sakeido
Contributor
this post is rated R
Started playing with a metronome tonight petrucci-style
fucking frustrating as a motherfucker god fucking damn it fuck shit fuck! Watching him shred 16ths at 176 and I can barely keep the time in 8ths at 200
Everyone's weakest technique...
- Thread starter distressed_romeo
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this post is rated R
Started playing with a metronome tonight petrucci-style
fucking frustrating as a motherfucker god fucking damn it fuck shit fuck! Watching him shred 16ths at 176 and I can barely keep the time in 8ths at 200
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Korbain
Stay negative!
Timing! i can keep time yes, but there are times it just shits me up a wall for some strange reasons 
START SLOWLY!!!!! You're after rhythmic control, not speed! If you jump in at the fast tempos it'll retard your ability to keep control on the rhythm. Do that, and the speed will follow in time.
I'd suggest playing quarter notes at 120 first. Seriously, it's not a picking technique issue, but a matter of sensitizing yourself to the underlying beat of everything you play.
Try all downstrokes at 120 and see if you can feel the difference between when you are slightly ahead of the beat, slightly behind the beat, or right on it.
Folks who are new to this type of practice often don't realize that faster is not necessarily more difficult. We all have a range of comfortable speeds to play a piece or exercise at, and at first that range can be very narrow.
As our playing techniques develop that allows us to play at faster tempos with less difficulty, but as our rhythm skills improve that allows us to play at slower tempos without getting sloppy and wandering all over the beat.
So I'd suggest to anyone practicing this skill to see what your comfort range is - i.e. how fast and how slow you can play your exercise accurately. Recording yourself and listening back to see how well your notes line up with the beat is so valuable it should be considered a mandatory part of the process.
wretchedspawn
Conquering theThrone
I can't alternate pick when switching strings at all. I've been an economy picker since I started playing. It just felt natural. Also I can't get faster than 16th notes at 220 bpm. I can do it in little bursts but that is it. I found that practicing a lot of wide interval and 4-6 note per string exercises really help with my speed and accuracy. I use a lot of the Francesco Fareri and Rusty Cooley(especially 7 deadly sins) stuff off of Chops From Hell.
There's a really good article on Tom Hess' website, written by one of his students, where he argues that economy picking takes less time to master than alternate picking. From my own experiences, and having heard countless stories like yours, I totally agree with that.
Regarding developing speed, have you tried the 'bursts' method that Troy Stetina describes in 'Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar'? What you do is get a metronome going, and practice at a speed you can execute easily for a little bit, then do a few bars at double speed, then back to the original tempo, and so forth, alternating like that. It'll give you speed, stamina and control. Trust me, it works!
wretchedspawn
Conquering theThrone
There's a really good article on Tom Hess' website, written by one of his students, where he argues that economy picking takes less time to master than alternate picking. From my own experiences, and having heard countless stories like yours, I totally agree with that.
Regarding developing speed, have you tried the 'bursts' method that Troy Stetina describes in 'Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar'? What you do is get a metronome going, and practice at a speed you can execute easily for a little bit, then do a few bars at double speed, then back to the original tempo, and so forth, alternating like that. It'll give you speed, stamina and control. Trust me, it works!
I've actually read that article before. I'll definitely try the "bursts" method you described. Sounds like it should work.
I am really tempted sometimes to just say screw alternate picking and develop a style solely based around economy picking. I keep going back and forth....sometimes I think economy is the way, other times I think I will use mainly alt. picking and throw in economy picking for 3 nps runs that call for it....
So frustrating, but after reading that troy grady stuff it really surprised me that some of the masters (Yngwie, MAB) mainly use a small subset of picking patterns and just really f'ing master those, and primarily stick with those patterns when improvising....
Decisions, decisions....
Hmmm, maybe try learning some classical stuff like Moto Perpetuo by Pagininni to develop alternate picking.
At least, that's what my teacher gave me early on to develop it. He noticed that I caught onto it fairly effortlessly, we eventually figured out that it was because my right hand was already used to alternating motions from playing viola.
Haha, so maybe go back in time and tell yourself to pick up a bowed instrument?
At least, that's what my teacher gave me early on to develop it. He noticed that I caught onto it fairly effortlessly, we eventually figured out that it was because my right hand was already used to alternating motions from playing viola.
Haha, so maybe go back in time and tell yourself to pick up a bowed instrument?
Kakaka
I am with Jesus!
Fast string skipping, I´d really like to improve on that.
Gilbucci
Dude..for real?
I BLOW at legato. I hate how some people do it so effortlessly. I was looking back in this thread, and I read that Shawn Lane and Becker played without a metronome, is this true? I'm going with the Cooley method right now, which is, grabbing a bunch of licks I suck ass at, and working on them with a timer, watching my muting, picking, etc. It's helped so far.
jufob
Banned
Trying to restrain myself and keep all the obvious technique of the month playing out of my phrasing or at least cloak it somehow. It is difficult, frustrating and a constant challenge to me.
since I started takng lessons again 3 weeks ago, I've found that I completely suck at wide interval legato licks and tapping using more than 1 finger.
My teacher loves to show me these wide freaking lines that have all these big (to me anyway) stretches in them and he connects them while moving up thru all the positions up the neck
I've been very humbled, every time I start to feel like I'm getting better he shows me another technique or a tapping line that I can't play for the life of me.
I never realized how simplistic my playing is compared to some of these fusion guys that just burn(like my teacher)
My teacher loves to show me these wide freaking lines that have all these big (to me anyway) stretches in them and he connects them while moving up thru all the positions up the neck
I've been very humbled, every time I start to feel like I'm getting better he shows me another technique or a tapping line that I can't play for the life of me.
I never realized how simplistic my playing is compared to some of these fusion guys that just burn(like my teacher)
All_¥our_Bass
Deathly Chuuni
Tremolo picking, playing with a lighter touch (picking hand) when at higher tempos.
Honestly? Practicing in general. I pick up the guitar alot to just dick around, but settling down to practice with goals in mind is hard for me. If I do that, it'll open the doors for everything else to go right
Honestly? Practicing in general. I pick up the guitar alot to just dick around, but settling down to practice with goals in mind is hard for me. If I do that, it'll open the doors for everything else to go right
Glad I'm not alone....
I really struggle with practicing. If it feels like work I generally shut down. In fact there have been times where I would just go withough even touching the guitar for months at a time. I feel like any improvement I make is by accident. lol I have made strides in the last few months since I got the Mark IV though. I can't help but plug in and play when it sounds that damn good.
fathead
Cranius Deformus
Me too, I swear I've got tab ADD
, after a while all those numbers and lines just give me a headache. I've spent my fair share of time with a metronome the last few years and it gets harder and harder to stay focused. More than anything I just crave a beat to play over. The best investment I've made in my practice routine was to pick up a Fretlight. They're not the best made guitars by any stretch but it has really me helped turn loose on a chord progression and see the patterns. And the red lights don't give me tab lock.
It kind of shifts scales from being monotonous patterns into something you can learn from while doing something musical.I'd really like my legato and sweeps to be better.
