NeilES335

@Plantsman13 You can adjust your screen colour/ colour scheme on the site by using the little paintbrush on the main page to the right of your User Name.

Im looking forward to the day I have a dedicated studio space too... Plenty of good suggestions here, so you should do well. For recording gear (as Doug said) I bought the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 combination kit, with the interface (2 channels in 2 channels out), a good set of over the ear headphones, and a microphone. All great stuff, and the worlds top selling unit. I comes with a raft of "plug in's" (recording software) and all you really need. You'll need to select a DAW, (Digital Audio Workstation) to record this, and after "demo-ing" a few, I settled on REAPER. It's a free to try program with a "sugested" license agreement (not expensive). There are lots of videos on YouTube to show you how to record with it. It''ll take a while to learn, but you dont need to know everything to produce a decent recording. Recording yourself is a HUGE leap forward, and I strongly recommend it to ANYONE, regardless of skill level. You can hear what you acutally sound like and work on your skills, and playing songs. You dont HAVE TO share it if you dont want to... Good Luck and Happy Tunes; Neil

@Wim VD1 Hi Wim; I wonder if you saw my personal message ? Neil

@Eracer_Team-DougH Good job Doug😊 I know you worked hard on this one. Playing 3 parts, ( plus vocal track ) and getting most notes clean and in time is not the easiest task on this tune. Just a suggestion... I wonder if the tempo was a bit quick.(?) If it was slowed down a touch it could play and sound a bit smoother. Otherwise very good.😉 N.

If you're speaking about the Learn & Master course, I don't think you'll find any reference to modes in this course. I'm sorry I can't really point you to it off hand. Modes are a more advanced concept. Very basically, the concept is starting a scale on other than the root. For example in key of Cmaj, start on D (2nd ) but stay in key of C (no #s or b's) or E (3rd) but stay in Cmaj. There are 7 modes all with their own names (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aolian & Locrian. ) and each has a distinct sound. There is plenty on line and YouTube about this for you to explore if you wish.

Imho this too much to take on at once. I'd pick maybe 3 things to work on, become very proficient at those things, then move on to 3 more. And don't forget to learn some songs! You'll learn more and have more fun that way; and others may actually want to listen 😊 Happy Tunes; Neil

Very well done Wim👍 You captured the tune in fingerstyle, not an easy skill to acquire. Your new guitar sounds great too. (HOTRS was one of the first tunes I learned directly from lifting the needle on the 'newly released' Animals vinyl LP 😉)

That is some place alright... I would have liked to see more of Gibsons iconic jazz guitars from the past as well as those still made now... and more on the many versions of ES guitars.

Sounds pretty good @Strings. Now you have that 1-6-2-5 progression down, there are hundreds of songs you could play. Find one you like,and record it 😉 N

Doug and I had tickets to see Tommy in concert last fall neat Toronto, but it was canceled due to the pandemic.. bummer 🙄

Well played Henk! I enjoyed listening... You played every note clearly, and accurately. Now you've done this, my suggestion would be to work on playing more smoothly, so the tune flows through each phrase. Bravo on the recording, especially being your your first (or among the first) you've done. I know it's a leap, and learning Reaper is a pretty big challenge, as Wim points out. I've recorded about a dozen songs with it and the Scarlet 2i2 interface, and have only scratched the surface of what it can do. (I dont think you need to know it all to produce a good recording) You imported a nice backing track, and got your sound levels and timing just right, so well done on that too! Your guitar has a nice tone as well. Keep it up!

A written journal would be a good tool to keep track of your progress, but I agree with Doug, that recording yourself is the best way to to judge how you actually sound to others. It quickly points to areas you do well, and those that need improvement. I wish I had done so earlier on in my learning process. Learning to use recording software like Reaper is well worth the effort, but even if it's just a recording on your cell phone, theres still a lot of value there.

@Randy120 Thats really nice Randy; I haven't seen one quite like that before, with the sound hole grill (like an old lute) and cutaway. (mine is a non- cutaway) I think they are underrated really... Mine stays in tune forever too in the case... I forgot to de-tune it a couple of times and it was in the case for like a year... still played in tune. Amazingly stable.

Hi Randy; I see you have an Ovation Balladeer. I'm curious... how old is it? Is it a fully acoustic, deep body (some call it a bowl). Mine is a Standard, fully acoustic, deep body, Sitka spruce top, mahogany bridge, mahogany/maple/mahogany neck, ebony fretboard. It's one of the "original" models, made in 1968, in Hartford Connecticut. I'm told it was one of the first 100 guitars made, with a paper label. I've had it since 1969! It sounds better all the time. 🙂 I've played lots of high end acoustics, (Gibson, Martin, Taylor etc.) but I still like this one. I dont play it much these days, but I'll never sell it, while I can still play. Cheers; Neil

Grab it. You'll soon be playing it all the time.