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Building my speed


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Posted

Does anyone have any suggestions for ways to build by speed? I'm thinking something similar to the end of the stairway solo.

Thanks.

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Posted

The only effective way I know to build speed is to practice very, very slowly with a metronome..for as long as it takes. I think it was Howard Roberts that said "Speed is a by-product of accuracy".

 

For a thorough speed/technique workout that actually works..Troy Stetina's "Speed Mechanics" book is pretty much the gold standard I think.

 

It's not just about playing slow though..after a certain point, you're encouraged to play faster than you're comfortable with in short bursts..really push yourself..and then back the metronome down again. This is very effective and you often surprise yourself.

 

Very important: Record what you play!!...and judge it honestly.

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Posted

Mo is bang on as always. The Stetina book is excellent.

 

For me speed comes with familiarization of the neck. The more often you play the more the mind just knows where to go at high speeds. To play fast requires a LOT of practice time. Focusing mostly on scale fragments, patterns, sequences etc. For me my picking hand is the thing that slows me down. So you need to identify your challenges and make up exercises that force you to do that particular movement.

 

Frank Gambales Chopbuilder DVD is also very most excellent.

 

Good luck!

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Posted

Excellent ideas from Mos and Jeremy.

 

The guitar is a very memory-oriented instrument (there's got to be a better way of saying that?).

 

As Jeremy said, you have to know where you are going.

 

Learn a set of memorized speed licks that you can play without thinking. Drill them until you get them up to speed.

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Posted

Thanks for all the replies. I have been looking on youtube for some speed building exercises. I guess i just need to sit with a metronome and practice till i build up some speed.

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In a weird way, speed is probably the easiest thing to learn on the guitar. All it really takes is practice and dedication. I will give another nod to the Speed Mechanics book. Buy it, buy a metronome and pay heed to my sig quote. :)

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Posted
In a weird way, speed is probably the easiest thing to learn on the guitar. All it really takes is practice and dedication. I will give another nod to the Speed Mechanics book. Buy it, buy a metronome and pay heed to my sig quote.
:)


You're right. It's just about practicing coordination. It is something I have never had the patience to do.

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Posted
You're right. It's just about practicing coordination. It is something I have never had the patience to do.




Is that you?

I'm digging it. :thu:

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Posted

i also have a somewhat related question.... should you practice stuff differently for speed as in

 

simply alternate picking speed (like just fast metallish stuff)

 

or speed as in jimi hendrix super fast pentatonic licks with a bunch of bends thrown in

 

i find the 2nd A lot harder to do

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Posted

Kids in particular just wanna bang something out in a couple months. We've all done this and learn soon enough that this tact gets you 20 minutes of the same 30 seconds at Guitar Mart.
You need to be practicing everything on your level methodically and as thoroughly as possible. As you gain facility, you get faster.

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Posted

Yeah, there are different types of "fast", but I think the approach is always the same. Slow with a metronome, then speed up and push the envelope a little from time to time.

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Posted

 

i also have a somewhat related question.... should you practice stuff differently for speed as in


simply alternate picking speed (like just fast metallish stuff)


or speed as in jimi hendrix super fast pentatonic licks with a bunch of bends thrown in


i find the 2nd A lot harder to do

 

 

I think this is a good question...and speaking for myself..I also used to find it easier to play fast alternate picked scale type patterns. Then I started listening to Frank Marino and trying to rip some of his stuff..which is pretty much pure pentatonics played at a furious pace..Hendrix on steroids kind of thing. Working on his stuff really helped. It's also easy to hear where Zakk Wylde got a lot of his stuff from!.

 

Technically, I play the same way for each approach..and one thing you can do is instead of 2 note per string fast licks which imo are harder..you can try 3 nps pentatonics..where you then have a wide stretch issue..but I still find it easier than 2nps.

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Posted

A tip I got from a friend that's really helped my picking accuracy and building speed. A lot of places tell you to "play this phrase with a metronome - if you do it cleanly at one tempo three times in a row, bump up the temp and try again." That does work, but what's helped even more is "play it with a metronome at a slow temp for 3-5 minutes, then bump up the speed a few notches." Basically go for time, not repetitions. The idea is to really drill the phrase, the picking technique, everything into your brain correctly over and over. The other aspect is that by playing slowly over and over you can discover what parts of the phrase are giving you trouble. It might be an alternate picking string-skipping part, or maybe fingering. Regardless, sometimes if you're playing too fast - even if you can play it well - you don't realize why you blow it every couple of times. Hope that makes sense.

 

If you do something correctly 100 times, odds are you'll do it correctly the 101st. If you stumble through 50/50 because you're going too fast and playing sloppy, what are the odds you'll play it correctly the 101st time? My wife teaches violin and has a saying "if you play something wrong once, you have to play it correctly twice to compensate."

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Posted

You're right. It's just about practicing coordination. It is something I have never had the patience to do.

 

 

I'll add that it's not just about coordination, but also about minimizing (or eliminating) unnecessary movement. Practicing this way does require patience, but it really pays off. Stetina's book is really good to help you focus on the actual mechanics of playing.

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Posted

My wife teaches violin and has a saying "if you play something wrong once, you have to play it correctly twice to compensate."

 

 

I like that! Gonna write that down...

 

As everyone else has said, it is just hours and hours practiciing perfectly with a metronome. Don't force it, don't rush it as you may injure yourself.

 

One strategy that has work really well for me was to follow advice that Paul Gilbert gave in interview years ago: "Learn a new song every day. If you can't learn the song in 1 day, then it is too advanced for you". So you basically can follow your progression from easy songs through to more complicated stuff....

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Posted

Metronome. Even if you never get super fast you will get very accurate.

I had a lesson with Tony MacAlpine and what he does is plays something at his top speed and reaches a point on the metronome where he can't keep up. So, what he does is bumps it from that point up 10 more bpm and then fails miserably at that high speed but keeps at it. Then he goes back to the point previous where he was failing and it seemed much easier because he percieved it as slower. He said he just kept repeating that process and the mind trick bump his speed up.

Yngwie used to bring recording from rehearsal home to work with. The recorder at his practice place was slow. So when he popped it in his player at home it played slightly faster. Then he would come into rehearsal again and play the song up to speed on the recorder there, bring it home and practice is faster. He claims this is where he got 'in tune' with his speed and accuracy.

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Posted

A tip I got from a friend that's really helped my picking accuracy and building speed. A lot of places tell you to "play this phrase with a metronome - if you do it cleanly at one tempo three times in a row, bump up the temp and try again." That does work, but what's helped even more is "play it with a metronome at a slow temp
for 3-5 minutes
,
then
bump up the speed a few notches." Basically go for time, not repetitions. The idea is to really drill the phrase, the picking technique, everything into your brain correctly over and over. The other aspect is that by playing slowly over and over you can discover what parts of the phrase are giving you trouble. It might be an alternate picking string-skipping part, or maybe fingering. Regardless, sometimes if you're playing too fast - even if you can play it well - you don't realize
why
you blow it every couple of times. Hope that makes sense.


If you do something correctly 100 times, odds are you'll do it correctly the 101st. If you stumble through 50/50 because you're going too fast and playing sloppy, what are the odds you'll play it correctly the 101st time? My wife teaches violin and has a saying "if you play something wrong once, you have to play it correctly twice to compensate."

 

 

That is very good advice:thu: and your wife is right; at least twice, if not more.

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Posted

Virgman:


I've been doing some chromatics lately from the Pebble Brown site. Have you seen his routine schedule and his exercises? Are they good?

 

 

He's an excellent teacher.

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