Help improving speed and accuracy

[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?

[BenoA]

How about you, are you back into hardcore technique practice mode?

Thanks for caring but... Sadly NO!

I don't remember if I had posted it somewhere in this thread but at the beginning of it, I was in-between 2 jobs and I could manage putting some more time into practicing my technique... But for the past few months, job as great as it is, has been taking more time from me. The Missus is back to school... Was also trying to be in 2 cover bands...

To be true, I had to "re-plan" my personal schedule. Will be dropping one of the 2 cover bands. Anyway, one of them is barely rehearsing and as it is a new project and also as the chemistry isn't going much between me and these guys, I don't see why I should put more time into it. My old band is also in "revival" mode these days as we have a new singer. Some gigs are showing at the horizon. Next few months should be fun with these guys.

So, as I said above, I'm not into "full-practice" but do practice new tunes and it made me get back into learning tunes for the fun of it. And as I see it, learning new tunes, is a way of practicing.

[Cliff]

I think you mentioned you were concentrating on your band(s) instead of technique, which sounds much more fun to me (eventually I hope to do the same....). And I quite agree: learning new tunes is a great way of practicing. Rock on!

[Trem]

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.

Hey Cliff.
The thing that i see here is how you have your pick hand. I think if i was to have my pick hand in that position ( kinda free floating ) it would sound similar to that.
I think earlier in this thread we all discussed about ways to hold your pick hand, so maybe this is what you have found is best for you.

I don't have the ability to make a video so i can't really show anything by example, but i usually have my pick hand - the edge of it and some of the edge of my pinky -
muting all the strings, and lifting slightly to un mute sections or passages where i want and un muted sound here and there, but usually my hand is "knived" along all the strings to an extent.
It might be that since i've always done that, that for me when trying to play really fast lines, or lines beyond my comfort zone or capability, i certainly have an easier time with it having my hand anchored and muting those fast parts as described.

No matter what though, my hand is most always somewhat anchored to mute unwanted strings and it's just a small amount of lift or damping going on.
Sometimes even in an unmuted passage there will still be a small amount of mute that still lets the string sound open for a second then mutes it more right after.
It's not something i really think about, i think it just comes with practice, or trying to keep unwanted string noise ect, and over time it becomes a natural thing.
It also helps Me to keep my pick more dialed in to the string i'm trying to hit as a frame of reference or center point.

[shredmonster]

RE the post above - Picking - figure out what angle to hold your pick at - usually I hold it at about a 30 degree angle to the strings so it slides over easier and does not cause raking noise.
Also precisely figure out how to best hold the pick in your fingers. Personally I keep all my pick hand fingers bent.
I rest my hands ON THE STRINGS IN FRONT OF THE BRIDGE not on the bridge as most people do. This gives me the ability to always mute strings ( I mute with my fingering hand also in different ways ).
Man I telling you all my secrets !

Also you mute with the left hand the string above and the string below where you are playing. That comes with lots and lots of practice.

Experiment with the angle of how the guitar sits against your body. I tend not to hold the guitar directly across my body. I sort of have the angle out more like I am holding a hockey stick cause it facilitates easier angles and hence less stress and fighting of oneself.

For the past 15 years I have been doing specific warm up exercises that also double as speed exercises the first half hour every day of playing. Mostly consist of 3 and 4 finger stuff. I do a lot of wide interval stuff too that I would not recommend to most people because it is physically demanding ala. Rusty Cooley type shit.

Dont forget to practice arpeggios, string skipping, sweep picking. When you sweep pick move in a circle not straight up and down. Better sound and smoother string crossing.

Pay particular attention to the movements when string crossing. Practice both outside and inside picking a lot every day.

Work those fingers on the left hand. You are using twitch muscles and different people have different amounts of twitch muscles which are the fast moving ones.

OK that's all I have for now. Oh Oh wait.... V picks! Try them. Think about it. With a pick as thick as a V pick your hand does not have to move as much as a thinner pick. So it will be easier and you will be faster using them. A thicker pick means less travel time to the next string than a thin pick this is why.

