Every single time the practice question is asked, people go on a rant about how the number of hours doesn't matter if you're doing it wrong and never provide an answer. Everyone knows that. It's like asking how old someone is and them saying age doesn't matter. It doesn't help at all.

May 12, 2015

Actually, you'd be surprised how many folks don't know that. I was exactly like that in my teens, thinking I had to practise 8hrs a day to get to a certain technical proficiency.

Beside that, if "people rant about that" there should be a reason, don't you think?

How was my previous answer not an answer? It's all about focusing on quality instead of quantity. How about your question is not a question? :)
Of course a better answer would be to show how to practise properly, but that just can't be taught via ask.fm and written words.

Liked by: Luca Moqi Josef Kiefer

Favourites apps for musical training?

May 11, 2015

Sorry if I sound like an old grunt, but in my days if somebody wanted to get better at guitar they would take proper lessons, join music schools, join bands or jam with local guitarists to get challenged and motivated, etc. Not saying you're not ofc, but if somebody wanted to be a better musician with apps......well..... :D

Apps are cool and fun, but that's where it ends. Real life experience can't be replaced by apps!

Liked by: Myron Tausif Chowdhury

How many hours a day do you practice nowadays?

May 11, 2015

Unfortunately I have no time to practise properly since years, lessons and studio work are taking my whole time.
Although I do play a lot because of lessons, so I'm still able to keep my chops in shape and get better day by day :)

What worries me though is your phrase "how many hours", like the amount of practice hours would matter. I've said this many many times but: you can even practise 24/7 but if you're doing it wrong, you will never reach a certain level of consistency in your playing, it's always how to play properly first, not how much.

Example: a guy at the gym with proper form will achieve way more gains but at the same time with less weight, viceversa the guy lifting insane amounts of weight every day and with awful technique, will end up being overtrained and injured. Guitar is a physical activity and should be treated exactly the same!

Liked by: Angga Wirawan Dans Huang

best guitar technique book?

April 25, 2015

No book can effectively tell you HOW to play, because you can't actually see how an exercise or technique is done properly with a book. How to play it clean, more relaxed, no excessive noise, with a better tone out of your hands, etc. Sure maybe they could describe it, but a video is much better than a thousand words.

The moral is: doing exercises can be cool and it's for sure better than doing nothing, the more you play the more you get to know the instrument and connect with it. But regardless of the exercise, if you don't have a solid posture and technique behind it, it's never going to sound right and you'll never reach a certain level of efficiency in your playing.

If you do have a solid posture and technique already, Troy Stetina's Speed Mechanics is pretty fucking cool! Lotsa shreddy exercises in there.

Liked by: ron Felix Lehmann Luca Moqi Caleb Burkhart

Hi! Would you recommend me a nice noise gate/noise suppressor?

April 19, 2015

ISP Decimator II. Can't go wrong!

Liked by: Ryan Johnson Arya Akbara

Hi there Francesco, what pair of budget studio headphones would you recommend for a guy just starting out in home recording? I already have some usable monitors lying around. Thanks!

April 19, 2015

Would strongly recommend Focal Spirit Professional, they're the most neutral I've come across. They're also closed back so can be used in noisy environments with no issue, we also use them for vocal tracking.

Apart from these ATH M70X (new model) seem very promising, and of course the tried and true HD600 can do no wrong.

can you tell me some musicians underrated?

