Feedback wanted on practice regimen and goals

[YouAreAwesome]

Hey guys,

First off: love the sevenstring.org community. As a reader-only it has already helped me so much, from music theory to technique, from new bands and music to gear knowlegde. Thanks a million!

Somehow I now think it is time for me to actively engage with you guys and start a thread here.

I consider myself pretty new to the guitar, although in a certain way I am not. As a child (prob. from my 8th to my 16th) I had weekly guitar lessons. Although I developed a musical taste for heavier rock and metal I somehow failed to develop in that direction on the guitar. My guitar teacher was a good guy but apparently let me fumble around instead of ignititing a passion. In the end I didn´t sync with the instrument I guess and lost interest because other silly teenage interests.

Since a year or 2 now, after a pause of more than 10 years, I have gotten back to the guitar. I started out just wanting to play some riffs and easy songs, just for the fun of it. Much time has passed since I left the guitar and was amazed by all the internet resources there are now. One thing led to another and gradually I did get interested in music theory, developing my technique and learning (including memorizing) more complex song.

Over the past year I think I was able to define my goals and assemble a pratice regimen based on some learning materials I collected. Today I want to share it with you people, hoping you can give me feedback to develop my skills and reach my goals faster and/or in a better way.

Why not go to a guitar teacher? I still want to do this but work, a study and a child leave me with little time. That's not to say I don't want to (because it is all about priorities) but I think that with some of the materials I have I can still progress and in 6 or 12 months go to a teacher (when time would be less an issue) to further develop, rather than having a teacher giving me basically the same homework I now give to myself.

My current skills are I guess so-so. An OK starting point to develope further but nothing fancy. I can do some songs, riffs, licks and solos as long as its not too complex or fast (and believe me guys, when I look at what you normally discuss here, this is probably an understatement). I know a bunch of chords (basically major, minor, 7, sus2) and for a while have been working on major/minor scale (and the pentatonics), not just the shapes but really internalising them and understanding the logic/theory behind it. All basic technique is covered I guess and I am familiar (not saying I master everything) with much of it.

My goal is to advance my guitar playing and knowlegde in such a way that I can play (popular or mainstream or common?' hardrock/metal songs including solo's and more complex riffs etc. My goal is nowhere near any stuff like Animals as Leaders or Scale the Summit (which I do like) but more like some popular stuff like Stone Sour and Slipknot (let the flaming begin!). Yes, I know they have simple songs but I am looking to master songs with solo´s. A song (2 actually) I´d really like to master is Gone Sovereign/Absolute Zero by Stone Sour. I think that those songs might be a proper description of the level op playing I am trying to reach. That´s enough for now and as much as I like the guitar nerd stuff: that´s nowhere near my league (and frankly: that´s OK for me). Some ear training is nice but not a main goal and neither is writing music for now. “Connecting the dots” is a goal, trying to understand how the fretboard works and improving improvisational skills. Although I know better then to think in terms om time needed, I´d like to reach this level more or less by the end of 2015 (I guess its the time of the year for new years resolutions!).

Finally my pratice regimen. First off I bought the Jim Root Sound and the Story DVD to learn from the man himself. However, the skills to really get into the faster and more complex part lack. So I have bought the Troy Stetina books. I looked in to Heavy Metal Lead Guitar vol. 1 and Heavy Metal Rhythm vol. 1 but it offered nothing really new to me (and I therefore wasnt stimulated to work through it). I do however have the vol. 2, Speed Mechanics and Fretboard Mastery. My plan is to gradually work on a daily basis work through the latter two. In weekends I really want to sit down for the vol. 2´s. By the end of 2015 I want to have gone through it all (although I of course realise that to really master it will take years).

Specifically for technique I do excersises with a metronome on a daily basis, gradually moving up speed (chromatic, spiders, legatos, complex chords, sweeps etc, basically all the regular stuff you can find online) and have also bought Chris Letchfords Guitar 360 degrees of which I try to add new exercises every week. I also gradually will expand knowlegde of chords and scales by memorizing more of them and looking into the theory behind it. I will also throw in a new excercise (from the internet, magazines whatever) to keep everything fresh now and then.

