Help improving speed and accuracy

[BenoA]

Good job Cliff. You made me reach for my guitar and go through the exercise with ya.

The dedication comes from not wanting to admit I wasted money on a guitar and amp that I don't deserve . At the very least, I'm going to get my money's worth out of them.

Don'T feel like that. First, you gotta have fun. And if you enjoy playing your gear, well, damnit, just enjoy it.

I could hear you are improving. Don't give up and remember, have fun! If you are having a bad day: forget the book and exercises and just learn a song you like to listen to, even if it's an easy one. Or download a jam track and just noodle over it. Or cranck the damn amp and try to play your "own" Eruption!

Rock on!

[Cliff]

Heh heh - thanks, but don't worry. I still remember to have fun from time to time .

[micha]

Cliff, to me your last vid sounds a bit like parts of your difficulties result from synchronisation of your hands.
Your picking looks fine to me, but I think I hear you're having some kind of rhythmical accent especially on the descending parts.
like taa ta taa ta taa ta
I could be wrong but maybe try out some legato exercises concentrating on your 4th and 2nd finger to check everything is even.

If you think I'm right with that and you're having problems of this kind with different licks you could try accenting the opposite way.
ta taa ta taa ta taa (I know it reads stupid, but as long as I don't remember what the english term for "punktierung" is, I'm gonna keep it that way. )
That's what my piano teacher made me do whenever I had rhythmical trouble. It really smoothed out any inequalities.
And when I played it this and that way back and forth with a metronome, I actually taught my fingers how to play 16th in a phrase that was in 8th for example, without having to think that fast.
It sounds really stupid, but it helped me a lot and I found this method can be easily adopted at least to legato techniques on guitar.
I doubt it will help with alternate picking licks, but I often use it when I'm having trouble with legatos or tapping licks.

But I totally hear you when it comes to equipment you don't deserve.
I'm sure I'm the weakest point in my equipment as well, but Ben is most likely right.
We enjoy our stuff, we payed for it, nothing wrong there.


I tried a slightly different approach on my picking difficulties lately.
I think I still have to carry it on to verify it, but it seems to help me a lot to pick really hard at lower speeds.
Everyone I listen to and I read like Stetina or Gilbert preach that light picking is the key to speed, but at least from Gilbert I know that he always picked kind of hard in his early years.
Sure his picking is as light as it gets today if he wants to, but that's probably not how he started.

When I'm picking light I tend to miss a note every now and then which is giving me trouble for the following notes as well.
When I speed a lick up, and I pick it hard at lower speeds, it gets lighter as well when I reach higher speeds, but it's way more clear.
And I found I have less vertical movement (when crossing strings and stuff) in my picking hand afterwards, which I think is a good thing.

I've been trying this just for the last couple of days, but it seems to help me, so I thought I'd share.
Maybe someone else experienced something similar?

[Cliff]

Hey Micha,
Thanks again for taking the trouble to listen and for your thoughts. You're exactly right; I became aware of the accent problem a couple of nights ago when I was trying the exercise again. It seems like, on the first note of the descent, I give it too much accent, which means I'm already late for the remaining three notes and end up hurrying to catch up. If I watch my right hand, I can actually see the pick swing too far for this particular note. I also noticed, again for this particular part of the phrase, that my left hand timing is sketchy, sometimes it's okay, othertimes I'm just pulling off as fast as I can. I think this might be caused by the slide up on the pinkie. If I lift then entire hand up to the next position, it seems to be more even (albeit the first note is shorter). I'm not yet sure if these are two separate problems or one and the same.
Last night I started trying legato exactly as you suggest. I'll try reversing the accents too, but I've got a feeling that's going to be particularly difficult for me.

Regarding picking lightly, I found the same thing: I can miss notes. I've also found I have to picker lighter at faster speeds. What I'm currently trying, at slower speeds, is to move the pick across the string as briskly as possible, but not necessarily any harder, and still trying to keep the actual amount of motion as short as possible.

[micha]

You're welcome Cliff.
But it's not like it's a lot of "trouble" to listen to your clips.
I just wanted to give some feedback, I know you can easily forget about or not mention some aspects of your playing when you listen to yourself.
There's always so many things to pay attention to when playing, I think it's almoust impossible to cure all aspects of technique at the same time.
But as long as you're aware of these slight accents I'm sure you can work it out.

This method I mentioned is a tad harder with triplets (at least for me), but once you got used to it it's a really useful tool.
You will always find one way of accenting easier than the other, it's great to find out between which notes the problem actually is.

I know slides can really throw you off at the right spot, but I prefer them to stretching anyway.
Couple of years ago I didn't slide at all, I did it all with stretching or string skips when needed, but slides are way too cool...
Could be a reason for these accents, not sure...


I somehow stepped away a bit from keeping the motion that little at slower speeds, I think it was part of my problem with missing notes.
The motion gets smaller with increased speed and decreased picking intensity for me almost automatically. It's weird...
But this could be caused by the lots of statina exercises I did before a while ago, hard to tell what's the origin of such a development.

Gotta get myself a cam as well.
Discussing technique and ideas is really fun for me, this thread always keeps me motivated to try new things, love it!

