guitar exam at school (Allan Holdsworth guitar solo content)

Cobrango

Power User
Hi, I've been thinking a lot on whether to post this or not because I got a bit nervous and did some mistakes and what not, but after some thinking I landed on this conclusion: what the heck. I'm not pleased with my performance and the only reason I'm posting it is because I got the grade "B" on it.

so this is me, a bit nervous, making mistakes, losing my mind right before the solo (no really, I got lost lol), doing a cover

of the song "Joint ventures" from the album "Heavy Machinery" by Jens and Anders Johansson, featuring a solo by Allan Holdsworth.

The solo starts at 4:10 if you just want to get right into it. the second song is called "eat. sleep. shred." and before I started playing I was so nervous that I almost forgot it's name "it's called sleep.. uhm.. eat sleep shred!"

the audio quality is what you normally get when you just throw your dslr up there and hit record.

I'm going to make another video playing this solo because I spent a looooong time learning the solo and making the backing track.

yada yada here it is:

 
Awesome that this music is appreciated at your college. I mean, I'm glad to have had a strict, classical training, and I love classical guitar and all the associated music, but it's cool that other styles have been embraced on the collegiate level in recent years.

Keep up the good work.
 
yeah I like it too, this is from the university of Oslo, as a part subject of my bachelor degree. I made a lot of mistakes but there are many modulations in the first track and I used a lot of different scales like the chromatic, pentatonic, melodic minor, whole-half / half-whole diminished, dorian, blues, string skipping - so maybe that had something to do with it. then there is the solo by Allan Holdsworth which is really hard, but I did not nail it though.

I don't know why I got the grade "B" though, I was out many times. I must have made up for it somehow.
 
Don't worry Cobrango - we all make mistakes and keep saying myself: it's only rock'n'roll - it's great and I admire your speedy playing - I'm only an old school fart who likes playing....:eagerness:
 
I can have a word with them get you the C on this..

I could have you out of there by the end of the week if I
can speak my mind about the B.

I suggest 5 white russians and use Stoli freeze the Stoli
and shake them in a good shaker till you get frost bitten
and serve in chilled glass

If by the 4th drink back to back you still care about the B
then #5 should just about do it.

I cant tell you why they gave you a B.
Im surprised they did not cut off a hand or hang you by the neck until dead
for playing Satan's music though..

Good thing the church only heard that had the Queen heard it and been scared
it might be bowels out..

Humbly accept the B and try to avoid scary music.
:)

Kidding aside I have respect for anyone that can sight read music and especially anyone that can play
Shawn lane or Holdsworth..

I cant play it note for note much less get through trying to read it off the written page.
So you have my respect sir..

Id be leg up like that pirate in the Rum commercials and grabbing my pride proclaiming that B
to draw out the ones who got the A.

To get their honest opinion of your performance ask them who they had to sleep with for that A ?
The honest opinion comes shortly right after that..

You then inform them that its tradition and has been for 1000 years that the A students buy the B students
dinner and pay for drinks and that its bad luck if they do not take part and respect the tradition.

I suggest white russians shaken till frost bite cold and freeze the Stoli
celebrate we are all still alive..
you did fine...

Cobrango have you tried the rukus pedal yet ?
Its very Shawn Lane..
 
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thank you for the support, hehe. I'm going to do a youtube cover of this song and this is what I have so far, the track I used on my exam as a backing track. I've made it myself but there's no lead yet because I'm looking for someone to play the lead synth part for a youtube video cover of this song. I've made some adjustments to the track since the exam so it's not exactly what you're hearing in the video but like 90%.



and here's the original I'm doing a cover of:

 
Music isn't about grades anyway. No one will ask you your GPA on an audition.

It was just an "fyi" in case someone wondred, and if you're in school grades matter, I'm crossing my fingers to get in for the two year master's degree in musicology - grades is all that matters in that case. At the University of Oslo you have to have a certain amount of points from the theory test to even get to play in the audition part so yes, grades matter in music(ology) :)
 
I don't know why I got the grade "B" though, I was out many times. I must have made up for it somehow.

Well, look at your performance objectively. You and the other students should be critiquing each other, including performance elements that are independant of the actual music being played. Body language, presentation, even dress are being evaluated. Did you feel loose and comfortable? Did you appear to have command of the the stage? Was the choice of music appropriate? You shouldn't be wondering why you got a B. You want to get with the professors during office hours and get them to break down their rubric and criteria so you can understand and improve weak areas.
 
It was just an "fyi" in case someone wondred, and if you're in school grades matter, I'm crossing my fingers to get in for the two year master's degree in musicology - grades is all that matters in that case. At the University of Oslo you have to have a certain amount of points from the theory test to even get to play in the audition part so yes, grades matter in music(ology) :)


I am in school actually. Biochem, pre-med. grades do vety much matter in an academic environment. I'm also a former flight evaluator and manager of pilot personnel, so I'm very familiar with evaluating and being evaluated.

