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Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 5 2008, 07:48 AM

Everyone always wants to be the best they can be, but as humans we tend to play to our strengths and ignore our weaknesses.

The same holds true for guitar playing, do you know what your weaknesses are as a player? I would assume most of you know where you are weak in your playing.

I would ask you all.

What are your weak spots in your playing and what can we do to help you overcome them?

Some weaknesses are relatively simple to correct, some are very difficult but until we admit to what we have to work on we will continue to ignore them and our goal of mastering the instrument will become very difficult and frustrating.


I will go first and tell you all that my legato technique is not what it should be, i tend to use my picking skills as a crutch in alot of circumstances. Don't get me wrong i can play legato but its not as smooth as i would like it to be so i have set aside time in my practicing schedule to really get down and dirty to put this problem area to rest.

I have started working on just strengthening my fingers doing trills and hammer on drills, to facilitate this i have also put 12's on my second guitar so i have to work harder to acheive the legato sound in the end i think i will make my fingers alot stronger. Even the last few days i have done this i have seen remarkable increase in finger strength.

Daniel

Posted by: kyldeee May 5 2008, 08:28 AM

I also have some problems with legato, and also sweeping... I don't really practice them that much because I get frustrated when I don't get them right and then my motivation gets lower and I don't feel like playing anything I really should start with some basics I guess...

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 5 2008, 08:31 AM

What part of sweeping are you having difficulty with maybe we can help suggest ways to help you improve without pulling your hair out.


Daniel

Posted by: kyldeee May 5 2008, 08:37 AM

Actually I don't have that much hair, so no worries about there I don't seem to have that big of problems sweeping with more strings, like 5 string sweeps, but when I play with 3 string sweeps I don't seem to get them right which is wierd 'cause you would assume that they are easier than 5 string patterns And I also have some problems with my palm muting, I don't seem to get them sound that clean as they should...

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 5 2008, 09:07 AM

Maybe this advice can help you, without knowing exactly whats falling apart for you its hard to say.


I had a similar problem when learning sweeps, i could do 5 and 6 string sweeps with ease but shorter spans like 3 or 4 strings it wasnt consistent at all. I really had to pay close attention to what was going wrong.

I realize that when i do 5 or 6 string sweeps there is alot more barring going on which means i was using more of the pads of my fingers for those sweeps the angle of my hand was such that it was easy. When trying to apply this on 3 string patterns i realized that barring the notes more with the pads of my fingers was really the culprit. When executing 3 string patterns its vital to use the very tips of your fingers for some reason on the smaller spacing of 3 strings if you bar more i.e. using more pad of your finger your actually dampening or muting the strings too much.

Also just take your time in the timing execution of the 3 string sweeps. You have trained your right hand to move across double that span, the muscle memory in your right hand wants to move more adjacent strings then just three so thats also probably part of the problem.

Maybe this will help let me know.

Daniel

Posted by: kyldeee May 5 2008, 09:10 AM

Thanks, that's a great advice, I'll start working on it ASAP

Posted by: superize May 5 2008, 10:16 AM

I feel that my waekness lies in my legato and espacially my pulloffs.... i cant get it to sound smooth when shifting strings i often make i little paus

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 5 2008, 10:19 AM

I have many weaknesses, and the things I should work more on atm are harmony constructions.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 5 2008, 12:53 PM

Great topic!

Alternate Picking technique for me - cleanliness and speed. My legato is reasonable and has improved a lot over the last year as I find it comes very naturally, and I practice it to the detriment of AP. With AP it is purely about practice time and discipline for me - I believe I have the mechanics right but I am skimping on the time and effort needed to build up speed in a smooth and controlled fashion!

Posted by: iainsteward May 5 2008, 01:00 PM

This is a great topic, thanks Daniel!!

I have a few weaknesses in my playing that no matter how hard I try I cannot put right, the first is fast runs, if for example I am playing a 3nps sequence, I can play it very well up to a certain speed, then I just freeze and my fingers go into meltdown......I try going over and over it with a metronome at a slow speed, then try building up but it is taking me FOREVER to develop the speed I want, my goal in life is to play a few Malmsteen classics note for note perfect, but I am barely able to play them at anywhere near the right speed, its so frustrating!!

Secondly, a mixture of techniques....tapping and legato!! Not combining them, its just that the same problem arises with both techniques, I try and do them.....and playing slow, fine and sounding very clean!! When I speed them up it sounds sloppy and I can often hit wrong notes when tapping!!

The speed problem is the most boggling and annoying!! I can play slower stuff perfectly, and with good phrasing and vibrato then once I get up to a difficult speed I just cant seem to do it, I seem to get lost, and no matter how much practice speed is still elusive!!!

Any tips or help would be GREATLY appreciated!!
Thanks,
Iain!!

Posted by: Trond Vold May 5 2008, 01:17 PM

One of my many weaknesses is that i'm completely and utterly useless with the whammy bar. I just cant operate that thing without it sounding drunk

Another one that annoys me is that i cant do sweep-tappings without making a bunch of unwanted noise. Well, my sweeping in general could use some work.

Posted by: chast May 5 2008, 01:22 PM

My weakness is playing guitar
But my main problem is probably my vibrato and that I can't pick fast :/
And I nearly have no idea about theory
But these are weaknesses that just need some work.

Posted by: TreyDeschamp May 5 2008, 01:25 PM

Great Topic!

I think my weakness is trying to play but not get mad and frustrated when I dont get something quickly.

Posted by: PlayAllDay May 5 2008, 03:50 PM

Oh dear - I don't have any weaknessess at all...

Seriously I do have some trouble performing a good first finger vibrato in the forearm twisting fashion. Have you any tips for that Daniel - I really think I just haven't put in enough hours yet for it to feel easy, but any extra info could help.

Posted by: rokchik May 5 2008, 04:17 PM

Fantastic topic Daniel

As for my weaknesses well I think I may crash GMC if I list them all But some of what I've been trying to correct lately is my alternate picking - same as Andrew said the cleanliness and speed. I've noticed as well since I started recording myself that I tend to cut notes short, I don't let them ring so I've been working on that a lot the last few days and my vibrato is horrible, again something I noticed since I started recording. Those are just a few I've been trying to improve lately but the list goes on and on my friend.

rok

Posted by: ZakkWylde May 5 2008, 04:27 PM

I have extreme rythm problems because I can't stand to use the metronome.

Posted by: USAMAN May 5 2008, 04:32 PM

Endurance in downward picking...If I try to play master of pppets all down-picking my arm will explode.

Not being strict enough with my alternate picking....I cheat....alot.......

Posted by: Canis May 5 2008, 04:39 PM

I have a lot of weaknesses... But if I were to pick one major one, I'd say it's playing along with a backing track.. I always play faster or slower then the backing track is made for. Example: I've "mastered" Marcus' Pentatonic Solo, but when I play along with the backing track, I'm never at the point I should be. Like in the middle there, the backing track get's faster, but I'm allready past that part or not yet there. Been looking at Kris' metronome lesson now and then to get some repetation on how to use the rhythm..

Other weaknesses is bending and vibrato.

Posted by: audiopaal May 5 2008, 04:59 PM

I think I'm pretty average in most things, and the only thing I think I'm great at is rythm guitar..
I will work on playing solos to get better at that at the moment but there will always be thinks to get better at, even my rythm guitar playing so I don't see it as weaknesses, only problems to be solved

Posted by: Siggum May 5 2008, 05:18 PM

Got many weaknesess, for example fast alternate picking with clean notes, arpeggios, vibrato and a bunch of theory.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 5 2008, 06:27 PM

Thats why recording yourself is so cool - it really brings you down a peg or two

Posted by: Zizi Top May 5 2008, 06:39 PM

i think i have a lot of weakness when i go to vacation, so i stop electric guitar for about 2 weeks, and then come back, so it's like i've forgotten everything, and i have to play about 10 hours (maybe more) just to try to get back to what i can do
i also got a big weakness while singing and playing guitar at the same time, i can do it with easy chord progression.

Posted by: rokchik May 5 2008, 09:26 PM

Well I was only up a peg or two so I guess I'm back to square one

But yes recording really does open your ears to what your doing, right and wrong. It is really showing me how sloppy I was before and is forcing me to really pay attention and fine tune. But as embarrassing as it is, I'm becoming a better player

rok

Posted by: DeepRoots May 5 2008, 09:31 PM

Hmm..weaknesses...

I'd say my sweeping has gone downhill because i've practised nothing but alternate picking for a while..also my legato could be waay better.

One thing i need to start practising is finger-picking, i played the greensleeves lesson a while back and stopped practising fingerpicking for some unknown reason..

Also..im not great working over chord changes, like changing scale but keeping in the same position not just moving around the same shape to different positions.

All will come with time tough i am sure

Good idea for a topic btw, now i know what to get practising right away

Posted by: Nick325 May 5 2008, 09:37 PM

i would say my sweeping, 5 string more than 3 string, because i cant really start to speed up while mutting. i always seem to lift my palm. and maybe a little tapping but im practicing it a lot more (cause it sounds awsome )

Posted by: Gus May 6 2008, 01:50 AM

Sweep picking, definitely...

I gave it more than one try, but I always lose motivation.
Maybe I am too addicted to alternate picking. When I try to speed up the sweeping I automatically move to alternate picking....

I am not practicing too much right now, but as soon I finish my thesis I decided one thing. I will always practice my worst technique every day. That will be sweep picking as a start. And when I think it is not the worst anymore I move to something else...

Posted by: Outlaw2112 May 6 2008, 01:53 AM

Playing in front of people... I can play stuff perfect by myself, but when im in front of people i tend to mess up and get nervous..

Posted by: The Uncreator May 6 2008, 02:06 AM

8 finger tapping, I have never progressed so slowly at a technique

Posted by: fatb0t May 6 2008, 02:37 AM

SWEEPING
and legato are my weaknesses....
----
For a while it was descending AP 3 note per string runs - Fixed it though! Took a solid weak of practicing the aeolian in every key descending, with some legato slides to expand all over the fret board - Now my descending is faster than my ascending - gotta work on that too I suppose!

I love the feeling of accomplishment when you start to become really comfortable with something that was so awkward to you in the beginning...

Posted by: audiopaal May 6 2008, 07:41 AM

8 finger tapping? Is that even possible?

Posted by: DeepRoots May 6 2008, 07:46 AM

Apparently so...

