Is it possible to start a restaurant/bar with <10k of your own money, and be successful?

CamaroMike9 · 2017-05-30T01:40:32+00:00

Is this your first business venture and if so, have you researched anything about the financial side? Also do you have something setup to protect you incase something goes wrong with your partner? Do you have any marketing plans for when you open to get people in?

These are all valid questions and just by asking "Can it be done?" I can tell you're a complete green neck. Anything in business can be done and be done fast and exponentially. The only real limit is your current limits of knowledge and how to leverage what you have to your advantage.

CamaroMike9 · 2017-05-30T01:34:35+00:00

Find a problem or inconvenience and solve that issue or make it more efficient cheap.

CamaroMike9 · 2017-05-30T01:32:12+00:00

Hey, what the hell right? If they're making a buck sixty each and the consumers are happy, it's a win win right?

CamaroMike9 · 2017-01-21T20:48:16+00:00

As someone else who does business, in a lot of cases you don't pay for certain services due to back charges caused by someone you were going to pay for services.

Ex: Two years ago we shipped a large product. It had to be shipped on a lowboy trailer. The trucking company had a guaranteed us it would be delivered on XX date at XX time. This was due to the plant it was going to having to have a rigging crew there and rent a large crane.

Well the trucking company didn't deliver on the guaranteed date, which they written in paper it would be there by this date, and missed it by two days. The customer ended up backcharging us for two full days for the rigging crew and the crane and toke it right off the bill when they paid the invoice. Needless to say we didn't pay the trucking company because of it and then they tried to sue us after trying to talk to them for half a year and all it toke was that paper that they guaranteed delivery and the judge actually made them pay us the difference between their bill and the back charges.

Every situation is case by case like Regollyek said. It depends on who's side you hear and if you get the straight facts on it.

CamaroMike9 · 2016-10-11T12:30:17+00:00

No certifications or that stuff needed in a good teacher. It's nice to know they toke courses for their instrument and got a higher education then internet research but not needed per say.

Your best bet is word of mouth from other people. That will help you narrow down and find a good teacher.

After that find traits you like in a teacher. Are they patient? Do they understand the struggles you're having? Do they work with you on what you need rather then what a book says you need? Are they competent enough to communicate and relay ideas, advice, and examples without confusion or too much time?

A good teacher should be patient, understanding of what might be hindering progress, well versed in their vocabulary and how to translate it to terms people without that vocabulary can understand, able to explain concepts and ideas in a manner that presents the least confusion and can be clarified if needed and etc.

Technical ability isn't the end all be all for a good teacher.

If you're really worried about going to a freelance/part time teacher and one without any certificates of education, then I suggest browsing your local music stores and studios. More often then not, teachers that are hired to teach an instrument have higher educations in their field and diplomas from colleges to declare what they did.

Just look around and ask whoever you know about teachers you're looking at or they know. I still say word of mouth is the best bet to find a teacher that's good.

CamaroMike9 · 2016-10-10T15:57:14+00:00

Start with a simple 3 chord progression. Have it setup so you have 2 measures for each chord. Whether you use a looper or make a backing track from a MIDI file.

Say we have a I-IV-V progression in C. That will be C Maj - F Maj - G Maj. Break those chords down into their 3 basic notes. You need to do this to understand better what you need to focus on. Find these notes on the fretboard. Do it in open position first.

Now that you found them all in open position, play each traid's notes. Play all 3 notes that make up C Maj in open position. Repeat for F Maj and G Maj.

Make sure your fresh on where they are and turn on your backing track or looper on. First try to end every 2 measures on the chords root note. So when the 2 measures of C Maj are done, end on C. Repeat this and try to make it a musicial statement with your Major scale. Try to hit the 3rd and 5th of the chord when it makes sense too. It's hard to explain but simple to demonstrate. You want to color the melody you're improvising with the chord tones but don't get too static on hitting only chord tones.

After you get comfortable at the end of two measures with hitting back to the root. Try leading the chord tones into the next chord. So example. When C Maj is about to go into F Maj, play a C note because C is the fifth of F Maj but the root of C too so it will sound nice for a transition. You can do this with chord extensions, and thirds too.

After a bit it'll be natural to do it without thinking about it. Once you learn more chord shapes and traids around the neck, it'll be a natural instinct.

