Help improving speed and accuracy

[Iivari]

That's what I thought, just wanted to double check . Man, that must take some patience! Is it just me, or did you find keeping the pinky closer *way* harder when stretching?

Yeah I did. I realy followed to actions of pinky - bastard wanted to take some short cuts now and then It's all worth it.

[Cliff]

Tell me about it

What about hammer-ons/pull-offs vs fretting with the pinky for picking? Did you find you could get the force you needed for clean legato and still keep the pinky close to the fretboard at all times?

[Iivari]

Tell me about it

What about hammer-ons/pull-offs vs fretting with the pinky for picking? Did you find you could get the force you needed for clean legato and still keep the pinky close to the fretboard at all times?

It depends on which scale shape I was trying to nail. 5-7-9 shape was quite fine, I held my pinky quite close to fretboard and could do decent pulls, but 5-7-8 shape was nightmare, couldn't do hammers or pulls decently, still trying to figure out how to overcome this. Anyway, I might give a try to "Flight" and record it, let's see how it goes.

[Cliff]

That'd be cool - I'd love to hear someone else give it a go.
5-7-9 shape is still giving me difficulties. I think I actually find 5-7-8 easier than 5-6-8 - the pinky seems more bound to my second finger than my third now. I wonder if this is, in some bizarre way, progress.

[xenophobe]

Here are two picking and finger exercises for you. Run them anywhere on the board if you're having specific hand/fingering positioning issues. Start slow and articulate, focus on accuracy not speed.

1-4-2-4-3-4-2-4-1-4

1-3-4-3-2-3-4-3-1-3-4-3...


String jump finger stretch. It helps your fingers stretch with an emphasis on accuracy. It'll help you with your 5-7-9's and your pinky slap. Run them in 3, 4 and 5 note runs.
A 7-10-12
G 7-9-12
E 7-10-12

I'd offer up more, but if you don't already have a warmup regimen, these three would be ok for starters. I'd run them each for a minute or two unless you're having real problems with speeding them up. Again, start really slow.

Oh, and I noticed in one of your first videos you were running a scale straight up and down... practice your scales ascending/descending in 3, 4 and 5 note runs... not sure how to explain that, I'm mostly self taught as well :P
e.g.; 1-2-3-2-3-4-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-2-3-4-5-3-4-5-6, 1-2-3-4-5-2-3-4-5-6 (numbers being the actual finger pattern of the run, not the notes... a run could look something like this:

10-9-7----10-9-----10---------
--------7-------9-7---- 10-9-7... etc

[Cliff]

Thanks for the exercises! I already do something very close to the first one. The second (the string jump one) looks like it'll be really challenging. I'll definitely try it and the third.

[xenophobe]

The first two are really good if you're having muscle memory repetitiveness... helps to break up the bad habit. Get them fast enough and you can add them to your patterns... String jumping exercises will improve accuracy and stretches...

EDIT: Whoops... the first "two" look like one. Edited...


Here's another good finger stretch, run it both directions:

10-12-8-12-7-12--12--12-12
-----------------10--8--7---

You can play it as a single pattern or work it on the full fretboard... start on the high E, when you finish that, you can move it to the G 8-10-6-10-5-10, etc... for a much harder stretch and then to the A, 6-8-4-8-3-8, etc... which is even more of a stretch.

[blackhatch]

hello cliff, i was afk..try to learn fly to the rainbow solo from atvance, if you like i can send you tab of it, i used to play it super low, your pinky will go crazy after 6 month of practicing every day, i think in 1 year you will play it fast, im playing it fast after 7 months of practicing (170bpm)

good luck

[Cliff]

Hey Blackhatch - sounds cool, but I'm busy with more basic stuff. It'd be great if you could post a clip to act as inspiration.

Xeno - I was sorting of assuming the first two were one, or similar variations on the same idea. For now, I've been working on solely Iivari's idea. For what it's worth, this has been my routine for the last week and a half (this takes more patience than I thought I had - every night I have a mental battle before I pick up the guitar, but once I do I find it strangely satisfying):

