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Original message:70 days 21 hours 58 minutes ago

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Member: Alex Wang

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I would say I am somewhere between a beginner and intermediate. I want to start to play some faster songs like cliffs of dover, though that is far out there. I am also kind of bad at picking, so any suggestions there? I also am starting to practice playing a pattern with pull offs. It is the pentatonic scale top 4 notes going down, then returning the the 3rd played note and doing it again till I get to the bottom. I can't seem to play that fast, accurately, and securely enough. I have poor fretting and picking when I go to an uncomfortable tempo. I know that I should be going slow, but that doesn't look like it would work, cause of my fretting is bad, and I don't know how to fix it exactly.

Any tips, practices, sites for help?

Reply:70 days 21 hours 45 minutes ago
Member: sallan

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One of the many paradoxes of life. If you want to play faster and more accurately, then you need to play slow. Real slow. So slow it makes you want to pull your teeth out. So slow you couldn't make a mistake if you possibly tried. That will build mastery, both of technique and material.

Use a metronome, if your "fretting" is still bad at a slow tempo, go at a slower tempo where it is not bad. If your picking is bad, you should not be practicing pull offs to compensate for that.

If you know you should be going slow though, I don't believe that i am telling you anything you don't already instinctivly know.

-sallan

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Reply:70 days 21 hours 21 minutes ago
Member: Alex Wang

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k thanks,
but if I do it slow enough not to make a mistake, how long should I stay at that tempo till I move up, and how much should I move up?

Reply:70 days 21 hours 7 minutes ago
Member: sallan

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Well,

Take you pentatonic scale for instance. Play it slow, play it accurately. Once you find the tempo you are at (meaning the one that you can play with no mistakes) play through the exercise maybe 10 time, 20 if it's really short like a penta scale. Then move the metronome up 1 bpm. And do it again!

Some footnotes.

Doing this with scales and the like you can get more out of your practice. Lets say you take the same exercise and rather than play it 20 times, play it 12. BUT each repitition is in a different key. This can be as easy as starting on the first fret, and ending on the 12th. I think unless you really don't know the pattern there is not much to be gained by staying in one position on the neck, playing one scale, in one key. The extra benefit is free, since you are actually working on your technique.

Also, sometimes you don't need to play a scale at all. If it's technique, try some coordination exercises. They are mindless, simple as playing four notes on all string sets up and down the entire neck. This is good warm up, I still use these on days when my hands are feeling "cold' and it allows you to really dig in with the right hand and focus on picking.

Lastly, do these in spurts. Your not gonna get fast in two days, so don't try to cram your practice into two days. Set the metronome, do 5 minutes, and then go watch some tv, or noodle if you just can't put the guitar down. Reward yourself...and then go back and do another 5 minutes. You might do 10 of these little 5 minute sessions a day, and that will add up. You wont be faster in 2 days, but if you keep it up and don't cheat yourself, you WILL be faster in 2 months. I Guarentee it.

-sallan

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Reply:70 days 21 hours 12 minutes ago
Member: NegativeGhostRider

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Until you are sure you can speed it up. Basically, it's trial and error. Set the metronome for 70 bpm (for example). Once you are comfortable there, try to turn it up to 80. If that's too fast, back down to 79, 78, 77, etc until you find your *new* comfort level.

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Reply:70 days 21 hours 8 minutes ago
Member: Alex Wang

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after you find your comfort level....?
do you practice at the comfort level till your sure your ok, then go up and see?
Also, what would you say about having mistakes only part of the time, like one mistake every 2 times I play?

Reply:70 days 21 hours 2 minutes ago
Member: sallan

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If there is a mistake every two times you play, you need to kick the beat down to a slower tempo where there is no mistake.

Now, having said that, if you are really stuggling with making mistakes...take the speed, the metronome, all of it out of the picture. What I am sensing is that your visualization of what you are doing is not clear. Like trying to find a light switch in a dark room. You can find it, you know where it is, you may just knock your shins up on the furnature every few times you do it.

Take time to visualize. Absorb the pattern, know the shape, and ideally, know the notes you are trying to play. If you can play it in your head perfectly, you can play it on the instrument perfectly. Think positive thoughts...if you feel frustration, take a break, and come back to it with a fresh mind.

-sallan

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Reply:70 days 20 hours 22 minutes ago
Member: Fred Kraus

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I'm also trying to build my speed on three string sweeps. This is very useul info, because I'm at the same junction. My mind knows what to do, but my hands just won't do it.

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Reply:70 days 19 hours 19 minutes ago
Member: Alex Wang

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I hear ya

Reply:70 days 18 hours 40 minutes ago
Member: The Manic Demented

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Simple, play slower. Practice the movement at a slow speed so you can do it with out thinking, if you cant do it you are going to fast dont try and force through a wall, back off learn it right and then attempt the speed.

Other than that, the only thing I can offer you is just think you can do it, know you can. Essentially just do it, even if it sounds ridiculous play fast and then work out the quirks slower.

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Reply:70 days 18 hours 6 minutes ago
Member: this dying soul

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Some really solid advice here. Definately this info should be helpful

Personally, when I'm working at building speed I look for the comfort zone and then practice a few beats faster, say 2 or 3 beats more. if you are making mistakes, stay at that speed until you can do the exercise with no mistakes on a consistant basis.

As with the advice from the others here, patience is key. just because you did the exercise with no mistakes 10 times does't mean time to move on. stay there a while and enjoy the sense of progress before raising the speed and going at it again.

Like sallan also mentioned, at first, you may not want to use the metronome until you know the pattern, then concentrate on speed.

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Reply:70 days 17 hours 59 minutes ago
Member: Fred Kraus

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I've noticed that when I hit the rec button I tend to tense up a bit. When I'm playing along with the track, but not recording, that's when I notice that I wish I had the record button on. Sometimes I think you need to just stay frosty, (and practice, practice, practice), but definitely put yourself in a state of mind where you're relaxed.

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Reply:70 days 17 hours 20 minutes ago
Member: sallan

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I think everyone gets that feeling when the red light goes on. It's especially intense when money is on the table. The real solution for that is to hit the record button when you start, and shut it down when you finish. Sure, you have one long track of 3 hours worth of material, but at least you will capture the good and bad. This can teach you a lot about your concept. Some times the bad doesn't make a great recording, but some of the ideas within are great! And I think recording helps artists to grow. Once it's done well, you can move on.

Practice is always good, but if your practicing for the button, best to just turn it on, let it roll, and forget it's even on.

-sallan

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Reply:70 days 17 hours 16 minutes ago
Member: jobabrinks

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Practicing for speed is just about the thing I hate the most about the guitar. Getting a certain scale pattern up to 120 bpm and then finding I can't even play the same scale at a slight variation at even 80 bpm. It's one of the great frustrations I have about the instrument and makes me wish I was a piano player sometimes. I could never be one of those guys who sits there playing scales to a metronome 6 hours in a row. But I do force myself to do it sometimes.

Reply:70 days 16 hours 29 minutes ago
Member: this dying soul

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if you record everything, not only do you eventually forget the record button is on, but you get to capture some stuff that will be worth its weight in gold once you learn to recreate it.

currently I have nothing to record myself with. I plan to eventually change that when I get a bit of extra cash. If I was smart, maybe I should have gotten this instead of a Gibson...but that guitar was too sweet to pass up.

I'm a gear whore, what can I say :)

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Reply:70 days 16 hours 20 minutes ago
Member: Ben Moore

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play over and over and over and over and over and over and eventually you will have it all down.

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