Open Mic

It's great you've given this all some thought-even if the night is horrible (which it probably won't be-I'm sure it'll be fun) it's already brought you a lot of value because you've thought about things, learned some new things, broadened your playing and your perspective. I wouldn't worry about making some kind of gaffe, it sounds like you are pretty considerate in how you are approaching it and the other musicians and you stand to have fun and meet some like minded musicians.

Yeah, I'm sure it'll be plenty of fun once it begins. It's still two weeks away, and I've already learned the licks I've been told to play before I get to improvise, as well as learning a few licks from various solos. I don't know what tone I'll be playing with, or if I get to dial it in myself (which I'd prefer). I'll probably also screw up on some of my own improvisation, but that'll probably be due to playing in front of strangers for the first time, more than due to lack of preparation.

Just got home from today's rehearsal. I'd say it went well, if that was the case, but it isn't. The other guy handled his parts nicely, did a pretty good job at keeping the rhythm going. Then, I entered and started playing the pre-planned licks, and stuff went wrong. One thing would be if I just hit bad notes. Those can be fixed. Instead, my playing was just plain sloppy. After the pre-planned part, he kept the rhythm going for a while, and I tried improvising, and it went better than the stuff I had tabs for.

Only 2 weeks left until the music school thing. Unfortunately, it's on the same day as our rehearsal/private lessons, so we've only got one chance left to get our stuff together and make it as tight as we can. And at this rate, that's gonna be one huge challenge. I suppose I now know what to focus on practicing until that event. After that, I can forget all about it and get back to what I love - Learning songs, coming up with cool riffs, solos and melodies, writing songs, making music, searching for potential bandmates and enjoying the entire process, including all the technical issues I have all the time :) I still have a ton of song I want to learn to play, as well as a dozen riffs or melodies I need to write lyrics for, so I've got plenty of stuff to do (I also have a handful of messages I want to convey, and a few lyric ideas that need melodies, but they're still just that. Ideas that need work).

Like they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Regardless of what happens, you'll come out of this having learned something.

I know exactly what you are talking about because I'm going through a similar thing with one of the solos for our band. It's killing me because I played it 20 times or more in a row over the GuitarTricks backing track in a loop and got where I could nail it pretty concistently. And if I didn't nail it, I was darn close. I also played it over a rhythm loop I created over a drum loop. However, put me on the spot with my bandmates around me and watch me go down in flames... :-).

One thing I did determine was that I was focusing on the wrong thing to keep time. Do you have a drummer playing behind you or it just somebody playing rhythm guitar? If so, I would suggest trying to listen and focus on the dummer...tap your foot to the drummer's beat. By tapping your foot, you hand will want to keep the same rhythm. The other player should be doing the same...and that will keep you all in sync and keep things from being sloppy. The drummer is the pulse that keeps it all together.

It's hard, because you are now dividing your attention between what you are trying to play and what others are playing. The way I'm seeing it is that is one of the skills I'm learning. Tapping your foot helps. I've read where instructors here (Anders) have suggested it. Al DiMeola (a very accomplished virtuoso player) stresses this as well. If you watch him play, he practices what he preaches - his foot is constanly going.

Kasperow,

Stop looking at your hands. The neck does not move nor the frets and strings on. It's like not looking at your fingers on a keyboard, the keys do not move and when you trust your fingers to go where they should, your typing speed and accuracy goes up.

Start by trying for 5 minutes when you start each practice session, I believe in 2 weeks or less you will be moving the amount of time up because you want to. You have spent a lot of time building muscle memory, let it work for you now, start trusting your body will do what you want even if you do not directory tell it to.

Most of the time when I'm finger picking with my right hand, I do not even think about it, it just plays. It's kind of odd to look down at it and just watch it go. A new pattern does not work that way for a while.

Next time you watch Robin Trower's Bridge of Sighs video, watch his eyes, I bet there closed 90% of the time. Free your mind, give it more resources. It may be a lot like learning to sing, hard at first, but it will come quickly.

