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Offline home

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The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« on: March 06, 2016, 08:02:48 AM »
Hello,

title says it, which songs are you practicing? And how much do you practice? :azn:

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For piano I am learning Beethoven - Sonate Pathetique, I've got about half of the first part and most of the second part down, but I still have to work a lot on expression and dynamics, haven't started on the final part yet. I am also learning The Man I love by Gershwin, a nice jazz piece and Dance in Hungarian Ritme 2 from Bartok, a very dissonant but groovy piece in 7/8. Now that I have piano lessons again I practice more regurlarly, about an hour a day.

I also play a little bit of guitar, I am currently practising the solo for Porcupine Tree - Trains, I learned the song about a year ago but then the solo was still way too difficult. It feels good to be able to play it now. I have also started on the solo's for IM's Blood Brothers, but I have a lot of difficulty with getting the bends right. I do practice very irregurlarly, from about an hour a week to a few hours on a day.


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SebastianPratesi

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2016, 02:21:08 PM »
Whenever I want to practice, I take my classical guitar to the beach and play along a set-list of recent DT I came up with a few months ago:

1. A Nightmare To Remember
2. Forsaken
3. The Looking Glass
4. The Bigger Picture
5. Behind The Veil
6. Repentance
7. This Is The Life
8. In The Presence Of Enemies Pt. 1 (I would also include Pt. 2, but there are a few bits way too fast for me - I need to master them)
9. Along For The Ride
10. A Nightmare To Remember (yes, a second time - it's just so fun to play along)

I tune my guitar a 4th lower, so it's like I'm playing a 7-string guitar without the highest E-string, which I don't mind much (if a song uses that string, I play the notes in another one, or I play the bass part).

Besides that, I'm not trying to learn any new stuff. A friend and I have started writing music together, so I much rather prefer using my free time to come up with stuff of my own.

I am also learning The Man I love by Gershwin, a nice jazz piece and Dance in Hungarian Ritme 2 from Bartok, a very dissonant but groovy piece in 7/8.

I have also started on the solo's for IM's Blood Brothers, but I have a lot of difficulty with getting the bends right.

I'm curious about the Bartok you talked about - I'll try to listen to it.
And that's one fine Maiden song. Not speaking about the solo (I don't care about them), but the guitar riff on the high strings - it re-appears throughout but with little variations (in volume, energy). Such a cool, touching melody.

Offline Lax

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2016, 11:58:41 PM »
Thought I'm surrounded with moving packages and work in the new appartment, I find the time hunting for the astonishing tabs and work parts here and there :)
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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2016, 04:27:42 AM »
I work on stuff for my own band mostly, but I have a couple of tunes I practise every now and then. Most of my time playing guitar is reserved for technical exercises, instrument knowledge and improvisation (learning new ways to play certain scales/arpeggios, playing along with backing tracks, soloing etcetera), but some song I like to play and practise are the following:

- the entire Ride the Lightning album by Metallica (stupidly fun to play along with)
- Afterlife by Dream Theater (great song to work on right hand speed, I actually speed up the song as well)
- Sequoia Throne by Protest the Hero
- any song by Jeff Buckley on acoustic guitar
- some random Dream Theater songs and John Petrucci solos I've learned in the past

On piano I'm mainly developing my skills playing simple chord progressions.
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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SebastianPratesi

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2016, 06:28:42 AM »
- the entire Ride the Lightning album by Metallica (stupidly fun to play along with)

You're right, I forgot!
I had a big smile on my face after I learned the "The Call Of Ktulu" acoustic intro.
Also: what do you do in "For Whom The Bell Tolls"? Is it just me or is the song tuned a little bit (like half a semitone) higher?