I have been working with this regimen now for a month or so and it seems to do the trick. Gradually there is more speed, better technique en more understanding. However, I´d really appreciate your feedback. Are there any things missing? Do I need to focus on other things? Have I missed any great materials? Or am I just being silly and need to start over again? Just let me know. It will be appreciated very much. Thanks!

Sorry for the long post but this way I hope to really give you a clear view of my skills, goals and means to get there.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

Congratulations on your efforts. I don't have much to add right now, but here's a PDF I recently made for a student which has all of the basic chords on it. Almost every chord that you'll encounter will be one of these or have something to do with these chords, so hopefully you'll find this of some use. The white dots represent the root of each chord.

 

[Aion]

You seem to have a good grasp on your technique work and your larger goals. The only thing that seems a bit hazy is short term goals, but maybe you just didn't go into those. Your short term goals should come from your long term ones. Right now you can't quite play the music you want to play. Why? What things are you struggling with? Is it just speed, or are there specific techniques you still need to get under your fingers. If it's the former just play it slowly with a metronome and build up from there. If it's the latter try and find pieces that use those techniques so you can understand how to use them musically. Alternatively, rearrange a song you know to focus on that technique. an example of this from my own life is in order to learn sweep patterns, I'll take a song and instead of playing the block chords, I'll sweep them. It's not how I would play a song if I were to perform it, but it helps me get the technique down.

On the whole you seem to have a really clear idea of how you want to practice, which is super excellent. Best of luck to you.

 

[slythy]

What i find i do for learning solos is just go slow for 10 mins or so after i memerize it, try to speed it up to where i fumble. Then sleep on it. I dont know why it works but when i just set the guitar down and go back to it the next day i can play the riff/solo much faster. This helps me not be super frustrated and discouraged.

 

[ace_operations]

Now, I'm no rock god, but here's another tip. Use what you learn from videos, magazines and cover songs to write your own little riffs and solo licks. Not saying that you have to construct whole songs or solos, just start with little pieces. This really helps "connect-the-dots" as you say, since it puts your practice in context of songwriting and keeps the motivation high to apply what you learn. Just my 2c.

 

[EcoliUVA]

That's the best regimen I've ever heard from someone asking how to improve. You are for sure on the right track, dude. I was in a very similar situation as you: Had a guitar while younger, never serious, came back later and resolved to crush it. I did exactly what you're doing in the beginning and it helped tremendously: Metronome, exercises, steady focus.

Focus is really the biggest deal. If you can keep your mind on your playing for 30 minutes, avoiding distractions, it'll do more for you than 3 hours of screwing around (or even 3 hours of semi-distracted practice). As slythy mentioned above, sleep helps - and it does this because when you focus hard on something, your brain logs it as "important" and then improves neural pathways while you sleep (super short summary). F**king cool, imo. I like to call this the shotgun -> sniper rifle effect. When your brain tries to perform an unfamiliar motion, it sort of just bombs your nerves with scattered signals - i.e. shotgun. With time and focused repetition, it turns into a direct beeline - i.e. sniper rifle. Works for anything, including but not limited to guitar.

Occasionally during a practice session, push your speed a bit (with a metronome) until you start making mistakes. Then try to specifically take note of what is happening. Is your picking hand lagging? Are you jerking your ring finger up to the ceiling? Kill any excess motion - efficiency is everything. Slow it down and focus on any problem fingers, problem picking, etc. Do that for a few days and you'll see problems melt away (and new ones pop up, haha). Repeat until you can play what you want!

That's the technical. It's also important to study some basic theory. A little goes a long way - learn about intervals to start with, and build from there. It's really not that hard until you approach SchecterWhore levels, which I find interesting but not terribly necessary for metal (at least, the metal that I like to play).

One last bit: Don't stop once you're able to play Stone Sour if you REALLY want to play some Letchford-i-ness. Use it as a stepping stone, unless you're 100% happy there. I'm willing to bet that once you start seeing heavy improvement, you won't be ABLE to stop yourself from continuing.