Next time you pick up your guitar, sit down or put your strap on, close your eyes. Next put both your hands on top of the guitar. Then pick up both your hands and move your right hand to where you think it would be ready to strum, grab a "A" bar chord at the 5th fret with your left. Don't think about it, just let your left hand go. Open your eyes, see were your hands are.

Maggior: It's just me and the other guitarist. No drummer involved to help with keeping the rhythm going. I think I know what you mean by "tap to the drummer's beat". I've noticed that multiple guitarists do this. Most recently, I noticed that Steve Morse did it at a Deep Purple concert, I attended with a friend, during their newer material, even if it was only slightly. I can't help but notice that one of the lead guitarists in Guns N Roses, DJ Ashba (AKA the guy most of the fans hate for no reason), does it all the time, and in a much more exaggerated fashion. He doesn't just tap his foot, he uses the entire leg. And more than 75% of all the unsigned bands I've seen play live do it. Heck, I even did it unconsciously, when I jammed with my first band three times last year. And there's no reason not to do it. It takes very little effort (in my opinion, though I only played Rhythm in that band. Lead might be a lot harder...) once the drummer starts going crazy. I don't know if it'll be the same with a drum track, but it's worth trying out, when I'm going to try making some drum and bass lines for my own material on a computer.

Haghj500: I know that I'll have to learn to play without looking at the fretboard, but with a lot of songs, that just seems so hard. I already have a few songs where I don't look at the guitar, except during solos, but those are really simple songs. I have a pretty good grasp of the Open Chords and Power Chords, since those are the ones I use most. I've never really thought of what you suggest, but it'll be a good way to see if I know where each note is without looking.

Well, in any case, the clock is ticking, and we have less time to rehearse than we would both prefer. I can play most of the pre-planned stuff just fine when I don't look at the tabs. Once I look at the paper, though, my timing goes out the window and my playing sounds like I've never even seen a guitar before... And that's not just with the pre-planned parts. It happens when I try learning songs on my own too... Maybe it's because the tabs make me think of notes as number of the frets and string, rather than intervals or actual sounds. Maybe it's not. I don't really care right now. I just need to know which notes to play and how the melody is supposed to sound.

I also got a piece of paper with all 5 box patterns of the minor pentatonic scale and the major scale, so I can learn those scales and try improvising with them. My teacher also asked me if I knew anything about modes, because she wanted to find out what to go over after this show, and I just proceeded to name all 7 of them. Then she asked if I know about Legato, Two-Handed Tapping, Trilling, Tremolo Picking and a variety of other techniques, and I just demonstrated all of them... I'm starting to think my teacher is running out of things to teach me other than songs, and my two other main learning-sources, GuitarTricks and Rocksmith 2014, can teach me songs as well as techniques and scales... The only thing I want to learn that nobody else can teach me is how to play faster. That's something for myself to work on.

"Well, in any case, the clock is ticking, and we have less time to rehearse than we would both prefer. I can play most of the pre-planned stuff just fine when I don't look at the tabs. Once I look at the paper, though, my timing goes out the window and my playing sounds like I've never even seen a guitar before... And that's not just with the pre-planned parts. It happens when I try learning songs on my own too... Maybe it's because the tabs make me think of notes as number of the frets and string, rather than intervals or actual sounds. Maybe it's not. I don't really care right now. I just need to know which notes to play and how the melody is supposed to sound."

When you try to read tab and play as you've learned, you're clogging your mind. Too many processes at the same time. Do you ever whistle or hum to leads? My guess is yes, can you whistle the lead to the song your learning when you cannot hear the music? If yes, you already know the lead, you just need to here it in your head as play the guitar like you do when you whistle.

axe2 posted a thread about scatting 3-4 weeks ago. Maybe after this next gig is in the books and you have more practice time add it to your schedule.

Just sing out some notes in rhythms or scales, then find and play them, helps ear training also. Maybe sing scales as you play them, get your mind to work with your guitar like it does with your whistle.

umm..... Hope you can whistle.