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/8-finger-tapping-lesson/

Posted by: audiopaal May 6 2008, 08:08 AM

Yes, but that's Muris, I'm speaking for the rest of us

Posted by: DeepRoots May 6 2008, 08:22 AM

I see

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 6 2008, 01:47 PM

Lets try to start and tackle these things, lets start with Supersize.


My advice to you on this problem area is not so much metronome work,.....although very important it sounds to me like your problem is in string transistion and not timing.

First off start by analyzing hand angle and posistion as well as how you move from one string to another. Hand angle can play a big part in pull off resolution to another string. It may seem uncomfortable at first but when making a transistion to a lower string try changing the angle of your wrist. So that you have a sleight turning of the wrist counter-clockwise (towards the bridge) it doesnt have to be a huge angle change just very subtle. Typically when doing a descending legato phrase your leading into the next string with your pinky or ring finger, which obviously isnt as long as your index and middle finger. Get your finger closer to the next string before getting there may help reducing that "Pause" your speaking of.

Also try very hard to avoid the "Fly away fingers" syndrome where when you pull off your fingers go flying far from the fret board.

Another good excersise for working on this is not trying to do say 6 notes descending, practice 4 notes descending then 5 notes descending in an alternate way.

For example start at the 12th fret high E string with your pinky on the 12th play legato 12----10-----9 then shift to the B string with your pinky to the 12th B string. then starting again on the High E string 12th fret 12----10----9 shift to B string with your pinky doing 12----10. Work on this pattern alternating between the two working up the speed.

Pay special attention to hand posistion and how close your fingers remain to the fretboard. Conservation of motion is absolute key in solid legato playing. The less motion you have to have the smoother its going to sound.

One other thing you can try to get your legato smoother dealing specifically with your problem is just to do hammer on pull off excersise on 1 string and try to get your pull off motion to be as small as possible and still sound the notes.

For example just start on the 12th fret again with your pinky and pull off to your index finger on 9th so how little of motion is required on your guitar to just sound the notes. You constantly have to trim motion size the faster you get.


Keep working on it you will get it.

Daniel

Posted by: Nemanja Filipovic May 6 2008, 01:53 PM

Great topic Daniel.My weakness is that I don't haw electric guitar.

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 6 2008, 02:41 PM

This is something that alot of guitarists struggle with later in their development, myself included. Its when you start realizing you need to really get into the nuts and bolts of the theory aspect.


My friend and I have been working together on solving this slowly over time, what we are doing is finding actual music scores for symphonies, and analyzing the intricate web of harmonies that are taking place between all the instruments.

When you start to see the patterns in this way it becomes much easier to create those harmonies on a single instrument because you start to develop a sense of the intervals involved and how they interact with the other instruments your playing with.


My recommendation is to try it and see what you can get out of it.

Daniel





This comes back to the intital reason i started this post, we tend to ignore where we are weak. My friend always tells me you make time for whats important to you and the rest falls by the wayside.

My advice in your particular case is try mixing up your legato with AP riffs...as an example lets say your doing a 3nps pattern across three strings. Play legato on the first two string and AP the last string. This has several things going for it.

First your working on AP while still maintaining your legato technique, your also opening up the possiblity of a different rhythmic sound to your phrasing.

And at the same time your starting to work on the basics of hybrid picking. Try this approach and see what you can come up with.

Daniel



Iain,

I certainly agree with how boggling the speed aspect is. Its something i still struggle with. What i have found though in breaking it down it comes down to a few key things. First off i find that in alot of ways the speed issue especially with Alternate picking comes down to a sync issue between left and right hand and not 1 or the other. For instance i can easily pick 32nd notes at 150bpm if i am just on an open string not fretting any notes.

I can also hammer on and pull off 32nd notes at 150bpm on a 3 note pattern with just my left hand. When i tried to do both it fell apart. I started to realize that it was indeed a sync problem and not a picking or fretting problem.


The other aspect of the speed issue is there seems to be a space at least for me in AP skills at a certain range of BPM.

For the longest time when trying to play 16th note triplets for example at 120 to 125 or so BPM i just couldnt get any kind of consistency....lower BPM i had no difficulty with. Nor with playing 32nd notes at that speed. At first i just thought it was my ears playing tricks on me but i actually recorded myself at 120BPM playing alternate picking licks at 32nd notes and slowed it down and listened for inconsistencies but there wasnt any.

So why was it falling apart at 120bpm with 16th note trips?


I then realized the problem had to do with the syncing between left and right hand, but the sync issue was being caused by my picking hand. I realized that when i was playing the 16th note triplets at that speed i was using more arm motion to pick with then wrist action like when i play faster.

Once i realized what was happening i started to physically watch myself when playing with a metronome at that speed and made sure my picking angle and wrist use was consistent thru the speed ranges i could play.

Perhaps the same is occuring for you. Without actually seeing you play the difficulty your having is hard to judge but take the time on your own to really analyze what is actually happening when you have that "Meltdown" zone.

I think i can safely say that when you reach a certain speed your either tensing up too much so force yourself to relax, or....you are altering something as you approach that speed threshold.

If you find out what the trouble is let us know you can probably help someone else here having the exact same trouble.


Daniel




As far as either of your problems are concerned i have little advice to give, i completely ignore the whammy bar. The only reason i don't use a hardtail guitar is because i find bending is easier on a guitar with a whammy because the springs will give enough so you don't have to push as hard to reach the pitch you want.

My advice on this particular area would be to take que's from people who use the whammy bar with a great deal of precision and try to emulate what you hear.

A good place to start imo is with someone like Kiko Loureiro from Angra, he has some excellent whammy usage.

Check out this vid, especially the center section of this song is some really awesome whammy work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQL2cLE7HpA&feature=related


As far as string noise well....its all a matter of just getting tighter, especially for you Trond. Your rhythm and lead skills are very clean so its just a matter of working it out i guess.


Daniel

Posted by: superize May 6 2008, 02:55 PM

Thanks for the advice

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion May 6 2008, 02:57 PM

I'm just superb all across the board

My weaknesses are theory, downpicking, alternate picking, sweeping, hybrid picking, economy picking and many other regions.

My strengths are my trademark slowlos

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 6 2008, 03:24 PM

Chast,

I have the same weakness The guitar is like crack to me, if i pick it up i can't put it down. I really have to focus on things i have to get done around the house and what not so i don't spend 5 hours lost in guitar land


As far as vibrato goes its really a preference as to what you do vibrato wise. There are so many vibrato techniques and variations on them i could write a college essay on them lol.

Me personally i have two vibrato styles that are pretty much my staples the first one is with my index finger i don't use a wrist vibrato i just shake the string with my finger back and forth i also almost always really pinch the string when i use this vibrato.

The other vibrato i use is shaking the guitar and sleightly moving my fingers back and forth. Because of the way i shake the guitar it makes my vibrato when i do this eliptic too, which adds another element to it.

As far as practicing vibrato first you need to decide on the technique your going to use for doing it. But once that is settled practice with either a metronome or a backing track...the backing track is more fun for obvious reasons. But try to time your vibrato in natural tempo's that compliment the BPM your using. You dont have to match perfectly but it makes it sound so much nicer when your close to a natural tempo. Alot of newer players i see tend to get very spastic when it comes to vibrato, and it shouldnt be spastic. Fast vibrato is not wrong nor is slow vibrato but it needs to have some kind of order to it. Unless for musical purposes your speciafically trying to sound chaotic.

Now when you say you can't pick fast are you saying that you can't AP fast...or just can't move the pick across the string quickly in general?

If its an AP problem there are several lessons here that can get you started in the right direction. If its picking in general i.e. just sounding the string. Start working on whats hanging you up. In the beginning i remember not having any consistency sounding the string with my picking. First off my hand motions were too big, and secondly my pick angle was all wrong for playing fast.

Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with picking the string with your pick parrallel with the string, if...and thats a big IF, you can get your pick touch light enough so you barely have to move to sound the string at speed. But for the most part precision of that kind is hard to come by without years and years of practice. Its far easier to angle your pick so its closer to 90 degrees to the string. This way when plucking the string with the pick the string will tend to "roll" over the string because the pick is curved on the end. The other way with the pick parallel to the string if your touch isnt super light it will "Hang" on the string making it very difficult to get a smooth picking stroke.

Music theory is just like learning math..or science, you have to study it to understand it. A good first step though in your road to theory mastery is to memorize the notes on the neck of the guitar, to know without thinking about it for example that if you fret a note on the low E string on the 7th fret that its B for example. If you learn the notes to the point you can just call them out in any order, it will make it much easier once you start to apply the theory skills you will learn as you go.

Daniel




TreyDeschamp,

I know the frustration road you speak of all to well. There are even licks now that i have practiced for weeks and weeks that i just can't get my body to cooperate.

I find the best thing to do is when you learn a lick pattern to incorporate it into your own playing as quickly as you can. Lets say you learned a lick pattern thats meant to be played at 130BPM but you can't play it that fast. Find a backing track you can jam along with thats only like 100BPM and try using the lick in the context of that BT at that speed. I find i assimilate a certain pattern much faster if i do this rather then beating myself over the head with a metronome.

Daniel

Posted by: Muris Varajic May 6 2008, 03:29 PM

Probably note choice...million dollars question I would say.
Plus some techniques.

Off to practicing

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion May 6 2008, 03:31 PM

Now now Muris. You know you have zero weaknesses You're a guitar god I think you need to practice playing guitar upside down

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 6 2008, 04:48 PM

PlayAllDay,


I don't use this vibrato much at all but when i have i can say for sure its less about finger strength as it is forearm strength. Which is the reason i tend not to use it. I have small forearms and wrists hence wimpy. A friend of mine uses this vibrato almost exclusively. He worked on building up his forearm with a weight. What he did was tie a string to a 5 pound weight and just lift the weight up and down by turning his forearm while resting his arm on a chair arm. Make sure you lock your finger straight before execution so it all comes from the wrist.

I have found when trying this vibrato that the vibrato is much more pronounced, which means you can hear very clearly if your going out of pitch. Be very careful that your movement is smooth and even, because even the slightest flutter from your finger or guitar movement can throw your pitch out.

Again also i mention as i did above to someone else make sure your vibrato fluctuations are close to a natural tempo against whatever it is your playing.