I play at 60bpm, quarter notes, ie 1 note per second. I'm playing on the bridge pickup without any distortion.
I mainly concentrate on four chromatic notes per string, in a single position. I considered moving around the fretboard, but obviously it's a little harder towards the nut, and I wanted to get it right in a single position first. So I started at the fifth fret, and after a few days I've worked down to the fourth. The goal is to be at the first fret by the end of three weeks. I'm trying to keep the touch as light as possible, keep the finger tips as close to the fretwire as possible, and to keep the fingers as close to the fretboard as I can when not in use. And for the notes to sound cleanly. This is picking only. I'm leaving hammer-ons and pull-offs as a separate exercise. I'm trying to keep it simple.
One thing I've noticed is that it's quite a bit harder to descend than ascend. You have to lift the fingers off sharply so as to leave clearance for the next note to ring true, while at the same time stopping the lift as soon as you can so you don't come too far from the fretboard.
So far as stretching is concerned, I've developed a couple of variations. If the following numbers are from the root position (fifth fret in my case), then instead of a) 1,2,3,4, I try b) 1,3,4,5, c)1,2,4,5 and d) 1,2,3,5. I'd guess b) is the most commonly useful (the same stretch you would use for a triplet run across the strings) and the easiest. d) is harder, and I just can't do c) cleanly yet

[AussieTerry84]

1.) I shall be getting right back into this book once i have bought the Fender Muatang II amp
2.) Cliff have you posted more videos of your wifes awesome tits?
3.) You look exactly like pommie actor Simon Pegg!
4.) Where are you upto with #25 now?

[ginsambo]

He is a dead ringer for Peggy ain't he....well fuck a doodle doo.

Rotate your wrist/forearm when doing rolls or going up 1,2,3,4 and down again and keep your hand in the same position, if you are repeated ups and downs, when going up roll your right anticlockwise. Don't try and do it all with your fingers, its a lot easier and more fluid if you roll your wrist (Left forearm) rather than keeping it static and changing your left hand position to stretch unless you have french fingers. I learned this technique myself from trial and error, its efficient and perfect for normal hands.

This way half the effort for hammer ons, if not 80% of it is done with your forearm twisting, rather than relying on your pinky, which has less brain connectivity. Just twist your forearm/wrist like you are opening a door knob.

[Cliff]

AussieTerry:

1) That's cool. Personally I think I need an extreme warrior before I can progress any further.
2) Alas no.
3) You're not the first to mention that. I don't see it myself. BTW, have you seen Spaced? Miles better than the one movie of his I've seen.
4) I haven't really been practicing that one, but I was pretty convinced I could 140bpm or so last time I really tried.

Ginsambo - I'll give that a go, but doesn't the rotation end up moving your fingers too far from the board? Stetina says they should hover no further than half an inch.

[xenophobe]

Xeno - I was sorting of assuming the first two were one, or similar variations on the same idea. For now, I've been working on solely Iivari's idea. For what it's worth, this has been my routine for the last week and a half (this takes more patience than I thought I had - every night I have a mental battle before I pick up the guitar, but once I do I find it strangely satisfying):

Those first two are just simple memory-muscle breakers that help with independent finger movement and I've seen many really good players choke on those two. Exercises don't need to be complicated or difficult to be effective. I'd avoid running random stretches as it sounds like you're describing, always follow your modes unless you're creating unique riffage, IMO. Running string jumps really helps finger and picking accuracy... I just posted that as an example, find some unique patterns in the scales you are already familiar with.

As for keeping your hand in a static position, ginsambo actually makes a good point. There are some things that I just cannot do without letting my hand articulate along with the movement of my fingers in kind of a fluid motion that's really dependent on what you are trying to play... when speeding up, it's sometimes even detrimental to your playing as your wrist/hand will gyrate to the position that's coming up before your fingers are ready to hit those notes and it may hurt your playing trying to fight it. Also manually stretching your fingers carefully after you've warmed up will help.

[VitaminG]

3) You're not the first to mention that. I don't see it myself. BTW, have you seen Spaced? Miles better than the one movie of his I've seen.

well, sure, Spaced is great. Way better than that one movie of his. But have you seen his other one? Phwooaar! Now that was the one!

[Cliff]

I've been working on keeping my fingers light and close to the fretboard for over three weeks now. I feel like I've learned a lot in the process. Not just better finger control, but a much better idea of how much or little pressure is needed to make the notes sound clearly. It's also helped with synchronization between left and right hands. So many of my notes weren't sounding properly because of this before.
Now I'm trying to increase the speed. If I don't concentrate, my fingers start flailing about a bit at higher speed, so it's clear I'm going to have to build speed slowly and carefully. That said, I already feel I can play at speed more fluidly and cleanly than before. So thanks Iiavari - awesome advice!
Xeno - I've started working on a variant of the muscle-memory-breaker. I can play this one slowly pretty well, but it's considerably harder to speed up and remain clean. For now, I'm leaving the stretches alone, hoping I can have more success by concentrating on fewer things.