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Funk Backing Track Jam

jonPhillips

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bigboy78 Newbie

bigboy78

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I can understand this is a tough room. Playing in a bar full of drunks more interested in grabbing ass is always going to be easier than laying it out to people who are actively going to listen and probably comment, but there's nothing like a round of applause to cure your stage fright.

I think you need to put something up.

I am sure it will not be anywhere near as bad as you are hearing. You can only hear the wrong notes. We don't know what you are hearing in your head, so as long as you hit the notes with confidence you can always claim that we just don't "get it".

EDIT: My "backpatting" reference wasn't meant as a negative. I seems to have been interpreted that way. Poor choice of words I guess.

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mosiddiqi Newbie

mosiddiqi

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GaJ..or indeed anyone else that might be struggling to get a take done, some thoughts about approaching this:

 

Don't worry about playing over the whole thing...even if you get 10 seconds that you think is ok, that's cool. I find it very hard to solo for more than about 30 seconds..in most of our songs I don't solo at all!..so these jams are always a challenge for me.

 

Note choice wise, you're not going to go far wrong by sticking to the good old minor pentatonic. Try adding on the Maj 6 and 9 (Dorian mode) too..it'll all sound good. For this kind of funky vibe, I find octaves as a device works really well...try some regular pentatonic lines but played in octaves. For a smoother, jazzier feel, try and play pentatonic/dorian lines with NO BENDS. You might be surprised at how different this makes your familiar pentatonic scale sound.

 

I'll be listening to Eddie and Stomias from home this evening :)

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jeremy_green Newbie

jeremy_green

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First take
:thu:

I didn't hate it, so I stopped while I was ahead.


http://www.box.net/shared/au03p0totj

 

Bigboy, great job man! Very nice phrases and quite musical. You really settled in and it started to cook. I would say I really like the way you switched registers... I think that really help. A little more exploration in the lower notes would help it even further. I would also suggest try adding some double stops to your repertoire (playing two notes at once chord style) Hendrix and most blues players do this a lot to fatten some of the notes.

 

Really good take brother. Glad you participated.

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jeremy_green Newbie

jeremy_green

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Well, OK.




GaJ

 

 

Jade ... that wasn't horrible at all. There was some really nice things going on in there. First off I would say you have made some fairly significant progress with your bends and vibrato. A smoother feel is coming out. More right than wrong. I would suggest the same as i did to bigboy in that try some double stops and different register stuff. Take a simple idea and move it around... try call and response - so play a phrase... then repeat it somewhere else ... then another phrase ... then respond to that.

 

A thing I know you are guilty of (as are most of us, me NO exception) is a reverence for great chops. Stop worrying about how it sounds in the big picture and start worrying about how it sounds now. Play as if you were in a vacuum.... nobody is listening. This is REALLY hard to do I know but try. You aren't a great player YET : ) But you are a darn fine one. So play where you are at today and maximize your effectiveness with simple musical phrases. If you always do that your level will just rise organically.

 

Like I said we are all on a road ... we are all at different parts of the road. Nobody (should) compare you (or anybody else) to the other cats playing. This isn't the olympics - it's art. You are here to learn - we all are. Maybe this is the lesson you will take from this experience!

 

Bottom line: Don't be so shy and self-critical. This crap can kill you as a performer. You are a better player than you think.

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GreenAsJade Newbie

GreenAsJade

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A thing I know you are guilty of (as are most of us, me NO exception) is a reverence for great chops

 

Yeah - that's definitely true. I keep hearing where shredding should cut in, but my fingers can still only doodle quavers :)

 

Bring on the organic rise in levels :)

 

Thanks,

 

GaJ

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GreenAsJade Newbie

GreenAsJade

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Gave this a shot
here
. Several words come to mind to describe it, "diarrhea" being one of them.

 

FWIW, one of the best ever Backing Track Jam submissions was called "Vomitous"....

