Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

[Thor Von Clemson]

I need help with the afformentioned subject. Regardless of how many times I may sit and play a scale/mode, I feel like my speed and coordination are not increasing... [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] I sometimes sit and play my acoustic all day long in hopes that when I go to my electrics, it will be easier. (sort of like practicing throwing a baseball with a softball) If someone could give me some good tips on how to build up speed and coordination between the picking and fretting hands, it would be appreciated. Thanks!

[markb]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

Well you could try a program like Speed Mechanics (Stetina)? Basically you need a metronome, a notepad, a list of excercises that work the different picking/fingering combinations (inside,outside,across,position switching etc.) and a lot of time and patience. You have to gradually build up speed incrementally with the metronome, one bpm at a time if necessary. This is a long process, and patience/perseverance is required in large doses. Don't get all emotionally hyped up about how you're going to practice your butt off and finally nail this speed thing. It's the opposite: cool, calm, methodical, repetetive and goal oriented. Spend time on the things you find difficult, don't waste your time on things you do well. Thats what the notebook is for.Keep a journal of your progress, so you are working on a predetermined set of problem areas, and not wasting time. Also, know what kind of speed do you want: do you want to sound like Glenn Tipton or Rusty Cooley, what's important to you? Because there's a limit to everything depending on what you want this for.

p.s. it's not like I'm the greatest picker in the world (far from it) but these are just a few suggestions as I see it (my .02) Good luck

[jgcable]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

Here is what you need:
A good teacher
A metronome
Lots of practice.
Set small attainable goals!! You WILL get there.

[mt]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

If you really have a problem increasing your coordination and speed, even after reading all the tips in the Techniques section, I suggest you record or videotape yourself practicing/trying to play fast, and post it here.

There must be something wrong with your technique/practice habit. Either that or you were born with poor motor skills (I highly doubt it). Posting a video or MP3 of you playing will help people see your problem.

Anyway, try picking one single fretted note as fast as you're comfortable with. Then at the same picking speed, fret 2 notes one after the other. Then 3 notes, then 4 notes. Makes sure the notes are synchronized with the picking, and that both your hands are relaxed. After you feel comfortable with those you can get into crossing strings.

Practicing on an acoustic in hopes of being faster on the electric is totally pointless IMO.

[ March 17, 2004, 11:29 AM: Message edited by: mt ]

[mt]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

After reading my own post I feel that I sound like an asshole... Sorry about that but it's too late to edit. I had absolutely no intention of putting anybody down.

[Thor Von Clemson]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

After reading my own post I feel that I sound like an asshole... Sorry about that but it's too late to edit. I had absolutely no intention of putting anybody down.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">..

Hey man do not worry about it. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] I am trying to make up for years of not practicing by developing a solid daily practice routine. The problem is I do not know what to start practicing. I would like to one day be able to comfortably play sweeps and other complex tricks that require lots of practice. Thanks for the advice thus far.

[LesPaulCustom]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

GoldMoon....pick yourself up a copy of Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar and a metronome...and start at the beginning....and go through the book.

Make yourself a practice sheet...for example....today, I played ex. 25 at 115 BPM.....tomorrow I want to hit 117 BPM etc. and keep a record of it.

Practice in front of a mirror so you can get visual feedback of what you are doing and/or tape yourself practicing.

Most important...have fun and play for the love of the instrument. [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[chopper45hd]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

listen to these guys ......they know what they talkin bout! i ask pretty much the same question when i came here and got pretty much the same answers, so far even i can tell a difference, but more importantly others that are forced to listen to me pratice can tell a diff. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[markb]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

Originally posted by mt:
After reading my own post I feel that I sound like an asshole... Sorry about that but it's too late to edit. I had absolutely no intention of putting anybody down.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">[img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]
I don't see anything wrong with it? Bad practice habits are almost always the problem...

[slash]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

Originally posted by LesPaulCustom:
GoldMoon....pick yourself up a copy of Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar and a metronome...and start at the beginning....and go through the book.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That is all the advice you need. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]
Practice it.
Learn it.
Live it.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[maddog]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

One thing that I learnt from John Petruccis' DVD was to try picking an alternate picking sequence starting with an upstroke instead of a down stroke. Just an idea to help coordination [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Sunbane]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

Gold moon, I felt exactly the same for years. I couldn't play runs to save my life. No matter how much I practiced, I never seemed to improve. It wasn't until much later (a couple years ago) that my technique started taking off, and I have a couple of ideas why.

