Building endurance

[RR05xx]

Re: Building endurance

Endurance is simple. Buy a CD called "Reign in Blood" by Slayer and learn to play all the songs (tuned to e flat [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]). If you can get to the point that you can play all 28 minutes in a row with Slayer, I think that you will find that you have all the endurance that you need for most rythem applications (I am serious BTW!). [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[Newc]

Re: Building endurance

If you could sit through the whole disc period [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[RR05xx]

Re: Building endurance

Wah! The music is too hard for me! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Sorry to break it to ya man, but I do not think that Barry Manolow will build endurance, but if it floats your boat [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[VitaminG]

Re: Building endurance

[img]/images/graemlins/rant.gif[/img]

I never understood that as a response to a specific technique enquiry.

for example...
Q. I'm having trouble with mastering the fretboard. Can anyone offer any tips?
A. Go away and learn everything from Steve Vai's last album, and then you'll know the fretboard back to front.

This doesn't address the problem at all.

Before someone can just go and play the album, they would need to be at a certain level of technique already. If that album features a lot of the technique they are having trouble with, this is just going to cause them a bunch of frustration. Setting an ultimate goal of being able to play Reign in Blood from-go-to-whoa is fine, and if you can already then you would obviously have your endurance problem sorted out, but suggesting it as the way to fix the problem doesn't address the root of the problem at all. If guitarsjb is having problems with her endurance playing the 6 songs in her setlist, struggling through 28 minutes of Slayer without advice on HOW to do it will just add to that frustration.

It's like that old chestnut, "just go watch Alexi Laiho [or whoever] play, and then you'll know." Bullshit! All that says is, the respondent doesn't know the answer either.

[Deneb]

Re: Building endurance

PLay something that makes you tired. Play it 2x. Play it 3x. Keep playing.

The only way to build endurance, is to condition yourself.

[RR05xx]

Re: Building endurance

[ QUOTE ]
[img]/images/graemlins/rant.gif[/img]

I never understood that as a response to a specific technique enquiry.

for example...
Q. I'm having trouble with mastering the fretboard. Can anyone offer any tips?
A. Go away and learn everything from Steve Vai's last album, and then you'll know the fretboard back to front.

This doesn't address the problem at all.

Before someone can just go and play the album, they would need to be at a certain level of technique already. If that album features a lot of the technique they are having trouble with, this is just going to cause them a bunch of frustration. Setting an ultimate goal of being able to play Reign in Blood from-go-to-whoa is fine, and if you can already then you would obviously have your endurance problem sorted out, but suggesting it as the way to fix the problem doesn't address the root of the problem at all. If guitarsjb is having problems with her endurance playing the 6 songs in her setlist, struggling through 28 minutes of Slayer without advice on HOW to do it will just add to that frustration.

It's like that old chestnut, "just go watch Alexi Laiho [or whoever] play, and then you'll know." Bullshit! All that says is, the respondent doesn't know the answer either.

[/ QUOTE ]


Sorry, I forgot that I am dealing with children here. Please read Deneb's post if you cannot read between the lines.

My point was simply that, JUST like any other endurance, whether it be exercise, sports etc. TRY (god forbid) to do something that is harder than what you plan to do. IF you can come close to pulling it off, then you will find that other things are easy. Its all relative.

However, many times when people say how to do something in plain english, I get the feeling that it leaves the original poster with just more questions, like, "OK that is fine and dandy but WHAT should I do."

As far as HOW, its called practice. I did not suggest that the person could do it, I just suggested that they TRY. I mean, IMHO, the only way to get better at the guitar is to TRY to do its and I have found that if you keep after it long enough, you will get it eventually.


Sorry for sharing my personal expirerice on building endurance.

I have never understood why people on this board attack the way they do when someone is trying to help. [img]/images/graemlins/sick.gif[/img]


[img]/images/graemlins/rant.gif[/img]

[Chameleonfong]

Re: Building endurance

Try finding some online funk rhythm lessons. It will help greatly on your rhyhm and endurance.

My two cents
Fong

[jjw]

Re: Building endurance

Take lots of drugs [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

realy you need to just play alot-

one example here.If you could find the time(not have a social life or a job)and you played 10 hours a day-7 days
a week-for a year

you would be an amazing musician-but for a year you would live like a hermit

[Newc]

Re: Building endurance

Nothing wrong with being a hermit. Robert Johnson was just an annoying wannabe that was always bugging the guys that knew how to play. Then he disappeared for about a year. When he came back, he was better than everyone else. It wasn't because of some mythical soul-selling bullshit, it was because he sat down with the guitar and mastered it.
Then he lived a life worth writing blues songs about (of course he also got killed living that life [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img])

Gary - You can't teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar. Sitting here telling someone to only use downstrokes when they play does not magically imbue them with the ability to play for 2 or 3 hours using all downstrokes, so if someone asks for help on HOW to do it, the ONLY answer is to learn how to do it. What's to think about? There's not really a technical explanation for only hitting the strings when your hand moves down, as opposed to fingering a scale.
While I agree that jumping into an album that took 10+ years of skill-building to perform, it's still a good way to get a lesson from someone with 10+ years experience on you.

