Members LIAR-502 Posted October 20, 2004 Members Posted October 20, 2004 i think i might be doing something wrong but i'll be damned if i know what it is. Maybe i'm not lose enough or something but no matter how much i practice picking i don't seem to get any faster and smoother than around the 90bpm mark. (how pathetic is that?? ) what can i do to actually get better, no amount of practice seems to do anything and i've been practicing this for a long time. everyday i play 1234 and all its combinations up and down the neck and then i'll spend 30 mins working on a picking exercise or lick from a magazine but nothing working, any tips cause i really need them. thanks fingers
Members bobthemerciful Posted October 20, 2004 Members Posted October 20, 2004 When you practice, concentrate on accuracy rather than speed. I know it sounds counter-productive, but I found that concentrating on having consistent and even timing my speed improved a lot as a by-product. Also I found that concentrating on not being a sloppy player really helped me get more fluid, for want of a better word. Finally , a good teacher can help, cos they will probably notice things about your playing that you don't. Hope this helps. Bob
Members superhombre2k Posted October 22, 2004 Members Posted October 22, 2004 That is absolutely true. Set the metronome to 40bpm and play your exercises at that excruciatingly slow pace until you do it without {censored}ing up even the slightest. Next time you practice, bring it up a notch. Keep doing that. The important part is accuracy. Don't move the metronome up a click until you've mastered the previous tempo. Take notes and keep a record of what speed you can cleanly and perfectly play each exercise or pattern that you do. Are you playing each note cleanly, on tempo, and for the correct duration? This should break down your picking to the most basic level and rebuild it much stronger, cleaner, and faster than before. Once you get to the point where the challenge is the speed and not the accuracy, you'll notice it will be considerably quicker than you had been able to do before! It's very time consuming to do this, but dedication and a commitment to practice will give you the means to express yourself freely... and isn't that what you want?
Members LightningFast Posted October 22, 2004 Members Posted October 22, 2004 A guitar teacher may help. However, try this. Can you pick one note back and forth real fast??? Then get your fingers to match that time speed. Use 1,2,4 on two string runs only. For example, B string to E string. Then try 1,3,4. Finaly try it on other strings. Then start peacing all the strings together. Once you get this down then try actual scales. At first you will sound sloppy, but once you get familiar with the speed your fret fingers have to go, then it will match the pick speed. It could also be the way you hold your pick.
Members bongfodder Posted October 28, 2004 Members Posted October 28, 2004 90 bpm is slow.If I read the "liar 502" right your talking Megadeth old Metallica type stuff.You should eventualy be able to play 16'ths at 90 bpm using only downstrokes and even then your not close to playing Master of Puppets. Ditch the metronome for an equal part of your practice sesion and concentrate on speed,your brain and your hands have to learn to play fast by playing fast, the metronome can somtimes get in the way of that,do still use it though.Playing along to songs is sometimes a good way to go. orionfade to blackWhiplash Are pretty easy Metallica song with alternate pickingpeace sells ?for Megadeth most are pretty challenging. Also I have trouble playing MOP with no tension in my right arm. Can anyone play 1/4 note downstrokes at 220 bpm without some tension cause I'd sure like to learn how?
Members tbaker Posted October 28, 2004 Members Posted October 28, 2004 I'm kinda running into the same problem, I've been playing for over 10 years, alot of old Metallica stuff. I thought I had decent speed (until I saw Petrucci's Rock discipline!!), I can do the chromatic stuff all over the neck at about 120bpm in 16ths. But can't seem to get any faster and maintain accuaracy. I've tried to analyze my picking technique to improve, but my main problem is getting my fret hand to keep up with my pick hand. I can pick an open E really fast (probably 200bpm in 16ths) but when I throw my fret hand in I just can't get them synch'd up. Also I find I can't pick on the higher strings as fast as down on the low E and A strings. Guess I probably played too much old Metallica! Looking for any advice.
Members bongfodder Posted October 29, 2004 Members Posted October 29, 2004 I don't think you can play to much old Metallica. For syncing your hands make up an exercise playing a different note on the first note of each group of 16ths. ex. EEEE F#EEE GEEE F#EEEthen do EEF#E and all the variations of one alternate note in each group of four.then do two alternate notes in a group:EF#EG and on to a new note for each 16th.
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