Help improving speed and accuracy

[Cliff]

Thanks!
What are you working on? Maybe time to learn a new tune or find a new set of exercises?
That video might not show it, but I feel like I've been making quite a bit of progress over the last 2-3 months. I slowed way down to fix my legato and adjust my picking technique. My pull-offs are way better now and I'm using my right-hand thumb to mute (like Tom Hess). More recently I've been practicing bursts of speed to get faster picking overall. It's not there yet, but I can definitely feel progress. And since making this video, a friend pointed out how much string noise there is. So since then I've slowed right down again and concentrated on trying to eliminate all sources of it. It was frustrating at first to be told that (for some reason I'm terrible at listening to myself, but slowly getting better at that too) but now that I've decided to fix it, I feel again like I'm making progress.

[BenoA]

Sorry for late reply Cliff, I was out for vacation for the past 10 days and just came back to discover your reply.


Here is what I've been working on. Nothing fancy, goal is to go though it in around 15 minutes minimum per day and I go longer if my spare time lets me do it.Metronome is mandatory for all exercises.




I always start with a 5 minutes (approx) warm up which I don't count in my practice. It's a sequence I got from Michael Angelo Batio a few years back. Can not find the video anymore, but it mixes hammer/pull offs and up/down picking across the strings with all 4 fingers. I set the tempo pretty slow as it is just to get started and get the fingers going.




1) First 5 minutes. It's a cool 1-2-3-4 from Uncle Ben. I do it starting with a down stroke and once I am in good control, I redo it starting with an up stroke. It was pretty tricky for me to do it when I started 14 days ago, had to start around 50 bpm. Now I can do it comfortably over 80 and keep raising the bpm each day. This one is making me smile a lot as I'm getting better and better and way less boring than the usual 1-2-3-4 exercise.

https://youtu.be/ra_TbQGH6wg

2) Another 5 minutes, I call this one the JP's arps. It's from the old video Rock Discipline from John Petrucci. I do the 16th notes (one note per string) and do it in 2 sequences. First starting with a down stroke and then with an upstroke. I also do it with 16th triplets (6 notes per beat). In that case, I pick the notes on each string 3 times and again, I do it, first starting with a down stroke and then redo it starting with an upstroke.

https://youtu.be/Hfdd75O2OLU?t=53s

3) Last 5 minutes. I do a mix of 16th notes triplets single string patterns. It can also be 3 notes per string scales to spice it up.
Pete Thorn offers some nice idea here:
https://youtu.be/Z5fz7Zr3CgE?t=8m23s the possibilities are endless here, I also do one that sounds like Yngwie but at a speed I can pick! lol
As you can see the 15 minutes go pretty fast!


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When my spare time will permit it, I also had some exercises from Troy Stetina's book Speed Mechanics. Exercise #25 and Cross String Mechanics #51 to 55.


Also spend some time with the infamous Paul Gilbert lick (see Pete Thorn (again) showing it). I will use it in different form to work on string crossing.

https://youtu.be/Z5fz7Zr3CgE?t=5m33s

And finally, as I am mostly working on my right hand, this one is pretty cool to practice and sounds like a lil' tune.

https://youtu.be/6PkrUZujzNk

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I've started this around 50 days ago. I managed to give at least 15 minutes a day and more. Over the weekends I can do a good 60 minutes. I track everything on paper. I managed also to "focus". No phone, no internet.


Just before I went to vacation, I hit a plateau and it generated a lot of frustration. I sometimes feel like "re-learning". I'm about to re-start the routine and will keep you posted.


Sorry for the long book but hope it helps. Cheers!

[Cliff]

Hi BenoA

Please don't apologise - this is a great post. That's a lot of ground you cover in 15 mins! I've not seen any Pete Thorn stuff before, so I'm definitely going to be paying close attention to that video you posted. I love watching the Uncle Ben stuff, as much for the step-dad jokes as anything else.

Here's what I've been working on:

http://martingoulding.com/lessons/

I started with the picking and legato sections, and it was taking me over two hours. I've now reduced the number of exercises I do from each section, just trying to cover the basics of each, and I spend around 30 mins on them. I've added the sweep picking (still baby steps here) and am working on incorporating the tapping. Some of the later ones are pretty crazy, and I'm still working on memorizing them, let alone playing them fluently. This is currently taking about an hour each day, usually in the morning before I go to work.

The main problem I'm facing now I think is string noise. I've even become annoyed with the sound my right palm makes when I'm successfully muting and changing strings (I'm using a lot of gain). This means I need to spend more time practicing with the amp, whereas my morning practice routine is usually just done acoustically.

After reading your post, I've taken up a couple of your ideas: I'm now practicing starting some of the picking exercises with an up rather than a down stroke. And I've modified a couple to incorporate string skipping. I'm not currently using a metronome, and I guess that's something that has to change....

[BenoA]

Cliff, you need to use a metronome! It's mandatory. And you need to track your progress too.

On my side, as I wrote a book, I missed a few points.

