Help improving speed and accuracy

[javert]

I wish I could do sweeps with my ass like Paul Gilbert, though....

[BenoA]

Whoa! Absolutely awesome!

+1

Good playing too! And the tune has a nice "old school" vibe to it. I can hear some early Metallica influence in there. Good job!

[Twitch]

Hmmm, allright then. We've got a song on our facebook page (the first one we recorded) that's got a bit of sweep picking in it.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fears-...app_2405167945

Thats awesome. Its good to hear something from Denmark that isnt some viking puking and grunting taking a shit in his pants in an attempt of what is called music.

[javert]

Thanks a lot, guys! It's all been recorded in our home studios and this was the first time ever recording anything for me. It was kind of a strange experience for me. I became super self-conscious about my playing after not having played in a band for ages. Three of us are 30 or older and are mostly into old school metal, and I'm probably the only one who's really into thrash.

Twitch, it's a certain sign of old age when you think the new music coming out isn't music but very loud noise But I agree. I actually thought until recently that there was a lot thrash-inspired bands in Denmark, but it appears to be mostly what I would describe as nu metal or death metal with screaming or growling vocals and no solos.

[javert]

Oh, it's of course one of my Jacksons, namely an SL2T played through my Engl 530 preamp and 830 poweramp. The other guitarist plays some transistor Randall amp. I think it actually works well here as the sound of the two guitars are really different.

[javert]

Sorry for killing this awesome thread, that wasn't my intention

[Cliff]

Hey dude, you haven't done that at all Yours is a great contribution!
Since I'm here, I'll report my rather modest progress. I've been trying what Micha suggested, and curling in my right hand fingers - feels weird, but I don't think it has any adverse effects. I've also been taking Twitch's advice and been playing more on the clean channel.
I thought I'd just about nailed Ex 142, but after a couple of days' break, I came back to it and my timing was all over the place. I spent most of yesterday on it again, until once more I feel comfortable with it. Earlier in the week I'd been trying 142, which is a big challenge for me - lots of upbeat emphasis with four notes played per foot tap.
Still struggling with getting my playing clean and even for the earlier exercises. I did notice that sometimes I seem to put a bit of extra emphasis and time on the first of a group of four sixteenth notes - almost like a swing beat. I think this may have been one of the problems with my lack of evenness, since I need to hurry the remaining three to catch up. I'm working on trying to even this out.

[Grim]

A good tooth-cutting process is Petrucci's Rock Discipline and a bunch of old 90s death metal riffs from the likes of Cynic and Atheist.

Also, play shit outside your comfort zone... I recently got VERY into Jazz guitar and given a month and a bit, a couple of books and some practice, I consider myself to be pretty competent. I was always into fusion, but this time was the jump to more "hardcore" jazz guitar like Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, Montgomery, Django, Martino, etc. This being said, playing stuff like Cynic for as long as I have certainly took the load off the technical end of things, but there's a whole wall of impenetrable information regarding jazz theory to be tackled. And hundreds of standards to be learned. And thousands of dollars to be spent on archtops.... mmm...

[Grim]

Interesting statement. In my case, it's not that I want to be the next Gilbert/Malmsteen but I would just like to be able to play those quick parts more cleanly... I know my way to cheat but after all those years playing, I would just like to move my playing a notch above. And I don't know why it is so difficult.



Wow impressive my friend. 2-3 hours a day. Congratz. You should hear/see some definitive improvments over the coming weeks. Keep us posted on your progress. And to keep the challenge fun, don't forget to learn a few songs/tunes, start applying your new knowledge into something fun.
-------------------

Had a real bad evening yesterday. We're auditionning 2 good singers tonite, so I started my practice routine by rewiewing quickly the tunes we're going to use to check those 2 guys. I try to play standing up when practicing my band's tune. Once that done, I moved to my new exercises regiment but tried to do it standing up. Ouch! A bit more difficult than when I was doing them sitting. Anyone else having issues with this when comparing their playing sitting/stand up position?
-------------------
Other issues is that I had to slow down tempo (again). I could not hit my regular max BPM.

Ah well... Sounds you gotta keep into it and keep trying. But I think this is the most difficult part of all of it.

