finger economics

[stratking]

Hey all,

 

First off I just want to say that after reading these boards for a while, this is my first post. Thanks for the great info so far.

 

I was wondering if anyone had any techniques that would help to keep my fingers closer to the fretboard, "finger economics", as my old instructor called it. When I am working on arpeggios and such I can't keep my fingers, mainly my pinky, from flying away from the fretboard. I can somewhat controld this by going vvveeerrryyy slowly, but once I get any speed they go haywire again. Any suggestions

 

Thanks again,

 

stratking

[mattburnside]

It sounds a little like you may be going from VERRRRRY SLOWLY to warp speed without any steps in between. I had the same experience, and I found it very helpful to practice these types of things as slowly as possible and crank the metronome up step-by-step, focusing on keeping my fingers close.

 

If I tried going immediately to the higher tempos, I found that my fingers went back to their old tricks. It's a bit of a beatdown to practice something slowly the right way when you can play it fast the wrong way, but it works.

[StratKat]

I think you nailed the problem on the head.

 

 

If you/he can play it flawlessly at a slow speed then the problem is you are accelerating too far too fast. The secret is to take alot of painstaking time and as you slwly move your metronome up in speed each week (not each day) you perfect not only the notes played but the finger movement as well. And this requires severe discipline. Your brain controls those fingers and will do what they are told by it correctly IF (big "IF" here) you force tourself to do it the right way when learning it.

 

Finger too high off the string? Lower it and do it until your finger gets used to the new heighth. Then increase speed slightly, not alot.

 

To get really fast, and play flawlessly takes YEARS of practice with a dedicated mindset to not rush it. To play fast, and get away with it only takes a few months of very hard work.

 

So hang in there! And besides, there really isnt a point in suiffering to learn somthing only to ruin the outcome by rushing it at the end when you are close to victory.

[555]

Originally posted by StratKat I think you nailed the problem on the head. If you/he can play it flawlessly at a slow speed then the problem is you are accelerating too far too fast. The secret is to take alot of painstaking time and as you slwly move your metronome up in speed each week (not each day) you perfect not only the notes played but the finger movement as well. And this requires severe discipline. Your brain controls those fingers and will do what they are told by it correctly IF (big "IF" here) you force tourself to do it the right way when learning it. Finger too high off the string? Lower it and do it until your finger gets used to the new heighth. Then increase speed slightly, not alot. To get really fast, and play flawlessly takes YEARS of practice with a dedicated mindset to not rush it. To play fast, and get away with it only takes a few months of very hard work. So hang in there! And besides, there really isnt a point in suiffering to learn somthing only to ruin the outcome by rushing it at the end when you are close to victory.

 

[555]

Oops. I meant to add, "What he said"

[FrostGiant]

Ditto.

 

Or cut your pinky off. I consider this option almost on a daily basis.

[GTM]

A way to practice keeping your fingers low on the board is basicly mute each note with your picking finger as you play it. That is, lightly press each note just enough to mute it but not hard enough to press it down to the wood. Doing it this way gauges the exact height required to mute cleanly. Press to hard, the note rings out, not hard enought, sloppy mute. If you do this correctly you'll notice you must keep your fingers low on the board. Practice this slow or fast the result is the same. Add this to your practice warm-ups. AFter a few weeks you WILL see an improvement.