Another thing to point out about vibrato in general is you don't always have to do it right away. Think of vibrato like you would a singers voice. When they land on a long note the vibrato doesnt always start immediately. Try land dead on a pitch and holding it for a second then vibrato, try different lengths before starting to use it. It can add huge impact of emotion to the playing just by changing that subtle thing.

Thats the best advice i can give you on the subject since i don't personally use that vibrato myself, but i am sure there are others here who do who might be able to help you beyond what i have stated.

Daniel





Well if you crash GMC its for all the right reasons

Anyway i have posted several thoughts on the AP aspect of playing with previous people so just peruse those for some insight. As well as vibrato.

On the cutting notes short problem i had this problem alot my first year or two i started playing. And just like you i didnt realize it till i heard myself recorded.

What i did find though was causing this issue was having to think too hard about where i was going. Trying to cram too many notes into a phrase and still staying in key was the issue. At that point i started using much shorter phrases but trying to get alot more out of them. You can take a 4 or 5 note phrase and speak volumes if you take the time to get across a specific feeling rather then a million notes that cover alot of ground.

The other thing partly of what i said above, when you do start using more notes in a phrase at least for now try not to cover too much ground on the neck as it adds to the problem because part of the cutting off of the notes has to do with having to do rapid posistion changes on the neck and to compensate for your skill your jumping the gun to get your hand into place.

Its all about training muscle memory so that later you can cover a huge span of the neck in a solo without really thinking much about where your fingers are going and you can concentrate on the attitude of what your playing rather then the execution. Which is where all good players really need to live. If you can play a million notes semi well people listening to it won't get the same out of as if you can play 3 or 4 notes with all your emotion, with conviction and attitude. Thats where your creativity and your inner spirit are revealed to the audience in a very intimate way and you connect with them on a very deep level.

Daniel





I know alot of people that feel the same way Zakk,

My advice to help you is to create some simple Backing tracks for yourself at very specific BPM, then work on your scales, rhythm and solo patterns, in a very "Metronome" fashion over the backing tracks. This way its more like playing music and less like practicing.

This is doing two things for you, first of all its helping to correct your timing issues, and secondly your learning to train your ear to hear different intervals and such within the key your playing.


Daniel




The only thing that can help endurance is repitition, i wish there was a magic switch i could flip for ya, or give some nifty exercise. But really the only thing you can do for this is just keep pushing your downpick speed levels. But for this you not only need to downpick faster but you need to do it for longer periods of time. I would suggest putting together a specific excersise for yourself that has you downpicking for at a close to your max speed for say 1 and a half minutes. Then every few days increasing the BPM by a couple notches and lengthening the time by 20 seconds. This way your slowly increasing your speed at the same time your increasing your endurance to do it.

As for cheating with alternate picking, we have all been there you have to just mentally spank yourself into really working thru it.

Daniel




Canis,

I can certainly understand this happening. This generally is a mental awarness thing, once you learn the solo licks and can play them you have to really pay attention to the song your playing along with rather then focusing all your attention on what your playing. A big part of music is listening to and assimilate what everyone else is doing. Try to pick out certain things in the song that give you landmarks to go by, for instance lets say you hear a certain drum fill. Know exactly what follows that drum fill so that your always in the right place at the right time. If you find your self drifting too far try to find "landmarks" that are much close together. There will always be some subtle clue on the music map where your supposed to be at any given time. Even if you have to do it on a chord by chord basis.

Lets say in your instance with Marcus' lesson, what part of the lick is played over chord 1, what lick is played over chord 2 what lick is played over chord 3. Then you hear a drum fill...what lick is played after that drum fill. Its all about listening to the backing track for those landmarks.

I know i went thru a similar problem, where i was so focused on my hands that i forgot to listen to what was going on in the song i was playing.

As far as vibrato i have said several things on vibrato to other people above, so just look around for some ideas.

Bending,

There are two things you have to work on for bending. One is pitch correction, a good practice for this is to play a note, doesnt matter where for sake of arguement play on the G-string on the 12th Fret, this way you can hear that note freshly in your mind, now move down to the 10 fret and bend right up to that 12th note. Go back and forth between the plucked note and the bent note working on making sure the pitch your bending up to is dead on. After awhile of doing this with different intervals bending will become alot easier because you will have done it so often that you have trained yourself with muscle memory of exactly how much pressure you need to apply to the string to hit the note you want to hit. After awhile it becomes second nature. Just keep training your ear to the pitch for now so you can train your fingers to hit the correct pitch on demand.

Daniel




Thats a great attitude to have audiopaal, i find now i work on things that strike my fancy. I spend a great deal of time listening to different kinds of music, and i use the inspiration from things that i have heard to develop my own interpretation of those ideas, and 9 times outta 10 i have to work on a specific element of my playing to get those points across.

Daniel

Posted by: Canis May 6 2008, 04:49 PM

Wow, thanks a lot Daniel

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 6 2008, 05:10 PM

For fast Alternate picking i would suggest 2 excersises, first just using a metronome set it at close to your max picking speed, and just practice your picking hand on an open muted string. Work diligently to get the picking itself to be as clean and precise as you can get it. Keep pushing the speed up in small increments over a few days. Then when you have reached a good level there.

Go back to the speed you started at and just play two notes back and forth kinda like a trill, but pick each note, with alternate picking, work your way up over the next few days to the speed you stopped at. Once you have done that start adding notes.

The big key to fast clean alternate picking is perfect syncronizing of right and left hands once you can do this at a good speed with a small amount of notes just keep adding 1 note every few days pretty soon your playing 11 12 note patterns at a good clip.

As far as arps go, hand posisition is very important when trying to execute fast arps, especially non-sweeped arps. Again use the method as above for arps that you did with the AP excersise, just practice the string transistion with muted open strings with a metronome so you get those "pick clicks" smooth and uniform, then start adding real notes, start with like 3 note arps to begin with and do them both sweeped, and AP'd so you can practice both at the same time and slowly add more and more notes


As for vibrato just read some of the things i said to others about vibrato, pick a technique thats pleasing to you and perfect it.




There are alot of people who have trouble with this Zizi your not alone, my advice for this is to get yourself something you can take with you on vaction when you cant have your guitar. Get one of those finger strengthning devices that you can carry around with you at least this way you can keep your finger strength up even if you cant practice on a guitar.

Something like this little thing

http://www.prohands.net/?gclid=CMOZs_mhkpMCFQJtlgod53T6hA

As far as singing and playing guitar at the same time i can't help you much in that department i can't do it myself very well either. But then again in never professed to be a vocalist

Daniel

Posted by: rokchik May 6 2008, 08:41 PM

Thank you very much Daniel for your response

Amazing advice and so so helpful. I have noticed that I tend to rush to get my fret hand into position but never really put two and two together. Thank you for pointing this out. I've read through your other posts and well I think this thread is one of the most informative to date. A lot of very valuable information and advice.

Great job Daniel

rok

Posted by: ActiveX May 6 2008, 09:00 PM

Strumming; nice simple strumming on the acoustic...for the life of me I can't get motivated to practice this, even though I know how important it is. I always end up cranking up the distortion and just practicing the "fun" stuff...power chords, solo's, pinch harmonics, improv, tabs for songs, etc.

Posted by: Nobody May 6 2008, 09:14 PM

Well my main weakness is playing an other guitarist's solo in right timing. I can learn riffs and stuff and play them 1:1 when I want to but I just can't learn a solo and play it the way that other guitarist felt it. And this is a big problem because when we do some covers with my band I always make the solo different and it's not exactly in time this messes things up..

Other thing that's my weakness is Sweep Picking because the only way I can make each note sound perfectly is playing really slow but I do it every day so in the end I will be playing perfect Sweeps. It's a matter of time..

Cheers,
Hristian

Posted by: Gus May 6 2008, 10:52 PM

I bet Muris can make 10 finger tapping !

Posted by: PlayAllDay May 7 2008, 12:57 AM

Thanks very much for all the points you metion in this thread Daniel (and for my vibrato advice) - it's great and getting better with each new topic addressed.
I would actually like to see a video lesson on vibrato - on the actual mechanics of playing each different type so if other Instructors as well are reading please consider it.

Posted by: Nobody May 7 2008, 03:02 PM

PAD, actually there are some very good lessons on vibrato from the master himself - Marcus Lavendell :]

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/vibrato-lesson1/index.htm

Here's the first one, it has links to the other parts.

Cheers,
Hristian

Posted by: Alex87 May 7 2008, 03:06 PM

my weakness on the guitar is picking. some days are very very good. and every once in a while there are 1 - 3 days in a row, where it just wont succeed no matter how slow i do it and how much i warm up, it just doesnt stay tight. sad thing

Posted by: PlayAllDay May 7 2008, 03:54 PM

Thanks Hristian - I shall check them out

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 7 2008, 05:43 PM

Like i said to Andrew...we make the time for whats important to us and the rest falls by the wayside.

Maybe sweeping isnt as important to you as AP or Legato. I think after a time certain techniques fall away because we don't use them for expression. Music is about expression and we all express ourselves in different ways. For me sweep picking is intregal to my expressing myself.

As far as finger picking is concerned, finger picking correctly is hard, i would suggest finding someone who is highly skilled in this area to learn from. For me my brother is a great inspiration in fingerpicking. His main influence is Mark Knopfler. Not only that he has played for so long without a pick that when i ask him where i put my pick down he looks at me like i am speaking an alien language (like what the hell is a pick?)

I think Muris has some good lessons on Fingerpicking you should ask him for some advice in his instructor threads.

Daniel




Nick,

Blocking string noise can be a real pain in the butt i know! But what you have to learn is how to control not so much your palm as you have to develop a better left hand muting technique. Although palm muting is a big part of sweep picking left hand finger muting is just as important. You need to slow down and work on that "rolling" action of your fingers so that as you sound a note you deaden the string as you release. You don't full pull off the string entirely right away.

Think of it like this..you fret a note and immediately let the string come off the fret but don't take your finger off it and place your palm then release. Its this give and take between palm and finger that gives the sweep its tightness.

I would practice finger muting on 3 string sweeps and gradually add more notes. Its such a subtle movement on the part of your fretting hand it shouldnt take you long to get the hang of it.

Daniel

Posted by: DeepRoots May 7 2008, 05:43 PM

Daniel, i'm seeing some of the best one-on-one advice on the forum in this thread, thanks for taking so much time out to help us all

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 7 2008, 06:14 PM

When you start to really jump into the sweep picking Gus let us know what your individual problems may be so we can try to help you overcome them.

