Members electrotar Posted January 4, 2012 Members Posted January 4, 2012 So I have a bad habit of speed playing. Doing solos at 100mph non stop playing. I think this hinders making any kind off melodic sound or riff. WOudl you agree. I mean playing 200 notes in 10 secs makes for no kind off musical phrase does it. I mean a riff might only be 4 or 5 notes. A tune to a song may be a 5-10 note melody etc..Know what I mean? Well I dunno how to do this becuase though I can do it I always have urges to play fast crazy OTT solos. Know what I mean? Its like I Could sit and make a small melody or try to or make a melodic slow solo but I always get these urges to go crazy. lol any advice.
Members tedmich Posted January 4, 2012 Members Posted January 4, 2012 playing in a completely dark room helps me hear the music and slow down, saves electricity too. You could try heavy strings and crazy high action too but you might injure yourself trying to "come up to speed"
Members electrotar Posted January 4, 2012 Author Members Posted January 4, 2012 playing in a completely dark room helps me hear the music and slow down, saves electricity too. You could try heavy strings and crazy high action too but you might injure yourself trying to "come up to speed" Ah i coudl always play clean or acoustic...less deisre to go fast with no distortion
Members mosiddiqi Posted January 4, 2012 Members Posted January 4, 2012 1) If you have the urge to play fast, play fast!..always follow your interests! 2) If you can HEAR every single note that you're playing BEFORE you play it..it'll almost certainly sound cool, whatever speed it's at. 3) If you're just playing convenient patterns as fast as possible (my speciality )...time to slow down and ONLY play what you can hear in you head BEFORE you play As an example, some of Yngwies fastest phrases are beautifully melodic when slowed down, same with EVH or Shawn Lane. I think the key is to make music, whether it's slow, medium, fast or shred-your-face-off...it's all good! Someone said something (not quite) like, "Always play what you hear and playing fast is what happens when you get excited about it".
Members electrotar Posted January 4, 2012 Author Members Posted January 4, 2012 1) If you have the urge to play fast, play fast!..always follow your interests! 2) If you can HEAR every single note that you're playing BEFORE you play it..it'll almost certainly sound cool, whatever speed it's at. 3) If you're just playing convenient patterns as fast as possible (my speciality )...time to slow down and ONLY play what you can hear in you head BEFORE you play As an example, some of Yngwies fastest phrases are beautifully melodic when slowed down, same with EVH or Shawn Lane. I think the key is to make music, whether it's slow, medium, fast or shred-your-face-off...it's all good! Someone said something (not quite) like, "Always play what you hear and playing fast is what happens when you get excited about it". thats cool mayeb ill try and play some of my recordings at slowed tempo edit and see what they sound like
Members Hudman Posted January 4, 2012 Members Posted January 4, 2012 It sounds like you are playing scales as lead runs. Scales sound like a music exercise at any speed. Think of your lead playing as your guitar emulating a singer. No one likes a monotone singer at any speed. The key is adding dynamics: Changing tempo (slow down - speed up - on the beat - behind the beat - etc), playing hard, playing soft, playing loud, playing quiet, etc, etc. Combine that with bends, slides, pull offs, hammer ons, harmonics and various vibrato (fast, slow, abrupt, etc) to help you come up with interesting melodies. Make your guitar sing.
Members electrotar Posted January 4, 2012 Author Members Posted January 4, 2012 It sounds like you are playing scales as lead runs. Scales sound like a music exercise at any speed. Think of your lead playing as your guitar emulating a singer. No one likes a monotone singer at any speed. The key is adding dynamics: Changing tempo (slow down - speed up - on the beat - behind the beat - etc), playing hard, playing soft, playing loud, playing quiet, etc, etc. Combine that with bends, slides, pull offs, hammer ons, harmonics and various vibrato (fast, slow, abrupt, etc) to help you come up with interesting melodies. Make your guitar sing. yeh. I try not to play scales in note by note order. Of course try to make unique sounds and make it sing as you say.
Members 1001gear Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 Smell the coffee ... or the roses. I forget which... IkLSoXSQcYQ
Members playlikedanko Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 Start playing with other people, if you're not already. Plenty of guitarists just focus on their personal technique, but that all changes in a band format, and will inform your solo (i.e. just by yourself) playing for the better. Not that playing fast is bad... in fact it is awesome. But if you want to become more musical, ya gotta play with other people. It forces you into a musical context, which forces you to listen. It encourages you to create a tasteful musical situation in a performance moment -- as opposed to a practice situation, where you may be focusing only on your own ability and advancing your chops. I'm not sure if I'm articulating it well, but there is a difference.
Members jonPhillips Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 Someone said something (not quite) like, "Always play what you hear and playing fast is what happens when you get excited about it". I like that a lot. Nice one Mo
Members BydoEmpire Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 1) If you have the urge to play fast, play fast!..always follow your interests! 2) If you can HEAR every single note that you're playing BEFORE you play it..it'll almost certainly sound cool, whatever speed it's at. 3) If you're just playing convenient patterns as fast as possible (my speciality )...time to slow down and ONLY play what you can hear in you head BEFORE you play As an example, some of Yngwies fastest phrases are beautifully melodic when slowed down, same with EVH or Shawn Lane. I think the key is to make music, whether it's slow, medium, fast or shred-your-face-off...it's all good! Someone said something (not quite) like, "Always play what you hear and playing fast is what happens when you get excited about it". Fantastic - I have to print that out and hang it on the wall of the studio.
