Help improving speed and accuracy

[RR2772]

Still 40 minutes to the upload is finished! From posting this! Finally done!

[Twitch]

This thread has got to be a second only to the what are you listening to right now thread. Can't believe it's still going.

[leftykingv2]

RR2772 and Cliff If you're going to play Yngwie or anything else with that kind of speed you have got to make an effort to stop lifting your fingers so high off of the fret board. You need to look up the "Low clearance technique" and learn it. You can't high finger 64th notes and expect it to work. Hope this helps guys and keep on jamming!

[RR2772]

Thank you leftykingv2. Can you guide me on where to look it up? I will say that it is not what is causing the trouble in playing. It is usually my 4 finger lh that gets the most movement but with practise it always hit the spot however I will look into it.

[RR2772]

I have been slowing it a bit down (not the video) and the best information at hand was my old copy of SM. It is not in all but a few mechanics if you will that does indeed give me extra hand or finger movements which is one bad habit from old self study so thank you again for bringing it to my attention.

Now I am still going ower the phrases to Far Beyond The Sun and since I recorded the video improving a little on the stuff I know or learning another phrase. As I re read (did I ever read and apply it?) page 9 on the left hand in SM for finger movement and left hand fluency I can see that I skiped something very important if I ever wanted to play certain stuff like Yngwie or Troy to a greater level. This actually comes out when I try the Yngwie phrases and it is like you see in the video.

So can an old dog relearn old tricks? Bad habits can be replaced by focus on the correct habit and that is what I am going to try next. So slow it down and see what is going to happend making sure the left hand is doing its job correctly.

[Cliff]

Hey Anders - thanks for posting the video. It's Great to have another contributor . I had to go back and look at those Stetina exercises also to improve my left hand. It takes a awhile to re-learn, but can be done. What I've found is it takes even longer until the technique completely replaces the old habit when you're playing without focusing on it.

[RR2772]

Thank you Cliff. What I discovered while reading and slowly playing that thing I have trouble with in the video starting the 64 notes up high on high E is the fact I am not used to put my fingers behind each other and lifting them when doing the picking of notes when playing like that. Usually bigger movement as I hammer on before picking. Now I go ower every phrase and correct it at slow speed and it does allready help a little. So it is not in every mechanics the problem occurs.

It can be done if you focus on it and master it.

[leftykingv2]

I know this will sound crazy as hell but try playing while facing a wall. Put your fretting hand and the neck of the guitar as close to the wall as you can without hitting it. Then start practicing your fingering. You'll be forced by the wall to keep your fingers close to the board. My college professor taught me this and he was an amazing player God rest his soul. He told me a lot of Jazz and classical guys used this trick. At first I didn't believe him and then I read a Frank Gambale interview and Frank said he did this for at least an hour a day until his fingers stayed as close to the board as possible. I did it for about 7 months everyday until I had it down and it does work. This will help with the low clearance playing!! Good luck guys.

[Cliff]

Interesting idea - thanks!

I have a question about the left hand. When playing at speed, should I be trying to play as lightly as possible, or should I still be fretting the notes firmly, bringing the fingers down hard and/or quickly.

[leftykingv2]

I would suggest you only press the board with as much pressure as it takes to fret the notes you want to play. Every guitar has it's own feel for this. Some are easy to fret others it's more difficult. If you're playing 64th notes you're really not going to have the time to fret really heavily. Also make sure you keep your thumb in the right position on the back of the neck as this is very important as well. I can't tell you exactly what that is because everyone has a spot that's just a little different and comfortable for them. If you really want to improve on your fingering start off playing chromatic because it forces you to use all of you fretting fingers. Another good trick is the "Shifty Hands exercise." Start on the high E string and B string with a triad pull off to an open E string I'll tab it out for you. This is just playing the same passage in octaves. 5-2 on the E string then 3 on the B sting then open on the high E string. Then move it up one whole octave. 17-14 high E string 15 B string then open high E string again. Repeat. This is shifty hands and it's great for building speed and accuracy with your fretting hand. This can also be done anywhere else on the neck that you feel comfortable with. Hope this helps bro!!! Rock out!!!

[Cliff]

Thanks Lefty - it definitely helps. I thought it was a case of using as little pressure as possible, but I've run into problems in the past with this. I think it's difficult to separate the notion of fast and precise with hard. In the past when I've lightened the fretting hand I've ended up with it being a little 'lazy', causing sync problems. I think I'm getting somewhere now though. On a related note, what about legato? As I understand it, you're going to need more pressure to make the hammer-ons ring out, and doing a pull-off seems to imply using a fair amount of pressure too. So it's almost like legato is going to slow the hand down compared with alternate picking. Yet I always thought legato was a 'speed' technique.

[RR2772]

I again can agree with Lefty here. All I do is making sure the note I am trying to fret comes through clear with out any other noise. Sometimes legato work takes a little harder push and that is part of how I challenge my left hand.

I have said it before if your left hand can't play a phrase at 132 bpm but your right hand can then you got a problem.

Both left and right needs to be in sync that is 'speed' technique and a metronome really helps to clear up the phrases as your mind gets used to it and in harmony with it. SM 26 and 36 is worth it getting down and keeping at it!

[leftykingv2]

When playing legato it's best to try and roll your fingers and the fretting hand in the direction you're going in regards to up the neck or down it. Pick only the first note of the passage you're playing on each string and make sure you do plenty of muting with your picking hand to keep the strings you're not playing silent. Again I always try to fret weather it be legato or picked only as hard as I need to in order to achieve the desired sound I am looking for.

[RR2772]

So Cliff how are improving now? Ready for a video?

[Cliff]

No new video yet. Do you have any more to show? (I'm hoping we can persuade lefty to buy a webcam so he can show us some stuff...)