Help improving speed and accuracy

[javert]

Sounds nice, Cliff. Compared to your previous videos, there is indeed more sustain and the notes sing nicely.

[BenoA]

Good job cliff! I hear the improvement. What I would do. Don't try to learn to many patterns/licks and work on a fewer ideas. Like the one at around 0:48. Work it slow and move up with the tempo. Keep like 3 to 5 for a few weeks.

Rock on!

[Cliff]

Thanks guys!

BenoA - I've been doing exactly that for a while. Then I guess I got bored and started trying to add a few more licks in .

[ginsambo]

What happened to the MDMA mouth movement? lol.

What helped me is playing along to stuff. As well as the Malmsteen patterns and running straight up and down scales by an extra degree each time, so no even or odd string picks phased me and practicing licks with various picks per string. Also I concentrate on the bits where I get hung up, rather than the whole thing, that way you get better quicker. Also half the game in picking fast patterns, especially alternating ones is learning the fretboard and being fast and accurate at fretting. That is why the Malmsteen recommendation of playing on one string first really helps.

I was surprised, I recorded myself recently and instead of the old slop, I was doing superfast clean picked runs and patterns off the bat, without even realising it.

Another thing is that if you move your thumb from being rigid, you tend to miss. Or at least I used to do a bit.

I'd definitely up your game and play along in a band or rhythmically to yourself with a riff and fills or to records or whatever as a next step.

I still get the feeling there is something fundamental that you are missing in your technique to stop you progressing faster, or you aren't practicing enough.

But it's easy to say eh., I know how hard it is and that is definitely a great improvement I reckon and it's only one aspect of your playing.

Concentrate on where you are missing, either with your left or right hand and repeat that bit to jumpstart your practicing and relax your forearms completely.

Nice tone BTW. What set up you got there?

[Matt_B]

I dunno man. I appreciate all effort and focus you've been putting in to improve your technique but the thing I don't hear when you play is conviction and passion. I don't hear when you play slow or fast.

I don't know how to teach anyone to play with the latter. Some people have it naturally, some people get it when they gain confidence in their guitar "voice" and some people never get it.

Not trying to be harsh just honest.

[ginsambo]

Yeah, but in fairness, this is only one facet of his playing and he is putting it our there, string vest, smelly kacks, white butt cheeks and all, so not really fair to judge. But I hear what you're saying. I think exercises have this effect. Much better to learn with music form musicians. Even with identical straight scales or patterns, there are a number of ways you can make them sound, just by altering the accent.

I sat at home last night trying to figure out how this is. I couldn't explain it as every note had the same pick attack and my picking hand was moving at the same speed with the same up and down picks, yet two completely different sounding identical scale runs came out of it, as I changed the phrasing. I think this is where the music factor comes in and how it helps to be inspired, rather than torturing yourself, as 99% of it is in your head. The fingers just follow.

I made myself a lovely '62 Jap reissue scalloped rosewood neck thing I managed to save and scallop properly from the former owner's butchery. Also have an HS3 and HS4. Can't wait to get it sorted. Just got it strung up with no pickguard or pups and playing on it is a million miles an hour. I hated scalloped necks until by default I made one. Fooking great they are.

Another thing, as I said before, you got to practice rhythms and application and get a lot looser and relaxed in your head so you can naturally tie in and hit the rhythm and tonality.

I reckon it will come together, but I think a lot of it is in your head. I take it you are practicing and working out riffs, rhythms and solos from artists as well and playing along and improvising to them as well?

You have to feel the drama, the tonality and the effect of playing in your head and hear the rhythm. No amount of practicing exercises really helps that much with that. That and keep strengthening your fretting fingers so you can play with overkill and learn the fretboard blindfolded.

I think once you work out a few runs, start to feel how fast passages feel overall and get competent at playing them whilst ending up on the right note it all kind of snaps together. You start to feel and hear the overall tonality and effect, rather than the notes of an exercise and get a natural feel for how many notes, or parts of a pattern you'll need and what notes sound like over chords.

[Matt_B]

Yeah, but in fairness, this is only one facet of his playing and he is putting it our there, string vest, smelly kacks, white butt cheeks and all, so not really fair to judge. But I hear what you're saying.

EVERY facet of someone's playing should have passion and conviction. Those two qualities have nothing to with speed or technique and guitar playing without qualities is painful to listen to, IMHO.

[Cliff]

Well, you know, I was going to reply along the lines of what Ginsambo already said. Most of what I've posted here has been exercises against a metronome, but that video was a little looser than that, so if you hear a lack of passion and conviction, perhaps it's really not there. I'm guessing it's probably a lack of confidence you're hearing: the more I practice, the more I think I suck. After I started down this road of practicing these exercises pretty much every night, my ex would always say how my playing was getting worse. By which she meant it was becoming more mechanical. Before all this, I used to think my playing did have passion. It was terrible otherwise, though .

Ginsambo, I don't play along to records nearly as much as I should, you're right. I do play along to jam tracks, but nowhere near as often as I practice these damned exercises, and nowhere near as much as I should.

I've posted a bunch of tunes in the mp3 section over the last two or three years. Some are terrible, some I think are reasonably okay, at least in places. I wouldn't ask you to go back and listen to them again, but if you already have listened to them, would you say they're guilty of the same flaw?

[Matt_B]

Cliff, I listed to bits and pieces of all your sound cloud tracks and the latest one sounded the best to me overall as far as playing with conviction goes.

Please understand I'm not trying to bust on you. I'm just trying to offer some critique, that's all. Playing fast is always fun so all I'm saying is don't lose sight of playing like you mean it.

BTW, if you want some amazing insight into playing fast go to Youtube and find a series of videos called "Cracking the Code" by Troy Grady. They will blow-your-mind.

[Cliff]

Hey Matt - thanks for bothering to listen and critique. I completely understand that you're not trying to bust on me and your comments are well meant. It's all good

Yeah, a friend put me on to the Cracking The Code stuff. I spent a couple of months with the Season 2 exercises. I agree, it's fantastic stuff.

[blackhatch]

omg this thread is still alive ahahah where can i find your videos??

[Cliff]

No new videos, I'm afraid. For the last few months I haven't been practicing as much as I used to, and when I do pick the guitar up (two or three times a week), I just don't have the patience to run through speed exercises.

[ginsambo]

FAIL. Just admit defeat Cliff and buy a folk guitar and Banjo like I did and start learning finger style.

[Cliff]

Haha! What I can I say? It just wasn't fun anymore. I've actually started playing a little more this last week, but concentrating on legato instead of alternate picking. We'll see how it goes.

Funny you should mention banjo. A very good friend of mine back in England is an excellent banjo player and a rock guitarist. While I appreciate his technical skill with the banjo, it's just not my thing to listen to.

[diablomozart]

playing fast isn't the be-all end-all of guitar...its just a tool...one of many...if working on playing fast is no fun, don't do it...you'll become a better player by focusing on playing what you love and having fun with the instrument...i find actual exercises boring as hell and developed my technique by learning other peoples' songs...it seemed less painless that way lol...d.m.