Learning to play G&R on the AX8

dsouza

dsouza

Experienced
Ok So I've got a Slash Gibson LP Standard in November Burst , Redsound Elis 8 FRFR Speakers, and and AX8.

I am happy with my AX8 and feel I have got the necessary presets to play good sounding G&R tunes. Some presets are free , some are custom built that I purchased.

People who know me and my work know I have basically focused on U2 the past 13 years of my 20 years experience in addition to a couple of albums of original music.

I am now adding to my focus Guns and Roses.

In particiular the songs:

Knockin on Heavens Doors
You could be mine
Sweet Child of Mine
November Rain

These are all a stark difference from the Edge's primarily slow moving guitar playing with effects backing him up. (Not to take anything away from the Edge.. I have the upmost respect for him)

However, to pull off G&R requires more lead guitar. This is something I'm new to but I understand the basic concepts of hammer ons, pulls offs, slide, sting bending and vibrato, power chords, octaves, Wah wah, etc which power 90% of the songs above.

So I figure I'm going to dedicate the next major portion of my career to mastering some G&R.

Anyone else here learn to play G&R songs on the electric guitar? (Slash fans)?

Any advice for me before I embark on this adventure? How I shoud prep myself or my mental state?

Is playing the music with a bit of attitude really important to putting on a good G&R performance? Or is technical mastery enough?

P.S. G&R is so new to me I wouldn't be surprised if it takes me a good 6 months to a year to "MASTER" each of the instrumentals stated above.
Not that I'm complaining. I love the sound and wouldn't trade it for less practice time.

To learn more about where I'm coming from check out my website: www.AdrianDSouzaRocks.com

Cheers!
Dsouza
 
If you ask me you have to love the music you're playing (mental state) and then practice, practice, practice. I wouldn't expect to MASTER any instrument within 6 months, I read somewhere that it requires at least 20.000 repetitions to achieve mastership. I tried for more than 40 years now and am far from having mastered any playing style. It certainly helps to get a good instructor to avoid the common mistakes. I'd start with YT vids to get the basics of the riffs needed.
 
I've been developing speed a few years now but it takes a lot of practice. But satisfaction is great when you achieve things. Start slow (say 50% of normal speed), focus on playing well, then slowly increase speed...
For me it helps to write out solo's in a miditrack/score in Cakewalk and understand what's going on. Then i can play the miditrack in any speed i want and repeat it or small parts of it forever ;) together with a simple click of drum track.
 
I find it also helps to hear a song that your playing the guitar parts to out loud so many times the guitar soundtrack is ingrained in your memory and you can visualize it and hear it in your head -- without any hesitation -- even with no music being played. I find that also helps memory, speed, and timing on the guitar when it comes to practicing and playing for real.
 
You can listen to the same piece of music for 20,000 hours and work on your attitude but you still need to dedicate some serious practice hours to the guitar.

Learn the guitar and songs first. Everything else can be revisited later.
 
Habuman said:
You can listen to the same piece of music for 20,000 hours and work on your attitude but you still need to dedicate some serious practice hours to the guitar.

Learn the guitar and songs first. Everything else can be revisited later.
Click to expand...
Of course nothing beats time on the guitar.

However, there was a study done in the 1980's when the Soviet Union won a disproportionate number of goals medals compared to the rest of the world and basically took the olympics.

They found back then the Soviet Union was using advanced visualization techniques to complement there technical practice.

It's been proven in science.

Even though the last two weeks I've been sick and unable to play the guitar I visualize the songs I practice and rehearse. I see myself hitting the AX8 footswitches at the right times and where my hands are on the guitar. I hear the whole electric piece in my head as if I'm in the room playing it.

I tried this many times before. Even when I went back after a long absence my sense of accuracy and timing was almost identical with even a 2-4 week downtime from the guitar. And within 1-2 days my sense of accuracy and muscle memory was back to 100%.

Like I said before nothing beats time on the guitar. But try adding visualization, also listening to YOURSELF play when your driving your vehicle etc and you'll find it all helps with getting better on the guitar.

Just some food for thought.
 
dsouza said:
...
However, there was a study done in the 1980's when the Soviet Union won a disproportionate number of goals medals compared to the rest of the world and basically took the olympics.

They found back then the Soviet Union was using advanced visualization techniques to complement there technical practice.

It's been proven in science.
...
Click to expand...

I'd say a lot of those successes can be considered the result of advanced medical treatment. There are ways to do this at home, actually I know that students at universities do it, but that's nothing you want for yourself. Anyway, looks like you answered your own question.
 
md1234 said:
I've been developing speed a few years now but it takes a lot of practice. But satisfaction is great when you achieve things. Start slow (say 50% of normal speed), focus on playing well, then slowly increase speed...
For me it helps to write out solo's in a miditrack/score in Cakewalk and understand what's going on. Then i can play the miditrack in any speed i want and repeat it or small parts of it forever ;) together with a simple click of drum track.
Click to expand...

Yes when you understand how a piece is made up and you actually write it down and know how many times each section is repeated, what comes in what order, what frets your on, it all helps with performance. While muscle memory is the goal we attain , it is inevitable that at times during one's career that they may go blank at some point during a performance or get distracted even for a split second but knowing exactly how a piece is made of SAVES them. They can THINK in that moment as opposed to ONLY relying on muscle memory.

While muscle memory is important the cortex of the brain should still be free to think of the "big picture" at hand.

This is especially true when you don't have a backing track or band to work with and your playing a track vanilla. You don't have cues to help you remember portions so a complete understanding of your material will make you a better and more accurate player.
 
ChristThePhone said:
I'd say a lot of those successes can be considered the result of advanced medical treatment. There are ways to do this at home, actually I know that students at universities do it, but that's nothing you want for yourself. Anyway, looks like you answered your own question.
Click to expand...

Like I said nothing beats time on the guitar.

But the greatest in the world all UNDERDSTAND their material 100% and can explain anything about it inside out.

If I think of an A list actor like Johnny Depp (Not music industry but similar) he stated he spent 1-2 years studying a script before EVER stepping in front of a camera filming.

I'm not suggesting replaying a video tutorial for 1 year before pulling out the guitar ;-)

What I am saying is I found it better to watch a video tutorial repeatedly until I understood the whole song and then went over practicing phrases of the licks one at a time over and over until muscle memory was built , and then practiced the next phrase and so on until the song was complete.

However, if I didn't understand the material in full and just took one phrase played it 100 times and then the next, I'd be relying on muscle memory alone and if I stopped playing for any reason or drew a blank I'd be lost.

Understanding my material and being able to also use the logical brain not just the creative brain all helps with becoming a better guitarist.

If you look at the Edge for example he had only grade 9 education in school but went on to become a world famous guitarist. Even though he rely's on muscle memory he can remember when he's asked how a song was made way back in the 70's! He can remember the pedals he used at the time and the process by which it was created. This is all about intellect not just practice.

While implementation is #1 in my mind, knowledge is power and can help with downtime which we all will inevitably experince at one point or another in our lives.

Cheers mate!
 
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dsouza said:
If you look at the Edge for example he had only grade 9 education in school but went on to become a world famous guitarist.
Click to expand...
Where the heck did you pull that sop of an urban legend out of?
If you're such a fan, maybe start reading his biography.
 
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