struggling


gmixstudios
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gmixstudios
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09/16/2009 9:29 pm
hi there I am struggling trying to get my speed up if doing triplets in metal style
finger 1 5th fret E 3rd fingeer 7th fret 4th finge 8th and the same on a string as a speed developer my little finger is killing! is this something that could cause damage if over excersized?

thx
# 1
theBanger
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theBanger
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09/17/2009 6:27 am
Your straining yourself to hard to become fast, I've done this far too many times myself.

Focus on keeping your movements short and tight, rather then trying to mimic speed. I still try to do things fast, and I always end up sounding terrible, and hurting myself. Just remember that the shorter your finger moves, the less time it will take to hit the note, thus focus on less movement over faster movement.

One thing that I find is helping me is that I try to keep stretching my fingers every chance I get. The muscles can build up tension over time and stretching helps to make sure they don't strain an injury, it will also help the muscles to react faster (hint: there is no substitute for the technique mentioned above, but faster is faster).

If your finding that your finger hurts every time you use it, you may already have injured it. I'm not sure what the best way to heal it would be, but not using it sounds like a pretty good idea.
# 2
gmixstudios
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gmixstudios
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09/17/2009 7:16 am
short and tight do you mean just like the cromatic scale?
# 3
OlveraUK
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OlveraUK
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09/17/2009 11:42 am
Most people will never tell you this. I've been playing guitar for over 40 years and speed comes from two main points: 1) Practice and 2) Physical ability. The advice others have given you regarding keeping the movement short is sound. Try not to move your fingers too far from the fretboard. Keep them as close to the string as possible. Practice a movement slowly at first until your fingers "remember" the pattern and then gradually speed it up. Also, watch your picking hand. Are you using efficient picking patterns (e.g. alternate picking)? Are you using hammer-ons and pull-offs? Do you have the raking technique down? Secondly, even if you practice, practice, practice, you may never get the speed you want. Look at SRVs fingers...short and stubby. Physically, you may not have the right characteristics in your fingers, muscles, reflexes, etc to get the speed you want. You may be limited by your physical characteristics and you will never get there. On the other hand, watch BB King and some of the great blues players. They didn't have blinding speed but they did have soul. That's what music is all about...soul and passion. Keep playing and use the soul...afterall, expression is the most important part of music, not whether you can out-pick the next guy. There's always a faster gunslinger.
# 4
K2BT
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K2BT
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09/17/2009 2:09 pm
I have to 2nd what OlveraUK wrote. i'll play a scale I want to learn very slow until the muscle memory kicks in. Muscle memory is when you can play something without thinking about it. For instance-if you asked me to play a C chord I can do it without looking at the fretboard. My fingers can do it easily because I've done it thousands of times. So I practice a lick slowly over and over until I can do it easily and then I'll practice how fast I want to do it. But as Olvera said, I might not be able to attain the speed I want because my fingers won't go that fast accurately. Eric Clapton is also known as "slowhand". He can play a slow blues scale with such depth and feeling that it is very hard to reproduce. You don't have to play at the speed of light to be good!
Something that is not talked about that much is taking a day off from playing. If you ask someone who lifts weights and is in to bodybuilding they will tell you not to lift every day. Taking a day off allows your muscles to heal. Recently I've playing with a rockabilly band(think Stray Cats) and since I'm not familiar with that style, I've had to practice a lot. My hand was so sore I couldn't do a barre chord. So I took a day off and my hand is back to normal. As you play you'll find your limits and what you need to do to overcome them. Good luck and have fun-John
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# 5
ChristopherSchlegel
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ChristopherSchlegel
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09/17/2009 3:27 pm
Originally Posted by: gmixstudiosis this something that could cause damage if over excersized?

Absolutely, yes. Please be careful.

All practicing and playing should be aimed at approaching the mechanics of playing in as efficient, natural a manner as possible. So, the advice to keep your physical motions to a minimum is right on target.

Applying this principle further: use just enough pressure to fret and pick the notes.

