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Post by zzzzaaacck on Oct 10, 2007 15:15:25 GMT -5
Alrite I've been playing guitar for 2 and a half years and have never been able to pick fast without doing the spastic arm vibration. I've played with a metronome but I just get stuck at around 120 and simply can't go any faster. It's a result of poor technique because with my left hand I can pick without getting tension when I go faster for whatever reason. I've been trying for over 2 months and can't seem to get my right hand to do what my left hand is doing. I'm right handed by the way and left handed guitar feels totally awkward, I just happened one day to try playing left handed. I read Joel's article about how his picking clicked and am hoping mine will do the same. Should I just keep trying with a metronome even though I can't even tremolo 16ths past 120? I really want to become better at guitar but this is seriously holding me back as I can sweep and legato quite well. I've tried playing slow and then speeding up and it just doesn't work for me, I get stuck at 120 and my arm tenses up badly.
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schweinhund
IG Old Sk00l Badass
She's a maniac on the floor
Posts: 677
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Post by schweinhund on Oct 10, 2007 20:41:06 GMT -5
Do it slowly and concentrate on relaxing the arm. It takes loooong time to develop fast picking. Just hang in there and practise like crazy (many hours a day) and you'll get your goal. But be sure to get things RIGHT and not sloppy.
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Post by Joel Wanasek on Oct 10, 2007 22:23:53 GMT -5
THE KEY.. and I mean the KEY is repitition at slow tempos with perfect practice to engrain the movements into your subconcious. Find a tempo you can play perfectly at and hammer the living hell out of it!!!!! Muscle Memory. Take 1 lick and just hammer the piss out of it with perfect practice and do it for long periods of time... every day. Watch what happens.
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Post by Stefvorcide on Oct 11, 2007 2:51:42 GMT -5
thats so fukken true.. if jowel can do it, everyone can ;p
btw, be sure its your WRIST thats movin' not your arm... watch some videos, that might help you. best 1 my hillbilly ass can think of right now, is that Alexi laiho's Passage to the Reaper...
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Post by Torkin on Oct 11, 2007 7:03:56 GMT -5
Passage to the Reaper \m/
I developed my right hand picking with licks including open strings. You can just try one to see if that would help you. Start very slow to keep all the notes even. 16th notes:
e B G ---7-0-0-0-8-0-0-0-5-0-0-0-7-0-0-0-8-0-0-0-10-0-0-0-5-0-0-0-3-0-0-0 D A E
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Post by zzzzaaacck on Oct 11, 2007 14:46:46 GMT -5
if jowel can do it, everyone can ;p true, alrite ill put more time into it, I just find it weird that my friend who completely sucks can tremolo way faster than me. But I'm gonna start putting a lot more effort into it.
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Post by Tungus on Oct 11, 2007 15:29:56 GMT -5
THE KEY.. and I mean the KEY is repitition at slow tempos with perfect practice to engrain the movements into your subconcious. Find a tempo you can play perfectly at and hammer the living hell out of it!!!!! Muscle Memory. Take 1 lick and just hammer the piss out of it with perfect practice and do it for long periods of time... every day. Watch what happens. This is pretty much what he told me 5 years ago...and it WORKS!
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Post by jazziiiguy on Oct 12, 2007 16:47:48 GMT -5
One incredibly simple tip I can give you that helped me immeasurably is to unplug from your amp. Without distortion or reverb or chorus to hide behind, you'll notice all kinds of subtle imperfections that you wouldn't hear otherwise. It'll force you to play with more precision, and since you'll be training your fingers with the correct motions at slower speeds, that precision will transfer over when you reach higher speeds. You don't need to do it all the time, but it's a nice trick. I do that with any lick or riff that involves a lot of picking.
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Post by mattjem7vwh on Oct 13, 2007 3:51:42 GMT -5
Have a look at your picking position too.... some players will play with their thumb and first fingers.. some will use their thumb + first and second fingers to hold the pick, and this can slow them down. The main thing is to RELAX.... as tensed muscles wont last too long! practice slowly with the smallest movements needed to achieve your alternate picking.... One of the things I learned right at the beginning was, if somethings giving you trouble, do the exact opposite. Heres a couple of exercises that WILL improve your alternate picking. 1) String skipping - check out "scarified" by Paul Gilbert for some good examples... 2) Economy picking - Try "Eugene's trick bag" by Steve Vai - taking the most efficient route for picking each note. 3) Triple picking - short fast bursts of three notes, starting with a down pick each time (down,up,down.... down,up,down) then alternate it, starting with a up pick each time (5 mins on each!) 4) Inside of the string picking - VERY IMPORTANT ! read up on it! www.tommymerry.com/guitar_lesson_alternate_picking.html5) Chromatics - boring but makes it easy to practice alternate picking! Any questions about any of this, I'm happy to go into more detail.
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