I try to do "at least" 15 minutes day. I've been lucky and managed to do way more on some days. But if I'm rushed or out of time, I try to go through at least the 3 exercises I posted first in my reply. 3 minutes warm up then 5, 5, 5... From picking up the guitar to plugging the amp it's about 20 minutes max. At least I feel I picked up the guitar!

When I practice, I close my phone. No internet either. I focus on what I'm doing.

When I started this new routine I managed to do 50 days in a row without missing a day. Then I went for vacation for like 12 days (so no guitar) and now I'm back and having a hard time jumping back into the routine. I missed a day since then but I try to be into it.

As said in my post above, I had reached a "plateau" prior to my leave for vacation. I feel a bit frustrated these days. All those guitar workouts have made me changed the way I hold the pick and these days I feel like I'm "re-learning" but the progress seems to be moving me into a good direction with my goals so I keep working on it.

Thanks for the link and I looked at the web site. Some interesting stuff on it and I will dig more into it in the coming days but right now, I'm quite "full" with all the stuff I can work on. I could stop working tomorrow and would be able to spend most of my day going through exercises as I have gathered so much stuff. Youtube is an endless mass of information.

[Cliff]

Yeah, I try to stay focused when I practice too. Still find my mind wander at times, though. I'm trying to listen a lot more carefully now to what I'm actually playing and learn from my mistakes. I confess, though, I certainly don't practice every day, but I definitely feel the benefit when I do.

BTW, the clean tone on that Pete Thorn video is fantastic, don't you think?

[BenoA]

Pete Thorn would make a toaster sounds good. But yes, he has a nice clean tone. Time to get off the internet and do a lil' practice. Rock on!

[blackhatch]

Nice job Cliff, it's been years and now you're almost there, it sounds pretty decent. I can see the progress but it took you many years ... i think you're taking big breaks with the guitar? maybe that's why but overall good progress!!!!
Hope ur ok

greetings from Chile

[Cliff]

Thanks man! Greetings from England!

No breaks, although a big gap when I stopped trying to play fast. I guess I’m just a slow learner

My biggest problem now seems to be unwanted noise. I have the gain up really high, and am using the bridge pup, so it’s really emphasised, but I’m hoping this will help me learn how to stop it.

I’m slowly learning how to dampen the strings I’m not playing to prevent them ringing out, but i’m having a lot of problems with my right hand scratching across the strings as I sweep or move back and forth between tapping and picking.

Anyone got any tips for this?

[blackhatch]

what if you pick the string by the other side? like this



i do that a lot, not only for "3 notes per string" scales, when i start to hit other strings it means that i need to change the direction of my picking..i think not many ppl will tell you this because is really difficult , like learning a new technic but after a week you are done with it...and is the best thing i could ever learn

i usually do that for warming up and ir works pretty well

hope it helps you

greetings!

[blackhatch]

just try this

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dzC_G647HGhSoc6dJYAT0sQIhl_OeVjx

also a short solo cover i did using this technic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMdZa20ijtc

[RR2772]

Great to see your still going Cliff.

In order to store your skills in mind so it stays is to repeat it over and over. That's why a metronome cleans up the act and you should stick to it!

More gain covers up and brings more noise.

Otherwise get a Stratocaster as with single coils you have to be precise with both hands to master it.

I did spend some time on my partscaster and now it's really fluid with legato and picking from Speed Mechanics.

[Cliff]

Hey guys!

Blackhatch - great playing! Yeah, I've started to practice that picking pattern too. Thanks for the advice!

It's funny, I seem to be in a phase at the moment where pretty much every time I practice I feel myself improving in some way. I've turned down the gain a little (found a sweeter amp sound) and am becoming more mindful of noise and how to prevent it. And yeah, I have a custom guitar with single coils on order, so we'll see how that works out. The plan is that I can actually play by the time it arrives .

[Cliff]

Here's where I am now. Actually, I like to think I'm a bit better than this. As soon as I even thought about recording myself my playing got worse. Guess I won't be playing on a stage any time soon .

[blackhatch]

Great playing Cliff ..you have made good progress through these years and sounds like you're ready to rock. What about writing your own song? I made really big progress when i started to record my self and polished my sound a lot.
Recording yourself is time demanding.. that's the only bad part, but it's a lot of fun and it's cool when ppl like your work (soundcloud).
Now i have a lot of followers and it's really cool because you get instant feedback and that helps me to know if i did a good song or not.. so that's your next step, let me know and i will follow you back, i could share some followers too!

Btw: i noticed your pinky looks like it hurts :S i always have my pinky parallel to the frets so that way i gain speed and mute all the strings since it's the last note of every scale...

Good progress anyway!!

[Cliff]

Thanks! That really means a lot to me. I've just followed you on soundcloud.

I am working on a song actually, but spending much more time on the drills than the composition. It's a re-working of an old one I wrote a few years ago, but I'm trying to tweak the melody and then come up with some variations/solo etc,.