Daniel




Outlaw,

Everyone deals with pressure in their own way. The only way to overcome this is continuing to do it. I would hope you still get nervous, its natural. I would be more afraid of not getting nervous because then maybe there is something wrong heh.

I still get nervous before a show and i been doing it for sometime, but i also so look forward being on that stage that the nervousness doesnt tie me down from my playing. I have difficulty playing in front of small amounts of people. I don't know maybe its the fear of intimacy or something. I am talking like 2 or 3 people.

On the otherside of it i have gotten the chance to play in front of 20,000 people and that doesnt bother me in the least. Butterflies is one thing, overwhelming anxiety..no.

Just keep working on playing in front of people eventually you will find your calm spot to shine and then it will be such an enjoyable experience. Remember these people who come to see you are there to have a good time...not to judge you as a person. Have fun with them. If you mess up a little don't even flinch about it just keep going and act like nothing is wrong.

Daniel




Your on your own with this one, at least from me. I have a tough enough time with 4 finger tapping let alone 8 heh. But there are instructors here who can help you seek them out and ask questions!

Daniel




I have given some excersise ideas for legato technique in answering others check them out.

As for sweep picking what issue are you having with sweep picking in general. If you can give specifics its easier for someone to answer. Ask anything you want either myself or another instructor would be happy to help you reach your sweeping goals.

Daniel




Someone want to donate a guitar to Nemanja?


Daniel




Your definately at the right place to address all those issues

If you have anything specific you need help with let any of us know and we will try to help you.

Daniel




My advice to you Muris is to sell your guitar on E-bay and take up Stamp collecting. Its obvious you don't want to learn anything here




I understand your frustration with this kind of thing. But remember, those simple things are what makes up music. Sometimes i will compose an entire song based on some simple chord that i strummed and it takes on a life of its own and spins off into directions that i couldnt see coming.

Why not take a little time to play a few strummed chords and imagine what you can play on top of it. I think you might be pleasantly surprised of what you can come up with if you open up your imagination to this idea. Some of the most powerful songs we have have heard started with nothing more then 2 or three strummed chords and a guy humming a melody he didnt know what to do with.

This to me is the magic of music its so basic and yet so complex at the same time. The ultimate expression of paradox.

Daniel



Its seems your on the right track with sweep picking. And good attitude to have. If there is anything myself or any of the instructors can do to help with a specific issue let us know on the forums or P.M. and we will do what we can. We are here to help you reach your goals.

As far as playing other guitarists solo's nobody says you have to play them note for note. Me personally i also take creative license with cover tunes. And not because i can't play it the way it was written but because i feel the need to express myself in my own way.

What you do have to work on though is really working out how long the orginal solo is and making yours fit in the space allowed. If you are unable to do this work out with your band how to extend this section of the song so your all on the same page. Nothing worse then miscommunication while on stage it can make you look bad. Work out these issues with your band mates before the curtain comes up so to speak. I am sure they will probably accomodate you in this area if it makes all of you look more professional.

Daniel

Posted by: Siggum May 7 2008, 06:15 PM

Thanks alot for your answer Daniel, that was some really usefull advices, appreciate the effort

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 7 2008, 06:20 PM

What is it specifically your having trouble with in your picking Alex? Its also possible to that your overworking yourself this can contribute to "bad days" your muscles need time to recover from extended practice sessions. If you don't allow yourself to recover your muscles will have a tough time obeying you.

But if you can give some specific about what it is your having trouble with maybe we can help you better.

Saying your picking isnt tight for example...what isnt tight about it? Are you having difficulty sounding notes cleanly? or is your picking rhythm inconsistent? Its just too vague for me to offer any advice.


Daniel

Posted by: coffeeman May 7 2008, 06:43 PM

My weakness is definitely timing. When I play with the metronome I can play very accurate , but when Im playing with a backing track I lose the track with the first note. So I decided to stop practicing with the metronome , and now I am only practicing over backing tracks. I guess that my band can't be a metronome. I would say I cant play fast too but thats just practicing.

Thanks Daniel.

Posted by: besip May 7 2008, 06:56 PM

My weakness is playing over metronom actualy i'm have problem to listen the beep and play over metronom..specialy now i'm learn Rock solo from trond..and what i'm do i'm not play over metronom but i'm just lets play Trond video and play with him.

somethime i'm allso have little problem with 3 finger power chord..specialy when i'm play some note and then i'm have to switch to 3 finfer power chord

and right now i'm feel somethime creepiness on my right finger...i'm aslo visiting the gym but i'm not sure if the problem is from gym or from playing quitar...hope thats nothing big{hope just the finger and muscle is just tired}

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 7 2008, 11:17 PM

This is a great thread, and at Rokchik's suggestion I thought we should make it sticky.

Also, thanks for the tips Daniel, I really like the idea of mixing Legato with AP - will give it a try!

Posted by: Nick325 May 7 2008, 11:25 PM

thanks for the advice daniel

Posted by: shellshock1911 May 8 2008, 10:11 PM

Total lack of creativity or ability in writing music whatsoever. No trying to make myself sound better than I am, but I know SOOOO many cover songs and tunes that whenever I try to make up something new, I accidentally play a lick from a song I know, and end up practicing/playing it for at least 2 hours, because I just love doing that.

I don't really have any technique problems, I've put forth the practice with all techniques to where I have them all pretty much mastered. I love practicing technique because it is progress I can see and is physical progress. I hate trying to write new music, learn how to improvise, try to write songs, or anything else like that because I can't see physical progress.

Good thing I don't plan on taking guitar past a hobby level, I think I will just stick to shred covers.

Posted by: Stevie·Ray·Vaughn May 8 2008, 10:12 PM

Well Im becoming more and more happy with my writing abilities every day
However, my alternate picking and sweeping are horendous
Working on it though

Posted by: shellshock1911 May 8 2008, 10:19 PM

Lol exact opposite of me, I can't stand writing music, or whatever. When I try I always have this impulse in my head that someone either thinks I am very unoriginal or, I suck.

Posted by: Sam Hook May 8 2008, 10:26 PM

Downstroke picking is my main weakness at the moment. Anyone know any exercises to improve it?

Thanks.

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 9 2008, 12:52 AM

No problem everyone.

I know alot of the other instructors are busy with other projects. Myself i am kinda between projects atm so i have a great deal more time to answer specifics at this time. In my opinion alot of learning guitar is about asking questions and applying the answers. Everyone learns at their own pace and some things come more easily then others for some people.

Their are probably techniques that some of you can all do better then myself. And vice versa. The only difference is experience. Because i have been playing for quite some time i can usually pick up new techniques much faster. Not because i am better then any of you but because i have played longer.

I also want to later on down the road start to teach you all how to tap into your creativity, i know that song writing can be daunting in the beginning. But when you learn the tools to play something you need to use your creativity to turn it into something truly unique to you.

Music is so transcendent, lets say you write a song. And by some fluke Yngwie cover your song. He may be able to play it perfectly note for note but it will never express the same message that you can playing the same song. Its a very personal thing. I want to teach you how to reach that level from a creativity standpoint as well as stretch your technical abilities.

Daniel

Posted by: Eat-Sleep-andJam May 9 2008, 01:04 AM

Weaknesses.

Well Ive always had a good vibrato, and bending . Thats the good part. Im decent at writing lyrics and some other stuff.


Now the Bad.


A problem Ive had for a looooooong time is Alternate Picking.
Its not so much a problem as it is an error in my technique. I orignally thought I was doing Alternate Picking when was really doing some odd form of Economy Picking, If not just Economy Picking. Standard Alternate Picking 3nps runs should be D-U-D, U-D-U

I was playing D-U-D , D-U-D
Its annoying to go to your weekly guitar lesson and the one mistake you consistantly make is a "Double -Down Stroke"

I have never been good at sweep picking, never invested the time it would take to learn it efficiently. I have the time. But my lack of progress stops me from doing it well. Id practice is for 3-hours one day, and be like " Well I Still suck at this, and go watch t.v "

Sometimes when Im practicing I wish I had a little robot to pick out all my mistakes. That way not only would I be knowing what Im doing wrong, but It would help me find ways of correcting it.
Any inventors interested ?

At first glance all my fast speedpicking with inproper technique and my not so smooth legato runs look flashy and appealing to my none guitar playing friends ( And they actually sound clean suprisingly ! ) Yet any real guitar player would suck the lies right out of me and be like " A HA , YOU CANT ALTERNATE PICK NOOBIE ! "

And thats when I would go whine and cry in a corner, because after all thats the truth.


I cant play to a backingtrack to save my life .

At higher speeds I get lost with the metrnome, I can never find a reliable metronome and I really have never done well playing with the metrnome.

Time Signatures confuse me .

Im bad at Theory but I guess I am making steps to improve that.

I suck at memorizing scales. Anything but the pentatonics seems very foriegn to me .

Im semi-decent at improvising. However all of my Improv. vague resembles the last improv. I feel like Im trapped in the Pentatonic Sea and the boat sailed away a long time ago.

I dont have the patience to learn full songs. Either theres never a reliable tab or Im not trained well enough to learn it by ear.

I cant read music, It looks scary.

I think I covered everything

Posted by: audiopaal May 9 2008, 01:05 AM

Thanks a lot for the reply Daniel, and for doing this

Yeah, I also find myself listening to all kinds of different music for inspiration, and of course I pick up different elements I try to implement in my playing. Some stuff works, some stuff I'm just not good enough for (Yet!) and some stuff just sounds bad
Other than that I try to keep a healthy view on playing guitar. I can always be better, and if some stuff won't work right away I'll just keep doing it untill I'm happy with the results.
Of course there's stuff that I don't concentrate and spend as much time on as other things but every guitarist must find the style that suits him and getting better at that I think.
I believe I'm a "bad" version of what I want to be eventually so I'm happy practicing as of now although I consider myself a decent guitarplayer

I'm off to bed, and dream about the scales I've been practicing

Thanks again Daniel

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 9 2008, 01:54 AM

I can certainly understand this happening because sometimes hearing that metronome click is a crutch in some ways. To physically hear the beats.

When dealing with this particular problem you have to start to study rhythmic basics. In most instances you can take your cue from Bass drum if there is one. From a rhythmic standpoint in a basic 4/4 tempo the bass drum either plays on 1 and 3 or 2 and 4.

