Practice :)

spiritofradio

spiritofradio

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Joined
May 19, 2012
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Glasgow
OK so I have started recording myself while practicing to try and get over my pathological fear of playing while people are listening :D let's hope it will make me better!

Anyway here is Sunday morning practice of the Genesis track Horizons recorded on my phone. Please excuse the shitty playing and quality.
Also a huge thanks to my awesome teacher Finn LeMarinel - who while not responsible for my shitty performance smile emoticon - has enabled me to even try playing pieces like this that I love. I can't thank him enough.

Guitar is PRS SE Angelus Standard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oANNw38zrs
 
Thank you for sharing. Sounds beautiful. I think you play very well, certainly better than me! I'm practicing very hard, but this doesn't come easy for me.
 
Good job! My brain shuts down when I play in front of people, especially at a guitar shop. Good idea you have there for helping you get over your fears. Nice playing.
 
I think one of the best ways to truly make improvements in one's playing is to play in front of people and WITH people. Several years ago I noticed that my playing had plateaued. I was just playing to myself in the bedroom. When I got into a band and started playing actual gigs, my friends all noticed that my playing improved and I also could tell a difference. Going to jam sessions also jump started my progress.

Even if your just jamming with friends I highly recommend doing so. If your like me then when jamming with friends you will probably be more likely to stretch outside your comfort zone which will lead to improvements in your playing and also likely to the discovery of new licks, techniques and sounds. This will also help build your confidence and I'd bet that you would soon find yourself stretching your playing in front of crowds that aren't made up of friends. There is a really cool rush I get when I try something new and unknown and it works. That can create those "magic moments" that are hugely gratifying. Start small and work your way up to more people. Very few musicians start out playing to festival crowds from the beginning.
 
Very nice. I can see you've been working on it. It takes courage to show your work to the world. I commend you.

If you want to polish it, just do what you've already done about 900 more times (I suspect you've already played it 100). Repetition it the key to polishing a song. Your brain and fingers will not stop learning and you will find improvement as you go. One key is to play only the rough parts until they are not so rough. If you always start at the beginning you won't really work much on the endings.
 
I purchased a loop machine (Boss RC 30) years ago with the intent of putting down 12 bar blues bass and rhythm tracks and then soloing over them. When you have to listen to the parts you put down on a looper over and over again, you quickly learn how to play better and put down better tracks. I learned a lot about timing from doing this as well.

Agree with all the comments about repetition and playing in front of people as well mentioned by others, but wanted to make sure that people view using a loop machine as a means to improve your playing (at least it worked for me).
 
Very nice, David. I don't have the playing in front of people issue, but that style you're playing is not something I'm good at. Maybe I will work on that at some point. It'll make me play acoustic more. Also turned me on to some older Genesis that I wasn't familiar with, so thanks!
 
In person I'm so much of a ham I've never had that problem, playing an unfamiliar guitar at a music shop is a little sticky for me, action/setup sometimes throws me but otherwise I'm cool. An easy way to get over the "playing in front of people" phobia is within your mind, you gotta remember that most of the people that you will perform for can't play a note. A lot of players get the mistaken thought in their head that whoever is listening is an expert guitar picker and is thinking "He sucks, I can do that better", when the true fact is 99% of the people who will stop and pay attention to your playing are thinking "Damn I wish I could do something cool like that!".

As for your playing, it's not "shitty", there's some hesitation when moving between chords and hand positions but you're working on some fairly challenging material. Older progressive rock was close to jazz rock fusion in some ways so even musicians will respect what you do, let's face it, many guitar pickers never get out of 3-chord land.:laugh:

You're doing great, keep it up!!!
 
CVS said:
I purchased a loop machine (Boss RC 30) years ago with the intent of putting down 12 bar blues bass and rhythm tracks and then soloing over them. When you have to listen to the parts you put down on a looper over and over again, you quickly learn how to play better and put down better tracks. I learned a lot about timing from doing this as well.

Agree with all the comments about repetition and playing in front of people as well mentioned by others, but wanted to make sure that people view using a loop machine as a means to improve your playing (at least it worked for me).
Click to expand...

Excellent point. Especially about the timing. With a looper, you find out very quickly that where you think the 1 is and where it is are two different things. It's a great tool for learning to layer parts, too.
 
I recently got a mini recording setup (USB interface and mic), and it has been very helpful for me to hear my playing back and analyze it. Timing, playing cleanly and precisely, minimizing finger noise, intonation have all been areas for improvement.
 
alantig said:
Excellent point. Especially about the timing. With a looper, you find out very quickly that where you think the 1 is and where it is are two different things. It's a great tool for learning to layer parts, too.
Click to expand...

I agree with you 100%. Using the looper (I have graduated to an RC 300) has helped with layering (which I do a lot now) as well as understanding song construction and how to chart / figure out songs. I now understand the role that a mixer plays in putting a song together, making sure the volumes of the various instruments are at the right level on your track etc. It has improved my rhythm playing a lot and I am starting to really learn what "less is more" means, especially in the contract of the blues.
 
Great job on Horizons! I love that piece. I felt like I was about to fall off a cliff waiting for "Supper's Ready" to start :biggrin:

Tom
 
I, too, enjoyed the piece. That is a very challenging set of chord shapes. Steve Hackett would be proud of the effort you have put in to learn that tune. Keep it up!
 
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