Hammermc Posted June 23, 2004 Report Share Posted June 23, 2004 If you would all be so kind and post all the things that helped you and might help someone else in improving their speed of playing,speed of the left hand as well as picking. Thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted June 23, 2004 Report Share Posted June 23, 2004 Practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted June 23, 2004 Report Share Posted June 23, 2004 The most important thing is that you have the desire to become faster. I know so many players and guitar students that ask me how to play that fast. There are good exercises and some tips. But nobody will do it for you. You can only become fast if you REALLY want to and use at least half an hour each day for speed exercises. Those guys I mentioned will never be fast, because they are blues-players, etc. who would like to play fast for some licks, etc. but it is not really a big wish for them....I show them exercises and they don't really pratice the stuff.... I am convinced that it has to be a big wish for you and that you have to love fast guitar stuff or you will never succeed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted June 23, 2004 Report Share Posted June 23, 2004 practice on accoustic, then do your "playing" on an electric.... some people say it's cheating but i've noticed it's really helped me the past couple of weeks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted June 23, 2004 Report Share Posted June 23, 2004 I am convinced that it has to be a big wish for you and that you have to love fast guitar stuff or you will never succeed.... I think you're dead right there. What I never have got my head around is this - I can't 'hear' the notes in my head any faster than I can play them. So. If you're soloing really fast stuff, do you hear those notes and want to play them, and therefore do play them, or is it a more subconcious thing so you play the lick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 I can't 'hear' the notes in my head any faster than I can play them practice is mental as well as physical...if you practice the notes in your head as you fall asleep or during downtime at work it really helps. i used to do this all the time...now i am always so tired from work that i rarely do anymore what you are describing is a mental block of sorts....just play it faster and faster in your head...then it is up to your fingers to keep up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 another thing i have noticed about speed lead work...it is not about each individual note as much as it is about the musical phrases what i love is when i am completely warmed up and i am able to kind of "outrun"the equipment a little so that the notes just start to blend together a hair....it just gets this kind of "liquidity" to it that i like... it is easier to do it with an 85 than an 81... first time i ever heard anyone do that was on the "cliff em all" video when hammet was doing the solo before they break into "the four horseman" i love that sound...unfortunately because of a lack of practice i can only hear it from time to time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jabsco Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 On a bass the way to become faster is to play lighter and softer. Alot of people when they play bass try to play real 'hard' and really press the hell out of the notes. If you want to play faster and more fluently you should let the amp create the loudness for you. Turn your pickups up real loud, and play softer. and Just keep practicing. It is physically imposible to play bass faster than guitar, but you can still get the same sort of sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 Always remember the expression, "Slow is fast". Practise everything really slowly following a metronome without doing a single mistake and playing each note cleanly. Once you have it perfect, then speed up the tempo a bit. If you do a mistake or even slightly mis-fret a note, move back down a few bpm's until you get it perfect. When you start losing your concentration and start missing notes or getting sloppy with your timing or fingering, then stop a few minutes to give your mind a break and regain concentration or else you'll end up practising "how to play sloppy". That's how you learn to play fast AND clean. Rushing it makes you end up sounding sloppy and maybe even not as fast. The quality of your practising is as important as the quantity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wylde1919 Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 Buy a metronome and practice chromatic scales in time using alternate picking. increase the time on the metronome when you can play the scale flawlessly and in perfect time at least three times in a row. once you get to a point where you are bored of that, switch from eighth or quarter notes to triplets, or stagger the note values play toeighths and a quarter. Timing and accuracry are th keys to speed. your fingers will learn to keep up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 Quite true. The metronome is very important because we naturally slow down more than we realize during the harder parts and speed up during the easy parts. A good midi sequence can also do the job. Sometimes I program a chord progression and let it play in a loop and practise improvising over it. It's less tedious than a metronome. But for practising single things like learning a new sweeped arpeggio, I start with a metronome to get the timing as close to perfect as possible. Actually, my "metronome" is just a click track played through Cakewalk so if you have a computer, you don't need to buy a metronome unless you need to practise where your computer isn't available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wylde1919 Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 Buy a metronome and practice chromatic scales in time using alternate picking. increase the time on the metronome when you can play the scale flawlessly and in perfect time at least three times in a row. once you get to a point where you are bored of that, switch from eighth or quarter notes to triplets, or stagger the note values play toeighths and a quarter. Timing and accuracry are th keys to speed. your fingers will learn to keep up. your fingers will keep up unless we are talking about typing then obviously I'm the wrong guy to ask! sorry for posting such poorly typed crap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 I agree that desire is key to eventually being able to do it. It takes a lot of practice. One little thing that helped me was learning to anticipate the next note. For instance, if you're about to change strings during a run, you can't fully commit your left hand to the current string. In other words, don't punish the strings when playing fast - just skim along the tops and hold off on really nailing down on the note until the time is right. Obviously, you need enough pressure to ring the note properly but I'd recommend trying a little less pressure than normal. Also, pay attention to where your hand needs to be during the run. Try not to put yourself into a position where you are counting on moving your hand up or down the neck between notes if it can be avoided. For me, a stretch is quicker than a move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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