Building speed

[potatohead]

I first picked up a guitar (literally, for the first time) eight months ago. I started out basically just learning a few scales and such and building up my fingers and calluses for the most part. After getting a bit bored I started learning a few easier songs (rythym only obviously) like older Metallica and Megadeth and a whole bunch of other riffs ranging from classic rock to modern heavy metal.

I am practicing I would say about 8-10 hours a week, probably spread over five days a week. I would like to do more but you know, life gets in the way being married with a house and job and all that.

Anyway, my point to all this is I feel like I am just becoming a simple "power chord" guitarist. I know working on scales and fingering techniques is going to help me build speed, and strength, but is there anything else I should be doing? I can sit there and play the same scale for 10 minutes and I just can't really seem to be able to do it a whole lot faster than I can after doing it for 30 seconds, which is a bit annoying . I am not giving up on this, and I know it takes a lot of work, I just want to make sure my practice is accomplishing something.

Any ideas?

[Hellbat]

Lots of good posts and info in this forum right here for help. Here's my list of hints...

Buy some of the guitar world DVD's, they give you lots of practice exercises to work on and show how to use what you've learned musically.
When you are working on an exercise, always start out at a slower speed and make sure you are playing it clean.
Don't forget to do rhythm exercises with your right hand as well, it's a big part of the equation.
Check out stuff like Troy Stetina's books/courseware or member Kevin Dillard's (spelling?) Intellishred stuff.
Watch youtube vids.

Guitar playing is so much less a black art than it used to be ( I remember when Guitar Player only printed sheet music, no tab.) so it's way easier to find info to learn with these days.

[Grandturk]

Congrats on picking up the guitar. Keep with it!

I learned this very late in the game - practice with a metronome. Seriously, it sucks, but its the only way, aside from having a drummer available around the clock. There's a lot of practice amps now that have built in rhythm tracks such as the Fender G-Dec or the Line 6 Spyder Jam. I personally use a Line 6 Jam Looper for practicing - either through an amp or through headphones (late night apartment playing) - but you can substitute in a drum machine through a stereo or a spare amp as well. The important thing is learning to play in time.

That said, learn how to count as you play. Once you get your click track going, count along with it, practicing sub-dividing the tempo -
quarter notes - 1 2 3 4
eigtht notes - 1 & 2 & 3 & 4
sixteenth notes - 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
sixteenth note triplets - 1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

Basically what that is is how many notes you play per beat. You can do very simple scale excercises just playing with these rhythms. In fact, most of the books Hellbat mentioned will all touch upon this exercise. So take whatever scale you're working on and play it 1 note per beat, 2 notes per beat, 3 notes per beat, 4 notes per beat. Play it cleanly at a slow speed on the metronome. At this point, don't worry about "getting fast." Worry about playing cleanly.

[Spivonious]

Troy Stetina's "Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar" will give you a nice challenge. Always practice scales and such with a metronome. When you have things clean, bump up the speed by 5-10bpm.

To avoid becoming a power chord guitarist, learn some songs that aren't hard rock/metal. 70s rock and earlier and you'll know all of the chords.

[micha]

whatever you do; be sure to keep your hands and arms relaxed all the time!!
I wish somebody would have told me that when I started out...

when I do fast alternate picking (or at least what is considered "fast" in my book ) I'm still in danger of cramping/knotting (?) up my right arm even though I've been working on that for a really long time now.
be sure to do every movement right just from the start.
it's nothing harder IMO than getting rid of a nasty habbit, the longer you had it; the harder it will be.

when picking fast I feel my right shoulder coming forward, my wrist gets stiff, middle, index and pinky shoot out like they are on viagra or something and after a short while pretty much every muscle from fingertips to the shoulder is pumped.
it takes me a whole lot of concentration to keep my arm from doing that.

if that's not a problem for you; good for you. but think of me whenever you feel like your right arm is starting to get too independent and does what it wants...
and relax the way you hold your pick as well. if it's not flying away, it's enough pressure and everything's good.



when it comes to breaking out of your routines and boxes; try some arpeggios. sweeping, string skipping, whatever it doesn't really matter, but this will get you out of your boxes for sure.
also start your scales from different points on the fretboard, use different fingerings for the same stuff and whatch out for three notes per string patterns.
these are the easiest to shred IMO.
divide the A-minor scale for example on three notes on each string, play it up an down, then try staying in the A-minor scale, keeping the three notes per string stuff, but go from B to B this time.
always start on your index-finger. move on to C to C, D to D, you get the trick.
this way you will soon know your fretboard way better.
and maybe you should concentrate on playing on G and B string especially. since the tonal-distance is a bit shorter on these strings; they are the only exception on guitar.
licks that work on E and A will work on A and D string just as well, you know?

and do your own exercises.
play these three notes per string stuff, the two notes per string stuff (great for pentatonics), concentrate on legato playing, inside and outside picking....
if you are one who likes to do exercises this will keep you motivated, it's less boring and you should be able to adapt what you learned to new songs.
and it's easier to concentrate on one aspect of your playing instead of complex situations all the time.

and try to learn a new lick every day!
IMO it doesn't really matter wether you keep that lick up the following days, but this way you keep your brain rolling.
learning new things is something that needs to be trained as well and it should give you some fun and fresh ideas every now and then.


oh; and when you have a lick, run, whatever you just won't get clean somehow;
it has helped me to play the left and right hand seperately.
first fret the notes and don't pick anything, then just pick the strings the way they should be picked in that lick but don't do anything with your fret-hand. maybe mute the strings lightly if you want.
this may sound stupid and isn't as easy as it might seem, but it's really helpful IMO.
you will see the problemspots soon, and most important; your brain knows what every hand should be doing instead of relying on motorical automatics only, which are great but don't work in this case, otherwhise the lick wouldn't be a problem.
it's all about the brains IMO.

have fun!

