min

Solo

Module 26 – Pinch Harmonic Solo – 120 bpm

Strumming

Module 26 – Chords Using Thumb – 130 bpm

Songs

Module 26 – Santa Monica Intro – 70 bpm

Ear training

Intervals – 14 intervals – 136 of 140 – 97.14%