Oh, and I was a music major a very long time ago. You're doing great, BTW. I'm saying that after you graduate, no one is going to ask you your GPA. They just want to know if you can do the work and work with people.
 
break down their rubric and criteria so you can understand and improve weak areas.

well I tried to since my last performance which was a grade D performance. Sorry for not hitting the A dude, I was too nervous. I focused on the criteria this time, hence the more advanced harmony than my more monotonic looper performance last time. Of course I'm wondering a bit why I got B, I was too nervous. One can always wonder, nothing wrong with that.
 
well I tried to since my last performance which was a grade D performance. Sorry for not hitting the A dude, I was too nervous. I focused on the criteria this time, hence the more advanced harmony than my more monotonic looper performance last time. Of course I'm wondering a bit why I got B, I was too nervous. One can always wonder, nothing wrong with that.
Don't gotta apologize to me brother. I'm just talking just to talk. Chewing the fat. BSing around the water cooler. I'm a bit under the weather at the moment and hanging out on the forum.

Perhaps the faculty took your previous D into consideration when grading you. It's a very psychological thing. Jumping someone from a D to an A might send the wrong message, like you have to areas that need improving for the stage of training you're at right now.
 
Don't gotta apologize to me brother. I'm just talking just to talk. Chewing the fat. BSing around the water cooler. I'm a bit under the weather at the moment and hanging out on the forum.

Perhaps the faculty took your previous D into consideration when grading you. It's a very psychological thing. Jumping someone from a D to an A might send the wrong message, like you have to areas that need improving for the stage of training you're at right now.

hehe again sorry I did not read the "you're doing great" part, I was confused on the energy in what you wrote lol.

I see your point about going from a D to an A but at the same time it could also be that the D could have been an A that day if I had got my shit together, like in a bad day. Sometimes my whole body just fights me, other times things are going well. Maybe it comes from being at the stage alone or something, it can get pretty awkward.
 
Odds are they do not know the piece very well, if at all, so they likely missed most of your errors. Music happens in real time, it isn't like an essay you can retread a sentence to fact check or study its grammar. In the end if you look pleased and played no obvious clunkers you get a B. Had you finished by screaming "nailed it" and grabbed your crouch you'd gotten an A or F, depending on the teacher.
 
hehe again sorry I did not read the "you're doing great" part, I was confused on the energy in what you wrote lol.

I see your point about going from a D to an A but at the same time it could also be that the D could have been an A that day if I had got my shit together, like in a bad day. Sometimes my whole body just fights me, other times things are going well. Maybe it comes from being at the stage alone or something, it can get pretty awkward.

Nothing but positive waves, bro.

That's anxiety. Pure and simple. It goes away with time and experience. Playing and speaking in public are two things that cause the most anxiety in people. After you've done it a bunch at some point you stop being nervous and have a little fear left that can be converted into constructive energy that you can use to keep yourself sharp. It's that heightened sense of awareness that helps you along. Further down the line you even start to get a little arrogant. "You guys are lucky to even be hearing me play (or speak, or be instructed by me)". PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). Preparation (feeling prepared) and confidence don't happen overnight.
 
Odds are they do not know the piece very well, if at all, so they likely missed most of your errors.

If they don't know the tune, most likely they know when you made a mistake by your own reaction to your mistake. No such thing as a perfect performance, flight, or round of golf.

Remember that next time you're at the airport about to board.

Music happens in real time, it isn't like an essay you can retread a sentence to fact check or study its grammar.

I wish more people would do that.... and understand how commas and apostrophes work.

In the end if you look pleased and played no obvious clunkers you get a B. Had you finished by screaming "nailed it" and grabbed your crouch you'd gotten an A or F, depending on the teacher.

Drop the mic and say Seacrest OUT!
 
Awesome that this music is appreciated at your college. I mean, I'm glad to have had a strict, classical training, and I love classical guitar and all the associated music, but it's cool that other styles have been embraced on the collegiate level in recent years.

Keep up the good work.

It's a fight to get contemporary music appreciated in academic circles but it's happening. I see a greater acceptance here on the RGT grade syllabus principally because an RGT Electric Guitar Dip student can usually improvise rings around classical players. Here, there is only one university that I can think of that is holding out for classical grades. Most of the others in both the UK and Ireland accept both on an equal footing.
 
I don't know why I got the grade "B" though, I was out many times. I must have made up for it somehow.

I had a student go for an exam recently. She ignored the rhythm pattern of one section of the exam, came up with something on the spot and nailed it. There are some schools of thought that hold musicality over what is technically correct, and some that value the syllabus criteria over musicality. This was a case of holding musicality over technicality, as is your performance.

Ain't nothing wrong with wondering. Now you can use this information and result to expand on your abilities.
 
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