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Post by thenotshredder on Jul 5, 2007 16:00:43 GMT -5
So here we go. I have a problem with picking scale runs that include the high E string. I could play a lot of things much faster if I could, and often just play the high E with legato and return to alternate picking for the other strings. However, when I'm playing licks between just the B and e strings, or on just the high e string, I have almost no problem at all (albeit more than I would between lower strings, like, say, D and G).
The funny thing is that this has crept into the rest of my playing (by the way, I'm left-handed and proud of it, which may explain much of this). When my right hand can pick a string, but isn't in the right position to continue picking that string, I subconsciously switch to legato (especially at high speeds) for that string, mess around with it a bit, and then go back to alternate picking for more administration of awesome.
Now, I realize that this isn't necessarily a bad thing, because it does help me sound a bit more fluid and even perhaps unique (albeit I'm aware that Yngwie does it in places, and so do others). But do I really need to spend the effort to be able to pick every note I play? I've been working on this little flaw for years now, and it seems to be pretty well entrenched in my playing -- and completely reworking my picking style (several times!) hasn't worked.
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Post by Stefvorcide on Jul 5, 2007 17:58:10 GMT -5
Dude.
musicality is WAY more important than technique. I.e. if it sounds good, keep that technique, its a part of your style / playin.
I know that when I sweep, the notes arent equal, but not slopy its more... a few triplets, then 16ths, then triplets.... sounds cool
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Post by Torkin on Jul 6, 2007 16:39:37 GMT -5
But man, the music is also about discipline, music is a discipline! You can keep this triplet / 16th combo, but I feel that you must be able to play notes even as well. It is one of them thingys that make you a better guitarist. You will also sound tighter and more pro, if you want to, and you will always be able to sound more fluidly. Thenotshredder, I think that you can use that style, but it would also be good if you found time to try and isolate and separate the techniques. I had a similar style (not calling it a problem), but I didn't sound as well as I wanted with that. It is very good if you can mix techniques, but you have to have control over what you are doing on the guitars neck IMO. It is not a major issue, indeed there are many more important things that you should be attending to, but if you will find time and will to isolate the problem, it will contribute to your playing, I believe. You can always mix the techniques, but what if you will HAVE to play a lick either legato or alt pick? Go practice !!!
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Post by thenotshredder on Jul 6, 2007 17:26:06 GMT -5
I agree, Torkin. The thing is that I've been trying to exorcise this little demon for a while now, and I can't seem to get rid of it. I'm not sure what to do about this, since Gilbert-style licks aren't helping, and just running the scales slow isn't either. (Not that I'm not still trying, mind you!)
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Post by Torkin on Jul 6, 2007 18:19:40 GMT -5
hmm ok, but can you give an example of a lick that would cause this shift? Now that I gave it a thought I am a bit confused...
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Post by thenotshredder on Jul 6, 2007 18:41:37 GMT -5
Well, for example, a scale run, alternate-picked. C major, 3NPS, root on the sixth string, tenth fret. On my way up from the B to the high E, my right hand always gets confused at higher speeds, and I instinctively switch to legato for the high E (10h12h13p12p10) and continue back down with alternate picking. This happens even when I'm warmed up (which takes several hours). My other gripe is that I can't legato very well with whole-half shapes (even though I'm working on it!), but that's a whole 'nother story.
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Post by Torkin on Jul 7, 2007 10:09:21 GMT -5
Key, you can try this lick very slowly, and go very slowly up to the speed when you switch to legato and stay there alt picking until your hands are guided by the wind -10-9-7---9-7-------7-------------------------- (e) ---------10-----10-9---10-9-7-(slide)-3~---- (B) Sounds awshome at high speed, so you've got a motivation
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Post by thenotshredder on Jul 7, 2007 12:59:56 GMT -5
Haha, been working on it. It's slow going (pun intended), but I'll keep at it. On a completely random note, there is nothing that makes me feel like the dark lord of metal like playing Aces High with a fresh set of strings.
