Playing Faster

[Slasha]

Hey,

I have a slight problem. Several years ago i could see myself getting better and playing faster. But lately, its like my progressing has just stopped. AND IM ONLY 14 and have a LONG way to go to play up-to-speed Yngwie stuff flawlessly. Anyone got any ideas or exercises to help speed up my playing???

Slasha

[James]

First how bout telling us what your practice habits are. That will help us to recognize where you could improve them

[Slasha]

i practice like 4 hours a day usually, (but a lot more on weekends)

[Gulder]

I think he means the type of exercises you do ;-) How good you stick to your learning program (if you have one), etc..

[Edited by Gulder on 04-08-2002 at 03:56 AM]

[Slasha]

well i use a lot of theory type books and stuff. so usually i'll warm up and stretch my left hand, then do some chromatic picking exercises. Then i'll usually move to like fast scales and modes and improvisation

[FretSlug]

I think that sounds very good, four hours a day is quite a lot. Hmm.. Perhaps you should try some String skipping excercises and legato stuff.

Malmsteen plays quite fast (I know he's not the fastest guitarist in the world but he plays fast, no denying that, eh..?) so I wouldn't worry about that you can't play Malmsteen as fast or as cleanly as he does..

[Benoit]

The best advice I ever got to playing fast was to practice in bursts.

Take your favorite lick and cut it into segments of 3-5 notes. Then practice each segments in bursts. Concentrate on accuracy (if you want to play malmsteen you'll need it).

When you can play tow segments really fast in burst, join them together and practice again. This is a long process but it will give you more speed.

You can't expect to do gain speed doing a 30 notes run up and down and keep your accuracy. (Well I can't). Just learn segments and paste them later.

Another method is to take the first 5 notes, practice in burst, and then add one more note. When you master 6 notes then go to 7 notes.

Practice with a metronome is also good improce your skill. It's good to be fast but it's better to be fast in tempo :)

Try it and tell me what you think.

[zepp_rules]

i'm the same boat you're in right now. i try hard not to get frustrated. my advice to you: just keep practicing, string skipping is good, so is chromatics. if you want on http://www.guitarworld.com you can go through the various artists lessons. they have speed tutorials, and Jon Petrucci's lessons are very good for what you want.


also, keep in mind, Malmsteen practiced something like 12 hours a day for 15 years or so.


good luck

[Dejan Sajinovic]

Belive me when I tell you, my life changed after buyng this one, Rock Discipline by John Petrucci. There you´ll find lot of scales, segments, sweeps, legato and so on.

Along whit Rock Discipline and a metronome, yeah dud, you´ll see what will happen.

[aiwass]

A question on the same subject: I am also 14 (soon to be 15, oh boy....), and I am also experiencing a speed problem. I am currently able to alternate pick 16th note scales on 160-168 bpm without mistakes. However, it doesn't seem as if my wrist is capable of picking much faster. I suspect that i am lacking in sheer strength and stamina, and I was wondering if any of you bright fellows had any excersises that are good for just building wrist brutality? I hear that "bursts" are effective for that. too.

[u10ajf]

I don't know if I can play as fast as you (I don't use a metronome which is foolish of me) but I wonder if you are using too much wrist and too little elbow. Some players play all from the elbow, some all from the wrist. Most mix it up. All wrist sounds painful to me but I think (from what I have seen of Malmsteem) he's mostly a wrist player but it's hard for me to tell from what little I've seen. Be careful that you don't injure your tendons. I used to be a wrist player but I didn't do it right and it was a real strain. If you want to pick up speed I suggest you work on your sweep picking, bursting up and down in pitch rather than repeating the same one sounds faster to me anyway.
One more thing: use a chunky plectrum with tapered to a point. Thin plectrums bend before they pass over the string leaving you waiting for the point to pass, the time involved isn't very great but it is important if you are a speed player.

[aiwass]

I'm not saying that i'm incredibly fast or anything, but 8TH NOTES?!!! You've gotta be s***tin' me! I do mean 16th notes. Actually i recently progressed to 180. Those "burst" excersises really help alot. Thanks to whoever mentioned "bursting", as I had tried but given up on it before.

[James]

my bad aiw, I see now. Dont' know where my head was.

[Dejan Sajinovic]

I enjoy playn´ chromatic scales ´cause they are pretty basic and you can speed ´em up. I use ´em for warm up but also in solos and I practice them them usualy. Inspiration of chromatic scale came to me after watching Petruccis video. I like the way he´s foolin around (like he can´t make it over 220 bpm). I usualy start playng chromatic at 180 bpm and then I increase the tempo by 10 bpm all the way up till 250 wich is quite fast.

Playn´ chromatic scales will not only help you to increase your speed, it will also help you to synchronize you left and right hand wich is really important.

So, find some chromatic scales and metronome and dig in.

Another thing that is good for speed is 3 notes per string scales. Just listen to players like Petrucci, Malmsteen, Gilbert and Morse. They use it all the time. However, it´s harder to fix speed on these ones compare to chromatic scales ´cause you fingers will probaly be forced to change positions and so on. Let´s say that between 120-145 bpm is a great speed for 16-note triplets wich are very useful and they sound better than a chromatic scale.

