u/OkTemperature1842

First let me just preface this by saying upfront that although I have been playing for a long time in other genres I am just an amateur Jazz guitarist. I cannot improvise to save my life and I have no business trying to teach anyone anything jazz related.

Having said that some folks asked for notated examples of the exercise I was referring to in a previous post so I composed a few examples and attached them here.

As other folks have kindly pointed out though there are lots of ways to approach/practice this and lots of limitation exercises you can do get familiar with the concept.

I would offer that you probably shouldn't bother memorizing these examples. It's the concept you need to work on. The concept being playing constant 8th note arpeggios in a specific region of the neck and voice leading them so that you land on the nearest chord tone when the chords change.

But again there are lots of roads to Rome.

And again, I will reiterate that I am not qualified to teach but if you have questions that I can answer I'm happy to.

Edit - Ignore the accidentals in the examples. They should mostly be flats. I rushed through writing them and forgot to set a key signature in Guitar Pro.

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https://preview.redd.it/93orbnukzmah1.png?width=595&format=png&auto=webp&s=344ba12cd433f5574842e9b34dc31c3ace07cf63

Turns out I’m pretty damn dumb after all.

I thought I knew the neck pretty well. I mean I memorized all the notes on the neck decades ago.

And I can spell any arpeggio if quizzed thanks to lots of lessons and practice and study.

But that exercise, grabbing all the notes of a chord over a standard and voice leading it to the next chord in time, is very very difficult. Especially when you’re trying to stick to one area of the fretboard.

Like those chromatically descending ii/Vs in Blues For Alice? Damn trying to get those without changing positions is very difficult.

Having a hell of a time with Ab, Db, &Gb arpeggios (major, minor, and dominant).

Does this exercise get easier? Any tips? Right now I’m just doing it free time/rubato and hope to start with a metronome next week.

Those of you that have spent time on this exercise, did you find it helpful? If so, in what ways?

Thanks.

Some of us in the band are using IEMs rather than wedges and would like to add eq and effects to our in-ear mixes. So far I have no idea how to do that. I don’t think it’s possible without an engineering degree but if you folks have a simple hack I’m all ears.

Please reply using very simple words and concepts. I’m dumb.

Thank you.

I cannot man. I just cannot.

I play lead/rhythm in two very different bands, and 80’s pop cover band and an original metal band. Both have made the switch from amps/wedges to processors/IEMs.

I hate it.

I absolutely loathe this scenario. The guitar tones in my ears make me want to vomit. I was actually complaining about it a while back to my brother who is not a musician. He made a trip to Nashville for work and reported back that every band he saw was using IEMs. So I understand this is the way things are now.

I think I have things sorted with the processor and with my FOH tone. No complaints from the soundman or any of my bandmates. Using a Helix LT with some nice IRs.

But this weak, anemic, limp tone being blasted into my ear canal makes me want to quit playing altogether.

I’ve tried three different sets of IEMs, two low end universals and a custom set I paid too much (but maybe not enough) for.

The FOH sound and the sound in my ears are NOT the same.

And I suspect it has more to do with the acoustics/physics of audio than any shortcomings in the gear/signal path.

Gigging lead guitarists, how do you make that weak ass tone work? How can you possibly be inspired to play with this lame-ass tone?

By way of example and then I’ll stop, I have a tiny old Roland Microcube that I sometimes practice with. 100% I would rather gig with that tone than the tone in my IEMs and it’s not even close. Because it’s the real thing. Not an approximation.

Is this something I have to throw more money at? Would a $2k or $3k set of customs fix this? It’s damn near impossible to experiment as these things are so expensive.

So far I’ve tried KS10’s, Orchestra Lites, and a custom set of Alclair CMVKs. Seal is not the issue.

How do you cats deal with it? My metal band toured for a couple months last year and I can’t remember a single “good” gig I played. Heartbreaking. Seriously. I’m thinking of getting a new hobby. Maybe solo Jazz guitar or gardening.

Thanks for and suggestions and reading this rant.

There are no teachers of these styles in my area. I’m 53 and can read/write music and understand theory. I was a private teacher and recording/touring artist for about 10 years.

But my technique has seriously deteriorated over the years and my Jazz playing is just terrible.

Would prefer bi-weekly or even monthly lessons where I have time to fully absorb and practice the lessons.

Please make sure any recommendations include links to actual playing examples from teachers.

Thanks for any suggestions.

There are no teachers of these styles in my area. I’m 53 and can read/write music and understand theory. I was a private teacher and recording/touring artist for about 10 years.

