Advice in my playing please

Hey all,

Ive just recorded this and uploaded it. Im after some tips to improve my playing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rKN358RkKQ4

Cheers,
JC :p

first off, you're not bad. but there are a few things you can do that would make you greatly improve your playing. first of all, your fingers sound like they just haven't had enough experience with synchronizing licks. you need to work on mechanical licks that will improve your chops. dont just focus on the left hand, either. listen to a player like paul gilbert and you will realize that being fast with the left hand is obviously important, but never underestimate the power of picking abilities. as a left hand exercise, try this: dont use a metronome, as your speeds will vary between picking techniques at first. start at an easy tempo, and alternate pick on the 1st string for 30 seconds. immediately afterwards, do straight down-picking for another 30 seconds. now here is the killer. for the last 30 seconds, you'll be doing all upstrokes. this will be hard at first, but get through half a minute of it, and play as consistently as you can. after that, give yourself a minute or so to rest your hand, and assess what could make your picking more economic. watch yourself as you alternate pick, keeping an eye out for bad habits that will slow you down as you get faster. you should be exerting as little energy as possible but still cleanly picking every note. no extra movements should be made.

and for the left hand, there are literally thousands of ways to build chops. i would highly suggest getting a book called "mastering lead guitar technique" by by troy stetina. best investment you will ever make as a lead guitarist. i have about a dozen books i use to practice with, and my biggest piece of advice would be to look into purchasing some good ones.

Ever practice without distortion? Pretty crucial for pinpointing your technical flaws.

Thank you very much for your advice. I shall have a go at the 30 second picking.

Ive never really thought about playing without distortion as all the music I play needs it. How will it help?

Cheers,
JC

Distortion tends to hide mistakes because of the "fuzzy sound". Playing w/o distortion might not sound like the CD you're trying to copy, but the mistakes will be right in your face. If you can play w/o distortion and get it sounding tight, adding the distortion after this and it will sound a million times better.

One other critique which has more to do with you video than your actual playing. The backing track was totally lost in the recording. A better mix between your guitar and the backing will improve the quality immediately.

Apologies for the video. Ive only got a cheap camera. Might be better if i record just the audio onto my pc.

Originally Posted by: wrathchildjcApologies for the video. Ive only got a cheap camera. Might be better if i record just the audio onto my pc.

I really didn't care about the video quality, it was the audio that didn't measure up. Yea, try recording direct into the PC. It will give you a better mix I think.