Best of luck on your journey, brother!

 

[YouAreAwesome]

Thanks everybody! Positive and helpfull!

Mr. Big Noodles: thanks, I will incorporate in my chord trainings.

Slythy and EcoliUVA: I also noticed the sleeping effect. What makes it even more interesting to me is that sometimes I instantly play the piece more accurate and faster after a nights sleep then I ever dit the day before.m

Aion and EcoliUVA: no I didnt have real short term goals yet but thanks to your responses I realised the following. When I speed up two Things seem to go wrong. One is that I cannot seem to pick with constant quality when increasing speed It is not really that I miss strings (although that happens) but at one point or another I seem to stumble upon the strings or the pick shifts in between my fingers. Recently I've been experimenting with a different grip (in which I curl my index finger sideways against the pick which results in a firmer grip but I seem to lose some nuance in my picking).

The other problem concerns the fretting hand. Accuracy is of course the problem in general but specifically at higher speeds a backwards movement (so from fret 10 to fret 6 for example) seems harder than forward. The accuracy in general also seems better when placing fingers forward instead of for example making pulloffs.

I can only think of cliché exercises that resemble what I already do for these problems You guys maybe have any tips?

Ace operations: thanks for the tip, I'll try to incorporate it in my improvisation time. I also hope that Fretboard mAstery will help me more easily find the notes I hear in my head on my guitar.

 

[Aion]

I cannot seem to pick with constant quality when increasing speed.

The other problem concerns the fretting hand. Accuracy is of course the problem in general but specifically at higher speeds a backwards movement (so from fret 10 to fret 6 for example) seems harder than forward.

I good and easy exercise for the picking hand is to jut do a minute or so of tremolo picking on each string. It's usually one of the first warm ups I do. The key is to go at the highest speed you can maintain for a full minute. Do it a every day and soon you're picking hand will be a lot faster. A lot of guitar exercises focus on the left hand and sometimes the right can get left behind so it's good to do something that focuses on picking techniques.

As for the second problem, learning your intervals will really help that. A lot of times people put their main focus on ascending intervals, but also make sure to focus on descending intervals and you should be good. There are so many ways to move from one note to another on guitar (stay on the string, go to the next string, go up two strings, etc). but getting a solid understanding of the different options opens you up for very easy and free melodic playing, which is great for learning and understanding solos.

I'm sure other people have other advise as well, but those are the things that come to my mind.

 

[octatoan]

YouAreAwesome: Was Animals as Leaders just an example, or are you actually a fan who thinks their songs are too hard to try?

As Solodini always says () try picking out parts of your favo(u)rite songs that are actually just a bit more difficult than what is easy for you right now.

I just learned a few small bits of Cylindrical Sea, including that slow "da-da-dum-dum da-da-da-da-dum" thing that comes before the "Sea" part (aka Tosin going crazy, those sweeps give me actual chills every time!)

EDIT: Thread hijack, are those sweeps in Cylindrical Sea even playable on an acoustic? (I know, I've asked this question too many times . . .)

 

[YouAreAwesome]

Aion: I added the tremolo picking to my warmup routine. I think both as a warmup and as a technique exercise it is al valueable addition, thank you.

octatoan: well I like Animals as Leaders a lot, not sure if that means I'm a fan. I try pieces now and then but it just seems too hard for now but I'll just throw in nice riffs now and then to see what happens. I just wanted to make clear that although I like that kind of very technical guitar playing it is not a serious goal for me right now, let's first master the more easy and common songs (with some shredding-like solo's).

I think I might miss some memorization of songs. Are there any exercises or regimen for that? Or maybe any tips how to incorporate that into a regimen to gradually increase my repertoire?