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Post by entz on Jul 11, 2007 11:24:21 GMT -5
But man, the music is also about discipline, music is a discipline! umm.. what the heck is that? I know that music is about kicking ass and getting your noodle wet... I guess times have changed... now they have all these confusing words and shit
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Post by Torkin on Jul 11, 2007 13:11:03 GMT -5
Yeah times change man... I am afraid that Bach didn´t write his Toccatas to kick ass. And I doubt that he did it to fuck ladies. And that what you are talking about I don't refer as music... Just drunk and crackhead jams. Im(h)o music is for ears, mind and soul, and not a tool to get famous or rich or another chlamydia. Although some of you here will disagree with me, it's simply my opinion.
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Post by entz on Jul 12, 2007 1:45:26 GMT -5
Im(h)o music is for ears, mind and soul dude... that's a give in but it would be cool to get shitloads of money and spend it on ridiculous junk and whatnot btw. groupies have existed from the day one.... ancient troubadours had groupies, classical composers had groupies, opera singers had groupies, poets and writers had groupies etc. some of them were even sicker sex perverts than some of todays rockstars but discipline can scare away many folks... I've allways been slacking like a champ... I just wanna rock'n'roll and enjoy it... discipline doesn't sound fun to me... maybe some like it... but silly motherfuckers like me don't obey the rules
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Post by pcsmall on Jul 12, 2007 7:10:00 GMT -5
but discipline can scare away many folks... I've allways been slacking like a champ... I just wanna rock'n'roll and enjoy it... discipline doesn't sound fun to me... maybe some like it... but silly motherfuckers like me don't obey the rules the rest of us are too damn lazy
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Post by thenotshredder on Jul 12, 2007 8:07:35 GMT -5
I have been using this damned "discipline" thing for eight years (on and off, haha). It got me nowhere. I could sit for months (literally) for several hours a day with a metronome working on alternate picking and I never got much beyond 160 with sixteenths. Still haven't, if we're talking clean picking. So fuck it. You folks with big hands and a talent for speed can play lead, and I'll write the riffs that make your disciplined asses famous. (Again, this whole post is semi-sardonic.)
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Post by Torkin on Jul 12, 2007 15:49:01 GMT -5
Once again IMO, the word "talent" is slightly overrated. If you have a desire to be good at something, that desire will drive you to the goal. The stronger the desire, the farther and closer to your goal you go. I recall Michelangelos saying that the problem of mankind is not that we set our goals too high and don't reach them, but that we set them too low and reach them. And when i say discipline I don't mean that you have to punish yourself 8 hours a day with a metronome. Discipline is setting yourself a goal and moving steadily to it, without turning away, ignoring your shortcomings. For me it works, but sometimes I catch myself at thinking that I have put my goal too low, and I could've learned to play this lick cleaner. Then I sit back and relearn it, from the beginning. Thenotshredder, maybe you simply felt from the beginning that the metronome practice ain't getting you anywhere. Optimism is your ally, while frustration simply keeps you away from reaching what you want. Now you say it got you nowhere. I doubt it. Even if your progress at those licks you were playing to metronome wasn't dramatic, the process has in some way contributed to your playing I am sure. If not to your playing, then to your sense of rythm. Maybe the thing that your hands are smaller than usual is a barrier to you. Then try to get past it somehow. Try to e.g. play more at higher frets where the size of your hands isn´t limiting you. Your hands can't be too small that you can't play shred. Look at mr. Malmsteen or Michael Romeo. They have monster fingers (too fat), but that isn't limiting them. Or that video someone posted here not so long ago.. of a guy without hands playing guitar with his feet. Think of that... The size of your hand is just a small flaw compared to that guy's total disability. And Endrik, everyone chooses his own way in life and music . Too bad that some really good musicians have to be poor and work in places like cheese shops or kindergardens, but that problem has been around since the beginning of harmony.
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Post by entz on Jul 13, 2007 2:41:31 GMT -5
absolutely... the goals are very important... I've allways had high goals... but I'm also a realist.... I know it's a one in the million chance to be as big as Kiss or Van Halen.
there are different "schools of thinking" when it comes to talent... some belive hard work is the key... some belive that natural born talent is it... I've allways belived in natural gift and talent... and every day I belive more in it.
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