April 15, 2015

In no particular order, all these guitarists are CRIMINALLY underrated, and at the same time incredibly mindblowing. Take your time to appreciate these vids:

Ben Lacy http://youtu.be/XJyvjJRLcVE

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 XJyvjJRLcVE

Jarle H. Olsen http://youtu.be/T4aZZ0uL1tk

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 T4aZZ0uL1tk

Scott Mishoe http://youtu.be/f51JgjBZTI4

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 f51JgjBZTI4

Anton Svedin http://youtu.be/i7t9dUjOBV0

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 i7t9dUjOBV0

Emil Werstler http://youtu.be/vFHxkxNTP7k

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 vFHxkxNTP7k

Brandon Ellis http://youtu.be/_8yYUBaMPC4

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 _8yYUBaMPC4

Ron Jarzombek http://youtu.be/9HaPuPZ8F4A

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 9HaPuPZ8F4A

Sacha Laskow http://youtu.be/UXkWODWuuUQ

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 UXkWODWuuUQ

Sami Raatikainen http://youtu.be/MzMV2wKZLBU

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 MzMV2wKZLBU

Joe Haley http://youtu.be/ulC5Chc-m8o

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 ulC5Chc-m8o

Mike Gilbert (Severed Savior) http://youtu.be/A65O5iZDiig

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 A65O5iZDiig

Derek Taylor http://youtu.be/mkue90t64Us

FrancescoFiligoi’s Video 126359947604 mkue90t64Us

Liked by: ron Tausif Chowdhury Dio Henda Puspita

guitar pro 5 or guitar pro 6?

April 15, 2015

GP6! GP5 Might be a bit easier and less crowded, but GP6 is definitely more complete. Supports 8 strings, exports MIDI much better to have tempo mapped perfectly once imported in the DAW, and gives me more options to nail the nuances in my playing.

I get that a lot of people prefer writing drums on GP5 but that's not my thing, I just program them in the DAW if needed, and use GP6 only to transcribe guitar parts. Don't like the RSE sounds though, I prefer the less forgiving GP5 midi tone for whatever reason.

Liked by: TheInsurgent Devon Sangha

What are you working on these days?

April 12, 2015

Hey there! These days I've worked on a vid which I'm releasing tomorrow :) Lessons are a big part of the day as well, I'm doing more than 100 lessons every month.
Apart from that, always 100% focused on Abio stuff, as of late I'm writing some new lyrics and updating our Axe-Fx II tones for some incoming gigs.
Today I'm taking care of our live backing track, adding some drops/impacts here and there and leveling the synths and additional guitars to be more balanced throughout the set.

I got myself some AWESOME gear as of late (Two Notes Torpedo Reload, Darkglass B7K, and of course the Vader 8) which I still have to cover in detail, but there's only so much free time besides Abio and lessons.

Also this year I'm planning to publish online all the lessons I do, from guitar technique, to songwriting, detailed Axe-Fx II guides, creative theory and more. It will take a while but in the long run I'm positive it will bring more passive income so I can have more time to just focus on crafting music! And there's friends/girl as well, sometimes they think I'm dead or something lol :) so that's pretty much it!

Liked by: Connor Hansen Gabe Dude Zach M Felix Lehmann Luca Moqi

Mental tips for improve my guitar playing?

April 11, 2015

There's a million, but they're related to specific motions and techniques, I can't generalize on them.
One thing for sure though, the final purpose is to actually not think about anything, to be mindless and just let the fingers flow because you've practised a certain thing so much that it just becomes muscle memory.

The more you actively think about something while you play, the more chance to screw it up!
Watch very seasoned musicians play in front of you: they care about interacting with the crowd, keeping the groove, following the drummer, rather than isolating themselves into the performance.

Liked by: RAWNAK OMI Yaresh-Bartholomeus Soekhlal Ton Nathapol

how do you count beats in 17/16 time?

April 11, 2015

You should feel it, not count it! Besides that, if you really need to, I'd say:

1-2-3-4
1-2-3-4
1-2-3-4
1-2-3-4-5

Liked by: Arya Akbara RAWNAK OMI

who have the best vibrato and who have the best bends in your opinion?