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2016, 07:06:32 AM »
I always skip FWTBT to be honest :lol but yeah, it's tuned slightly different. It's not even exactly a semitone higher, more like a quarter tone. Sepculation about this was that the band recorded it at a slower tempo and sped it up in post production, thuis making it a little higher. Whatever the real reason is, it's indeed out of tune with the rest of the album.
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
Squ
scRa are the resultaten of sound nog bring propey

Offline BlackInk

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2016, 09:29:58 AM »
Currently practicing my own band's first single 'Planetarium'. Haven't ever had much motivation to learn other bands' stuff. I know the occasional Dream Theater riff on guitar and some stuff on drums, but never an entire song.

SebastianPratesi

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2016, 10:26:45 AM »
Currently practicing my own band's first single 'Planetarium'. Haven't ever had much motivation to learn other bands' stuff. I know the occasional Dream Theater riff on guitar and some stuff on drums, but never an entire song.

Is it available to listen somewhere? Thanks!

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2016, 12:20:30 PM »
I'm curious about the Bartok you talked about - I'll try to listen to it.
And that's one fine Maiden song. Not speaking about the solo (I don't care about them), but the guitar riff on the high strings - it re-appears throughout but with little variations (in volume, energy). Such a cool, touching melody.
Here is a link to the Bartok song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUTzCvoBEQ beware, it's quite dissonant or atonal :azn:

 
Currently practicing my own band's first single 'Planetarium'. Haven't ever had much motivation to learn other bands' stuff. I know the occasional Dream Theater riff on guitar and some stuff on drums, but never an entire song.

Is it available to listen somewhere? Thanks!
I would like to hear it too!
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Offline BlackInk

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2016, 12:49:17 PM »
Currently practicing my own band's first single 'Planetarium'. Haven't ever had much motivation to learn other bands' stuff. I know the occasional Dream Theater riff on guitar and some stuff on drums, but never an entire song.

Is it available to listen somewhere? Thanks!
I would like to hear it too!

Not yet I'm afraid. I'm practicing for the studio, so we might have an instrumental demo up in a while. Thanks for the interest!

But here's a short video of us attempting to play it while being really drunk:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBLg9xzFxRy/?taken-by=albin.daniel

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2016, 01:39:20 PM »
But here's a short video of us attempting to play it while being really drunk:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBLg9xzFxRy/?taken-by=albin.daniel

 :rollin  :tup
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SebastianPratesi

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2016, 08:37:46 PM »
Here is a link to the Bartok song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUTzCvoBEQ beware, it's quite dissonant or atonal :azn:

I listened to it. It was nice. It's been a while since I listened to any of the big composers (I was going to say 'classical', or '19th century', but I'm not sure it applies here). I remember my favourites were Brahms' 3rd symphony and some bits by Mendelssohn.

I have a few questions on the topic of the piece:

1. I get the feeling a lot of traditional hungarian music is in odd-time signatures. Do you happen to know if that's correct? I'm asking because I'm not familiar, and I'm drawn to odd-time signatures in traditional music - like greek rembetiko (they use a lot of 9 and 11).

More importantly:

2. In the 36th bar (0:35 in the video), the last 3 notes (F-G-Eb) have a '5' written over them. What does it mean? If it means a quintuplet, shouldn't the time signature have changed (which it didn't)? Plus, I don't find any difference in the audio, so what is the need for it really? (the previous bar doesn't have the '5' and it sounds similar rhythmic wise). Also: if it was a quintuplet, shouldn't there be 5 notes instead of 3? (sorry; I'm used to reading triplets, but any other tuplet besides them I've always found confusing).

Thanks! And good luck with it! (I haven't improved my reading skills in 6 years, so it seems like a nightmare :P).

SebastianPratesi

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #12 on: March 08, 2016, 08:50:37 PM »
Not yet I'm afraid. I'm practicing for the studio, so we might have an instrumental demo up in a while. Thanks for the interest!

But here's a short video of us attempting to play it while being really drunk:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBLg9xzFxRy/?taken-by=albin.daniel

One of the guys (you? a friend?) obviously got lost somewhere, but at the end of the video you all seem to do it right! While being drunk! So :tup

It sounds cool! Specially the bass - like 'prog funk' or something.
Hopefully we get to listen to the song soon.

