Rock School Gradings

Clarky · July 2014

no charge.. lmao

mike_l · July 2014

Clarky said:

Clarky said:

I'm taking one of my students through rock school grade 5 right now..

it's pretty good fun actually..
he passed today…
yaaaayyyyy ! ! !

I blame the teacher.

>:D<

Clarky · July 2014

mike_l said:

Clarky said:

Clarky said:

I'm taking one of my students through rock school grade 5 right now..

it's pretty good fun actually..
he passed today…
yaaaayyyyy ! ! !

I blame the teacher.

>:D<

haa.. cool ain't it…

funny.. I feel like I've just passed something myself in an odd sort of way..

I've taught / coached loads of players, but never had one put himself through an exam before..

mike_l · July 2014

I can understand the feeling of passing something yourself.

I've had a couple of apprentices work with me, when they finish and are fully qualified it does feel like you've taught them well, and are also being tested.

Phil_aka_Pip · July 2014

Georgie said:

Yeah my teacher says to put in for my grade 2 for the experience of doing an exam. Then because I only want gradings for a label for auditions for a band - grade 4 is the first one where you construct a solo so will be a good point to end on.

That's OK as far as it goes, but if you need to be taught theory as well (assuming you don't already know it - apologies for insulting your abilities if you already do) then there's enough theory available to back up each grade with - if your teacher is any good - to keep you fully occupied at each grade unless you're an extremely quick learner. G3 is the first grade in which you get asked to make anything up IIRC, and therefore is a gentler introduction to improvisation than jumping straight into G4. Higher grades have even more pupil-generated content. There's improv, and there's pre-planned solos. When they say "solo" in a set piece they don't necessarily mean improv. You're allowed to plan it, and there's nothing to stop you writing out every single dot if you want to. However improv means you need to be able to condense all that thinking you did in planning a solo for a set piece into a simple gut reaction for a chord progression and rhythm that you've only seen for the first time and they give you 90 sec to prepare.

And before Frankus tells you you don't need theory - ignore him! You do, except that the more used you get to doing this sort of thing the less you will consciously think about it, and then you'll be where Frankus thinks you should be - doing it without thinking. However there's no short cut.

Clarky · July 2014

mike_l said:

I can understand the feeling of passing something yourself.

I've had a couple of apprentices work with me, when they finish and are fully qualified it does feel like you've taught them well, and are also being tested.

now that he's passed [mission accomplished] he's asked me to start working on turning him into a more complete player in general.. he wants everything.. playing, theory, composition, studio stuff etc...he's already a very nice lil' player.. so this is going to be fun..

so... tonight is his first session into his brave new world.. we're going to start with his kit... he has an Axe-FX, so tonight we'll nail the fundamentals of MIDI so he can get his head around how his controller / DAW talk to his lil' black magic box.. then I'll show him how to get it to jump through all kinds of hoops..

from there.. we'll start working on filling the gaps in his knowledge and increasing his repertoire.. the repertoire will be used for theory, technique, compositional analysis etc...

this is going to be fun

mike_l · July 2014

@Clarky sounds like a mission.

The big things (playing techniques, theory etc) are covered by most (good) teachers. It's the "other sides" of being a musician that are often missed (gear and usage, writing etc).

My old teacher (good guitarist, maybe less good teacher) didn't go with any of the latter, and wasn't that up with newer gear. The one time he did cover gear, it was a very brief "the volume knob does this, the tone knob does this", back to theory.

Clarky · July 2014

on the gear side.. we'll be covering MIDI, Axe-FX modifiers and controllers, reamping, and a few tips and tricks, like blending amps, matching amps and cab IR's.. frequency and parametric EQ, fx placement, etc..

there's no point in being a great player if you can't get the best out of your kit.. in fact, a reasonable / good enough player with good tone and a good understanding of how to get the best out of his kit will sound more polished than a great player with a tone that sux..

Georgie · July 2014

For grade 4 there is a lot of theory but I am not wanting to pass it anytime soon, but learning the pieces to the backing tracks are challenging and going along for the ride is keeping me motivated and keeps technique and focussed practice a must rather than just playing covers.

He has also told me to work with backing tracks on YouTube to keep me improvising. At the moment I am preplanning my solo for basejumper - really enjoying it but it changes every time lol!!!

Clarky · July 2014

top tip for improvising...

try learning a few solos by other guitarists.. even simple blues centric stuff like Pink Floyd.. you'll end up growing a whole vocabulary of licks that you can use is lots of different situations..

once you've learn a solo / lick, experiement with it by changing some notes, adding notes, taking some out, changing the phrasing and note lengths.. so as well as learning the lick / solo, you are also flexing some creative muscle..

when you're improvising, try introducing some of these licks [the ones you've learned, as well as some new onces you created yourself]..

think of it like learning another language.. before you can be fully fluent, you'll be relying a lot on set piece phrases.. eventually, you'll rely on them less and less until you can express yourself on your own terms...