Originally Posted by: haghj500When you try to read tab and play as you've learned, you're clogging your mind. Too many processes at the same time. Do you ever whistle or hum to leads? My guess is yes, can you whistle the lead to the song your learning when you cannot hear the music? If yes, you already know the lead, you just need to here it in your head as play the guitar like you do when you whistle.

axe2 posted a thread about scatting 3-4 weeks ago. Maybe after this next gig is in the books and you have more practice time add it to your schedule.

Just sing out some notes in rhythms or scales, then find and play them, helps ear training also. Maybe sing scales as you play them, get your mind to work with your guitar like it does with your whistle.

umm..... Hope you can whistle.

Well, that explains why I keep screwing up everything when I try playing while looking at tab :) I'll try checking out this thing you call "scatting". I've never heard of it before, honestly, but I'll try adding it to my daily practice routine.

On the bright side, I'm starting to get my pre-planned licks down without having to look at the tab. I just tried jamming a bit with the Session Mode in Rocksmith 2014, set to a simple 80BPM 12-Bar Blues in A, and it went quite well, actually. I did screw up at one point, though, but I managed to save that by sliding into the right note. I still don't quite have the "intro"-part down, but the rest is coming along just fine, except that I played a bit too fast (thanksfully, Rocksmith adjusts its speed to match mine), so I think I was playing pretty stable at 100BPM. I've found it's actually a good tool for rehearsing my parts, since this way, I've got an imaginary band backing me up that won't blame me if I screw up, and I can just play on and on forever (or at least until my fingers get tired).

Now I'm just hoping the other guy will manage to have his parts down by next time we rehearse together... And that I can come up with some cool improvised parts at the gig...

Kasperow,

Jamming to a beat is huge in advancing faster and you know what you need to work on, so half the battle is done.

You impress me as a brave man, a lot of people do not have what it takes inside them the play in front of people as much as you have in your short time playing, let a lone when they know they are just learning the parts days before they hit the stage. Go forth and conquer young rock star. hehe.

Scatting is a music form in its self, far more than just singing and playing notes. It is pretty much improvising everything from the first beat to the last. So it may help you learn many things at one time.

Originally Posted by: haghj500Kasperow,

Jamming to a beat is huge in advancing faster and you know what you need to work on, so half the battle is done.

You impress me as a brave man, a lot of people do not have what it takes inside them the play in front of people as much as you have in your short time playing, let a lone when they know they are just learning the parts days before they hit the stage. Go forth and conquer young rock star. hehe.[/QUOTE]
Thanks. It's one of the only things that really interest me anymore. Two years ago, I'd spend hours in front of a computer. Now, I spend the same amount of time with a guitar in my hands or studying music.

I bet lots of fledgling musicians have trouble finding any kind of audience to play for. I keep reading and hearing others saying "it's so f***ing impossible to get a proper audience these days!" And in the meantime, I just prepare a setlist every time I know my brother's coming over, because that's usually when the rest of the family is gathered.

I'm not sure why, though, but in the beginning, before I could even play Smoke On The Water, they insisted that I play something. Now, whenever they come over, they just take it for granted, and I like that. I love playing for them, because even if they can clearly see I mess up a solo or a riff, or hit a bad note or fifty, they don't comment on it immediately. And thanks to the loving and supporting people I play for frequently, I have a good idea of what it's like to play for others. They say they support me all the way, and simply want to keep up with my progress. I've even been told that my brother got a bit sad when he found out I had forgotten to tell him about the gig! To set things right, I plan on recording my little section of the gig.