 

[Aion]

What do you mean, "miss some memorization of songs"? As in you miss having songs memorized or you're having difficulty memorizing songs? Admittedly the two are related, so I'll just answer like it's both and you can ignore any info that doesn't apply

Building an understanding of theory can be useful because it helps makes structure clear. C-d-G-C-F-g-C-F-Bb-c-F-Bb-Eb-C-d-G Kind of a long progression, but if you break it down what's happening is just I-ii-V-I modulating by fourths three times and then the fourth time doing I-VI as a pivot chord where VI is also I in our new (well, technically old) key of C, ii-V, which presumably brings us back to I where we can repeat the progression. Now, you don't actually need academic music theory for this, you just need to find patterns and memorize those rather than each individual note and chord.

 

[ace_operations]

Here's the regimen I started in 2015 with a resolve to increase my alternate picking and legato technique. You might already do some/all of this, but I'll put it up anyway.

Three picking patterns to build finger strength and improve movement between strings (taken from Petrucci's rock discipline). I do each for 30s as 8th notes starting from 120bpm and work my way up to 170bpm (so far). Goal is to get to 200bpm at least.

1. ----------7-------
   --7-8-10---10-8-
2. ----------7-------
   --7-9-10---10-9-
3. ----------7-------
   --7-8-9----9-8---

Four legato patterns to improve legato consistency. Petrucci's video has more patterns that I can add on later. I do these for 30s each too in 8th notes. I can only do about 130bpm because my evenness sucks. Closer to 200 bpm is the goal.

• --7-8-10-8-7
• --7-9-10-9-7
• --7-10-7-8-10-8
• --7-10-7-9-10-9

Next thing I do is focus on improving fretboard knowledge, so I learn all notes of a particular scale on a given key on the fretboard. I then play them note by note (goal is to land on the right note, no focus on technique here).

Finally, I create a small lick based on the scale I just learned, using the techniques I just practiced. I play it through a range of BPMs. This whole routine takes me about 30-45 mins. I spend the next 30 mins or so practicing solo sections for my band's songs. Hoping to see improvement in picking and legato in a few months.

 

[YouAreAwesome]

Aion: Stetina also advises to play/pratice songs next to his material, a point that seems very logical to me. I enjoy exercises (really!) but playing songs is the endgoal for me so that makes sense. With this regimen however I notice that time lacks for serious memorization of songs, which in general I think I do slowly. I'll take your tips into account but specifically concerning memorization: are there any exercises or mechanisms to increase speed of memorization (besides of course just continuing to do so)? And how do you guys incorporate in into your regimen (everyday a little bit or sitting down for it a long time like once a week?)?

ace_operations: thanks for the exercises! I still have a copy somewhere of a Petrucci book lying around so I should maybe revisit it. You definitly made me aware to focus maybe a little less on speeding up on regular/straightforward chromatic exercises and incorporate more variation.

 

[YouAreAwesome]

On another note: while I do focus on all kinds of technique I now realise I really don't have any rhythm exercises (except for Metal Rhythm vol 2) while I think it is a completly different thing. Would incoporating some favourite riffs as a exercise in my regimen be a good idea or are there better solutions?

 

[Aion]

If you want some rhythm exercises, a thread happening right now (commercial voice: you heard me, that's right now!) is this one http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/mu...-timing-counting-rhythm-help.html#post4264680

A bunch of people (Solodini, Mr. Big Noodles, my humble self, and some others) have posted our different suggestions for becoming better at rhythm. The big long exercise I just posted there also helps develop your ability to memorize a phrase quickly. That obviously is a building block for memorizing sections of a piece and even whole pieces, which is something you asked about here. Could be useful for killing two birds with one stone.

 

[Solodini]

Aion: Stetina also advises to play/pratice songs next to his material, a point that seems very logical to me. I enjoy exercises (really!) but playing songs is the endgoal for me so that makes sense. With this regimen however I notice that time lacks for serious memorization of songs, which in general I think I do slowly. I'll take your tips into account but specifically concerning memorization: are there any exercises or mechanisms to increase speed of memorization (besides of course just continuing to do so)? And how do you guys incorporate in into your regimen (everyday a little bit or sitting down for it a long time like once a week?)?

ace_operations: thanks for the exercises! I still have a copy somewhere of a Petrucci book lying around so I should maybe revisit it. You definitly made me aware to focus maybe a little less on speeding up on regular/straightforward chromatic exercises and incorporate more variation.

