Yeah that’s totally possible, all our hands are different so could be a consideration. I feel my hands are probably fairly standard sized, my fingers aren’t either overly short or long, but I’m sure hand structure would play a significant part in how this would work. I do need to make a correction to what I said above after picking up my guitar, my thumb doesn’t fully come over to mute the 6th string (the tip of my index and my middle finger do that) but it does poke over the top on 5th string PCs and close to the top on 6th string ones.
Sorry about that! It’s funny how things can hurt more once we notice them eh?! I hope it comes right soon. Remember to do your stretches and give it a rest (working on the new song might help with that if you’re spending more time figuring things out rather than playing). I’ll have a deeper think on this and see what other things spring to mind. Justin may also have a more detailed lesson on this technique somewhere. I’ll see if I track anything down I wanna hear more of your metal shredding!
Yeah this has got to be coming soon right, Alexis??!!
I feel like I’m definitely doing something wrong. @Socio sent me a cool technique tutorial/video designed specifically to ensure proper hand placement. I’m going to try and incorporate it into my practice for a couple of weeks and see what happens.
Who has the time?! Seriously though, I really would love to play with other musicians. I feel like my technique would progress much faster if only because I’d put myself in more playing situations. Finding like-minded people to jam with, who are around my level, and I won’t feel embarrassed to play with (because my lack of skill) feels insurmountable right now though. I’m also super nervous when I play on camera, let alone in front of others. Hopefully one day.
One of the reasons I post all of my recordings is so people can give me advice and point out things like what you pointed out. Having that in real time feels like It would be super valuable.
Sent via message, I’d post it here but I’m not sure what the rules are on posting non-Justin related instructional videos? I assume that’s why @Socio sent it to me via message as well?
Nah, I’m pretty sure it’s just that it’s not the original band. The singer sounds very different from the original vocalist which is probably what you’re hearing. The key is the same as the original according to the website.
100% agree with you on this! To find some people (or even a person!) who are interested in playing music, at or about the same level and don’t have lots of other life priorities ahead of music is virtually impossible it seems! The (very!) small number of people I have come across who seem somewhat interested either say “yeah I’m interested but don’t really have time” or “yeah that will be great, let’s do it” but never actually do
Perhaps I just need to get out more into the scene…
Top job on this, Alexis
Killer tone and what a power chord workout!
Smash was one of the few ‘new punk’ records that I enjoyed. There was just a freshness about it.
I had great fun entering one of Justin’s earlier monthly competitions playing this on ukulele
Alexis, great job again, just caught up with a few of your latest AVOYP’s. You have made great progress, I wish you would hurry up and finish the book, as it i my go to to figure out what the songs in the Rock book sitting on my table sound like. You make them come to life. I should spend more time with them, but they are daunting to me so Kudos to you for doing so many of them so well in a year.
You mentioned a lack of skill in one of your replies to replies. I suppose if we compare ourselves to guitar legends then we’ll always have a lack of skill. But if you just step back objectively, you can’t produce all the recordings that you have, playing along with original backing tracks, and claim a lack of skill.
You may not yet be used to playing live with others but as far as I am concerned you have lpenty guitar skills.
I understand exactly what you mean. My dad plays bas for about 60 years now, is in multiple bands and regularly gigs. He even opened for Tina Turner in his younger days.
Having that “legacy” to live up to causes a lot of stress and one of my worst guitar fears is him hearing me play and finding out how bad I am.
Something worth trying is finding someone actually slightly worse than you, or if they are at your level or better try to figure out something that you can do that they can’t. This way you can teach them something as well.
Random example: My coworker is new to guitar as well but still quite a bit more experienced than I am. One thing I can do that he can’t are pinch harmonics (it was the only thing my muscle memory remembered after not playing for over a decade. I couldn’t riff. I couldn’t play open chords. But I still can pull off pinch harmonics whenever I want to. Makes no sense at all but hey at least I remembered SOMETHING ). I plan to get together with him sometime and make it more a “teach eachother some things” session than a true jam to get started. If I can show him the pinch harmonic basics it’ll be a victory for me since at least I brought something to the table.
Another absolute banging Alexis. That did look really difficult with all those breaks in it but you did an excellent job keeping that timing.
I too would like to find some people to jam with but it seems to be a real struggle where I am. I’m off to the music shops in a couple of weeks so I’m going to see if there and any adverts about.
Song 9: Sunshine of your love by Cream
Classic song! I’m reluctant to say that this song is easy (rhythm of course). Instead I’ll say that it’s straightforward, not much to it. I’ll get into the reasons in the techniques portion but suffice it to say, I struggled to get the accuracy perfect. It was an interesting ride that I think had me tightening up my technique in a few areas.
What I’ve learned/techniques:
D Riff. This was the major hurdle in which all the other parts of this section stem from. The riff uses 2 notes in a D barre chord, I could be wrong but I think this is the first time I played a riff that uses the pieces of chord in that same way. It’s a really cool sound.
Muting. This is one of the toughest parts because I need only those 2 notes to ring out when playing the riff. I ended trying to use this grip consistently. You can see in the recording that I’m not super accurate with it but the goal was to mute all the strings except the 2 I wanted (shout out to my wife for taking the picture):
Changes. The 2 hardest changes in the song are the one between the open A power chord → the D riff and the one switching from the G powerchord riff → D riff. I spend many a technique section of my practice schedule really trying to nail those changes. It got to the point where I could hit the changes fast but when I played the song it fell apart. This is the part where I have/had to bridge the gap between the technique and actually performing in a song.
Vibrato. This is still a struggle for me. Similar to the chord changes, in practice I can do a pretty smooth vibrato but when using it for a song my brain freak out when I have to transition between vibrato and the next note so it ends up being hit or miss. Something I’m continuing to work on as I progress. Justin’s new video on Vibrato for grade 3 helped a lot in contextualizing it though. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated!
Sound:
I used a katana patch from Blues Collection 1 | BOSS TONE CENTRAL called hard drive meant for bluesy rock. As a side note, there are some really good blues tones in there for you katana owners.
Hi Alexis,
Great playing
I do miss the riff variation every 2nd time like Justin teaches us in lesson are you doing this consciously?.. ( Or does that not belong at all throughout the song? in that case ) Because with how you play this you could do it easely, and then that gives just a little more variation and becomes even better,but you’re going like a spear
Greetings…
It’s funny how things can hurt more once we notice them eh?! I hope it comes right soon. Remember to do your stretches and give it a rest (working on the new song might help with that if you’re spending more time figuring things out rather than playing). I’ll have a deeper think on this and see what other things spring to mind. Justin may also have a more detailed lesson on this technique somewhere. I’ll see if I track anything down 
I wanna hear more of your metal shredding! 
as it i my go to to figure out what the songs in the Rock book sitting on my table sound like. You make them come to life. I should spend more time with them, but they are daunting to me so Kudos to you for doing so many of them so well in a year.
) Because with how you play this you could do it easely, and then that gives just a little more variation and becomes even better,but you’re going like a spear