This isnt a rule of thumb of course but you have to take notice of where the drums are hitting in the measure of a song. I would urge you to take a backing track that your using to practice with and put down the guitar and study the drums in the track your working on. Count out loud to find the measures, then listen to where each drum sound hits. Does the bass drum land on 1, i.e. the first beat in a measure. or does it fall elsewhere.

If your using a backing track from a fast song, that uses a double kick you have to figure out if its playing 8th notes..16th notes 32nd notes etc.

A metronome hits on every beat in the measure. Percussion in a song would be very boring if it just did that. Hit all the drums at once on each beat.

Accents of the percussion can give you hints too. Alot of times there will be an accent on 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 depending on the song.

Just take the time to find out where the measures are and start developing an internal counting system. I think sometimes...i could be wrong on this but pro players sometimes have things they do that are physically able to seen to keep the beat. Ever wonder why Angus Young hops around the way he does? Watch carefully you will see a pattern to his bouncing around. I always wondered if he does this to keep time.

Anyway just keep working at it you will get it it just takes time and work.

Daniel




Besip,

Learning to play with a metronome is good, but its not all there is don't take it too hard that you can't do it perfectly right away. It takes time to learn good rhythm habits. Playing along with trond is also helping you, but i would say make sure your not listening to just him. Unless you plan on taking Trond on stage with you someday

He is a very tight rhythm player as far as i am concerned so learning his lessons is an excellent first step to rhythm mastery.

As far as bar chords...the 3 finger power chord your talking about. Watch what notes your playing before changing to them start thinking about conservation of motion sometimes its better to change the fingers your fretting those notes with before doing the power chord, so that your hand is a better posistion to get to the chord as quick as possible.

This is an example, : lets say your going to end up on a 3 finger power chord on the A string 3rd fret...a C bar chord.

Your playing two notes before you hit that chord A on the D string 7th fret and the G on the D string 5th fret. Now you could use your ring finger and index finger to play those two notes then shift to the C bar chord, but wouldnt it make more sense to use your pinky and middle finger to play those two notes then hit the chord? This way your hand is already in place to hit the chord with very little movement.

Start thinking about how your fretting the notes before chord. Think about what fingering would be the easiest for you to make the transistion from the notes to the chords. You want to make the distance as easy as possible to set up where your going to land.

I hope i am not confusing you Besip if i am i am sorry.

Daniel





Well if your happy with where your playing is and your reaching your goals thats most excellent. Don't sell yourself short on creativity though, i know sometimes i think that i can't write either and then inspiration will come from nowhere and a song is born. I would completely understand if you didnt want to pursue any kind of writing, but if you ever do want take it to the next level please by all means ask any of us to help you get there.


Daniel




Excellent to hear Stevie,

As far as AP and sweeping, just keep working on it. If you have anything specific you need help with ask myself or any of the other instructors for advice. Keep rockin!

Daniel




Downstroke picking is one of those skills that just comes with repitition because the execution of the technique is very simple but the endurance and speed is more a strengthening issue rather then memorizing a scale or picking pattern.

My suggestion to someone earlier was to develop an exercise for yourself it could be as simple as just downstroke picking 2 chords 4 downstrokes then switch...4 downstrokes then switch.

The goal here though is to speed up and increase endurance, play with a metronome and set the BPM near to your max down picking speed, now play this simple pattern for say 1 minute and 30 seconds. Now every day increase the BPM by 1 or 2 and increase the duration of your excersise by 20 seconds, what your doing here is slowly increasing your speed while also increasing your muscle endurance to do it. Make sure you warm up properly before doing an excersise like this and make sure to stretch afterwards. You want to keep you muscles limber and not stiffen up on you. Every few days take a day off to let your muscles recover then just continue the process till you reach the speed and endurance you need to play what your trying to play.


Daniel

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 9 2008, 02:29 AM

As far as the AP thing is concerned at least you have figured out the flaw, unlearning bad habits is harder then learning a new technique. Just keep plugging away at it you will eventually undo the damage..

As far as sweep picking is concerned i found the best way to learn sweep picking is in two steps.

At first just practice what your right hand is going to be doing picking wise. I would suggest just clicking away on a metronome at a decent speed and just play open strings muted on the top 3 strings of the guitar. Now sweep your pick back and forth on those three strings until you can get the "clicks" of your pick to be even, uniform and clean. Keep increasing metronome speed until you reach a point where you are comfortable speed wise. Now for the left hand right hand integration.

This is the very excersise that i did for a long time, starting at the 14th fret G string and sweeping 14th fret G string 13th fret B string 12th fret then back down those three notes. I kept doing this till i could do it anywhere on the neck flawless at speed with smooth uniform tones.

After this when i could do it without thinking much about it i added on the Top E string 15th fret so it looked like this

E------------12---15---12-----------------
B-------13-------------------13-----------
G--14-----------------------------14------
D-------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------

The picking pattern is D-D-D-U-U-U You want to end the top of the pattern with an Up stroke on the 15th fret then pull off to the 12th and U-U-U. Then just starting the pattern again. Practicing this over and over again till i could do it quickly and cleanly. Making sure i kept string noise to a minimum or none exsistant by "rolling" my fingers as well as good palm muting.

Then i started this process over again adding a 4th string i just started with the picking hand again open strings muted sweeping up then down on 4 strings till i got the clicking of the raked notes smooth and even, then going back to 4 string sweep pattern this time. I did this pattern

E----------------15--12---------------------
B-----------14------------13----------------
G------13----------------------14-----------
D--12-------------------------------15------
A---------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------



Just like in the previous section you want the top note to end on an Upstroke and pull over to the 12th fret and down the other direction in an X-shape

Its not very musical but it gets your fretting hand and picking hand to start workinging together.

after this i just kept adding notes and strings, obviously you only have 4 fingers to work with so you have to start barring notes and using more musically sound patterns but i think you get the idea. Work with a little then slowly add more until you can do big patterns. After that its a matter of knowing what key your playing in etc and making sure your shapes conform to the posistion your playing in. That part of it comes later though just learn the very basics at first.

I to get lost with a metronome at higher speeds to some degree your not alone in this. My problem is hearing certain rhythm elements when i go faster for example physically hearing 32nd notes at like 110 BPM i can't feel it unless i work very hard. Normally when working at these speeds i will double the metronome speed to 220 cause i can hear 16th notes much easier, and 16th notes at 220 is the same as 32nd notes at 110.

And i know the frustration of the "Pentatonic blackhole" most guitarists go thru this pentatonic rut, just try to ween yourself off of it by learning some things that arent pentatonic in nature, work on some lessons by David Walliman or Muris, most of their lessons even the easy ones are non- penta in nature you have to start moving your fingers in non pentatonic ways to get out this rut.

Daniel

Posted by: Eat-Sleep-andJam May 9 2008, 02:48 AM

Wow. Thankyou. This post is going to change my guitar life !

Are you done publishing your Guitar Bible yet?

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 10 2008, 08:43 AM

Lol no not quite yet, but thanks for the idea.....The New Guitar Grimoire...by D.R. Robinson


Lol


Looks funny, nah no text book for me. Although i do write short stories mostly fantasy and Sci-fi stuff. Nothing on a professional level.

My goal here at GMC as an instructor is to teach people not just how to be good guitar players but how to be good musicians, and not from the point of view of technical skills (although that is important) but to be able to reach down inside themselves and find that masterpiece in them thats waiting to be heard by the world.

Daniel

Posted by: FrankW May 13 2008, 12:45 AM

My main weakness is that I am lazy as hell.

Posted by: besip May 13 2008, 06:24 AM

and couple more mine Weaknesses
i'm all ready kno5 5 boxes od minor scale and penta minor scale but when i'm trying to improvise i'm find do my self exactly same bored { deadalive} moves..so every mine iprovising looks almost same

and 1 more i'm wana be more into theory but it's hard for me just read that

Posted by: mattacuk May 13 2008, 06:05 PM

My distinct lack of Chordal knowledge! Something I really really want to improve on! Just saveing up for a book of chords

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 14 2008, 12:55 PM

Guess i might have to send the guitar police to your house....don't make me do it!

Daniel




Besip,

I really do understand where your coming from on the improvisation.

I find myself doing things like this alot, but...when i learn a new lick..or create one i try to incorporate it into my playing as soon as i can. So even though there are basic similarities in the short term, i have a new angle to approach from.

My suggestion to you is take the boxes you know and just figure out a different fingering pattern, it doesnt have to be monstrous, just 4 or 5 notes played in a different way then your used to. Practice that idea over and over so you can get it under your fingers so to speak. Pretty soon the same old improvising ideas you had before take on a new element.

Learning to improvise is like anything else, you take what you know and apply it to whatever your doing at the time. The only way to increase your improv skills is to create and learn new fingering patterns based on the scales you know. Then apply them to your improvising. Keep at it you will get it with time and patience.

The theory part of it i understand it may be much more difficult for you because of the language barrier. Just learn what you can for now and don't worry to hard on it. Just develop your own sense of music first and let the theory be just a guideline down the road.

Theory is just that...a theory, music has no right or wrong, only what is pleasing and what is not. And what is purely pleasing to you may not be to someone else. It doesnt mean your wrong, it only means that the other person doesnt understand your point of view.

Daniel




Having a chord dictionary is very helpful, but there are other aspects of it you need to reach into to help you fully understand chording. I am no authority on the subject there are still areas i am fuzzy on.

A good first step though is learning the notes on the fretboard. Once you can recall any note on any fret at any time. Then start learning what composes a chord....from a basic standpoint...root , 3rd and 5th. Then start learning what it means to have a 7th chord or an 11th chord for example.

Once you know all the notes on the fret board and understand what makes up a major or minor chord..a 7th chord etc, then you won't need the chord dictionary anymore because you will see any chord in any shape anywhere on the fretboard.

Daniel

Posted by: Alex87 May 18 2008, 05:33 PM

Hi Daniel, sorry for the slow reply.
Its mostly timing that's the problem, when doing alternate picking. ofcourse its easier to follow a metronome at slower tempo but in general it can be hard to keep it up when i for example practice a pentatonic scale up and down maybe 10 times in a row. but i think you are right about letting your muscles relax a bit, because it helped already.