[Cliff]

@ Trem - hey man, great to see you post again. You've been in my thoughts. How've you been? How is the treatment going?
Thanks for the detailed explanation of how you mute. I definitely need to learn how to do this. I tried a little last night, and it helps with the control, plus gives a satisfying chunky metal sound. I just need to practice control over the degree of damping like you say. Yep, I find by letting my hand float free I can move across strings better - just need to combine this with the palm muting and all should be good.
@ Shredmonster - thanks for further secrets! I've been focussing more on the left hand for the past week or so, and can already hear improvements. String skipping is still something of a challenge. Sweep picking? I think I'll leave that be for now . Point noted about the angle of the guitar to the body - I'll try experimenting with that. So far as picks go, I've been using Sik Piks for the last six months or so, and I really like them - nice tone, and speed too.

[BenoA]

@Shredmonster, interesting post! Taking notes!

I think you mentioned you were concentrating on your band(s) instead of technique, which sounds much more fun to me (eventually I hope to do the same....). And I quite agree: learning new tunes is a great way of practicing. Rock on!

Well, I was hoping to concentrate on my 2 bands but, as my spare time was melting... I had to adapt! lol

[Argos]

Hey Cliff,

I haven't seen anyone mention hand synchronization in regard to your last video. I'd advise you to really work on picking the note at the exact time it's fretted--milliseconds will make a difference here. You'll have to really slow down and pay attention, but it will be worth it in the long run. It's one of the most difficult things to develop properly, but it will make the biggest difference in your playing.

[Cliff]

Hey Argos,

Thanks, man. That's definitely something I've been working on. As you can see, there's still a way to go .

[Trem]

@ Trem - hey man, great to see you post again. You've been in my thoughts. How've you been? How is the treatment going?
Thanks for the detailed explanation of how you mute. I definitely need to learn how to do this. I tried a little last night, and it helps with the control, plus gives a satisfying chunky metal sound. I just need to practice control over the degree of damping like you say. Yep, I find by letting my hand float free I can move across strings better - just need to combine this with the palm muting and all should be good.
@ Shredmonster - thanks for further secrets! I've been focussing more on the left hand for the past week or so, and can already hear improvements. String skipping is still something of a challenge. Sweep picking? I think I'll leave that be for now . Point noted about the angle of the guitar to the body - I'll try experimenting with that. So far as picks go, I've been using Sik Piks for the last six months or so, and I really like them - nice tone, and speed too.

Thanks Cliff, well radiation is done. I'll find out if it worked next month. I guess they can't really say right away, but that's how they do it so.

I been personally working on some Jason Becker stuff, i always had the goal of learning some of this stuff and back in the day me and a buddy used to do Air, we got it down pretty awesome into about the middle of the song. Anyway, it is for sure a lifetime of picking lessons, lol. I'll get a part down close, just the notes and picking, and it seems like i'm playing it at a descent speed, then i play back the tune and realize it's 3 times faster, lol. I can't believe the guy was writing this stuff let alone performing it flawless at age 17.


I forgot my other point about my post and that is i noticed my picking hand does some weird stuff when i'm really trying to get a part that is hard, and that is i seem to anchor my pinky pretty hard under the bridge pickup and do a sort of spider claw to pin point my pick on the strings sometimes, on the lower thicker strings mostly. And i also tend to choke back towards the bridge...sometimes too much. At least on my seven string as the strings aren't as taught on it. I do prefer a really tight string tension, for me it is easier to pick as the pick glides over the string better. I use the purple 2.0mm dunlops and the point gets worn off pretty quick and i should probably toss them sooner.

[Cliff]

I'd not heard of Jason Becker until he was mentioned on this forum recently. Just checked out a couple of his songs on youtube - very cool! I'm finding something similar with Stetina - I feel like I'm making decent progress, then listen back to his CD and realise his sounds *much* better and many times faster.

I'm still working on the palm muting. Seems quite easy to get it wrong and either damp too much or not enough. But when I get it right, I can really appreciate the difference. Not only does it sound better and more controlled, it makes picking for me easier as well - similar to what you say about the higher string tension - since the strings aren't moving quite so far away from center I suppose.
I'm finding the combination of palm muting, fast and precise but gentle picking, and very light touch with the left hand, all seem to be working well together. Hopefully I'm beginning to put together some techniques that well endure as I try and up the speed.
Back when I got Stetina's book about a year ago, on Javert's recommendation, my wife heard Flight Of The Bumblebee and said, if you can play that, you can go ahead and order your own Jackson Custom Shop. Now I'm getting a bit better, we're arguing about what a decent speed should be - I think 130, she thinks 160. I started on it a month or so ago, and have just reached the stage where I can play it all through at 80...