Next step might be to find a few candidates for starting a band, while I'm at the gig. Lots of other relatively new musicians are going to be there. Guitarists, bassists, drummers, vocalists, pianists... It should be possible to find a few good ones, talk to them and ask if they're up for jamming and then see how things go. I would prefer if I could find enough people to start a band completely right away and start jamming. At the rate things are going for me, right now, I might just be able to find that band and possibly get a few songs together and play a few shows wherever we can get away with it. Then again, finding people to play with at that kind of free mass-audition shouldn't be a problem. People come there because they want to show others what they've got, so they might be there looking for a band as well. And I won't have to do preliminary auditions either, since the school handles that for me :D

Also, regarding the part with learning my parts only a short time before I have to perform, I actually find that to be an advantage for me, since it makes me more focused on getting it right as fast as possible. Whenever my typical tiny audience is going to be gathered, I usually write my setlist 3 weeks before, and add a new song that I need to learn before then. Last time, that was Knockin' On Heaven's Door.

[QUOTE=haghj500]Scatting is a music form in its self, far more than just singing and playing notes. It is pretty much improvising everything from the first beat to the last. So it may help you learn many things at one time.

Thanks. I'll definitely have to look into that when I get past the gig :)

Ten days left until the Music school show and thus, ten days left until I get completely free access to a bunch of musicians at my own level, if not below. I have no doubt that I'll be able to find a handful of worthy candidates for starting a band. My main goal is to just find a drummer and a bassist that I like, but if others manage to impress me, I'll obviously take them into consideration (who knows, there might just be a great singer too who might want to start a band). So far, I've got my own parts down pretty well. Jammed with Rocksmith again today, and I nailed two of the parts, and almost got the third right so I'm getting there. Hopefully the other guy is getting his parts ready too. Now, we just need to rehearse that one time, and do our job.

On the bright side, I just got two more possible gig dates in the nearest future, that so far don't include a band... And I'm getting a lot of money back from having paid too many taxes last year, so upgrading my rig a bit isn't out of the question either... Today has been a very good day, I would say :)

Well, today's rehearsal went... Somewhere... We both have our parts down just fine. Our problem is timing. We seriously suck at keeping a steady tempo, even more so when we have to keep the same tempo! :D When we start playing, we keep it tight for the first four bars, then either one of us starts playing faster while the other plays slower, or one plays faster and the other plays even faster! Good thing we got permission to drop by tomorrow and rehearse a bit more.

I also got an offer to play along with one of the song-students. I'm pretty open to it, though it'll mean I've got to learn a song with Arpeggiated Barre Chords in one week. Two of my biggest problems in one song... They could only make it harder if there was a Shred-solo as well :) Maybe it's a bit more than I can handle in just a week...

So you need to teach your right hand were the strings are. So spend a little time just working on it. If you choose of course, going down play A, D, B. On the way up E, G, A. Because you also need to work on timing, I suggest you tap a foot each time you hit a string. You know the routine start slow and build speed. Maybe single pick going down and double on the way back up. Spend 3 to 5 minutes doing it, then do something else for 10 to 15 minutes, then just the right hand again. Repeat if it helps and mix up the patterns.

Originally Posted by: KasperowWe seriously suck at keeping a steady tempo, even more so when we have to keep the same tempo! :D

Kasperow! You made me laugh! That was a good one! :)

Well, we got together and rehearsed our little blues jam thing a couple of times. We managed to get rid of one of our tempo problems today. Now we just play in different tempos, but at least we can keep it steady! We'll have to go over it a few more times before Thursday night, so we can get it sorted out. Sadly, it seems my improsived segment is gone, which was actually the one thing I looked most forward to.

As for the other song I've been asked to play along to, I can play the whole thing if I just strum the chords and get to look at the chord-sheet, and I think it sounds better that way, because at least that way I can recognize the song. I can't recognize it when I play the Arpeggios instead of strumming the chords. I'm gonna talk to the person singing that song, and find out if he/she can accept that I just strum the chords if I fail to learn the Arpeggiated version.

And I'm thinking of talking to my teacher and ask if I can get to play a tune I choose myself. If I can, I already know which song to choose. If not, no damage is done.

Sounds like it's coming together. I'm glad I wasn't drinking coffee when I read the part Slipin highlighted - I would have spit it all over my computer screen.