Whom should I learn guitar from, Eddie Van Halen's recordings or the kid down the street who got a guitar yesterday?

[VitaminG]

Re: Building endurance

well, sure. As I said, aiming to be able to play a particularly album, like Reign in Blood, is a fine goal. Working on the material of artists that you like, that are technically far and beyond where you are now is a great way to learn. I think most of us have spent a lot of time doing just that.

But in your response to guitarsjb, you tried to diagnose the problem, and then offered suggests on how to address it. You didn't just say "go play this album" and leave it up to her to "read between the lines".

Next time some kid comes in here asking how to "do them squealies like Zakk does", will we just tell him/her to go away and learn No Rest For The Wicked? It's not like they would've been working on Ozzy or BLS songs already and have been having difficulty playing pick harmonics, hence their question here. We can assume that they can read between the lines, right? Folks here haven't in the past. They have jumped to offer tips on amp settings, guitar setup, grip, vibrato, hand position, harmonic nodes, etc.

RR05xx, my apologies if it seems I was attacking you. Had a frustrated shit of a day myself yesterday, and I could have phrased my point more carefully. I was out of line and I apologise for that.

[jjw]

Re: Building endurance

yeah Newc nothing wrong with living like a hermit for a year till you get good-in fact i intend to rack the hours up daily(2/4hours)7 days a week so i can get better-if i didnt have a house and job i would do the 10 hour trip!!lol
But honestly a year of that and any not bad guitarist to start with would be amazing-and would earn a good living teaching.Not bad investment for the life of a hermit for a few months

[RR05xx]

Re: Building endurance

Vitamin G - no big deal and I appologize as well and we will leave it at that.

However, I do not think that your analogies are necessarily valid.

Simply put. Endurance is differnent than technique. Someone on this board once asked how to tap. I did not tell them to go listen to so and so. I tabbed out the first measure of Eruption as a starting place for them and explained how to do it. I do not think that you can do the same thing with something endurance.

I guess we can agree to disagree.

Take care.

[Inearthed]

Re: Building endurance

It might not be endurance at all. Make sure you stay relaxed, warm up, and don't focus too hard on what you're doing. If I really focus in on what I'm playing I've found that it drains me a lot quicker than when I just let my mind wander and let my hands just play. I know a lot of people that have to 'warm up' to play at any reasonable speed or maintain that endurance, personally I don't warm up other than a little bit of stretching and a couple of quick riffs but sometimes its best to get those hands going a little bit just to prepare them for some real speed. Being relaxed is absolutely key, if you tense up you're going to feel the burn / drain immediately. I struggled with this when I started playing live because I'd get really rigid, not because I was nervous, but just because I was trying to perform really well. This sort of goes with the 'focusing in on your playing' bit. I just let everything go and play... Now I pretty much hit the stage and spiral/windmill headbang for like 45 minutes straight almost.

If one of the above things doesn't fix the problem then it really is an endurance issue. I hate to say it but its best to just sort of set your metronome / time keeping device at a tempo you feel comfortable at and just go about practicing to it. Make sure your attack is consistant and controlled. Throw in some fretting hand exercises (chord changes, or just something to keep your other hand involved and active) and also consider vocalizing what note / chord you're playing, it'll help in other areas too. If you start to get off or get tired to the point where you can't continue, then it would be wise to drop the metronome down 5 to 10 bpm until you feel that you can keep it consistant. As you are able to sustain that speed then you should bump it up 5 to 10 bpm. You don't need to work up to a high bpm, just focus on keeping your picking even and controlled.

I hope this helps. Keep us updated.

[guitarsjb]

Re: Building endurance

You guys have all been great. I appreciate everyones time and trouble with this. I will be trying some of these ideas, maybe all of them. Thaks again for your help. I'll let ya know how it goes. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Deneb]

Re: Building endurance

Using all downstrokes is retarded. It's almost like driving a car, but not fully pressing the gas pedal.

I mean, whatever you like is what you do, but I never understood the "I played all of Master of Puppets in downstrokes"....

Well good for you, I played it and it sounded just find with alternate picking. There are certain passages that just get that chunk from all down strokes, but for the most part, it's not really that big of a deal (to me).

Seriously, for buidling endurance, you've got to just keep playing. When you feel the burn, keep going, No pain no gain!

There are some psitions that feel fough to me, when I play them I get sore and tense, but maybe if I angle the guitar differently, or move my thumb on the back of the neck, it helps.

I went on a stint a couple weeks ago, where I didn't touch the guitar for 3 weeks, except for out shows. Man, I suffered from that.

The bottom line is this, no one won a marathon by just jogging. You've got to go full out, for a decent length of time, then increase that amount of time gradually to build the physical conditioning, and the mental conditioning to make it through it.

If you can start your routine, warm up a bit, then pick some higher tempo songs, and play along with them. The thing is they don't have to be super high tempo songs. You could probably get tired from playing Helmet "see you dead" if you were tired.

Another important thing to think of is, just play fast. Learn to play fast or for long periods of time, without showing you're tired.

An example would be, play something that is very syncopated and rhythm oriented mid way into your practice, and see if you can do it. A lot of times, when you're tired, you let it shine through when you're trying to keep time.