Shredding 101

[dpm]

Theres also several psych studies that show that muscle growth and dexterity isnt directly caused by exercise, but are caused by brain function that exercise can induce. One study showed that a person thinking about making their thumb stronger was able to increase their thumb strength by 30% after a month, even though they never once did anything physical to strengthen it.

I agree 100%. I rarely played guitar in the first couple of years after the birth of my son, but I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to achieve, the way I wanted to play. Then, strangely, when I got back into playing I could do all these things I'd been trying to do for years but never could.
That's exactly what I was getting at in an earlier post

 

[Revolution777]

Tip one - relax
Tip two - become comfortable and familiar with what you want to achieve
Tip three - relax

Chances are you're becoming frustrated and tense, which will slow you down.
I don't know if you play racing games at all, but I find the same thing happens in Gran Turismo for example. You know how the really fast laps seem to happen when you're not even trying, in that trance-like state? Almost a meditation.

Well, that's what happens to me anyway

Oh, and practise your ass off too

I know exactly what you mean.
I DO get quite tense when I play...
that is until I get in the feel of it.

 

[Revolution777]

"Shred" sucks. Really bitchin' technical/progressive guitar delivered with killer feel and articulation and lots of melody rocks. Hence, don't shred.

(for every John Petrucci there's a twenty Rusty Cooley clones who couldn't write a song to save their lives)

I know!
I'm really into prog rock & metal.
Although I do love Children of Bodom, Damageplan and the like too.

 

[Revolution777]

Ive often noticed that I seem to get better at guitar during the breaks when Im NOT playing. haha Its weird I'll practice something, cant quite get it, decide to give it a break for a day or two. Then when I come back to it I play it the first time perfectly. It could be because of the rest and Im more relaxed. Theres also several psych studies that show that muscle growth and dexterity isnt directly caused by exercise, but are caused by brain function that exercise can induce. One study showed that a person thinking about making their thumb stronger was able to increase their thumb strength by 30% after a month, even though they never once did anything physical to strengthen it. Maybe the same principle applies here, when you take a break from an exercise you cant quite get down, you think about that exercise and analyze it, then when you come back you are able to play it. haha crazy I know, but hey Im bored so Im hitting you all with some theories of mine.

I'm the same way.
I'll work and work and work and feel like I'm not getting anywhere...
so I get discouraged and give up but when I take a break then come back it's soooooooooooooo easy
It's

 

[Revolution777]

Thanx a lot for the help...
it was much needed!

 

[Deathlef]

Ok, now let's move to sweeps. I'm currently trying some sweeping licks and even wrote a sweep that almost breaks my neck while playing it. The problem is, that if I play it kinda slow, it is still inaccurate and sounds undefined. Some faster notes here, some slower there. It sucks so bad, it makes me quit the exercise almost everytime. If I try it faster, it's getting better, because of the steady movement of my picking hand. But if it's too fast, I fuck it completely up.
I guess it has something to do with relaxing. Maybe I'm too fixed on playing proper that my hand's getting unrelaxed. Any ideas?

 

[dpm]

Put the guitar aside for two years. Have a baby, work, make sure you don't have the time and are too tired to play. During this period think about sweep picking. Become familiar with what it is you want to do. Once the kid is walking you may find you can pick up the guitar again occasionally. And you'll be able to sweep.

It worked for me!

In all seriousness, sweeping is probably the #1 technique that requires you to relax. You just cannot be tense when you're trying to get flowing sweeps happening. It may help to not worry too much about getting the exact notes you want happening with the left hand initially. Find which frets feel comfortable an allow you to concentrate on coordinating the two hands. Once that's happening you could try changing to the notes you actually want to play. I'm not sure if that approach works but it might be worth trying

Oh, and make sure your guitar is well setup with a nice low action.

 

[7slinger]

metronome...metronome...metronome...a musician could write the most technically proficient, expressive, emotion-laden piece of music, and if it's not in time (unless it was written to be played free time) then it's not going to have the impact it was meant to have.

also, be sure that if you can play something to the click at say 150, you can play it just as clean if you put your click to halftime

 

[Vince]

Sweeps are really hard to learn to play correctly, because you can't really play them at slower speeds. I'd say to practice sweeps in 2 parts. First off, get your right hand perfect at executing a fast sweep. Once that's in-line and the way you want it to sound, work on the left hand at a slower tempo, then gradually get it up to speed.

That's how I approach sweeps. I learned it from watching Petrucci's "Rock Discipline" video. That's his approach too.

 

[The Rx Elite]

Tip one - relax
Tip two - become comfortable and familiar with what you want to achieve
Tip three - relax

Chances are you're becoming frustrated and tense, which will slow you down.
I don't know if you play racing games at all, but I find the same thing happens in Gran Turismo for example. You know how the really fast laps seem to happen when you're not even trying, in that trance-like state? Almost a meditation.

Well, that's what happens to me anyway

Oh, and practise your ass off too

Thats Hilarious. Im the exact same way with GT4

 

[Bastard Toadflax]

+1 on the GT4...that is pretty strange...

 

[7stringninja]

I'm only going to re-emphasize what's already been said 100 times.

1) Metronome
2) PROPER TECHNIQUE (holding the guitar, etc...)
3) Ruetine/consistancy

Just to add to #1. Don't just use straight 16ths all the time. That WILL help you build speed, but you want to be able to play more than just fast.

Mix things up. Do 2 measures of straight 16ths, then 8th triplets, and then back. Dividing the beats into different *-plets (triplets, quadruplets, septuplets, etc..) will help your rhythm and improve your playing. Also, MAKE SURE you are playing with 100% accuracy and timing before increasing the bpms. Don't get anxious. Be patient.

 

[Vegetta]

The best way to build speed is to practice ( i know duh)

play the lick slow enough that there is no tension in your picking or fretting hand (don't worry about a metronome to start - focus on playing the lick as cleanly/slowly as possible until you know it fowards and backwards.

Keep proper hand position dont have your thumb reaching around to the b string try to keep it centered on the neck

Then get out your metronome and begin to increase your tempo - don't try to go from slow to shred in one day - the key is to keep both hands relaxed.

Do the same thing with all of the modes and arpeggios

Finally toss in some chromatic stuff - this will help ensure your using all of your fingers

Play this ascending and desending move it up a fret and repeat up to the neck then back down

E |---|---|---|---|---|---| 7 |
B |---|---|---|---|---| 6 |---|
G |---|---|---|---| 5 |---|---|
D |---|---|---| 4 |---|---|---|
A |---|---| 3 |---|---|---|---|
E |---| 2 |---|---|---|---|---|
B | 1 |---|---|---|---|---|---|

You really need to have your guitars action dialed in as well - On my guitars I can play pretty fast but on ones that are set up shitty I have a hard time playing clean.(duh again I know)

 

[distressed_romeo]

One important point is that you have to be REALLY patient and methodical. Chops don't happen overnight. I've worked at my chops for three-to-ten hours every day since I was 13, and it's only recently that I've become fairly comfortable with my level of technique.
It's also really important to accept your current level of technique, and just make music out of what you have; make sure you set aside time each day just to jam and have fun with your newly-acquired skills. Technique is worthless unless you can apply it in the real world (this usually entails practicing technical things 'til you get them to the point where they feel as natural as your first blues licks).