[Jacksons Shred]

Speed does not come in one sitting. Something I'd HIGHLY suggest, is put fast licks into your songs, so you have motivation to practice them and you also practice putting speed into a musical sense. Speed will come naturally, practice everything very slow at first so you have it nailed, then switch it up and practice it as fast as you can (Sloppy or not, you want to just get your fingers use to moving fast).

[potatohead]

Wow, this is some pretty great info.

This is not the first time I have heard about practicing with a metronome, I'll have to get one. Even playing some songs I know like the back of my hand, it's funny how off I am actually playing them when I'm just jamming away without any backing track or anything.

whatever you do; be sure to keep your hands and arms relaxed all the time!!
I wish somebody would have told me that when I started out...

when I do fast alternate picking (or at least what is considered "fast" in my book ) I'm still in danger of cramping/knotting (?) up my right arm even though I've been working on that for a really long time now.
be sure to do every movement right just from the start.
it's nothing harder IMO than getting rid of a nasty habbit, the longer you had it; the harder it will be.

when picking fast I feel my right shoulder coming forward, my wrist gets stiff, middle, index and pinky shoot out like they are on viagra or something and after a short while pretty much every muscle from fingertips to the shoulder is pumped.
it takes me a whole lot of concentration to keep my arm from doing that.

My right arm definitely does that too, I'll have to work on it. My fingers are ok though and sometimes I find I actually don't hold the pick hard enough and it tends to slide in my finger/thumb, but my arm is definitely tense so I'll make an effort to be more relaxed.

One thing I have had no trouble with doing at all since day one is alternate picking, I guess it just comes naturally. Mostly with single notes though, I find downpicking chords to be way, way easier. It seems hard to imagine if you play something really slow, like 80 bpm, that you will eventually get it down to be able to play it very fast... But obviously that's the best way to go about it.

[TVTiZtiK]

It seems hard to imagine if you play something really slow, like 80 bpm, that you will eventually get it down to be able to play it very fast... But obviously that's the best way to go about it.

It does seem a little hard to imagine, but it makes sense if you think about it. When you slow it down to a super slow speed you can analyze exactly how you are executing the riff/lick and make sure you're doing it the most efficient way possible, and efficiency is crucial at high speeds.

[Grandturk]

Especially when you're doing runs across strings - doing them slowly first will build your muscle memory so each finger knows where it is supposed to be. Once you've got that clean you can up the speed little by little. Then when you go fast, your fingers don't trip over themselves - I know that's a big problem I have.

[micha]

So take whatever scale you're working on and play it 1 note per beat, 2 notes per beat, 3 notes per beat, 4 notes per beat.

cool advice for sure!
just found myself doing pretty much what you suggested, and if I play the 32s for just one bar for example before I switch back to 8s triplets again I can even play that speed without getting tension in my arm.
think I'll try that for a while, maybe I'll get rid of my tension that way finally....

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

The metronome will also let you build speed slowly. If you are playing some riff at 60 BPM and you try to immediately go to 150 BPM you won't do it clean, but if you gradually build it up, you'll get there.

The problem is, it takes patience and dedication, and it's not very fun.

[Jack Napalm]

A professor at Berklee told me that fast is just slow, only faster. You gotta be able to play it slowly, cleanly and without tension before you can play it fast. If you take some time and learn things slowly with a metronome you'll be amazed at what it can do for your playing overall.

[Grandturk]

I do this when learning a new lick or exercise:

- play it slow to memorize the fingering/picking pattern without a click
- begin playing it in time just tappin my foot
- add the metronome and slowly build up speed

I find doing it firsts without the metronome legs me learn it easier than when fighting the clock.

[potatohead]

I have spent a good two hours tonight just working on different scales and little licks, making sure they're clean. The fingers "tripping" over themselves is a good term, because when you try and go too fast that is exactly what happens to me. Pull-offs still do that to me a bit as well, if using fingers that are right side by side, but I'm sure with some work that will become more natural. I think I will pick up a metronome this weekend and just keep working on it. It's certainly not as fun as just playing songs, but it puts practice time to much better use.

[micha]

My fingers are ok though and sometimes I find I actually don't hold the pick hard enough and it tends to slide in my finger/thumb, but my arm is definitely tense so I'll make an effort to be more relaxed.

If that's a problem to you, you could try some sandpaper. just scratch your pick a little and it will have more grip in no time.
it's an old trick, but it works.