Has it really been six months since I posted my early progress video for this song? Well I haven’t been slacking off, I have put in at least some time on Brothers just about every day of those six months, it’s just … extremely difficult!
I’ve learned through to the end of Verse 3 so far. I know there are parts that still need more polish but overall I am proud of myself for making it this far on a song which is frankly way beyond my current skill level.
Rather annoyed about the wrong note on the first “brothers in arms” line, I’ve never actually played that wrong note before this particular take, go figure.
Nicely done!
And the fact that you’re aware it’s not perfect is also a very good thing, it’s a progress catalyst
Just be aware that shooting too much over you level can be dangerous. It’s a source of frustration, first of all, but not only that.
When we try to play stuff too far beyond our current skill, we tend to practice mistakes instead of practicing to improve.
Of course, almost every new piece we learn should be challenging, and usually it’s a teacher’s job to decide how much.
Anyway, you’re doing fine
Just keep working on your skill with exercises and simpler pieces. And don’t quit!
Thanks Alexey, I agree with everything you said. Although with this particular song, I don’t feel frustrated (very often). Mostly it is inspiring to think that I might be able to play it some day, and I don’t mind if it takes many more months or even years to get there.
I have got exercises and plenty of other easier songs that I enjoy, but Brothers is my main long-term project.
Hi Brendan,
Good that you are still working on this, it is all well in your head, all those many licks … just keep practicing, this is one for the long road and will get better every month, keep on going. … and with the “right” tone there will be a nice step up without practice in the “final” version
SO many! Getting it all memorised is definitely part of the challenge.
In regards to tone, Justin’s advice in his lesson was to use an amp with a whole lot of gain and play quietly. So I tried to set up something along those lines in Garage Band, but not convinced I have quite nailed it.
I’ve also recently switched my guitar for this song. I went back to the Squier because it feels much easier to do string bends. It’s like the strings on the Ibanez are more rigid, not sure why.
This is one of the songs that brought me back to the guitar. Yours is very good so far. Not so easy to remember all the licks but I think I might be up to the challenge…
Hey Brendan, You’ve obviously not been slacking off at all in 6 months, that was nicely done for me. I can see it would be a challenging one to commit to memory but time rewards effort eh?
Bravo
I’m sharing this with Tatiana’s permission. It’s one of the master classes available for her patreon followers.
I’ve been learning a lot from her lately. She knows what she’s talking about.
I had a look at the class and some stimulating thoughts there on motivation. I have no desire to shred so the challenge here is not technique but learning the parts. This is more of a motivational and patience issue than anything else.
Nice accurate bends and vibrato.
This was the song lesson that first drew me to JustinGuitar. I got quite a way through learning it but need to revisit and try to master it as well as you have.
Thanks for inspiring me!
Hey thanks Dave! I appreciate the comment about bends, that’s something that I really had no experience with before I started learning this song, and I’ve put in a fair bit of effort to try to improve.
I got a lot of value out of @Richard_close2u 's idea to use a slide when practicing bends, to compare the pitch. That worked a lot better for me than playing two separate notes.
Bending still feels a little awkward some of the time. When I’m trying to play at full speed, sometimes I don’t manage to get my hand into the right position before the bend. I’ve also noticed that sometimes I curl my pinky finger up so when I try to bend, the pinky knocks into the bottom of the neck. But those are both solvable problems.
… just keep practicing, this is one for the long road and will get better every month, keep on going. 