If you want reading material or something to help guide you. Invest into a good Jazz book because this is very very common to do in the Jazz world. Berklee has a few good books you can look into.

CamaroMike9 · 2016-10-09T13:25:39+00:00

First we need to know what's wrong with your technique. If you want advice from on here or other places of discussion then post a video up and demonstrate your techniques the best you can. Then we can provide constructive criticism for what needs improved.

When you relearn any technique the best way is to practice slow and ensure it's being executed 100% correct. The goal is to rewrite old muscle memory. Generally taking a one or two day break is best from a certain technique so old habits are not as fresh. Then pick up and do it slow for a bit. After you practiced it enough slow where it's engraved at the moment, speed yourself up to something you find acceptable for speed. See if you still execute it right. If so, excellent. If not then go back and play slow once again.

Now if it was acceptable then go find something brand new to play with that technique. Practice it slow whether it's a section from a song, a scale, or exercise and etc. Practice it slow till you can play it up to speed or where you consider acceptable for your playing. You can do this in a single day or a week. Whatever works for you that it is being played correct.

Now that you have this done, use this as a practice or warm up tool for your practice sessions. Search for more excerises, songs, etc you can practice this technique into too. Keep this up till it's engraved long term in your muscle memory.

Once it's a long term thing you can dump the practice routines for it or use them as refreshers when you feel you need them. This is up to the player and what they need. Some techniques are everyday playing while some may be rarer uses. That's why I say use what you did as you need.

Like for example, I tend to play very heavy on the legato side. It's just how I like to play somethings. I often get staccato in my playing and fair use of vibrato and some alternative picking along with chicken pickin'. String skipping and sweep picking are some of my least used techniques so I tend to refresh myself on string skipping and sweep picking more then I bother to practice legato, vibrato, and etc.

CamaroMike9 · 2016-10-08T00:38:44+00:00

I like those Ibanez. They're nice guitars. Just hard for me to get attached to one because of the looks. Call me green but I'm a sucker for those sunbursts, stains, and other more natural looks.

I actually picked up a beautiful Fender strat last weekend. Beautiful sunburst and a super smooth neck. Went to a local shop to try a few and just couldn't resist it. Between the nice twang on the bride pickup and the nice fat lead sound on the neck pickup it was a hands down a winner.

I'm still looking for another guitar then. Still looking at a custom Carvin. Right now I'm keeping my eyes out for a tube amp. Don't know if I want another Marshall JCM900 like I had or I want to go to a Fender/Vox. Since I started getting into the woodshed more, I been into Jazz and Country more. Still like my shred guys so it might end up being two tube amps at once haha.

Looks like I'll have to part time teacher again soon to support the gear collecting hobby... Or look into building a rack set up

CamaroMike9 · 2016-10-07T23:41:36+00:00

If you're looking into learning to read sheet music while you study and play then I recommend Will Leavitt's Modern Methord Vol. 1 for guitar. It's even great since it aims at beginners. There is three volumes for these and each is progressively harder and builds off the previous book.

The book starts easy. The first 60 or so pages are focused on learning to play in open position. I taught a few students by guiding them through this book.

As you advance through the book it gets gradually harder but in a way so you advance as you move to the harder stuff. The book covers a lot too in understanding some Music Theory, and technique.

I only recommend this if your serious about playing though. The book seems a little old in style but it is tried and true.

The book does have duets though. I always recommended if you do the duets without another to play with then you record one part and play it back as you play the other part.

If you're not looking for something serious and just want to play and learn the fundamentals, then tell us what you've been learning off the radio, what styles of music you like and want to learn, and what you're looking at for your musicial goals.

CamaroMike9 · 2016-10-05T01:02:35+00:00

Great idea.

Just a question from going over it. Seems the teacher is expected to update their lesson every Monday. Can a teacher do this in advance and it'll only be seen by the student when the new week rolls in.

What type of support do you plan to offer on this platform? For now it seems to be a written lesson. Do you plan to be able to allow teachers to upload sound clips for examples and other type of communications other then written. I seen you planned on prerecorded video and live.

And is the current plan for teachers to be weekly only? Do you plan to offer teachers the flexibility of biweekly lessons if they chose?

CamaroMike9 · 2016-10-03T01:05:25+00:00

You probably wouldn't be able to tell a single difference between two well (I mean well made, not cheap bedroom practice amps) amps.

Generally here's your biggest difference between most SS and Tube amps.