Because notches are f*cking big. I always found that I'd kill myself for a period of time with minimal improvement and then seemingly overnight make a huge leap.

[javert]

Cliff, I've had similar issues with my playing. I once noticed that when learning a solo, I could get to a point where after having played it for some time at full speed, I couldn't play it anymore. It took me some time to realize that I was trying to play the finer details, like accentuating certain notes, which made med "late" for the following notes. I also noticed that I can get rhythmically "lost" if I have to play something where I have to accentuate differently than I usually would. All the more reason to try as many things as possible....

[SHREDINATOR]

To start off with I see some technique problems that will help you fast. Watch your left hand in a mirror when you play this scale. As your fingers go across the fret board your hand stays in the same place and your fingers scrunch up causing tention. When you play them on the 6th string they are in a relaxed natural position. Try moving you hand with your fingers as you progress across the fret board and keep the same angle on the first finger on the 1st string as on the 6th string. It's an old classical guitar trick.

Next find some string crossing exercises and play them on clean tone, because your right hand is making mud out of the scale when you skip to the next string.

[Trem]

Well, i woke up this morning and decided to plug in and really practice for a bit today and i ended up playing all day for about 10 hours, lol.
My finger tips feel like they were smashed with a hammer.
I play direct in to Reaper with impulses anyway so i decided i might as well record some wankery before i am done. Another short "blues-ish" jam to add to the thread, dirty, clams and all.

http://soundcloud.com/trembulant/jam
mp1 mod4 direct - all Eq flat, gate, redwires ubercab split t75/v30 with md421 mic, a dash of reverb.


Also, while i was practicing trying to play fast clean runs today, i tried doing the non anchored fan picking as opposed to being anchored all the time. It is easier to play fast beyond a certain speed where it starts to become tense and harder anchored. Taking me some getting used to, but works pretty good.
Btw, I noticed my right hand naturally is slightly clawed but loose and free not tense.

[Cliff]

"Well I woke up this morning, played myself some blues" - nice one Trem, sounds great! I think I'm having some success with the non-anchored picking approach too.
Shredinator - was there a particular scale you were referring to? To be honest, my hand feels more relaxed on the 1st (top E) string than on the 6th. If I do as you say, I seem to have a much better stretch at the 1st string, but it looks like it's going to take some getting used to, since my hand is so used to moving into that more 'bluesy' position ready for bends. Just want to be sure I understand what you're saying. A quick vid to clarify would be cool, if you could post one. Regarding the string crossing - yep, I know it's a problem, and I'm working on it (it used to be *much* worse).
Grim and Javert - I definitely agree with trying new things and stepping outside ones comfort zone. For me, that means trying to play in time . Actually, I've tried to play a bit of jazz from time to time - I learnt the first part of Joe Pass's version of Autumn Leaves, which was a lot of fun. Funk's another good one to try, I guess.

[Twitch]

Damn Trem, you got me beat, I cant think quick enough for that. Way to be imaginative at speed. I wish I could think that way. I did some jamming last night until I broke the amp(little Peavey Envoy took a dump on me). It was all the same, scales here, fast alternate picking notes up and down the string there, wish I could write a shred solo with substance, but my mind doesnt seem to work that way. I can exhibit soul like Gilmour if playing something bluesy, but when it comes to lighting up the fret board, its always the same, just different notes. Kudos my good man.

[SHREDINATOR]

Cliff, the position of the left I was pointing out is for keeping the fingers in a relaxed position for efficiency in speed picking, when you want to bend a note you'll have to shift the position of the hand to maximize your leverage. So thats normal, I was only talking about running across the fret board with alternate picking patterns. However, when you bend a note, you naturally extend the finger to that same angle with the finger. (I was talking about the A minor scale you were playing at the start of the clip.) I use the gorilla theory to show you the correct angle of the fingers. Just reach up and grab the neck of the guitar as though you were gonna pick it up. Thats the finger angle you want to keep. Sorry for no pics or vids this kind of thing is very difficult to explain with not having you right in front of me, but I know with ten minutes I could add 20 clicks to your scales and clarity to your string skipping. I will work on a video but I am at work now and no access to guitar or camera.