building up stamina for THRASH

[sonicsamurai]

I've finally grown up and started listening to and playing the likes of destruction, exodus, lamb of god, and Kreator...I can play a few songs and even tho i have been playing shred style stuff for a little while now, my arms actually start aching after after a shortwhile particularly with all the triplets (eg destructions thrash till death) and jumping around so that i can only do like 2 songs then a break, then maybe another two songs before i'm totally knackered and can't play for the rest of the day...how can i build up my stamina quickly for playing this great music? Does anyone have a guitarists diet? that'll give a good supply of stamina for sustained thrashing?

[Guyver1]

4 healthy portions of metronome a day

[InFlamed666]

masterbate more

when you get tired, swap hands :P

couple of weeks of it 24/7 you'll be a thrash monster!

[bratfink]

4 healthy portions of metronome a day

Works for me. Start slow and make sure you are always on time and playing correct before moving up a speed. If you move up a speed and can't do it then slow down a bit until you can.

Some people can down pick at mega speeds. I'm not one of those if I have to downpick fast for any length of time I lose time. You will find that all guitarists have different ways of doing things and it's important that you find your comfortable methods. Just because Metallica downpick everything (complete conjecture) doesnt mean you have to. I tend to find ways of alternate picking everything because that's my style.

Basically I'm trying to say most guitarists have paradigms about how certain techniques are supposed to be mastered, but what is really important is that you find a method that works for you.

[Fragle]

yeah, definitely. just do what feels best to you. for example, when looking at live pics of my band i always notice how weird my picking hand looks during those fast chugging riffs, but it just feels natural and works for me, zero issues with speed and stamina.
as for thrash rhythm guitar....just do it. of course, having the excitement of live, the adrenaline rush so to speak, kinda helps with those fast passages, but i suggest you figure out the rhythm of the piece you want to play, practice it at low speeds until you got it nailed, and work your way from there.
also, practice old iced earth stuff. i'm quite a good rhythm guitar player, but some of those spasmic schaffer riffs just friggin KILL me....just keep practicing.

[GodOfRhythm]

Make sure you're not overusing your arm, that can cause premature fatigue easily.

I play almost solely thrash and I use my wrist. It doesn't get tired quickly. The need for tremelopicking might arrise with ultrafast riffs, but usually my (and so definitly yours) wrist can keep up with anything.

[Fragle]

yep, that's an important thing to mention. it doesn't really matter how you hold the pick and what kind of movement your wrist is doing - i mean, just compare john petrucci's picking style to george lynch's - but pretty much everybody with good technique is using the wrist rather than the forearm.

[bratfink]

I find Batio interesting to watch, he seems to pick by moving his thumb and 1st finger rather than moving his wrist. Very odd.

[Fragle]

yeah, batio has a really weird picking technique, but it obviously works for him, and that's what matters!

[bratfink]

[Nazgul]

That's cause he's a lefty.

[GodOfRhythm]

I find Batio interesting to watch, he seems to pick by moving his thumb and 1st finger rather than moving his wrist. Very odd.

Yngwie style.

[6077dino]

Yup, it´s all in the right hand technique. Practice makes perfect.

[bratfink]

That's cause he's a lefty.

Really? I thought he was ambidextrous. His normal playing postion is right handed, but he does all that clever double neck stuff in both positions.

[Nazgul]

Really? I thought he was ambidextrous. His normal playing postion is right handed, but he does all that clever double neck stuff in both positions.

yep, get his DVD called "Speed kills" if you can (you can also download it off some p2p programs, like I did ). He shows some good alternate picking exercises, gives some tips etc. and he also says that he has unorthodoxe picking style cause he's lefty. yeah, he can play lefty, righty, under, over anything you wish .