Speed techniques

Speed techniques

I know speed takes time but everytime i look at any solo or any song
with a solo and i find it really hard to play. Are there any speed
drills you guys have done which can improve my speed on guitar? Also
do you guys know any Sweep techniques?

Re: Speed techniques

On Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:57:52 -0800 (PST), mcapadais@yahoo . com wrote:

>I know speed takes time but everytime i look at any solo or any song
>with a solo and i find it really hard to play. Are there any speed
>drills you guys have done which can improve my speed on guitar? Also
>do you guys know any Sweep techniques?

alt.binaries.guitar.tab
has a post "Rock guitar Secrets"
In the software, is an exercise called the "Spider" that will
double and triple your fret hand speed,
it takes 2-3 weeks to 2x speed, (muscle development)
about 5-6 weeks to 3 x speed.

The spider exercise will help
1 develop the finger/ hand muscles
2 develop Independent finger action
3 train your fingers, so they rest close, just above the strings
4 reduce unneeded motions

Alternate picking is important
Guitar action and neck smoothness , play a big part

Van Halen would tie elastic bands to his fingers and secure them
at his wrist, play with these for 20 minutes,
when you pull off the elastic, the fingers feel like they are
turbo charged

Pholtron
(Go-Bot)
<--====-->

All learning -
begins in darknesssssss,
and ends, in the lighttttt.

Re: Speed techniques


<mcapadais@yahoo . com > wrote in message
news:ffe51187-a02d-41e8-85a7-bc164605b925@c23g2000hsa.googlegroups . com ...
> I know speed takes time but everytime i look at any solo or any song
> with a solo and i find it really hard to play. Are there any speed
> drills you guys have done which can improve my speed on guitar? Also
> do you guys know any Sweep techniques?

Other than working the scales?

Re: Speed techniques

On Jan 29, 2:57 pm, mcapad...@yahoo . com wrote:
> I know speed takes time but everytime i look at any solo or any song
> with a solo and i find it really hard to play. Are there any speed
> drills you guys have done which can improve my speed on guitar? Also
> do you guys know any Sweep techniques?

For increasing your speed, I recommend working with a metronome.

While this may seem to be a tedious process, you need to follow some
form of regimen to create and exercise discipline (a four letter word
to many) in order to truly improve. It isn't enough to just play every
day. Without discipline and directed learning objectives, you will
drift from one thing to another and not get much better as a result.

First, pick a scale, such as the Major scale at the third fret, key of
G, and play it from sixth string to first (two octaves) and back again
laterally across the neck, positionally. You shouldn't be moving your
hand up or down the fret board at all. Do not worry about timing, just
get your fingers used to playing the scale.

Once you are familiar enough with the scale, set your metronome at
about 72 beats per minute (bpm) and play one note per beat up and
back. Yes, it's slow. But here is what you want to be looking at:

1) proper finger placement on string to fret -- are you playing flat
fingered or with about a 35 - 45 degree angle? Flat is bad, angled is
better. Your thumb should not be hanging over the top of the fret
board on the Low E.
2) relaxed upper back and arm muscles in both arms; if you're tense,
that's how you'll play; if you're relaxed (preferred) you will not be
fighting yourself, your body. Muscle memory is something you teach
yourself. Remember, relaxed is always better.
3) playing to a beat and actually hitting the beat right on top of it,
not ahead or behind the Beat, but right on top. Accuracy in playing to
tempo, in beat, is critical. It's about controlling your impulses and
learning discipline of correct meter.

Now move the scale up the neck with each pass, G to G# to A to A#,
etc... up to around th 17th fret. You have to learn to be comfortable
and relaxed at all positions up and down the fret board. Then play
back down to the open E position, at this slower tempo. Pay attention
to timing and accuracy and finger/thumb placement.

After you are able to do this with minimal errors, bump the speed up
only 4 bpm, no more. You do not want to ramp up your speed too quickly
because tension will return if you aren't teaching yourself to play
without tension. Only speed up the metronome when you are ready -- and
only by around 2 to 4 bpm per increase.

At some point you want to slow the metronome down again, say to 60 bpm
and then play two notes per beat, speed up only when you are playing
accurately and cleanly. Then try three notes per click, then four.

I do these exercises and my accuracy has increased considerably. I
teach these exact things to my students and their accuracy has
improved immensely.

I also recommend you play all these kinds of exercises with a clean
guitar sound. No distortion. Distortion covers up just how cleanly you
really are playing, and the clarity is masked over as well. Playing
cleanly will help you to improve in ways you cannot do if you insist
on using distortion during your study and practice time.

You can apply this technique to any scale, any lead line solo run and
even to rhythm concepts.

Sweep techniques are pretty easy to work out, too. You can use a Major
7 arpeggio played positionally (using the major scale as the
framework) and employ economy picking (sweep) technique to playing it.
Then, following the same principles outlined above for speed skills,
speed up as you are able. Play cleanly and accurately, too.

You can use other arpeggios as well, the dominant 6 scale provides a
good arpeggio basis, the minor 7 also and the diminished, too.

Hope this helps.

--Fletch