One more thing. I just don´t know how Yngwie can play that fast by only using his wrist. It´s impossible. Usualy, when i play slow things I use only my wrist but when it comes to faster, I just got to use my elbow and stick out my point finger so that I only hold my pick with thumb and f**k you finger. Is it a right method. (I know that Petrucci does so)

[aiwass]

If Petrucci does it, it has to be right. That guy is GOD.

[lalimacefolle]

I'mmmmmmmmmm Baaaaaaaaaaack!!!
Anyways, practice slow, increase... Use a metronome..

[aiwass]

It's not that simple, though. It also depends on what you play. (Scales, sixteenth-notes, triplets, bursts, etc.)

[Slasha]

hey,

earlier in this thread a guy told me to buy rock discipline, is it a good book? or is it basic? (which i dont want)

thanks

:cool: Slasha

[aiwass]

I don't know about rock discipline, but "wild stringdom" (also petrucci) is amazing.

[lalimacefolle]

Isn't rock discipline a video?
If you need speed, take it from the man, Al di Meola and 'picking techniques' unfortunately, it might be out of print.

Try seeing Shawn Lane's tapes with REH, they are quite amazing too...

[aiwass]

If you're into neoclassical stuff, malmsteen's videos are good, too. He plays most of the stuff both slow and fast, to give you an idea of how to play it, and there is a booklet with tab included.

[snimbkar]

Originally posted by Slasha
well i use a lot of theory type books and stuff. so usually i'll warm up and stretch my left hand, then do some chromatic picking exercises. Then i'll usually move to like fast scales and modes and improvisation

What you're experiencing is completely normal, EVERYONE goes through it. Here are some suggestions:

1. Set goals. By this I don't mean "I want to play as fast as Yngwie in 6 months". Set small goals like: "By next week I want to play this scale 3 clicks higher on the mm"
Start small and pretty soon...
2. Set SPECIFIC TIMES for what you are practicing, and STICK TO IT!!! an example:
DAY 1
A. Minor chords (15 - 20 minutes)
B. MINOR Scale patterns (20 - 30 minutes)
C. Improvising (25 - 30 minutes)
D. Learning Songs (30 - 40 minutes)
Notice how small the time blocks are? Alex Skolnick and Marty Friedman once said, "20 minutes of FOCUSED practice is much more beneficial than 3 hours of 'noodling'"
3. Keep a record of your progress. How else will you know what you've accomplished?
4. If you feel you're stagnating, try something new!!!
Learn chicken picking, learn some funk tunes, force yourself to do something other than what you normally do.
5. And Lastly, be consistent, and understand that 'peaks and valleys' are part of the game, and they do happen

Good luck!

[lalimacefolle]

Good stuff there Skimkbar! Keep it coming :D

[snimbkar]

Originally posted by lalimacefolle
Good stuff there Skimkbar! Keep it coming :D

Thank you :-)

I think one of the things that we all forget is that practicing is as 'scientific' as it is "artistic". One of the hardest things to do is focus on task, many of us have to force ourselves to do it. How many times have we caught ourselves yawning when practicing scales...? Come on! be honest everyone!
Oh, and on that subject, when practicing, it's actually good to have a little background noise, I don't mean loud sounds, or TVs blaring, but normal ambient noise. Studies show that people who are in extremely isolated environments (no noise, very little visual stimuli) actually 'day dream', and have more difficulty in concentration because the brain processes all these sensory inputs and when they are denied,the brain tries to fill in the emptiness with daydreaming etc...

[lalimacefolle]

Remember the thread we fought over? That's exactly the stuff we wanted you to say, practical stuff you might have learnt at the GIT.

[snimbkar]

The 'Practice schedule' was something that was stressed ad nauseum at GIT, in fact they even sold thier own 'Practice notebooks' that allowed you to log practice times , subjects etc...The 'brain' stuff is stuuf I remembered from all those neuro-psychology classes I took in college (actually I'm surprised I did!).

[guitar99]

When I play ANY line I always visualize the chord patterns that I'm moving through. This tends to help with speed as well as creativity because for me the lines jump out of the patterns themselves.

[James]

Lal, I agree with you about Al. Petrucci, Gilbert, Malmsteen... all speed demons, but in terms of pure alternate picking insanity, I think Al takes the cake.

[fernando gibran]

hi well im yngwies fan too i love the way he plays and everithing i can tell you something about playing yngwie try to learn apeggios and linear scales and scale modes like diminished scales hamonic minor scales that way youll see that your playing is improving as well as your ear . and remember to do it slow firt work with a metronome always and youll get it .

[lalimacefolle]

Originally posted by James
Lal, I agree with you about Al. Petrucci, Gilbert, Malmsteen... all speed demons, but in terms of pure alternate picking insanity, I think Al takes the cake.

Have you seen his tape by REH? That guy has so much control over his lines!! And lots of people think he has no emotions, while there's so much in his music!