If you want to memorise a song, break it into small chunks, phrases and learn them. Don't try to memorise 4 bars off the bat, take it one bar, maybe less, at a time.

Play the chunks you learn in different orders to become more familiar with what each one is, and then when you play them in order it should be easier. Mixing them up should give you some ideas for vocabulary for improvisation, too.

 

[YouAreAwesome]

If you want some rhythm exercises, a thread happening right now (commercial voice: you heard me, that's right now!) is this one http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/mu...-timing-counting-rhythm-help.html#post4264680

A bunch of people (Solodini, Mr. Big Noodles, my humble self, and some others) have posted our different suggestions for becoming better at rhythm. The big long exercise I just posted there also helps develop your ability to memorize a phrase quickly. That obviously is a building block for memorizing sections of a piece and even whole pieces, which is something you asked about here. Could be useful for killing two birds with one stone.

Thanks Aion! I'll look into that. First impression is that I need to save it for later and should now just focus on playing simple rhythm pieces very strict and exploring other (odd) time signatures etc (heck, even triplets are hard for me I discovered during last practice!).

If you want to memorise a song, break it into small chunks, phrases and learn them. Don't try to memorise 4 bars off the bat, take it one bar, maybe less, at a time.

Play the chunks you learn in different orders to become more familiar with what each one is, and then when you play them in order it should be easier. Mixing them up should give you some ideas for vocabulary for improvisation, too.

Thanks Solidini! This is - luckily for me - already me approach so I guess I'm on the right path. It just takes so darn long. I hope it's something that gets easier/faster with experience?

 

[Solodini]

Thanks Aion! I'll look into that. First impression is that I need to save it for later and should now just focus on playing simple rhythm pieces very strict and exploring other (odd) time signatures etc (heck, even triplets are hard for me I discovered during last practice!).





Thanks Solidini! This is - luckily for me - already me approach so I guess I'm on the right path. It just takes so darn long. I hope it's something that gets easier/faster with experience?

It gets quicker if you're critically understanding what you're playing. If it's just muscle memory, kinda. If you're becoming aware of the theory and patterns applied then it speeds up much more.

 

[Aion]

Aion: Stetina also advises to play/pratice songs next to his material, a point that seems very logical to me. I enjoy exercises (really!) but playing songs is the endgoal for me so that makes sense. With this regimen however I notice that time lacks for serious memorization of songs, which in general I think I do slowly. I'll take your tips into account but specifically concerning memorization: are there any exercises or mechanisms to increase speed of memorization (besides of course just continuing to do so)? And how do you guys incorporate in into your regimen (everyday a little bit or sitting down for it a long time like once a week?)?

Totally missed this post before. Remember that exercises are pointed at specifically developing skills so that when you can play full pieces everything about them becomes easier. Unless you're planning on going up on stage to perform any of these songs soon, then don't worry too much about memorizing full songs. It will come with time and you're probably better off developing technique and pattern recognition until the memorization is second hand. It's great to be that guy at the party who can pick up a guitar and play a bunch of songs, but that guy is also usually a douche Guitar Guy - Video Clip | Comedy Central. Shorter exercises that involve some type of memorization are probably best. Soon that will become second nature and that you can focus on actually memorizing songs.