Georgie · July 2014

Wow - that is really well put and I never thought of it like that!!

Funny enough I am currently learning 'comfortably numb' - I though if you are going to learn a solo you might as well go for one rated 'the best'!!!

Clarky · July 2014

@Georgie a great solo to learn [that's not overly tricky] that'll provide you with a good set of very nice licks is Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd..

and this lick, although bluesy by nature, will work in a huge range of situations because they're so versatile..

goof around with their phrasing etc, and you can easily triple or quadruple them into a huge arsenal of licks…

I'm actually working on this with on of my students right now.. taking these licks.. goofing with them, and then moving them into all kinds of settings.. classic rock, funk, blues, pop, soul, through to metal..

learn… experiment.. apply… wax on… wax off… wax on… wax off...

Georgie · July 2014

Where abouts do you teach??

I need a tutor like you!! Mine is lovely but he is classical and so works within 'boundaries'. These kind of ideas are what I need although he is going to Uni in Sept so will get a new teacher so hopefully will get one that believes in the same ideas as you.

Clarky · July 2014

I'm in Berkshire not far from Reading..

Georgie · July 2014

Rubbish move north!! It is nice here!!

Clarky · July 2014

erm… so long as we're in the high 20's and low 30's here, I ain't going anywhere.. it's nice and toasty.. lol..

I do 1/2 day and 1 day sessions on occasion, and guys have come from all over the country for these..

but they're quite intensive and are more suited more to the intermediate / advanced player..

if you're looking to work on your lick vocabulary, this is the sort of thing you'd be wanting to do with weekly sessions..

maybe learn a few more pieces and simple solos so you grow a nice sized vocabulary of licks, riffs, chord progressions etc, and then come down for a session and I'll show you how to develop all that and expand it into something bigger, and how to apply it..

Georgie · July 2014

Ok cheers.

Clarky · July 2014

no worries….

if you want to book a session.. or just need help / ideas, just shout...

Georgie · July 2014

Thank you. Have a look at my post about guitar holiday tell me what you think.

Clarky · July 2014

I scouted around and couldn't find that post..

Georgie · July 2014

For gawd sake Marlene!!! Hang on :-?

mike_l · July 2014

SHHHH Clarky doesn't like everyone knowing his (ahem) "Alternative name" is Marlene......

Georgie · July 2014

ha ha

the post is in making music section.

it says:

Has anyone been on a guitar holiday?

I am looking at the website www.guitarweekends.co.uk and think they look Brill.

Clarky · July 2014

mike_l said:

SHHHH Clarky doesn't like everyone knowing his (ahem) "Alternative name" is Marlene......

kinda redneck ain't it..

Clarky · July 2014

Georgie said:

ha ha

the post is in making music section.

it says:

Has anyone been on a guitar holiday?

I am looking at the website www.guitarweekends.co.uk and think they look Brill.

they look fun... I was thinking of going on one a year or so ago.. partly for the blast of just playing for fun and being aroud guitar players and other like minded fanatic obsessives..

and partly because it was being held in Mijas [southern Spain] so I could double the trip up with a chance to go see me mum etc cos all my family are there too..

mike_l · July 2014

Clarky said:

mike_l said:

SHHHH Clarky doesn't like everyone knowing his (ahem) "Alternative name" is Marlene......

kinda redneck ain't it..

Not as bad as the tiny "Daisy Duke" shorts you insist on wearing................

@Georgie ;

the solo from Iron Maiden's Stranger In a Strange Land (From Somewhere in Time, 1986) is fairly straightforward to learn. It's in Eminor mostly around the 12th fret, it does go down to the 10th and the highest part is 17-20th frets. There's some nice licks to borrow/steal/acquire*.

Hendrix's version of All along the Watchtower is also fairly straightforward again, and as above has some nice licks to borrow/steal*

I can think of at least 1 lick which is common to both (at least a variation of the lick)

*delete as applicable

Georgie · July 2014

Clarky;307332" said:
mike_l said:

SHHHH Clarky doesn't like everyone knowing his (ahem) "Alternative name" is Marlene...... kinda redneck ain't it..

isn't that Jolene?????

Georgie · July 2014

Ok will try those out!!

Clarky · July 2014

Georgie said:

Clarky;307332" said:
mike_l said:

SHHHH Clarky doesn't like everyone knowing his (ahem) "Alternative name" is Marlene...... kinda redneck ain't it..
isn't that Jolene?????

all my guitars have names…

my 5-string bluegrass bang's name is Brandene… lmao

thomasross20 · July 2014

Must admit I've always been less about the gear than the playing, but then given I haven't gigged... maybe that's understandable! Nice one, clarky - wish you were teaching me lol!

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