 

It was interesting to listen to yours and hear how authoritatively you go "outside" without "blinking". If I had played some of those notes I'd have "lost it". But I guess maybe that's because for me they would be accidents, wheras for you they are deliberate :D

 

GaJ

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Tommy Gun Newbie

Tommy Gun

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I listened to the takes on the first two pages....and they were all so good I had to stop or I would never put my take up:eek:. There are some great players here.

I'm going to bring down the curve quite a bit with mine :facepalm::
http://www.box.net/shared/ynz9ixoatu

I would love any tips. This was the first time I've ever worked with one of these tracks and it was quite tough. I played around with it for an hour and went nowhere but decided to put up my last take regardless. I'm going to do this more often as I can definitely see how it can make you a much better player.

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mosiddiqi Newbie

mosiddiqi

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Gave this a shot
here
. Several words come to mind to describe it, "diarrhea" being one of them.

 

Ed, you have notes that I'm sure I don't have on my guitar :confused::D

 

I really, really liked that. You made the outside stuff sound really natural, and I love the way you set it up with very melodic playing around it.

 

Will listen to the others I've missed in a bit :)

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mosiddiqi Newbie

mosiddiqi

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I had a window of time open up so I gave er another go tonight. Got some shaky moments, but it tis what it tis! Here is the link


http://www.box.net/shared/1j81081922


BTW - Right near the end there is an audio stutter... not sure what happened there but whatever.

 

Damn!..really nice phrasing and dynamics particularly Jeremy..something that gets overlooked a lot, especially when playing with distorted sounds..but you kept varying the attack and timbre..very cool. :thu:

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jeremy_green Newbie

jeremy_green

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I listened to the takes on the first two pages....and they were all so good I had to stop or I would never put my take up:eek:. There are some great players here.


I'm going to bring down the curve quite a bit with mine
:facepalm:
:

http://www.box.net/shared/ynz9ixoatu


I would love any tips. This was the first time I've ever worked with one of these tracks and it was quite tough. I played around with it for an hour and went nowhere but decided to put up my last take regardless. I'm going to do this more often as I can definitely see how it can make you a much better player.

 

Tommy, brother bravo for participating! Very awesome to see many getting involved. Firstly let me say it is TOUGH to solo over ONE CHORD for almost THREE MINUTES! While maintaining any interest. NOT easy. We ALL understand that part.... least anyone who tries recording themselves doing it.

 

Your take. Some very very nice parts in there. Nice lines. My comment comes down to really one central theme VIBRATO! If you had some many of these parts would have gone from very good to excellent. That is the one thing that jumps at me. When a note just sits there for en extended period of time the vibrato smooth-ens it out... gives it some humanity. Use the wang bar if you have one ... better yet use your fingers. Acquire this skill because it is critical.

 

Great job!

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mosiddiqi Newbie

mosiddiqi

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I listened to the takes on the first two pages....and they were all so good I had to stop or I would never put my take up:eek:. There are some great players here.


I'm going to bring down the curve quite a bit with mine
:facepalm:
:

http://www.box.net/shared/ynz9ixoatu


I would love any tips. This was the first time I've ever worked with one of these tracks and it was quite tough. I played around with it for an hour and went nowhere but decided to put up my last take regardless. I'm going to do this more often as I can definitely see how it can make you a much better player.

 

Tommy, lot's of good things here, some nice licks and melodies..the others mentioned vibrato and I think that is the main thing that's really missing that would give your playing more expression and help the flow. It takes a lot of time to get vibrato well integrated as a natural part of your playing I found..so keep at it! :thu:

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Mark Wein Newbie

Mark Wein

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Can I play? I haven't gotten to play anything like this in a while and I'm still adjusting to the 12's on my Artcore but it was fun...here it is warts and all:http://markweinguitarlessons.com/soundfiles/fj.mp3

 

 

FWIW, one of the best ever Backing Track Jam submissions was called "Vomitous"....

 

 

lol. It didn't even register that you were talking about me until I went to upload my {censored}ty take on this track and found the mp3 on my server: http://markweinguitarlessons.com/soundfiles/vomitous.mp3

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