In response to what I personally do explicitly for memorization, it all goes back to working on pattern recognition and getting the connection between my ears, brain, and hands going. By finding patterns you eventually start condensing them in larger and larger groups. For harmony the best example is I take 1920's songs and reharmonize them as Bebop tunes, which mostly just involves making them two chords per measure. The one I'm working on now follows this pattern (after reharmonization):

Verse 1: I VI | ii V | vi iii | vi ii | V ii | V vi | ii VI | ii V | I VI | ii V | bIII ii | (now in key of the IV) bVI V | I ii | V II| (back in original key| I VI | ii V |

Verse 2: (same as verse 1 except for last four bars): I Idom7 | IV bVII|

Chorus (in key of the bIII): I VI | ii V | (x2 for all chorus thus far) VI II | VI II

Verse 3: (same as Verse 1 if going back to top, last four bars different if ending song): ii V | I

A lot of those are 7 chords, but for the sake of writing that quickly I only added 7 where it was totally needed. Anyway, a few months ago I would have had to memorize each chord individual and really grind over it to make sure I knew which chord comes when. Now in my head (a strange place, do not recommend for vacation), instead of being two chords per bar I think of it as one chord every two bars and it looks like this:

Verse 1: I | VI | V | ii | I | (key of IV) V | I | (original key) I

Verse 2: (key of bIII) V

Chorus: I | I | I | (in original key| V

Verse 3: I

Because I know the common chord progressions and patterns, I just know in my head how to get from I to VI to ii to I, etc. over the course of two bars with two chords per measure. This leaves me only having to actually think about 1/4 of the chords I used to, which is much easier. What then happens is you learn common substitutions (for example, I don't usually repeat the four bars in verse 1 that start with "bIII." I use different chords that support that melody just a little better, but in my head it's essentially the same thing.

For learning melodies or solos I'll usually sing along with them (usually not so great singing) and that helps make those quick to learn. There are generally melodic ideas and rhythms that keep coming back so sometimes I end up thinking of something as "figure A" or some shit and then it just has some variations and so it'll become something like "A1, A1, A1, A2," or something.

For rhythm parts it's usually similar to solos/melodies. I sing along, look for common figures. There's a rhythm part in a song the band I'm in has that goes: G-Bb x4 G-C x4 G-D x4 G-C x4, and repeats four times and moves up a half step each time. But rather than think about it as G-Bb x4 G-C x4 G-D x4 G-C x4 G#-B x4 etc. I just think of it in intervals as: 1-m3 X4 1-P4 X4 1-P5 x4 1-P4 x4, up 1/2 step X3

If you do look at the chord progression for rhythm parts that can also be very useful. Most of the times changes in the "melodic" aspect of a rhythm part corresponds to the harmony in some way and so having that association in your head can help.

But I only started doing all of that after doing a lot of other exercises to help develop my memory, specifically in rhythm. I find rhythm is where most people run into trouble. Play them a typical pop song once and they can kind of hum back the melody and harmony parts but often the rhythm won't be quite right. But hey, don't let what I did/do determine how you go about learning stuff. You need to find whatever works best for you.

I will add that all of this breaks down a little bit when you get into significantly more complicated music, but that's just because the patterns become more complex. You still notice them and so it makes them easier to memorize then if you tried to do things one note/chord at a time.

So that's everything that I do, but it's taken me a bit to build up to it. The way that I would suggest to do it is pretty much in line with what Solodini said. Break into small chunks. Large enough so that it's a bit of a challenge, but not so long that you need smash your guitar through your brain just to get the notes to stay there. It's another music skill, there's no really secret other than practice, practice, practice. And even though what I do doesn't translate at a 1:1 ratio for what you want to do, I hope this monster post is somewhat useful to give you ideas. Take what you want from, drop the rest, and just make it work for you.

 

[YouAreAwesome]

@Solidini and Aion: thanks for the reply. I have been working in Stetina's books for a week or 2 steadily now and I think it has enough to offer me on the theory side so I'll stick with that for now. The approach of Aion is too complex for me right now but I'll look into it again in a couple of months and see if it would be more appropriate then.

On the technique side: adhering to the exercises strictly, daily and with a metronome seems to be really paying off. Increased with an average of 15/20 BPM in a week or 2. Nowhere near what seems to be average around here at sevenstring.org but even if the increases decline rapidly it will get me where I want to be in 6 to 12 months from now I guess. Moreover, and more interesting, it really reveals strenghts and weakenesses. The tremolo picking warmup/exercise Aion mentioned seems to really do the trick (even on this short term!) on increasing picking hand dexterity. Thanks everybody!