Posted by: at lights end May 18 2008, 05:39 PM

i can't play long AP runs. my hands seem to go out of sync about halfway through or i pause.
im just playing it slower, hopefully ill get past it. seen some improvements already.

Posted by: Outlaw2112 May 18 2008, 05:44 PM

women....

Posted by: Hammerin Hank May 19 2008, 08:45 PM

I know that feeling.......

Sweeping has always been an issue for me along with speedpicking.
Both I get very frustrated with and wish I could just matrix it into my head


Mattacuk-
check this out for now http://www.guitarnotes.com/guitar/notes2/ultimate11.shtml

Posted by: Daniel Robinson May 20 2008, 09:29 AM

Sounds like your on the right track Alex,

This is a typical problem when starting out because you are training your fingers to do what you want them to do. Your brain has to keep trimming the neurons for your reflex. Just stay relaxed, and focus on the task at hand. Before you know it you will be ripping that Pent box up. In the early stages your gonna get pauses and hiccups just because its not a reflex action yet. Repition will help you get to the point where you dont have to think about it anymore and it will become more fluid.

After that you just have to keep doing it to speed up. Like i said before your brain has to constantly trim the neurons for the action so that its a smaller and smaller distance.

Daniel




at lights end,


Just like i told Alex just stay relaxed and practice. Syncing your hands for AP takes some time. Another thing that can help is altering the amount of notes your picking. If its a real sync issue that is. Try doubling the notes so you play it twice then switch.


Like this

E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5--5--6--6--8--8-----
B-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------5--5--6--6--8--8--------------------------
G---------------------------------------------------------------------5--5--7--7-----------------------------------------------
D------------------------------------------------5--5--7--7--8--8-------------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------5--5--7--7--8--8---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------5--5--6--6--8--8-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


When learning to AP you have to train your fretting hand and picking hand to play it multiple ways. Typical 3nps patterns your moving to the adjacent string on an upstroke. In this excersise your moving to the adjacent string on a downstroke.

The whole point of course is to teach your right and left hands to be on the same page so to speak. Just keep working at it you will get it. Also if you didnt know, this shape is an A Phrygian box shape.


Daniel




Its a big weakness for me too Outlaw, my advice is not to give you any because that would mean i know what i am talking about on this subject, which i clearly do not. If you want advice on this subject i suggest you look to the Ladies forum.

Or better yet just live in your ignorance.....sometimes we just have to let go


Daniel

Posted by: jacmoe Jun 13 2008, 09:12 PM

Excellent topic, Daniel!

My weakness is that I have been playing the guitar for so many years without actually playing it.

Since I joined GMC it feels like those years are compressed into weeks.

I bought a Korg PD4 when I joined.
Which is a blessing!
I am totally hooked on it.
I use it for everything: AP, timing, legato, improvising, scales, arpeggios; even as backing track for the GMC lessons.
It's great!
I alternate between regular metronome and rythm tracks.

I know not to stop.. Damn you, Muris!

What I mean is:
My biggest weakness is being lazy.
And I know that I must find an enjoyable way of practicing to overcome it.
The Pandora does that for me, which is why I use it.

Maybe someday I will practice without it.. Who knows?

Posted by: TreyDeschamp Jun 13 2008, 09:24 PM

I cant seem to make things up. of course i dont know to many things but still haha

Posted by: Matt23 Jun 13 2008, 09:51 PM

My main weakness is my pinky speed. It's stopping me speeding up on every other technique because i can't move my fingers fast enough.

Posted by: Eat-Sleep-andJam Jun 13 2008, 09:55 PM

Another one of mine, Sticking to learning something. I dont always have the desire to play through a whole lesson regardless of how awesome it is. If there is a lick I cant get down, I often give up.

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Jun 26 2008, 07:32 AM

Jacmoe,

Alot of guitarists suffer from this form of laziness, i know i did. The problem is learning enough stuff so you can actually play something and not do boring excersises is the allure. You definately have to sacrifice alot of free time to practice to get anywhere meaningful with the guitar, its not an easy thing.

Even Muris was a beginner at the beginning, struggling and thinking that he might not be able to do it. But he pushed on and look what he can do now. It takes dedication to perfection.

Daniel




Composistion is another aspect of playing guitar that is hard to define really. Its a skill that takes as much dedication as learning all the ins and outs on the guitar. Imo music composistion is one of the most difficult forms of expression, because the canvas that you are writing on is abstract. Humans tend to be almost totally visual when it comes to expression, to be able to compose art with sound requires alot of abstract thinking. You have to find your own style of doing it.

Me personally i tend to approach writing on the guitar in a very elemental way, what i mean by this is that some people when they write a song try to write; happy, or sad, or angry. (nothing wrong with that btw) but i like to try to write more about natural elements that may sound happy, or sad, or angry as an example. But i dont set out trying to make it sound that way.

For instance, i might be sitting on my back porch during a summer thunderstorm, and i try to write on the guitar what that storm is like, the cadence of the rain, the highs and lows of the thunder the wind etc. I try to really dig into what the storm means to me internally, how it makes me feel but at the same time i am really trying to describe in a musical context that storm from the point of view OF the storm rather than someone visualizing the storm from their own point of view.

Daniel




This is a difficulty all of us face, there are still things i can't do and don't put in the time to learn it. But don't let it discourge you, because even if you don't learn the whole lesson, you still have learned something. Even if its only 1 lick out of 20 its still better than 0 out of 20. If you are willing to push yourself to your limits you will improve, more often than not i have found that if i push myself to learn something that is a little (or alot in some cases) out of my playing limits i may feel at first like i failed, but at the same time i find that alot of the things that i could play with a little difficulty almost become too easy because of shooting for something tougher, you may not always see the benefits right away but they are there if you look for them.

Daniel



Ooops didnt mean to skip ya there Matt23, got lost heh.


Pinky speed is the toughest thing to work on, my suggestion for improving pinky speed is to work directly on strengthing that finger by doing trill drills.

Choose a place that is comfortable on the neck for you to play on, and just trill between ring finger and pinky, at first just choose a speed that you can maintain for a decent amount of time, keep the trill speed even and just do it for a full minute, every day try to make it a bit faster but maintain for a full minute. The biggest thing to overcome with your pinky is just its strength to fret a note.

Also when doing the trill make the movement as small as you can while still getting a clean tone, i.e. dont do "Fly away fingers". Conservation of motion is key to playing fast.

Daniel

Posted by: Gitarrero Jun 27 2008, 09:16 AM

My weakness is speed when playing solos.
I`ve played rhythm guitar for the last 14 years to all kinds of music, so no problems there, not even with the metal stuff like constant downpicking or galloping.
BUT
when it comes to soloing (which I just started) I have serious speed and picking problems. Legato and tapping stuff sounds good when I do it, so the left hand speed is there. The right hand speed is also there when I play rhythm. But combining the two to create fast runs is impossible at higher speed. One hand is always quicker than the other (but never the same hand...). I don`t know why that is, since I don`t have this problems when I play rhythm with fast chord progressions.
My slow solos (Frusciante-style) sound good, I can even play all three solos from Metallica`s One, even the third one sounds pretty good since it`s mostly tapping and legato, but runs in the style of Zakk Wylde or Paul Gilbert or John Petrucci are impossible for me.
I think I just have to start with slow metronome speed and increase it constantly...

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Jun 29 2008, 07:23 PM

It sounds like you just have a syncronization problem, typically rhythm patterns tend to fall on normal parts of the beat where solo aspects play thru those. Hope that is not too confusing.

Its all about training your right and left hand to play nice together, and after playing rhythm for so many years your hands are trained to work in a certain way.

Here is an example of what that training can do, a funny story about me, not related to guitar but relates in the way you train your body.

I hade been taking martial arts for a number of years, it was 1 on 1 training with the instructor, suffice to say i got my rear end kicked for a couple of years but you learn fast when you don't want to get hurt, anyway back on point. During this time we did alot of balance drills with walking on pegs in the ground and stuff like that, my balance was so good i could actually fight on those poles. Here is where it gets funny.

One weekend my girlfriend at the time and I decided to go bowling, i hadnt been in years and neither had she so we thought it might be fun. My first time up to the lane with the ball, i do my normal approach, but when i went to release the ball instead of doing the "Bowlers slide" my body said ok, firm balance (just like in the Martial arts drills) and instead of sliding my whole balance of my body said STOP and because of that i lobbed the ball into the next lane and sprawled out face first onto the lane because the ball pulled me. Needless to say embarassing.

Anyway my point in all this is that you have trained your hands for so many years to play in a certain fashion, and generally speaking Rhythm playing usually uses a hybrid picking style its never just straight AP or Legato. So your hands never had to work on being syncronized in that fashion, i bet you can play lead stuff that requires hybrid picking very easily.

Just keep working with a metronome with your AP skills until your hands get used to playing nice with eachother, you have been playing alot of years so i won't insult your intelligience and give you drills to do, i am sure you can come up with your own.

Daniel

Posted by: kjutte Jun 29 2008, 08:33 PM

My weakness is not having enough time to practise :'(

That aside- Upward sweeps seems like a real bitch.

Edit:

And arpeggios without picking (noise)

Edit edit:

Any string change without picking even... noise still. Gotta learn how to mute 'em in realtime.

Posted by: Mark. Jun 29 2008, 09:26 PM

My weakness is probably my picking hand dexterty, I can par example play 6 notes per beat speedburst at 150 bpm with alternate picking ( sweeping,legato or tapping isn't a problem at all, my problem lies in AP picking dexterty )
But if I need to play some very long alternate picking solo's (Zsolt's Modal Madness lesson ),
at par example 6 notes per beat at 120bpm.
My picking hand start to tense up, which makes me screw up to solo.

But I kinda already know the answer to this problem, I just need to work up slowly and accurate so that I can train my dexterty I've already did this a couple of times and till now it has worked
And I dont really care about max speed now anymore, I feel that if I could shred super long runs clean at 150 bpm 6 note per beat that it would be fine. So now I wanna have everything clean, tight and accurate for long runs, not just for speedbursts at that tempo

Posted by: besip Jun 29 2008, 11:13 PM

NO.1 Theory!!!!!!!


and then lot of thinng i'm beginer but whats made me crazy..is somethime play over some backing or some song part train by metronome

Posted by: vintageplaya666 Jun 29 2008, 11:38 PM

I have a few weeknesses.

My little finger needs more strength, its not as strong as the others.

My phrasing in solo's could do with more work.

