"Make money your god and it will plague you like the devil."
What do you classify as fast?
I was just wondering what you all consider to be fast for straight alt picking semiquavers (16ths). How many bpm would you consider fast
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# 2
well my personal goal is somewhere around 190 bpm but I would consider anything over 150 to be fast. 10 notes a second is a pretty good level to be at I would think. If you wanna shred then your gonna need to be much faster. but for most genre's 150 is verging on too fast to sound good, imo.
# 3
ok thanks im at about 180'ish on some licks but mostly 160-170'ish im working Towards being able to improvise with straight alt picking at around 180bpm :confused: but im sure im going slow down when i have to go back to school :mad:
"Make money your god and it will plague you like the devil."
# 4
One thing that I don't get at all is why a lot of people want to play fast without playing something that sounds good. Shredding isn't the end all & be all of guitar playing.
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# 5
Virtuoso players practice at least 1000 bpm. It's all subjective though, one does not need to be able to play really fast in order to be a great player.
Ryan Buckner, Ysrafel
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# 7
Originally Posted by: parrotheada1aOne thing that I don't get at all is why a lot of people want to play fast without playing something that sounds good. Shredding isn't the end all & be all of guitar playing.
Yeah but there are plenty of shred players who play incredibly fast AND sound good too. My opinion is that to be a 'great' guitarist you need to be able to play soulfully even at blazing speeds. You only get to that level by being able to play soulfully at a slow pace first. Shred runs work best in small doses, the guys who play at the same picking speed from start to finish get boring pretty quickly.
# 8
Originally Posted by: SuperhumanYeah but there are plenty of shred players who play incredibly fast AND sound good too. My opinion is that to be a 'great' guitarist you need to be able to play soulfully even at blazing speeds. You only get to that level by being able to play soulfully at a slow pace first. Shred runs work best in small doses, the guys who play at the same picking speed from start to finish get boring pretty quickly.
I agree shred runs work best in small dose's mabey because thats all i can do also :( But then again. You dont truely relise the speed if its Flat out the whole song but with slower parts it will emphasize the fast parts, making them noticable and more tastful
"Make money your god and it will plague you like the devil."
# 9
Akira is totally right. Take the 16th note licks in the solo of My Sharona for example. They aren't that fast but because they are played cleanly and on time they sound exciting and fast.
Miracle Blade 4: Gibs on touch.
# 10
I would consider 200 bpm to be fast
# 11
i'm doing the whole john petrucci thing where i go up by 8 every time.
during these school holidays i've gone from the 180's to bordering on 200, not there yet but almost...
but i reckon anything over 150-160 bpm would be pretty fast, and 150 is probably the hardest to improvise with straight 16ths on. playing faster makes you hink less or something, i dunno, but my teacher always has me playing at 150 only using my thumb to push the pick, then only the wrist, then only the arm, and when your using the arm its definately easier to play at 180 than 150.
but i'm rambling now...i don't think i've said anything relevent except the over 150 bpm thing, so thats my answer...150 +
during these school holidays i've gone from the 180's to bordering on 200, not there yet but almost...
but i reckon anything over 150-160 bpm would be pretty fast, and 150 is probably the hardest to improvise with straight 16ths on. playing faster makes you hink less or something, i dunno, but my teacher always has me playing at 150 only using my thumb to push the pick, then only the wrist, then only the arm, and when your using the arm its definately easier to play at 180 than 150.
but i'm rambling now...i don't think i've said anything relevent except the over 150 bpm thing, so thats my answer...150 +
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# 12
I agree with both g--rant and Akira...
'Fast' would be 16ths at 150+, but unless it's clean and on tempo, it's pointless. Playing 50bpm slower but in time will make you sound faster than missing the beat at 200...
'Fast' would be 16ths at 150+, but unless it's clean and on tempo, it's pointless. Playing 50bpm slower but in time will make you sound faster than missing the beat at 200...
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# 13
Originally Posted by: g----ranti'm doing the whole john petrucci thing where i go up by 8 every time.
during these school holidays i've gone from the 180's to bordering on 200, not there yet but almost...
but i reckon anything over 150-160 bpm would be pretty fast, and 150 is probably the hardest to improvise with straight 16ths on. playing faster makes you hink less or something, i dunno, but my teacher always has me playing at 150 only using my thumb to push the pick, then only the wrist, then only the arm, and when your using the arm its definately easier to play at 180 than 150.
The thumb pushing the pick sounds like Circular picking but only using your wrist and then only arm sounds like it could cause some damage at 150bpm Semiquavers. :confused:
*Edit* Also not questioning the credibility of this how are you going up at 8bpm at a time. I believe this is ment to be used till you get to your playing limits, then start raising by lower ammounts if not it could cause very sloppy sounding high tempo playing?
"Make money your god and it will plague you like the devil."
# 14
Originally Posted by: damagedThe thumb pushing the pick sounds like Circular picking bbut only using your wrist and then only arm sounds like it could cause some damage at 150bpm Semiquavers. :confused:
hmm, to me it seems like a good idea ( :confused: ).. Take all the musclegroups that'll be working for you when @ warp speed and practice them separetly. So that you can remain in control when you find the need to give it an extra push with you "whole" arm. (Or am i reading too much into the original post here? hehe, i probalby am, making things up as i go..) Im going to try that out a bit.
# 15
Originally Posted by: g----ranti'm doing the whole john petrucci thing where i go up by 8 every time.
during these school holidays i've gone from the 180's to bordering on 200, not there yet but almost...
but i reckon anything over 150-160 bpm would be pretty fast, and 150 is probably the hardest to improvise with straight 16ths on. playing faster makes you hink less or something, i dunno, but my teacher always has me playing at 150 only using my thumb to push the pick, then only the wrist, then only the arm, and when your using the arm its definately easier to play at 180 than 150.
but i'm rambling now...i don't think i've said anything relevent except the over 150 bpm thing, so thats my answer...150 +
Im interested in the thought behind your teachers speed-practising method. Care to give us an explanation? =)
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I pretty much agree that anything 150+ is fast. Improvisation in terms of permutating every single note becomes extremely difficult at around 180. Keep in mind, however, that after that speed most of the time you aren't really going for any sort of melody, you're going for a texture that can fill the soundscape well--almost like an impressionistic pianist would imply a certain key or tone with different textures.
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# 17
Originally Posted by: clewniihmm, to me it seems like a good idea ( :confused: ).. Take all the musclegroups that'll be working for you when @ warp speed and practice them separetly. So that you can remain in control when you find the need to give it an extra push with you "whole" arm. (Or am i reading too much into the original post here? hehe, i probalby am, making things up as i go..) Im going to try that out a bit.
Well mabey the wrist and thumb muscles, but the arm if your alt picking usuing your arm the cleaness of you picking could come into question but then again doesnt EVH alt picking using the whole arm?
"Make money your god and it will plague you like the devil."
# 18
Originally Posted by: clewniiIm interested in the thought behind your teachers speed-practising method. Care to give us an explanation? =)
well i'm told that theres three basic ways of picking:
using the thumb (slowest, but most accurate)
using the wrist (happy medium)
and using the whole forearm (shred picking, lacking sometimes in accuracy)
so i get told to use all three and develop them, because aparently i use each of the three in different situations.
i tend to only use my wrist, but if i slow down and play a soft line i'll pick with the thumb a lot, and if i go really fast i use my whole arm, etc...
so i'm made to play all three at the same time..if possible, to develop both speed and accuracy or something like that...
but i never hurt myself before, i hope i don't...
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# 19
I like Shredding as much as the next bloke but one name springs to mind...........Dave Gilmour
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