Metal Reviews

u didn't say what type of instrument... this is my axe

Roland Fantom X8



it may look small... but it measures 1,4 meters in length and weights 30 kilo.. muha ha.. i win... mine is bigger

Only for pros!

I don't play any instruments, but I can handfart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1WKYmx4i1Q

(that's not me...)

Dude he is awesome..

Mines an Ibanez RG170 i think.

Guitar players of the forum, what kind of practice routine do you follow?

None. I concentrate more on just writing riffs and songs these days. I could of course be a lot better technically, but right now i'm pretty content in my abilities in that area. I keep my chops up just by playing regularly. I'm more of a riffer than a shredder anyway.

Back when i still used to have a practice routine, i used to do a lot of basic chromatic runs with different fingerings, across and up and down the fretboard with a metronome to gain picking speed and improve my accuracy. I also practiced economy picking/sweeps (i still suck at that stuff, though, heh), finger picking (i still suck at that too), legato stuff and even fast down picking with a metronome.

Teaching guitar to this one kid a couple of years ago really improved my playing, because i had to learn all kinds of shit that i'd put off before.

well, i'm 100% self learned...so my learning is a bit unstructured... but i mostly focused on solo techniques nowadays

Well when i frist started my course i had a planed routine.

Dexterity exercise (new one each week) 15 mins

Scale and chord Knowledge, which is just choosing a random key and going through every scale, and the chords in that scale that i know and the new ones we learnt every week 1 hour

Lead playing 30 mins

Break

Rhythm guitar/session styles (just playing funk and jazz rhythm rly) 30 mins

Sight reading and aural precept ion 30 mins

Then i'd usually go through my bands songs if i could be bothered.

Doing that every day for nearly six months rly took the fun out of playing tho. Made me a much better guitarist but i'd rather have spent it doing things that i wanted to do, rather then doing what was good for my course. stopped doing that now tho, lucky if i practice for an hour each day now atm.

None im a lazy motherfucker.

What I always did was learn how to play songs I liked note for note, then plug up and play along with them. Or on my laptop through it's tiny speakers if I'm unplugged. Tab sites helped the fuck out of me too, though lots of them are getting shut down now. After I feel like I mastered a song, I would add in stuff to color it up. For example, when I leraned how to play "Reroute to Remain" back in 2004. It was tremendous fun to blast it and play an imrpovised solo through my amp during the final chorus. TREMENDOUS.

I was planning on sitting down an learning stuff but then I realized that I can actually pull off some things that people learn in a fucking month when they first start. How did I do that? Tabs. Metal songs got all the techniques you can use anyway so if you can play the song, there you have it. Maybe you have to work harder, but my guitar is with me all day so instead of lame and boring exercises I'd rather play a song that pushes me to be better.


I've even learned sweep picking without knowing what it was.

Doing exercises is efficient for sure, as you can concentrate on one technique at a time, but in the long run, you can get pretty much the same benefit (and build your repertoire) in a much more enjoyable way by learning the right songs. I suggest shying away from notation and tabs as much as you can and learning by ear, since that really develops your ear (the most important thing for any musician.)

Different people need different practice routines. I've had to struggle with my technique a lot, but songwriting and theory have come very naturally to me. A friend of mine, completely self-taught, pwns my ass at shredding, but i can retaliate by playing chords that he can't name.

Practice, practice, practice. Just get better, all the time. Oh, and eventually experiment with DADGAD.

Just came in the mail today. Bought it as a birthday present for myself.

NICE! which label? neckthru?

It's a Peavy Grind 6 BTP if I'm correct. It was used so it only cost me $245. It feels, and looks great. I got lucky with this thing. IF you go to Music123.com, I think they may have one left for the same price. And yes, it is a neck-thru with passive pickups, and a 35 inch scale.

hmm.... what is the difference in sound between a bolt-on and a neckthru on basses?

Supposedly, neck-thru instruments have greater sustain and resonate better because the neck is more "at one" with the body. I think they feel better as well.

Wow.

6-string.

Nice.