[Cliff]

Cool - I'm really enjoying talking about this stuff too.
I've held off replying, cause I seemed to have made a significant improvement, and didn't want to jinx it . I managed to correct the bad accent problem, and have increased my max speed to 140bpm. Admittedly, it gets a little scrappy after 130, but it means that 120 no longer feels fast or hurried. Every night since I last posted I've been practicing well beyond 120bpm, just to double-check it wasn't a fluke. Yesterday I managed to get a number of other similar exercises clean well past 110. Then tonight I double-checked by getting ex 34 up to 136bpm. Then I dropped back to 120, and sure enough, I couldn't do it smoothly anymore . Anyway, I took a break and now I'm back at 120 and clean, so all is good.
I think the basic left and right hand techniques are now okay. It seems like relaxation is the key. I obviously haven't totally nailed it yet. But when it's working, I don't even feel like I've reached the limit of my ability; it feels like just a bit more practice and I can get faster still. This is very much in contrast to how I've previously felt when playing at top spped, where it seemed I was at the limit of what was physically possible. Also, earlier I was getting a lot of tension in my right shoulder and upper arm; almost like it was tensing as I was willing my left-hand to go faster. But once I stop concentrating so hard, the tension goes away.

[BenoA]

Good news Cliff. Keep us posted.

[Cliff]

Hey guys - me again .
This is the first time I've recorded myself since my last video post, so it's interesting to finally hear myself properly. I still have a timing problem, most noticeable at the lower end of the fretboard, I think. I've also noticed that if my left-hand hesitates, this tends to screw my right hand up, too. So Micha, I think you're right: I need to work on speed and accuracy of the left-hand. Picking is a little uneven too - sometimes I can get it just right with a nice, light touch, with a tone that I quite like, other times it's all over the place.
Anyway, here I am playing exercise 34, first at 120bpm, then at 135bpm. Neither is perfect:

Please let me know if you can see any obvious areas for improvement.

[john.w.lawson]

Relax you're pick hand..Maybe hold you're fingers out? But shit I can't play soo

[Cliff]

Hey John, I don't know... I used to hold my fingers out, then switched to curling them in a few months ago. As for relaxing, I can't figure out how to do that while keeping the picking motion as short as it needs to be.
Listening back to some stuff I recorded earlier last year, I'm beginning to think I'm getting worse with practice .

[Cliff]

Well, a case of one-step-forward-two-steps back for me again. I've slowed down again and am trying to improve the precision and eveness of my technique. Everytime I modify the technique, I lose some feel and speed, but I'm hoping this comes back once I'm used to something I'm guessing is going to be better in the long run.
One thing I'm doing is trying to fret and pick as lightly as possible. I find the light picking difficult in particular. Even with lots of distortion, the tone produced seems very sensitive to the picking strength, so even slight variations can create a lack of evenness. When it's working, though, I do like the tone of a very light pick attack. (This reminds me of JG Cable's thread about soloing without gain or effects.)
I was watching some youtube vids of Frank Gambale and Paul Gilbert last night, and noticed that both of them use palm muting on all of their fast runs. Is this normal or even required to get an even tone? It definitely seems easier to do this way, but I was aiming to get a nice sound while letting the notes ring freely.
(Another consequence of a very light touch with both left and right hands is I'm finding I've hardly got any grip on the guitar at all - I'm also trying not to rest my arm on the body, so I can quickly move across the strings - it seems like the guitar is very prone to moving away from me like this.)

[Argos]

You may try holding the guitar in the classical position (with a footstool), it tends to be much more stable and support the guitar better.

[Cliff]

Nice idea - thanks! It finally occurred to me last night to try playing with a strap standing up (gasp!) - that worked much better too.
Still interested to know what people think about damping the strings during fast scale runs.

[ginsambo]

I know what you mean about modifying technique and loosing feel and speed. Completely struck a chord with me, as I have found the same. Don't robotize yourself with banality too much man! Its a guitar. But the thing is your notes probably weren't that clear, or you would be doomed to be stuck in a rut of self delusion if you didn't make an effort to improve your technique but it only comes into its own, when you break out again, get stoked and suddenly are able to just play mind bending stuff without thinking about it!

I just ordered a bunch of 2mm picks to wean myself off technique improvement. Bollocks to it, everyday was becoming like a piano lesson, until suddenly I didn't know or feel what to play anymore. If I'm fly picking now, I'm doing it with that. 1mm picks are for cissies, but unfortunately being delicate and light fingered is the trick to eveness. But F that, I always hated that sound, why I am forcing myself to get it down now is beyond me.

Its swings and roundabouts. You play what you feel, then you hear something in your head for part of something but you can't pull it off, so you commit to technique for a while, then you loose all feeling and you wonder where you are at because it seems like the old guitarist in you, who had soul has gone for good. Then you come back a few days later and you play with feeling but your technique, especially what you are able to do, is slightly improved.

The best sounds and notes on a guitar really don't fit into any knid of conventional scale or mode pattern. Its the jazzness that gives you the edge.