April 06, 2015

Plenty come to mind regarding vibrato: Van Halen, Malmsteen, Dimebag, Zakk Wylde, Friedman, Becker, Vai, Gilbert...a lot of them. Among more young guitarists I'd say Martin Goulding, Rick Graham, Richie Allan, Per Nilsson, Wes Hauch, Jeff Loomis, Brandon Ellis, the Polyphia guys, Nolly, Jakub Zytecki, Nick Johnston, and many many others. I think I have a pretty bitchin' one as well lol :)

Regarding bending, pretty much all the guys mentioned above since (at least in modern playing) vibrato and bending are essentially the same technique. BUT I'd actually say that Guthrie Govan/Chris Poland/Marty Friedman have the best ones ever, so personal and full of character.

Liked by: Dude Ryan Johnson Zach M Luca Moqi

Hi Francesco! My hands sweat a lot, do you have any advice? thanks!

April 05, 2015

Search coated strings and use Dunlop string cleaner/conditioner to keep 'em fresh for a longer period.
Use picks with more grip, such as Dunlop Max-Grips. They definitely help if the pick slips off the hand.

I personally never ever sweat so can't help you more than that I'm afraid!

Liked by: Naudigabriel Ochoa.

Hey Fra! How do you usually set up your compressor for high gain leads?

April 05, 2015

Depends on the compressor I'm using, but generally I go for LA3A, or Slate FG-Red, or Ren Axx.
On high gain rhythm stuff I don't usually apply compression apart from the Sneap multiband trick (C4 or Pro-MB). Sometimes I go for saturation which in part kinda compresses the signal.

On leads you might need compression since they're more dynamic, especially if you have long sustained notes but also fast parts with lots of pick attack.
I generally go for moderate settings on threshold/ratio to avoid pumpy bullshit, then play with the release in order to retain more volume out of sustained notes, then adjust attack for the right amount of transient during fastest parts.

Vocal Rider or some transient designer plugin might also work fine for this, perhaps being even more transparent.

opinions about new btbam's song? (memory palace)

April 04, 2015

Funny you ask that, I was just listening to it. No matter how many times I give BTBAM or Opeth a chance, I just don't feel it :( I know this might sound blasphemous to my friend and students because EVERYONE loves BTBAM/Opeth, but I always feel lost when listening to them - the musicianship is amazing and there's no denying that, it's just that I like good song structure with a memorable message, instead of super long trips that just confuse me after a while. That's just me!

Liked by: Dude Ryan McCabe Dans Huang Saboh.

can you tell me some aspects to consider about practice?

April 04, 2015

Do it SLOW.....no, slower than that!.....NO, EVEN SLOWER!....WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL PLAYING IT FAST AND THEN YOU STOP AFTER 3 SECONDS BECAUSE IT FALLS APART! DO IT SLOOOOOOOW!

I know everybody wants to be faster etc. etc. but when you're first internalizing an exercise, it's best to do it slow so you can do it all at once with a nice flow, without having to stop because your brain can't process it yet. Do it slower so it can be internalized better by your brain, the fastest your brain will process it, the more it will just become muscle memory and you'll do it faster AND cleaner.

Metronome is awesome to force yourself to do it slower many times in a row, because otherwise I'm sure people would play it slow once and then immediately try it way faster than they can handle.

Also, do short and repetitive exercises if you wanna master a certain technique, no point in doing a thousand fancy million notes that will only detract you from the technique and movement itself.

Liked by: Josef Kiefer Arya Akbara Angga Wirawan Dio Henda Puspita Luca Moqi

Are you a sightreader?

April 03, 2015

I can sightread note duration (basic solfege) but not much more, I mean I can tell you the name of the notes in the staff depending on clef but definitely not sightread them :)

It's never been something I thought about like "hey this would definitely help me to achieve the sound I'm looking for!", not at all. But understanding theory, intervals and modes can definitely help.

Liked by: Michael Warming

economy of motion: myth or true?

April 02, 2015

Pure and absolute truth! The best guitarists (technically speaking) are the ones who get the most out of minimum movement, check Tom Quayle or Rick Graham as good examples, or youtube "Bruce Lee one inch punch".

Every single movement you do on the guitar has a purpose and must be conceived, controlled, and practised until you nail it with minimum mental/physical effort and it just becomes muscle memory.