But my technique has seriously deteriorated over the years and my Jazz playing is just terrible.

Would prefer bi-weekly or even monthly lessons where I have time to fully absorb and practice the lessons.

Please make sure any recommendations include links to actual playing examples from teachers.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I play in an 80’s cover band and an original metal band. I’ve tried several various combinations of guitar modelers and/or amps & pedals.

And the IEMS I’ve tried all suffer from the same problem:

They make guitar tones, especially medium and high gain tones sound thin, weak, and lifeless.

The ones I’ve tried include:

Linsoul KS-10
Linsoul Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite
Custom Molded Alclair CMVK

Really I guess the Alclairs sound best as they have the best seal but honestly they don’t sound $750 better than the KS-10s.

I’m kind of at my wits end and if this is the way of the future for live performance I’m not sure I want to continue to gig.

How do folks get used to that thin, tinny, weak-ass sound? Are there some eq adjustments I need to be making to make them sound better? Or do players just have to get used to the suck?

Were it up to me I’d only ever use an amp/pedals and wedges but that’s no longer an option all the time.

Thanks for any suggestions.

So far I’ve tried:

1. A Helix LT using IEMs and a powered cab.
2. The Helix LT with IEMs alone.
3. A Tonex One into a powered wedge monitor.
4. A Tonex One with the IEMs alone
5. A Valeton GP-200 into a powered wedge monitor.
6. A Valeton GP-200 into a Tech 21 Power Engine 60.

Im using custom molded 5 driver IEMs that cost a small fortune.

I also using IRs from OwnHammer, York, etc.

In every case the modelers just sound vastly inferior to an amp:

Thin, limp, uninspiring, dead, etc.

And it’s not even close. About the only thing I haven’t done is spend the money for an FRFR cab. But I honestly don’t see the sense in it. If I’m using a cab onstage why wouldn’t I just use an amp?

Going down the modeler/IEM rabbit hole has been a profound disappointment and makes me even question if I want to keep playing live. It makes me sound so bad. I just hate it.

Next gig I’m going back to my half stack and see how dramatic the difference is.

The bad thing is that one of my bands is committed 100% to the IEM thing and there is no going back.

I‘m at my wits end. Thanks for any suggestions.

Just replaced my aging Mackie 1202 with the Behringer. And I’m having serious problems routing effects to the mains and monitors.

I just want to be able to add compression and reverb/delay to the vocals (4 tracks total). Then I need to be able to send that to the mains and monitors.

Aux 1: guitar (my)wedge
Aux 2: bass player wedge
Aux 3&4: Singer’s in-ears
Aux 5&6: Drummers headphones

The problems I’m having are many.

1. It seems like adding effects adds effects to every track including our backing tracks, guitar, and bass. We just need fx on the vocals and nothing else.

2. Same with then monitors. I can’t even find a reliable way to get the fx to them without effecting the entire mix.

3. The mics are either way too hot/wet or completely dry. No middle ground. And lots of feedback. By the same token, I don’t think the mics have enough gain to begin with. Where is the squeal coming from?

4. The mixing station app is not very intuitive for the novice and I can’t figure this out for the life of me. FWIW - I’m mixing on an iPad.

Thanks for any help.

Progress past a certain stage will inevitably be imperceptible and eventually produce diminishing returns. Keep doing it anyway. Not to grow your brand, not to “create content”, not to chase likes. Do it simply because there is no alternative.

I have nothing to sell you. Nothing at all.

I’ve tried about everything I can think of. I’ve loaded my own IRs and I’m using a dual cab setup. Set up high/low pass filters. Currently using a screamer into a Panama Red. I’ve also tried the Revv head as well. I kick on a kinky boost and tempo synched delay for leads.

I’ve toured for weeks with this set up and tweaked the whole time. I’m cab-less and using custom 5 driver IEMs onstage for monitoring.

I just cannot find a tone I’m happy with at all. It just doesn’t “feel” natural or real to me. Just limp and very processed. Especially the lead tones. I can struggle through the rhythm tones. But the leads especially just sound so fake/bad.

I’m thinking of selling it and getting a quad cortex or something. That’s probably more of the same but the consensus seems to be the heavy tones are much better overall with that unit.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Just curious really. I have nothing to sell and am not qualified to teach Jazz guitar. After answering the poll question feel free to drop a line as to why you chose this path. Obviously folks can be, and probably are, on more than one path at a time. This also doesn’t include things like learning tunes, playing with others, and transcription which are probably a part of every learning path. Thanks

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