Sweep Picking

Pull offs...I can do pull offs its just when for example I'm using more than two fingers to pull off like when you ascend the neck with pull offs. If you get me lol

Posted by: Pizzoaro Jun 29 2008, 11:44 PM

I have a lot "unfinished" practice

Like, I think i am middle at most things...

But for weaknesses... Well... FAST ALTERNATE PICKING...
It always sounds like i pick the note to slow
For example Marcus' neoclassicsl etude...

oh yes, vibrato of course... and getting the exact right pitch on bends...

And Uncreator i fully agree! I have not progressed more slowly than i am doing with 8 finger tapping...

Its like, you have to be in a whole new position that ur not used to...

Any tips in 8 finger tapping playing positions?

-Lars

Posted by: SonofDestiny Jun 30 2008, 09:11 AM

My weakness is definately speed. Alternate picking is fine, until I have to get on to another string and when I have to use my pinky. I can do alternate picking fast, but there will be lots of x's in my runs, so actually I can't do it fast. I've been trying to do it for quite a while now and I just can't seem to get through the speed (well actually... it's pretty slow) limit.

My other weakness is the hammer on technique. My fingers don't have the power yet to hammer those 11's. What's best: lifting your finger up high and then striking down as hard as you can or should I keep my finger close to the fretboard?

Posted by: Lithuanian Jul 2 2008, 07:25 PM

Motivation... Sadly...

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Jul 6 2008, 01:45 PM

For sweep picking it is so much easier to learn it in small increments rather than all at once, check out one of my earlier posts in this thread where i give an excersise to help you learn how to sweep pick in small increments.

As far as string noise is concerned there are multiple reasons for string noise aside from not muting properly. Typically the one thing i notice in guitarists just starting out they play with entirely too many effects. I think even i would be hard pressed to have no string noise if i played with huge amounts of gain and chorus and reverb. The more effects you add to your chain the harder it will be to keep the strings quiet.

If this is not the case with you i just suggest analyzing what is causing the string noise when you switch strings. Sometimes it is more about figuring out what is causing it rather than quieting them after the fact. As you start playing more and more complex licks you have to really watch everything your hands are doing to make sure that you are doing everything you can to keep the strings quiet. Watch your hand angles, how you pull off or hammer on, are you brushing a string with your palm when switching notes, is your pick hitting an adjacent string etc...and so forth. Try to figure out the cause of the string noise first before trying to quiet them after the fact.

Daniel




The biggest thing with long AP runs at a fast tempo is more about knowing where you are going without thinking about it. Like i told someone earlier when i first started out i wanted to be Yngwie and just shred the whole neck in every crack in the song, the problem is that if you don't know where you are going on the neck without thinking about it your going to mess up. Generally speaking when speeding up after awhile is not a problem with your hands, it is a problem with your brain. What i mean by that is that your hand is tensing up not because it is weak, but because it is waiting for the signal from your brain about what to do next. I find this to be the case for me alot of times, but if i just slow down and take the time to get a lick under my fingers and visually see exactly how to get from point A to point B on the neck i don't tense up. Dexerity comes with not having to think so hard about what comes next for the most part and not a strength issue with your hands.

Think about it like this, i bet you could pick 16th notes at 170 BPM on an open string without having to fret any notes, and your wrist wouldnt tense up for quite awhile. Now if you had to play a 11 note pattern at that same speed your wrist would lock up in short order, but its not because of strength its because your hand stays tense waiting for input from your brain. But if you slow down and practice that 11 note pattern so you know exactly where it goes you will have to think about it less and less.

Daniel



I am probably not the best person to give you theory advice, my understanding of theory is relatively rudimentary. I mean i can tell you what key i am playing in, the chords i am using etc. But i couldnt tell you the WHY of what i am doing.

An analogy of that would be "JUst because i can drive a car doesnt mean i know how it works"

You want theory understanding go to the people here who have an huge grasp of the subject, like Andrew Cockburn.

From an instructor standpoint depending on your wants of styles to learn obviously Muris, David Walliman, and Nick Kellie stand out to me as being the guys to go to for Theory discussions.

Daniel

Posted by: Jesse Jul 6 2008, 01:49 PM

... my hand synch definately:D My left hand is just... weak.. slow... my pinky is like numb, not really but like I suck with it and it's really slow. I really need to build up strenght! But hey... summer holidays are here... I can practise 2 month's straight. I'll be shreddin' afterwards:D

Greetings, Jesse.

Posted by: Canis Jul 6 2008, 01:53 PM

My number one weakness now, is that I'm on holliday and don't have my electric guitar with me
I have an acousitc one, but it's not as fun to play, and I don't get to practice my tapping all that good...

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Jul 6 2008, 02:39 PM

Pinky strengthing is tough, but not impossible it just takes alot more work than the other fingers on your hand. What i do to keep my pinky strong is just trill drills, it at least for me is the most useful for getting that little bugger to do what i want it to do. Just put on a metronome at a comfortable speed for you and trill between ring finger and pinky on two frets for like a minute and a half to 2 minutes straight every day. In no time you will see a big change in pinky strength.

As far as sweep picking like i have said in earlier posts here in this thread just take it small steps, i outlined how i learned sweep picking to someone earlier and gave TAB examples of what to do. Try it and see if it helps.

With pull offs using multiple fingers on the same string, it sounds to me like it is an issue with finger independence, the only way to learn that independence is by repitition. Honestly a good excersise, and something i have been using alot is Marcus Siepen's warmup lesson, there is alot of good multi string excersises that use all of your fingers in varying ways. If you use things like this as a warmup every day it will help you with finger independence.

Daniel




I have given multiple ideas on AP in this thread to others just search the thread, AP seems to be a big problem for alot of people.

Vibrato is one of those techniques that is very unique to each person, it is what sets us apart from other guitarists. For some reason even when trying to emulate another guitarists vibrato there are subtle difference that are completely unique. You have to really decide what sounds good to you and develop that aspect of your playing on your own. There are a number of good lessons here on Vibrato technique, but that is only half of the equation. The other half is very personal. I would like to think that my own vibrato is unique to me. It is something i have developed over the years and it is a part of me.

As far as 8 finger tapping, like i told someone earlier i have a tough enough time with 4 finger tapping let alone 8 so i can't offer any advice on the subject. Juan M. Valero has an 8 finger tapping lesson, i would suggest doing a search for it as a good starting point for learning the skills.

As far as getting the right pitch on bends goes it about first training your ear, than training your fingers. And usually they happen at the same time as you are learning. As i told someone earlier the best way to start learning pitch correction is just first play a note....lets say 12th fret on the G string, so you have the pitch fresh in your mind, now drop to the 10th fret and bend up to that pitch. Keep going back and forth until you can nail that pitch every time. Once you can do that start changing the intervals...for example you could play 12th fret on the G string then just drop to the 11th fret and bend to the 12th fret tone. or drop to the 9th fret and bend up to 12th fret tone or any combination. After awhile of training your ear like this you are also putting that into muscle memory as well. So you know exactly how much pressure to apply to your bend to move any combination of intervals.

Daniel



Speed is one of the single biggest issues to overcome, as far as string transisition with AP its a matter of training both hands. I find personally that if i am having difficulty with an AP string transistion its my fretting hand and not my picking hand. You may be having the reverse. Try to analyze what is falling apart when you switch strings. The biggest challenge as guitarists is to not spend all of our time trying to correct a problem after its happened by analyze what is the root cause of the problem. Without looking over your shoulder i can't say for sure what it is that is breaking down for you. It could be a number of things, from finger independence, or a sync issue with right and left hands, or a break down of your picking motion. You have to figure out what is causing the issue and work on just that aspect so you can move on.

Hammer on's especially with heavy gauge strings can be tough, as far as the actual technique involved its best to keep your fingers as close to the fret board as possible hammering really hard from a far distance is going to slow you down in the long term. Watch where you are fretting the note when you hammer on, correct posistion of the fret can make it easier to sound the note, the further toward the middle of the fret you move the harder it will be to sound the note. Make sure you get as close to the edge of the fret without moving up to the next one.

The other thing here is to test your own guitar, see what the littlest amount of pressure is needed to sound a clear note. Just do this, touch the string with your finger and pick that string, doesnt matter where on the fret board for this. At first your just muting the string entirely, now lightly add more pressure and keep picking once you hear a note sound you can see what little effort is required to fret a note on your guitar, every guitar is going to be slightly different depending on action height, and string gauge. You will find though i am sure that it takes a very small amount of downward pressure to sound a note. Probably alot less than you think it does. Once you have a feel for that practice your hammer on's and use the smallest amount of effort to sound the note that you can. The less you have to strain your fingers downward to fret a note the more smooth your legato technique will become.

Daniel



Well without following you around with a paddle and smacking you whenever you don't do what you should i can't really help you all that much lol.

But with all kidding aside you have to find something that motivates you if you are really serious about your playing. I find just listening to music motivates me when i don't feel particularly in the mood for playing, i put on say my Andy Timmons CD , and after a couple of songs i find i start hearing idea's in my head and i can't help but pick my guitar up and start working on something.

Daniel




I have given my thought on pinky strength in earlier posts so just check for them, as well as AP. If there is something specific you need help with as you progress this summer please feel free to ask and i will try to help, or point you to someone i think can help you.

Daniel



Canis,

I know how you feel on this one. You know what works for me when i don't have a guitar? I practice in my head. I visually play in my own mind licks and ideas. Believe it or not you can you actually learn a lick this way without a guitar as long as you know what it sounds like and where on the fret board to sound the notes. I do this quite often actually after a practice session, i will play the lick in my head visualizing my hands and guitar and just step by step playing it in my head. It seems strange at first but for me at least it works.

Daniel

Posted by: Rated Htr Jul 8 2008, 06:56 AM

Well, I have areas where I have less trainning, but the principal for me must be theory. I'm like, I see stuff like Am, Emaj or hear, this is in the key of A and I have no idea why it's in that key or the notes in the fretboard (but that can be learned), just to mention a few. I also have a week sweeping (YET! )

Posted by: chmilew Jul 8 2008, 09:02 AM

You can take advantage of it to learn some acoustic slapping
It's fun to play !

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Jul 13 2008, 11:03 AM

Learning theory takes just as much dedication as playing scales and what not. I suggest just learning what you need, when you need it so you don't bite off more than you can chew, also definately check out Andrew Cockburns theory lessons, and try to apply what you learn from them.