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #13 on: March 09, 2016, 02:00:20 AM »
Here is a link to the Bartok song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUTzCvoBEQ beware, it's quite dissonant or atonal :azn:

I listened to it. It was nice. It's been a while since I listened to any of the big composers (I was going to say 'classical', or '19th century', but I'm not sure it applies here). I remember my favourites were Brahms' 3rd symphony and some bits by Mendelssohn.

I have a few questions on the topic of the piece:

1. I get the feeling a lot of traditional hungarian music is in odd-time signatures. Do you happen to know if that's correct? I'm asking because I'm not familiar, and I'm drawn to odd-time signatures in traditional music - like greek rembetiko (they use a lot of 9 and 11).

More importantly:

2. In the 36th bar (0:35 in the video), the last 3 notes (F-G-Eb) have a '5' written over them. What does it mean? If it means a quintuplet, shouldn't the time signature have changed (which it didn't)? Plus, I don't find any difference in the audio, so what is the need for it really? (the previous bar doesn't have the '5' and it sounds similar rhythmic wise). Also: if it was a quintuplet, shouldn't there be 5 notes instead of 3? (sorry; I'm used to reading triplets, but any other tuplet besides them I've always found confusing).

Thanks! And good luck with it! (I haven't improved my reading skills in 6 years, so it seems like a nightmare :P).
I think you are correct about the time signatures in Hungarian music, they are a lot more common in there. All 6 of Bartoks Dances In Hungarian Rhythm have odd time sigs, I wonder if they actually dance to it too...

That five just means place your fifth finger (little finger) on this note, it has nothing to do with the timing of the note  :tup Reading the sheet music is not too bad, the main difficulty is keeping a steady rhythm I think
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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #14 on: March 09, 2016, 07:54:10 AM »
I think you are correct about the time signatures in Hungarian music, they are a lot more common in there. All 6 of Bartoks Dances In Hungarian Rhythm have odd time sigs, I wonder if they actually dance to it too...

That five just means place your fifth finger (little finger) on this note, it has nothing to do with the timing of the note  :tup Reading the sheet music is not too bad, the main difficulty is keeping a steady rhythm I think

Well, I've seen Greek people play music and dance in restaurants (while you're eating). They dance to stuff in 9/4, so maybe Hungarian people do it aswell.

About this: I remember in my first DT show in 2008. It was so funny watching the audience try to jump/clap/hum during the beginning of "Constant Motion" :P (crowds in Argentina love jumping to the beat and humming the melodies in rock concerts).

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2016, 09:46:56 AM »
I think you are correct about the time signatures in Hungarian music, they are a lot more common in there. All 6 of Bartoks Dances In Hungarian Rhythm have odd time sigs, I wonder if they actually dance to it too...

That five just means place your fifth finger (little finger) on this note, it has nothing to do with the timing of the note  :tup Reading the sheet music is not too bad, the main difficulty is keeping a steady rhythm I think

Well, I've seen Greek people play music and dance in restaurants (while you're eating). They dance to stuff in 9/4, so maybe Hungarian people do it aswell.

About this: I remember in my first DT show in 2008. It was so funny watching the audience try to jump/clap/hum during the beginning of "Constant Motion" :P (crowds in Argentina love jumping to the beat and humming the melodies in rock concerts).
Haha, seeing people attempting to headbang to odd measures at concerst can be quite hilarious  :lol
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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2016, 09:47:53 AM »
One of the guys (you? a friend?) obviously got lost somewhere, but at the end of the video you all seem to do it right! While being drunk! So :tup

I'm in the middle, playing the bass. I think all of us screw up a bit in that video in different places, but yeah the guy on the left came in way to soon and threw it off a bit.

It sounds cool! Specially the bass - like 'prog funk' or something.
Hopefully we get to listen to the song soon.

Thank you! Yes, I hope so too.