Members dvuksanovich Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 I don't think you have to play slow to be melodically creative. Speed, however, is often used as a crutch... as a replacement for musical ideas... instead of something to make creative musical ideas more intense. Only you know if you're using speed as a crutch or not, but if you are, slowing down will make sense for now... not because it's required for creativity, but because you need to have your brain be ahead of your fingers. As you get better at this you can start speeding back up again as long as your brain remains in the driver's seat and your fingers are riding shotgun (instead of the other way around).
Members electrotar Posted January 5, 2012 Author Members Posted January 5, 2012 yeh but if you think like little wing. THat is a song hendrix made using lead guitar. Its not just fast solo is it? Thats what I mean about making a song through lead guitar rather than a solo etc..it sso thought out and a proper long tune made using lead guitar rather than just chords. And its not a big fast paced solo
Members BydoEmpire Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 Need to play slower to be melodically creative?I think it depends how fast your ears are. If your ears are fast enough to hear melodically creative stuff fast, and then be able to play it, that's cool. If they're not, you might need to slow it down.
Members fatusstratus Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 Like other guys have said - I don't think you NEED to play slowly to be melodically creative, but if you find you aren't being melodically creative it could be helpful to slow down for a bit. I think it's helpful in a lot of ways
Members TieDyedDevil Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 Play the way you breathe. There's nothing wrong with playing fast, if that's your thing. But can your audience hum (or whistle) what you're playing? That, to me at least, is a hallmark of melodic playing.
Members electrotar Posted January 5, 2012 Author Members Posted January 5, 2012 I think it depends how fast your ears are. If your ears are fast enough to hear melodically creative stuff fast, and then be able to play it, that's cool. If they're not, you might need to slow it down. I just mean its a different type of melody and feel i guess. Listen to this song WAXnqjUfal4 and the solo at the end. 3:15 onwards. Its slow and thought out. It plays like a nice short catchy riff/tune that u can hum along to and get stuck in your head Also this solo by RHCP...2:45. Its slowly thought out note for note. e_mcplFhU6c As is this one..solo 1:43...slow every noted made to count to make a cool tune. ppNOrzaAg_M Then listen to a solo like this..Its total opposite. Just notes after notes crazy speed, with short bits of slower melodic phrases jRtnJvbO9UU Or this is crazy soloing at fast speed lots of notes sI7XiJgt0vY See what I mean guys?!?!?!?
Members girevik Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 I think it depends how fast your ears are. If your ears are fast enough to hear melodically creative stuff fast, and then be able to play it, that's cool. If they're not, you might need to slow it down. Yes. I have no doubt Eddie Van Halen could hear every note of "Eruption" in his head without playing the guitar if he wanted to. I'm being serious here. Of course, EVH was classically trained on piano first.
Members EightString Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 The "Speedy Gonzales" stuff kind of bores me now, since I don't have to put much creative thought into it. In studying jazz, my rock playing took on new melodic dimensions. I'm not talking about Gambale type shredi fusion here, more like getting into bebop with chord tones and real melodic phrasing and playing through the changes while really HEARING the music. So now when playing rock, I lean more toward slower, yet more interesting melodic ideas instead of high-speed wankery, and those melodic ideas are inherently more listenable and unique than something like 32nd note scalar runs and sweeps. Jazz is a great way to expand your melodic vocabulary and break out of that habit of chops-chops-chops.
Members electrotar Posted January 5, 2012 Author Members Posted January 5, 2012 I think this is a great example of guitar lead/solo that is thought out note by note slowly to make nice sounds...It total contrasts your metal shredding etc..solo 4:05 XmSdTa9kaiQ&ob or Intro + solo 4:00 cyVMQ-1lJ6c I guess the difference is some solos/lead are like whistle/hum along tunes....da-di-da-da-di-da-di-da Whereas the fast solos are just cool but not whsitle along tunes ???????????
Members mosiddiqi Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 Sure, but that really wouldn't work in "Far Beyond The Sun" now would it?
Members electrotar Posted January 5, 2012 Author Members Posted January 5, 2012 Sure, but that really wouldn't work in "Far Beyond The Sun" now would it? I dont know what far beyond the sun is?But what i am saying is that the slow playing is like more thought out and IMO take more brain work. You have to sit and think.For example, tv show melodies. The simpsons etc..they had to sit and think the melody for the simpons...or james bond theme. You have to use your brain and make a proper tune/melody.Whereas playing a solo with 1000 notes per second is not so thought out and planned? if you know what I mean. Hard to explain.
Members electrotar Posted January 5, 2012 Author Members Posted January 5, 2012 Sure, but that really wouldn't work in "Far Beyond The Sun" now would it? I dont know what far beyond the sun is?But what i am saying is that the slow playing is like more thought out and IMO take more brain work. You have to sit and think.For example, tv show melodies. The simpsons etc..they had to sit and think the melody for the simpons...or james bond theme. You have to use your brain and make a proper tune/melody.Whereas playing a solo with 1000 notes per second is not so thought out and planned? if you know what I mean. Hard to explain.
Members girevik Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 Whereas playing a solo with 1000 notes per second is not so thought out and planned? if you know what I mean. Hard to explain. I know you are exaggerating with the 1000 notes/sec. number, but I do not agree with your premise that a player cannot think out a fast solo (at the speed of "Eruption"). I think you are finding it difficult to believe because you have not transcribed any solos yet. Try transcribing "Eruption" with something like Transcribe! or Amazing Slow Downer. Then transcribe other solos at around that speed. You might change your mind after that.
Members polishpaul Posted January 5, 2012 Members Posted January 5, 2012 I know what you mean. Slow melodies are musically different to fast shreds. But both require some thought, though. A melody might involve a call-and-response style of format, in which the end of it somehow complements the beginning. A fast shred has the first note, then a middle section of many more notes, then the last note .
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