Not enough pressure obviously results in a poor sounding note (or a missed note). However, on the other side of the same coin, too much pressure is also bad. It results from keeping your arm, wrist, hand and fingers too tense (using too much pressure) and from pressing too hard on the fretted notes. This in turn results in muscle cramping and fatigue and actually hinders your ability to get to the next note quickly. And, of course, also hinders your ability to continue to play for longer periods of time.

This is tricky to get used to and is a very personal thing, because only you can directly experience how much pressure you are using. The best thing to do is to always start practice slowly and lightly (meaning with light pressure fretting and picking the notes).

The guitar fundamentals lessons on Mechanic of Fretting Notes covers these ideas. My tutorial on visualizing scale patterns shows some of the mechanics and practice patterns I use to accomplish this sort of thing you are working on.

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=605
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=419

Best of success!
Christopher Schlegel
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Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 6
RickBlacker
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RickBlacker
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09/17/2009 3:47 pm
Originally Posted by: OlveraUKwatch BB King and some of the great blues players. They didn't have blinding speed but they did have soul. That's what music is all about...soul and passion. Keep playing and use the soul...afterall, expression is the most important part of music, not whether you can out-pick the next guy.


+1000

Man, it's not about speed. I think thats why I never appreciated speed metal. For me, it's all about the rythm, the creative melodies.

Take Def Leppard for example... Back in the day when Steve Clark was around and Phil Collin joined, Steve was a bit put off because Phil was so technically better that Steve, however, what Phil told Steve was that, Steve had so much soul in his music, something that he didn't have and he really admired it.

And you know what? As much as it pains me to say this, Def Leppard has not been the same since the passing of Steve Clark. He had so much soul and passion in his playing.

Sorry man, didn't mean to take this off topic... :p
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# 7
Razbo
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Razbo
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09/18/2009 2:17 am
The pinky is the weakest finger on your hand. I imagine it didn't do much until you started playing guitar. :D I agree with the weightlifting analogy... It's muscle you are building afterall (talk about spot training!), so if you feel particular fatigue or pain after a day's 'workout' it could be good to skip a day.
...so ever since then, I always hang on to the buckle.
# 8
1Life1Chance
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1Life1Chance
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09/18/2009 5:37 am
you might want to play with the action on your guitar too. closer action will probably speed up your playing since you don't have to expend so much energy pushing down the strings. light gauge strings too possibly?
# 9
bigerjim
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bigerjim
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09/18/2009 6:13 pm
Hi Guy I've Had More Inguries Than Evel Knevel, Stick That Finger In Some HOT Salt Water To Loosen It Up, I Use Steroid Cream On Mine And It Works Great, Of Course You'll Have To See A Doc To Get It, I Also Get Shots, When You've Been Playing Like Me For 28 + Years Your Gonna Get Stiff,

It's Hell Being An Ole Guitar Picking Hippie, LOL, But You Gotta Love It, Keep On Pickin
# 10
Andy Gurley
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Andy Gurley
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09/18/2009 9:35 pm
I'll add that there is no better way to learn speed by spending excessive time playing slowly, using only necessary pressure and focusing on relaxation. I shouldn't need to remind you that a metronome is an absolute must.

Speed is based solely on muscle memory. Until you can execute a passage a warp speed, there's no memory involved. It takes time, but this memory can be developed by all physiologies.

Hope that helps. Good luck!
# 11
vaiboy
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vaiboy
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09/20/2009 9:09 am
I agree that working on closer string structures is better instead of spreading out your fingers too much to start. It's important to develop both speed and soul in the music....ie phrasing, vibrato etc. For spread scales...of course people with longer fingers have an advantage...however even with shorter fingers you can become a very fast and accurate player with the right conditioning and keeping a close watch on your technique. Look at Joe Satriani and John Petrucci. They don't have long fingers yet they are smokin fast and very well rounded players in many different styles of playing. I know the pain of working the little finger but keep practicing tighter scales and rest it when it starts to hurt too much. Keep at it.....consistency over time is the key. All the best!!!
# 12

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