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #17 on: March 10, 2016, 04:18:25 PM »
At the moment i'm trying to learn the intro solo to " Saviour In The Square " as it sounds mostly in Bm, diatonic and pretty simple..

At least for me with my clumsy hands.

Almost got it though.

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #18 on: March 11, 2016, 11:39:18 PM »
As my handle suggests, I play guitar. Right now I practice about 45 minutes a day (drills, theory and scales), and then play whatever another hour or so on top of that. It fluctuates depending on my schedule, but that's about average these days. Currently I'm polishing up my Count of Tuscany: solo 2, and learning Disposable Heroes (Metallica) for jam session this weekend.

Offline shadystraz360

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #19 on: March 18, 2016, 01:16:12 PM »
I wanna learn "A New Beginning"...
Stunning ending solo. Was great to watch live
Solo Album in the making.....

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #20 on: March 19, 2016, 12:42:05 PM »
Ludwig van Beethoven "Pathétique (1st Movement)" - but I only find weekends time to practice and probably that's not enough  ;D

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #21 on: March 19, 2016, 06:19:39 PM »
Ludwig van Beethoven "Pathétique (1st Movement)" - but I only find weekends time to practice and probably that's not enough  ;D
Awesome, it's really nice to play but does require a lot of practice (at least for me :p) It's quite long but the second half has quite some similiarities with the first (different keys and more variations) The second movement is really nice to play too :)

I wanna learn "A New Beginning"...
Stunning ending solo. Was great to watch live
Great solo and awesome live indeed :azn:
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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #22 on: March 30, 2016, 09:31:31 AM »
The intro riff to Our New World. It's fast and fiddly and at the moment I can almost play it if I "funk" it. i.e. play constant 16ths with my right hand and muting where appropriate.

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #23 on: March 30, 2016, 08:19:58 PM »
The intro riff to Our New World. It's fast and fiddly and at the moment I can almost play it if I "funk" it. i.e. play constant 16ths with my right hand and muting where appropriate.
What about the "A Savior In The Square" solo? Were you able to finish learning it?

I recently started learning some songs from the album too, and "ASITS" (and its solo in particular) is one of the most fun to play for me.

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #24 on: April 12, 2016, 08:21:33 AM »
- the entire Ride the Lightning album by Metallica (stupidly fun to play along with)
I played a bit of bass in my late teens and into my mid 20's and learned a bunch of songs from this album (as well as a bunch of other Metallica songs), but never got any good.  Last week I decided I am going to learn Fade to Black on guitar (i only have an acoustic).  I have almost no 6 string experience and have hardly ever practiced before, but I am having great fun starting to learn.  I've probably listened to FtB hundreds of times, but am finding new stuff now that I am learning to play it.  For example, the acoustic part that is played underneath the A minor scale on lead guitar just leading from the intro to the first verse:

F-C-D-F-G#-B-E-B-B-E-G#-B-E-G#-B-D#

Can't say I ever noticed it before.  Also, I'm finding the single note lead parts to be easier (though I play very slowly) than the verse's rhythm section with its chords with hammer-ons, etc.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2016, 08:30:13 AM by jasc15 »

Offline Kotowboy

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #25 on: April 12, 2016, 09:09:06 AM »
The intro riff to Our New World. It's fast and fiddly and at the moment I can almost play it if I "funk" it. i.e. play constant 16ths with my right hand and muting where appropriate.
What about the "A Savior In The Square" solo? Were you able to finish learning it?

I recently started learning some songs from the album too, and "ASITS" (and its solo in particular) is one of the most fun to play for me.


Yeah it's easy but I can't video myself playing it to upload anywhere without making some mistake.

Pisses me off.

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Re: The which songs are you practicing? - Thread
« Reply #26 on: May 05, 2016, 11:42:53 AM »
In bass I'm working on Under a Glass Moon, just started a couple of days ago, any tips?

In guitar I'm practicing some Portugal the Man and Making April.
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