I basically agree with the others that it's just practice, practice, practice that matters. This may sound disheartening when you don't see any improvements despite weeks and months of continous practice, but it's the bottomline: Practice will make perfect. I will try to explain why I think learning was so hard for me - maybe it can give you some ideas of where you are going wrong:

I've realised that when I was younger, I was always too impatient to practice properly. As soon as I had a scale down without errors, I tried raising the speed right away, which is the wrong way to go about it IMO. I was also practicing on a bad guitar with high action and a monstrous tension. Also bad. I ended up being a rhythm-only guitar player, and that's generally not what we're aiming for here. Repetition is what builds your coordination - lots of slow, accurate repetition. As you repeat the scales over and over, your spinal cord memorizes the movements - this is what's called "muscle memory". It wasn't until I learnt this in Kung Fu class that I realised what I had been doing wrong with guitar playing. Focus on getting clear, ungarbled notes with minimum finger pressure and don't worry about speed for now. You'll want teach your muscles how to play perfect notes - not garbled ones. Once you've built a solid foundation this way, you'll find later that introducing speed will be much easier.

I've also found that most of the time, I simply try too hard. Sometimes, after sitting practicing scales for an hour or so and my hands (and head) are getting tired, I start thinking about other things (boobs) - and then all of a sudden it works! So try to approach your practice with something of a "zen" mindset. At your stage it's more important to learn to play with accuracy and confidence than anything else.

You're a house builder. You're going to build the strongest house ever made, so you can't rush your work. Go over to your storage shed and fetch a brick. While you're casually walking back to the construction site with it, examine the brick for flaws. If you find flaws in the brick, throw it away and return to the shed to fetch another one. Don't rush back - walk slowly with confidence and ease - feel free to let your mind wander. Fetch the next brick, stroll back to the construction site while examining it in detail. If you find that it's a good one, then carefully cement it into your house. Once a brick is laid down and cemented in, stand back and relish in your handiwork. It may be humble at this stage - just a few bricks cemented together - but be proud of the quality of your work, and be prepared to maintain this level of quality throughout.

It also helps to have good and properly adjusted tools. Bad tools put a limit on how well you can do your work. If you want to learn how to master the sword, practicing with a club is only of limited use to you. You can learn the basics with it, but you'll still need a real sword to learn the advanced techniques, so you may as well start out with one. As for guitars, I highly recommend practicing on an electric with reasonably low action and try to use as little force as possible. I certainly never learnt coordination any better from playing high action guitars - in my case it just taught me bad habits.

Hmmm...I never thought my reply would be that long. Sorry for rambling... [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

'bane

[Miffy rules]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

Good reading man. [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] It's no rambling actually. In my own experience from playing guitar and other things, it's not techniques but attitude that really matters. Having the right mindset is the most basic thing in any kind of activities. It's nice to see that someone shares some real experience rather than just textbook technique. (Don't mean to disrespect the latter though. [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] )

[Sunbane]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

Thanks Miffy. =)

I thought I'd also add that half of my problems (as I discovered later) were basically poor picking technique.

[mt]

Re: Best way to increase speed and coordination in both hands?

I agree, with life, attitude is very important. Same applies for guitar.

However, if your objective is to improve your technique, I persoanlly think the most important thing is to know how to get there. It is absolutely pointless to painstakingly practice 5 hours a day (unless your having the time of your life playing it ), trying to get over a certain technique.

Know how exactly the technique is done, read on it, ask people about it. Make sure you are doing the right thing. A lot of people I see are practicing hours a day, absolutely determined to shred. But they're working on the WRONG thing. practice will not get you anywhere unless you practice the right thing!

IMO, if Sundane had read some stuff, asked around, and realized the importance of picking technique and worked on it early on. He would have been shredding like a monster a lot earlier.

Me personally, these realizations came early in my guitar experience as I was scouring the net for tips on how to shred. And I found them (I'm a seasoned computer user). One of the biggest revealation is hand relaxation and the absolute importance of picking technique.

edit:
I differ from Sunbane in my opinion. There is no wrong in raising speed immediately after you learn a lick. That's what I did. The difference is that I learnt of the importance of picking and knew it was key to being able to play it fast. So I focused on the key to speed.

practicing with a metronome, slowly incrementing speed is overrated imo. It basically SLOWLY causes you to realize how to play fast, when in fact, if you read, hear the tips, you can skip it. After you can play fast (it will come very fast after these realizations), It's important to practice with a metronome and use it to give you a sense of timing. After you can play fast, the metronome is GREAT for solidifying your technique.

[ March 25, 2004, 01:09 AM: Message edited by: mt ]