Do I suck or am I good?

[cutegirlshredder]

Some people tell me I am good others say I need work. What is the verdict. I am probably one of the only girls that posted something so I shouldn't feel so bad.

http://www.geocities.com/cutegirlshredder

[Ancestor]

The playing is really good, especially for only having played 4 years!

[Anton]

Wow , i dig that! I love bebop , that sounds very jazz influenced , keep it up!

[Drew]

suggeston- put that soundfile on your site as a mp3, not a wave. At 1:20 and 872KB, you could get significantly better sound quality, or keep the sound quality similar and drop the file size WAY down. Geocities has some pretty idiotically low bandwidth useage limits, so you'll go through it pretty quickly if you're not careful.

Anyway, the playing's good- your phrasing is much more interesting than mine was after four years, lol- yours definately shows a jazz influence (much more so than satch, vai, or gilbert, strangely- the chromaticism, the stacatto burts, the splashy maj7 chords at the opening, to say nothing of the backing...), while mine was prettymuch nonexistant.

man, i just dug up an mp3 i recorded from when I'd been playing about that long- first song i ever wrote, lol. brings back memories.

anyway, I was just amused by the title line- you definately don't suck. but, don't worry, we all need work- I'm sure even rusty cooley still practices, and i very nearly quit the first time i saw a video clip of his. daaaaamn... Anyway, keep up the good work, you're well on your way!

-D

[cutegirlshredder]

You people are to kind. My brother says I suck, but then again he likes death metal. My first guitar teacher was a jazz player so I guess that is where that influence comes from. I would like to play more like Vai but he is too good.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by cutegirlshredder

You people are to kind. My brother says I suck, but then again he likes death metal. My first guitar teacher was a jazz player so I guess that is where that influence comes from. I would like to play more like Vai but he is too good.

no, I'm just not related to you. My brother plays guitar a little, too, and i tease him quite a bit about it- he's into g Love & Special Sauce, Everlast, that kind of stuff (don't get me wrong, great music, G Love's one of the best live performers I've ever seen), real simple, groove-based stuff, whereas i'm all about the billion-note-a-second lead guitar stuff... Course, the kid can DROP me on a mountian bike, so he gives it right back...

Anyway, just keep working on your technique, and every once in a while tackle a vai solo- eventually it'll begin to click. (not that i can cover his stuff either... got a few satriani solos down, but that's just because I REALLY love his playing, and actually had the patience to stick it out )

-D

[cutegirlshredder]

Are there any other sites like this that critique your playing? It is nice to get some outside views.

[cutegirlshredder]

I noticed my cheesy website is down. I guess a free geocities site can't handle that much web traffic. It says something about exceeding bandwidth. Hopefully it will come back up.

[anecdota]

I think it's really good. It's cleanly played through a CLEAN channel...and that's something to be proud of. You've got looks and you've got skills that I'm sure will keep growing.

You're good, keep going.

[Drew]

yeah, that's geocities for you...

I'm a member over at www.guitarwar.com- it's gotten a bit of a bad rap over here in the past; the "competitive" aspect gets overemphasised, while in reality it's more akin to, idunno, trading licks with a couple friends at an open mic/jam session than it is to Guitarmageddon and it's ilk (which, strangely enough, no one has a problem with. I'm not sure I get how you can slam one because "music is art, not competition," while still enter the other every year...). Anyway, definately worth checking out; I studied under an incredible jazz player named Paul Asbell for a while, and learned a lot from him... but I'd say that i probably learned more at Guitar War than I did from him, both about playing music, writing music, and recording music.

It's $5/mo to join, but realisitically, that's like buying an extra pack of strings each month. And, you'll be getting feedback on your playing and writing from a site with hundreds of members at all playing levels and from all backgrounds- There's some disturbingly good "shred" players there (It's a tossup between a guy who posts as Vibetronic and the aforementioned Rusty Cooley for "fastest guitarist I've ever heard." imo, and Vibe's got this really unique compositional style... Goes from pretty, lyrical melodies into stupifyingly fast tapped/swept arpeggio runs and back again with absolutely no transition- it's unsettling, lol) but there's also some great jazz and fusion guys (Jazzpick, Jazbrokr), some blues players (Frethog), fingerstyle players (Kilgore and Jazzfinger), etc. And almost everyone is really willing to help- I can't count the times when I've posted a comment to a war along the lines of "so-and-so, that run at 1:26 is amazing, what the hell are you doing there??" and found an e-mail with a tab and an explanation in my inbox the next morning.

Idunno, if you want to check it out, this was my last war (I post as Zarathustra):

http://www.guitarwar.com/viewmelee.p...name=war_melee

It was originally in the public access section, so you may be able to download the songs. If not, drop me an e-mail (drewpeterson7@yahoo.com) and I'll pass you the mp3's.

Definately worth a look, even if it turns out to be not for you. Anyway, if nothing else, I'm pretty sure the screen name cutegirlshredder is still available.

-D

[Anton]

Yeah, I am an ex member of Gwar and I can genuinely back up everything Drew has said , it's a great place , you'll learn lots there if you decide to ioin

[cutegirlshredder]

Who is Rusty Cooley. I never heard of him. My favorite kind of players mix speed with phrasing and melody, like Vai. He is probably the best guitarist I have ever heard and he is also great looking.

[Drew]

haha, leave it to someone who posts as "cutegirlshredder" to like vai for his looks.

While rusty on occasion does get in touch with his melodic side, he's one of those guys you listen to when you want to hear completely over-the-top technique. I'm just trying to assimilate part of his approach to the instrument (he approaches scales in a much more linear approach than many players I've seen, playing four or five note-per-string patterns as opposed to the typical two to three)...

www.rustycooley.com

suggested introductory material (make sure your jaw is fastened pretty firmly in place, or at least there's something soft for it to land on when it hits the floor, before hitting "play"); his chops from hell "seven deadly sins" lesson, particularly the last, "wrath." http://www.chopsfromhell.com/guest_cooley_7ds1.html I can ALMOST play the stretches on that one as fast as he does the first time. The second? it's the kind of lick Vai would do to show off... at like a quarter of that speed, lol. It's so inpossible, it's not even depressing, just really funny.

He's done jemfest the last few years, and is supposed to be a really cool guy, too. As for his looks, you'll have to tell me- i'm straight, guys don't exactly do anything for me.

-D

[cutegirlshredder]

Oh come on just because you are straight doesn't mean you can't comment on a guys looks. However, Steve Vai's looks are just an added bonus to his fabulous guitar playing.

I will check out that website you recommended. Thanks

[Drew]

oh, of course it doesn't, but I'm always suprised how many very average-looking guys there are that girls seem to find gorgeous, and vice versa. So, i don't trust my taste enough to make any promises.

-D