Arpeggiated chords are tough to do consistently. That's one of those exercises to practice at slow tempo and bring up until you get sloppy, back it down, etc. To this day, I can't play "Message in a Bottle" by the Police up to speed and keep it clean. I can play the opening riff of 8675309/Jenny consistently, but that was only after focusing on it.

Arpeggiating chords is a good lead technique to have in your bag of tricks, so it's more than just for rhythm playing.

Despite all of the adjustments, I'm sure your final performance will come off just great! Just keep working at it and it will happen.

Originally Posted by: Kasperow Now we just play in different tempos, but at least we can keep it steady!

Uh-oh! If you're keeping time together, you're playing the same tempo... you're just counting it differently. I'd wager that one of you is counting quarter notes while the other 1/8th notes, but regardless, its all the same tempo.

My advice is that you don't worry about if for now. Just do what works and keeps you together until you get your performance done. But after that...

Get the book "Rhythm Lead Guitar" by Barrett Tagliarino. Click here for the link to Amazon.

You really need it... it will show you how to count properly, and keep the main beat even as you play different rhythms. Its very hands on, and I think its pretty clear its an area that you need to work on (me too! ;) ). Its very common for guitar players to not pay much attention to tempo and counting... and I don't mean just tapping your foot as you play. I mean recognizing where a specific note is placed in a measure, whether its a quarter note, eight, sixteenth etc.

Good luck with your performance!

Maggior: Yeah, I agree. It may not seem very good right now, but once we get there, we'll probably do fine. It still bugs me that my improvised part seems to be missing, but I'll have to accept that and play my parts as well as I can :) At least I get to play guitar, and I get to play along to a singer, though I only have a few days to learn the Arpeggios.

Slipin: Thanks for that link. I'll have to check out that book once I get to the other side of this show. Sometimes, it's actually surprising how important it is for lead guitarists to have a great sense of rhythm. It doesn't look much like they pay attention to the rhythm when I watch clips on YouTube, but you suddenly realize it when you are standing there, playing lead over another guitarist's rhythm.

As for that other possible band I mentioned in another thread, it seems like it's gonna turn into anything. We've been chatting a bit, and then all of a sudden they just said I'm not what they're looking for... I'm not exactly sure what I said that I shouldn't have, but there's not much I can do about it now. They didn't even bother with jamming before making the decision... At least I can now focus on my own projects after this show...

Aaand the obligatory anxiety is starting to set in now... I'm pretty confident I've got my parts down to the best of my ability for the Blues Jam. As for the other song I'll be playing along to, the Arpeggios are still far from coming along, but at least I can now play the Chords fluently enough. On the bright side, there's only half a week left until I hit the stage, and find out just how well I actually know my parts (and after that, a week until I'll have as much time for guitar-related stuff as I want). I'll wait with modding my Les Paul until after the event, though. I'd rather not throw the other guy off by appearing with a different-sounding guitar:)

I'm still considering stopping my lessons with my teacher, since I'm learning more and faster from GT and Rocksmith, though. If I stop those lessons, I'll also have a chance to go to the cool gigs at my local venue, or try checking out those open jam nights I read that a pub started having this month :) It's kinda annoying that all the bands that I think sound interesting always play on Thursdays, same day as the open jams and my guitar lessons...

Originally Posted by: Kasperow\My biggest concern is: Do you normally have to bring your own guitar to Open Mics? The pub says they'll arrange for two Guitar Amps, a Bass Amp, a PA system and a Drum-kit to be available for those Open Mics, so I'd suspect that people have to bring their own Guitars, Pedals and Cables, but I'm not sure if this is how it normally is at Open Mic sessions?

Here where I live there are three places and some players just strum and not reall play a song.
It's all fun but you do get some professionals playing.
Then have everything but they do ask you bring your own guitar.
Also nice becaiuse you meet locals then pick up some tips from them.
Some go to show off and others will show you some tricks.
Almost like getting free lessons.
Have fun
BOB