Thing is people ssay Eddie Van Halen is sloppy, but yer know, I would rather have a human with phrasing and feel than a metronomic bionic digital impersonator. It IS all about the Blues Rock Chatter. I find all this new metal stuff just so dry.

What I do now is play a rhythm line - someone elses or something made up, then interlude with the most random soloing or the mood I want or incorporate a run or a bunch of notes, if I can get down then go back to the rhythm all whilst tappng my foot. If I'm struggling I'II play the whole thing slower and that is harder to keep. It loosens everything up and makes things more fun and fluent than just one liner practice techniques.

You have to play pretty light not to have to damp the lower strings with runs, I'd challenge you to do it with a 2mm pick and sound any good. I damp the strings lots of the time with just hammer on or pull offs, kind of like Eruption, cause it sounds good.

Keep it juicy!

[Cliff]

Oh yeah, the technical exercises have definitely improved my overall playing. It's sometimes difficult to switch between technical exercises and more freestyle playing, though if, like me, you're trying to erase bad habits. Once you relax, the bad habits just come back. That said, I'm definitely trying to add more variety now, and practice actually making music too.
It's funny what you say: I never thought of Van Halen as sloppy. But I do find his playing a lot more exciting and listenable than say Steve Vai. I'm also a big fan of Jimmy Page, and there are definitely moments where he's sloppy. So, yeah, I think we agree .

[bratfink]

I palm mute the bass strings (E-G) and open the high strings (B-E) when I play fast. The D & G are floaters, I open and mute them as I feel.

The big thing I have noticed about picking fast is that endurance is really limited by how hard you pick.

I am currently trying to work my picking up from 180 to 240 (just the right hand), if I pick softly I can keep up faster for longer. As soon as I start picking normally (hard) I start missing notes and go off time.

I'll try to do a vid before long to show you how much worse I am at some of these exercises than you Cliff!!! (trust me you are doing well).

[shredmonster]

I never used a metronome. I played and sped up till I got sloppy. Then I would rinse and repeat. Every day. Started getting faster and faster.
Point is you have to push yourself. You won't push yourself if you do things slow too much of the time. You have to find what is right for you and you have to push through your personal speed barriers.
It takes a lot of time, a lot of exercises and you have to work on both hands.
Remember to try to use your fingertips. Keep your left elbow in - not away from your body. Try to develop relaxation which is hard for a long time till you get use to the speed. Otherwise if you don't relax you could damage tendons and have joint issues.
Learn inside picking. Practice lots of alternate picking.
Keep pushing up to where you get sloppy and then back off till you play clean and keep doing it. You have to push through your speed barriers.

Lean what muscles to use as you pick. Dont forget part of it is fingers, part wrist, part elbow and part shoulder. You use these areas differently for different kinds of passages depending on what you are playing.

On the left hand practice with just 2 or 3 fingers running up and down scales and strings. Point there is that you have to learn how to relax the muscles that control your fingers. Most people never do this. They are too tense.

Practice your scale with out touching the neck with your thumb. Believe me. Most people use too much thumb pressure and I know lots of guys developing arthritis and joint problems because of it. You will never be fast if you use too much thumb pressure. You use the least amount or thumb pressure possible and you develop it by running your scales with out touching the neck with your thumb.

This is a mechanical journey you are on so think mechanics and conservation of movement. Don't let your fingers drift too far away from the strings. It wastes time.

Also practice legato as you will learn from it. Do trillls. Lots of em. Practice running hammer ons up with just one finger - index then second then third then pinky. Practice first finger and pinky hammer ons and pull offs.

Too much to list on here - I could go on all day.

[Cliff]

@bratfink - thanks for the muting advice and the kind words. And wow, 180-240 bpm!? Seriously? I can't imagine being able to pick that fast. I'm looking forward to seeing your video. Maybe we can encourage more people to post progress too.
@shredmonster - lots of good advice and points here - thanks.
The relaxing part I'm finding very hard. I've never been a particularly body-conscious person, living mostly in my head, so getting parts of my body to move precisely and in a relaxed way is definitely a challenge.
Some of what you say I'm already doing or working on, thankfully, eg light pressure from the thumb (except when I'm playing legato, I can definitely feel there's too much pressure here because I'm hammering/pulling too hard), different muscles in the right arm for different bits. Using fingertips is something I do when I concentrate on it, but tends to slip once I fall back into my old habits. Particularly challenging here is using the tip on my pinky - I still haven't got the hang of bending it properly at the last knuckle.
Regarding the metronome, I hear you as regards trying to increase speed, but in general I really need it because my timing is just so appallingly bad - I've spent far too long playing in my own little timing world. When I used to play fast, I'd basically hurry a phrase through as fast as I could, and the notes that fell easiest under the fingers would be the faster ones. I'm still working hard to get that under control.
If you feel like adding any more points to your list, please do .

[BenoA]

Cool to follow you Cliff. I need to check KevinDguitar's videos he posted. May be some ideas to incorporate in our day to day routine.

Keep us posted.

[Cliff]

Absolutely, though Kevin's stuff is maybe a little bit more advanced than where I'm at at the mo. How about you, are you back into hardcore technique practice mode?