Liked by: Bugra Sisman john Luca Moqi

I saw on another guitarist's ASKFM him saying that a fretwrap should only be used above the nut and that it's 'cheating' or cheap work to do so otherwise. I've seen in most of your vids you use it like most people to dampen frets? Trivial, but you see it as a useful tool like most of us, right? Thou

March 25, 2015

It's up to you what is cheating or not :) I prefer to mute strings with my own hands, and leave the Fretwrap above the nut to avoid any weird resonances after chugs.

Although in the studio it can be helpful on the fretboard to track super clean tapping passages or complex parts, for sure.

are you digging the new veil of maya track?

March 25, 2015

Solid single, vocals are on point and mix is fire. I expect more brutal riffage from the album though

Liked by: Angga Wirawan Ryan Johnson Arya Akbara TheInsurgent

Hey Fran! If you could get some rack equipment, what would it be ? Also whats your opinion on the universal audio 1176ln ? Thanks!

March 25, 2015

I always prefer the convenience of good plugins that make the job easy, but there is still some hardware that is definitely worth buying:

- Distressor (pretty much a no-brainer, incredibly useful and important)
- excellent pres such as Great River, Neve, API, etc.
- audio interface of course (my favourite on the GAS list would be the new Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt)
- Axe-Fx II or Kemper

Anything else, personally, is not mandatory unless you're a die hard outboard guy. 1176 and other fancy compressors are awesome, but there's also LOTS of awesome plugins replicating them quite similarly: Slate, Waves, ProTools, IK Multimedia, UAD, Logic...they all have a 1176 clone plugin and all of them do the job just fine.

One of my plans this year though is to buy myself a 10-space API rack full of different pres for different flavours, and I might even fit a Hairball Audio FET Rev A compressor (based on the 1176) and a couple other things to get better source tracks on the way in (bass DI/vox/guitar reamps/etc).

To keep it short: buy what you think is unreplaceable by very good plugins, and what is needed to get the best source tracks possible (mics/DI box/pres/audio interface/etc).
All the rest can be done in the box with no prob, IMHO :)

Amongst the 1176 plugins, my favourites are Slate and Waves. Amongst hardware 1176s, the UAD one is actually pretty lame in my experience, and the Warm Audio or Hairball Audio clones seem punchier and cost much less. I generally use 76 stuff on drum rooms, bass and vox primarily, can be awesome on kick/snare as well.

Liked by: Dans Huang Zach M Luciano Díaz

I've read that you didnt actually started focusing on lead playing until in your 20s? how did you start working on lead stuff? books?dvds?

March 17, 2015

That's more or less true - I've been playing for 15 years and only after 10 years of riffing Metallica/Slayer/Death songs I said to myself "maybe it's time to improve on my lead playing" :)

I had to work a lot on it since my posture was so fucked up and I was so tense while playing. I started doing one-on-one lessons with a local teacher, then once I knew my technique was correct I just continued by myself by transcribing each cool lick I could find on Youtube, or watch DVDs, or do some exercises from various books, a bit of everything really.

I must stress though, that NOTHING replaces the motivation that a one-on-one lesson with a teacher can do. DVDs, books, Youtube, all of that is awesome, but at the same time not "custom made" for your specific needs and definitely feels "cold" compared to real-life lessons.

Watch the movie Whiplash, that's a great example of what books/dvds/etc can not do, and what a teacher can.

Hi Francesco, when do you plan on releasing your video series? I understand you're crazy busy, but I'm really interested in your videos particularly the one on tone and using the axe fx! Are these something you're currently working on or have you put it aside for now? ETA? Thanks!