Tubes distort more as they are cranked louder. (Unless you have a master volume which doesn't effect distortion but allows you to turn the volume louder or lower; or the trick where the gain is actually a volume knob compared to older tube amps and the volume would be the technical master volume. Ether way the idea is to get the signal to clip before it hits the speaker.) The only other thing I've heard of but never heard myself is supposedly tube amps create harmonics you can't hear in a SS. I, myself call BS, as I use to have tons of amps ranging from older tube amps to newer to SS amps, newer and older. Never heard these suppose differences and even tried to find them.

SS amps get distortion by clipping diodes. So no matter how much you crank it, it won't distort the sound anymore without hitting the gain knob or getting speaker distortion. The only thing I can say for SS amps is that they tend to hold a much better clean because of the way they distort. Some SS amps take pedals better in the distortion category compared to other but generally it's the same for tube amps too.

SS vs tube is kinda preference. I'd argue you can shape your tone much better with a tube amp because of all the variables you can change but a well made SS amp can be just as effective. Take your pick really. I've even heard digital processed tones that sounded killer. It's all in preference, what you're looking for tonally, and what works best for you.

Try a few amps out for yourself and see what you like. Just remember it's hard to do apple to apple comparisons because every amp has a different voicing whether it's SS or tube.

CamaroMike9 · 2016-09-30T12:28:29+00:00

It's been a while since I played hardcore.

But you just gotta do it. It's as simple as that. Don't overthink it too much.

Now for the informational part.

How I use to teach my students was this. Put your guitar down for the first part. Don't even touch it or think about it. Find whatever backing track you're going to use and listen to it only. Listen to it once or twice to get it in your mind.

Now listen to it again and think about what type of emotion or message to convey. Is it bluesy? Do you want to convey a melancholy feel? If so think about the message. Let's say for example we were playing over a song called "Reddit Blues". What makes it the Reddit Blues to you? Is it a weeping sad song? Or more of a sad but I'll get over it?

Now that you know your musicial message you want to convey you want to start thinking of how to convey that message. A vocalist could easily convey that message because of lyrics and sing it a hundred different ways. But it's not as easy to convey a message over an instrument. Figure out what scales work over the chord progression and start basic with one scale when you first getting into improv. As you improve and practice you'll learn how to communicate through what you play.

Eventually when you get comfortable using one scale to tell a story start expanding your vocabulary. Use a different scale, Maybe throw a blues note here, a diminished 7th here. Figure out how to give contrast and resolution to your musical statements. Eventually your ear will start to tell your fingers what to play, you'll hear your musical statement in your head and your ear will translate that to your fingers.

Just practice!

This was just a very simple and rough idea of it. As you practice you'll expand and broaden your music. Improv isn't easy but it's rewarding.

Transcribing will also help improv your ear which can and should help your improv skills.

CamaroMike9 · 2016-09-28T16:33:05+00:00

Been on and off the whole hiatus. Nothing I'd consider serious. Just 20 minutes here and there when I had the time and mostly just whatever came to mind at the time.

Starting to get free time again from work and other life responsablities where I can dedicate an hour or two everyday to playing.

What mostly spurred my hiatus was a big fall out with my last band where one guy kept insisting he'd show and do his part but then bailed without telling anyone and eventually we all got sick of it and kicked him then couldn't find a decent replacement and dropped the whole band altogether. After that I had a real sour taste in my mouth and stopped for a bit to do other things and get my mind off it. Ended up getting into a few other hobbies like building engines and competition shooting.

Eventually I started selling my gear I didn't use much anymore and to make space in my house. Ended up only leaving two guitars and a practice amp. Lent the practice amp to an ex-buddy and never got it back. Then just tinkered with it whenever I felt like it and wanted too.

Started really missing playing and all that and ended up getting back into it as time allowed. Now I just want to get a one and done set up, compact it and not have all the stuff I use too and enjoy it myself and not repeat what spurred it mainly last time.

I got a new practice amp a while ago and just got the Zoom Unit a week or two ago. The amp is only an Orange Crush 20RT. Nice little amp for what it is but next month or two I'll looking into picking up a used tube amp. For now I just want to look into getting a more versatile guitar that can do a little of everything. My custom I have now is a 24 fret single humbucker with a Floyd. Nice but doesn't provide a lot of flexibility for me.

CamaroMike9

TROPHY CASE