March 17, 2015

Everything is planned throughout this year, lots of teaching videos, lots of Axe-Fx tuition stuff, gear demos etc. etc. BUT I really need to get this Abio thing out first, because focusing on other stuff will only delay the release further :)

In the meantime, if you're really interested on the Axe-Fx material, I teach it every day via Skype, so if that's your thing contact me privately and we'll set something up :)

Liked by: Eric g Jared Eduardo Daniel Luciano Díaz

when are u going to upload the first Abiogenesis video clip or release a song ? Is your album the chinese democracy of modern metal ? :P

March 16, 2015

This is getting a bit crazy with so many people asking the same thing over and over, so I'll clarify the current situation: our album is written, we're already playing lots of our album material live, our video & trailer are ready and we're just starting mixing to finally release full stuff.

To keep it short: IT'S OUT WHEN IT'S READY. As soon as everything's ready, we'll let everyone know the date and I honestly can't wait for that huge relief myself :)

"BUT WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG?"....instead of telling you a million things that happened and that slowed down the process, I'll just admit one thing. I'm extremely obsessed with this material. I want every single detail to be exactly as I have it in my head. Every drum fill, every transition, every harmonization, guitar take, vocal lines, synth layers has to flow exactly as I have it in my head. I have spent so much time and energy on this, to the point of sacrificing my own health at times.
Because of this, unfortunately I can get very annoying to other people, and even bandmates (sorry <3 ). Ask anyone who has worked with me, and they might tell you I'm mentally ill lol :)

Call me crazy, but I don't want to release something that is just "good" or even "amazing". I want to leave the mark, I want to do something game changing, and that takes time. I like to dream, sorry :)
If in the end you will like the product, awesome. If you won't like it at all, at least I know we'll have done literally everything to make it as good as possible, and I'll be very proud of that.

Liked by: Gabe Dude dal Blake Bagnell Dans Huang Luciano Díaz Mike Morgenroth Yaresh-Bartholomeus Soekhlal

Ciao Francesco, ascolto molta musica ma ultimamente noto solo frustrazione mentre suono e solo oggi mi sono reso conto che i miei progressi sono limitati proprio perchè non ho un obiettivo ma molteplici ispirazioni. Cosa mi consiglieresti in una situazione del genere? P.s. Ti ammiro un sacco

March 16, 2015

Eilà :) solitamente rispondo solo alle domande in inglese (altrimenti i non-italiani non capiscono una ceppa) ma capisco il tuo problema e mi stai simpatico, quindi cerco di aiutarti:

Essendo musicisti è ovvio che vogliamo tutto e subito, "voglio fare l'alternata così veloce" "voglio fare le cose creative che fa quello" "voglio improvvisare meglio sulla tastiera senza far le solite cose noiose" etc etc etc.
Capita comunque a tutti di avere i periodi di stop in cui non ti viene fuori nulla di buono, o ti senti in stallo, è normalissimo.

Per far fronte a queste cose personalmente cercherei di ascoltare cose COMPLETAMENTE diverse da quelle a cui sei abituato, sforzati di non ascoltare per niente la tua musica preferita e ascolta colonne sonore, generi e gruppi totalmente diversi, e cerca di capire che elementi di queste cose all'apparenza opposte potrebbero invece amalgamarsi bene con ciò che hai in testa musicalmente.

Riguardo i progressi, pensa a cose che hai suonato o composto fino adesso che ti soddisfano veramente, e che più suonano "personali" invece che "questa parte suona troppo gruppo X". Parlo di qualsiasi cosa, un riff o un lick, un giro pulito etc etc. Cerca di capire se c'è qualcosa in quel che suoni che più ti caratterizza, e valorizzalo.

Poi cerca di fare progressi in maniera più nazista e meno a caso, dai priorità alle cose che pensi di avere più bisogno per esempio "mi manca la conoscenza teorica", "mi manca diventare più bravo con questa tecnica", e falle una alla volta, dal base all'avanzato, e solo DOPO dedicati ad un'altra cosa, altrimenti diventa tutto un casotto. Spero ti aiuti :)

Liked by: Dreaming Neon Black Saboh. Luca Moqi

Francesco Filigoi

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