I am definately not the guy to learn theory from, i have a basic understanding of it and i know the terminology, but there are some area's i am still quite fuzzy on.

It all comes down to just using it when i you need it. If there is a particular theory area i need for a song i am working on, or for whatever reason i just come here and look for the answer i need to continue.

Daniel

Posted by: Ian Bushell Jul 13 2008, 11:56 AM

Would have to be doughnuts!! haha

Seriously...
Whammy bar, nothing against it just don't have one!
Alternate picking is something else i've had to work really hard at.

All that Michealangelo Batio upside down left or right stuff to!!
Geez whats up with that guy?!! That's just mad haha

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Jul 13 2008, 12:23 PM

For me its cookies!

My favorite cookies are cocanut macaroons, i could live on them! lol.

I don't bother with the whammy either, although the last few days i actually took my bar out of the case and dusted it off and began messing with it. I am just looking for more ways to be expressive.

as far as MB is concerned, that guy isnt human, either that or he has no social life whatsoever, he goes from stage to woodshed, and doesnt come out till the next show. lol.

Daniel

Posted by: chladely Jul 13 2008, 09:34 PM

Probably 16th notes can't get the timing or the speed. might be because i'm using downstrokes

Posted by: Déjà vu Jul 13 2008, 09:50 PM

I have a lot of things I should work on. Probably theory, improv, constructing my own songs, accenting notes with pinch harmonics (Damb you, Gilbert!!! ) Fast Tremelo picking, whammy bar tricks, fast pentatonic runs (with no legato). Getting the proper timing with 16th notes. My AP could use some work (I'm trying to get the motion all in my fingers, but it's sooo hard!) But, my biggest enemy is trying to sit down and learn something new. I think it's just because it's summer and I have to much time on my hands, so I don't really use my time as "efficiently".

Posted by: IDontWantMyUsername Jul 13 2008, 10:02 PM

I'd say my weaknesses are 5-string sweeps (I am VERY slow), legato (When I play an ascending or a descending run, I tend to lengthen the notes where I change to the next string), trills with the first and third finger (It goes perfectly well with first and second though, don't know why ), my rhythm abilities could have been better (I hate to use a metronome, kind of ruins the feel when I'm playing), I think I strain my muscles a little, especially my wrist when I do vibrato on the lower frets. My alternate picking used to be slow, though it was pretty clean, maybe a little noise here and there. Some time ago I practiced Muris' alternate workout for a week or so, and I got so much faster

Posted by: Canis Jul 14 2008, 01:13 AM

That's an awesome idea
Thanks a lot ^^

I also found out that uncounciously, I whistle the tune I'm playing in my head

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Jul 14 2008, 01:16 PM

It is certainly not impossible to get the timing on 16th notes with all downstrokes, the key here is building up your stamina, working all downstrokes there is no fancy excersises to do to increase it, you just have to keep doing it until you build up the muscle to pull it off.

My advice though is not to push too hard on this and work on other aspects as well like AP and legato. The more you can train your left hand to be strong, fluid and independent the easier it will be to increase your picking speed no matter what technique you are using.

Daniel




Sounds like you know what you need to work on, so get to it!

Honestly though motivation is hard sometimes, you just need to find what triggers you to work on the guitar. For some people it is a combination of things. For others doesnt take much. I find just listening to music motivates me to pick up the guitar. Next thing i know, half the day has gone by lol

Daniel

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Jul 14 2008, 01:48 PM

As far as sweeping in general check out page 4, post #70 in this thread. I talk about how i first learned how to sweep. As far as 5 string and 6 string sweeps the technique is the same, the only difference is the fingering on the left hand. It depends on if you are doing barre shapes or not, sometimes rolling your finger in a barre shape because you are rolling off of the flat part of your finger is a bit hard. Just keep working on tightening up the rake to be in sync with your left hand pattern. The biggest key in sweep picking is hand synchronization.

The legato issue you are talking about with note lengthing is normal when learning, it just means you are not comfortable yet with the string transistion. Its bound to happen. Typically when desecending you are moving to the next string with your ring finger or pinky, which adds to the delay since those two fingers are the weaker ones. My advice for this is just practice the transistion over and over since it seems to be your hurdle.

Play a pattern like this


E---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B---------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------7----------------------------------7-------
D---10--8--7-------7--8--10------10--8--7-------7--8--10------------------
A--------------10--------------------------------10----------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just keep repeating a pattern like this so you can get fluid at the string transisition it will help. After you get this under your fingers try changing it up, instead of going to 10 on the A string go to 8 on the A string with your middle finger for example. The key here is to get the string transistion fluid.

As far as trills go, the biggest issue with trills in general is just finger strength, and on a smaller level finger independence which works against you as well. The best way i find to build up strength for trills is just to do a simple drill everyday. For you for example pick a spot on the neck you are comfortable with. Trill between first and ring finger with a metronome clicking at near the fastest speed you can play it cleanly, now play that trill for a full minute after about 30 seconds, or maybe even less it will start to get uncomfortable, it is normal just keep it up as long as you can. Do this every day, after a few days of doing this raise the metronome level about 2 clicks and increase the trill duration about 10 to 15 seconds keep increasing every few days, eventually you will find trills to get easier and easier. Just keep doing it till you reach a level you want it to be. You are strengthing your fingers, and increasing your stamina at the same time. Pretty soon you will be a whizzing away with little to no effort.

If there is a specific area with your rhythm playing please feel free to ask me or another instructor to help you.


As far as straining your muscles on vibrato, strain is good.....pain is bad. If you are just tiring the muscles that is a good thing as you are strengthing your hand. If it actually hurts maybe there is something you are doing wrong.


Daniel

Posted by: Canis Oct 25 2008, 11:15 PM

I've definetly found my biggest weakness while trying to record stuff for the MTP: Playing along with a backing track

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Oct 27 2008, 06:23 AM

What are you having trouble with exactly Canis? If your more specific i will do all i can to try and help you.

Perhaps you can post something that your working on, and we can give suggestions to try and improve what you are doing.

Daniel

Posted by: Canis Oct 27 2008, 07:55 AM

Well, more spesific; I'm doing the http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/e-minor-melodic-solo/ lesson from Muris, which is the MTP for this week. I know the entire song, and I can play it (in my opinion) decent without backing. I've been a bit better with backing since I posted the previous post, but I still just "lock up" some times..
I think the problem is that I concentrate so hard on beeing on time when I listen to the backing, that I sometimes forget what to play next

Beware of spelling mistakes; I'm on a 3/4 size laptop

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Oct 30 2008, 01:30 AM

Just keep plugging away at it my friend.

The usual setback of this lies in getting past the memorization phase of the lesson. Sounds like you have it commited to memory, but its not automatic yet. Sometimes takes a little while with certain songs or solos.

I have had this problem with a few songs over the years, where i have this mental block for that particular song. I could play it a million times, not play it for a week and forget the whole thing and have to relearn it again. Just keep working thru it and try not thinking too hard about it....you will get it :0)

Daniel

Posted by: CathShadow Nov 6 2008, 07:36 PM

Hey, well... My weeknesses:

My pinky sort of "clicks" if I move it at a certain angle, my left ring finger doesn't move all the way to the side by the fret...

I think the biggest tho: Barring, and also switching quickly without stopping :$

Thats the big ones atm I think

Pierre

Posted by: superize Nov 6 2008, 07:39 PM

I belive i got a new weakness...

Earlier i wrote my weakness was legato. I have imrpoved that alot now.

My biggest problem now is getting my bends in pitch.... It is a real struggle for me but i am going to work on it and eventually it will work for me i hope

Posted by: Disturbed21 Nov 6 2008, 08:07 PM

My weakness now is playing fast. Mainly playing cleanly when playing fast.
Oh and if I'm in standard tuning my fingers slip off the string during vibrato (I have been getting better at it though )

Posted by: Canis Nov 6 2008, 08:37 PM

Practicing http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/e-minor-bending-workout-full-half/ helped me a lot, together with a master tip from Smells: If you bend with your ringfinger, use your middlefinger and pointer on the two previous frets to support your bend =)

Posted by: opeth.db Nov 6 2008, 09:02 PM

Just found this topic. Great discussions.

I think my weaknesses are not really mostly related to music. I have bad comprehension skills. I always have and have take courses to improve but not much improvements. Being 34 years old and having to read and re-read things many times to fully understand what one is talking about is a frustrating process.

Especially when trying to apply it to music. Learning something from scratch is hard for me which is one of the reasons I have avoided really understanding the theory behind the music. I also have problems understanding the bigger picture at times and creating a lesson plan that fits my needs just not knowing what to do or where to begin.

My goal here at GMC is to become a shredder. Watching many of the videos here of some of the instructors just seem to have that natural ability to do it. But then again im sure it didn't happen over night. Instructors that can easily look at something and tell you a key, what chord or mode they are playing in I think is incredible. I want to get there so bad but fail to understand where to start. I feel it may take me a lot longer to get where I want to be, get frustrated in the process as I know I will and just quit it as I have done in the past.

Its a frustrating process at times and hope to overcome it one day. Playing guitar nowadays is really the only enjoyment I have other than my wife, daughter and new son on the way.

Since I have been here I have learned the Pentatonic scale, different picking patterns and some new technique SMells has been showing me in the MTP. Great stuff. Unfortuanely, my thinking on this subject is that its one thing to mimic ones video, its another thing to fully understand why someone plays what they are playing.

I even sometimes I wonder if I have a goal that is just out of my reach to obtain.

Posted by: Chokehold Nov 6 2008, 09:10 PM

My Weekness really got to be 3-strings sweep picking. I practise it alot but it seems like i'm stuck (at 75 bpm)

Posted by: Kuba Szafran Nov 6 2008, 09:34 PM

Have you seen John Petrucci's "Rock Discipline"? He showed there cool inside picking exercise. Inside picking is pretty important when it comes to 3-string sweeps.

Posted by: Ajmurrell Nov 6 2008, 09:36 PM

My main problem is probably my picking technique (and my shocking theory knowledge, but there is a cure to in Andrew's Theory corner ).

I've been taught the various picking techniques, but not in a strict enough manner and unfortunately my natural comfortable picking is all over the place. Switching from economy to alternate at seemingly random times.

I'll take a good example from some one of the GMC lessons I've been practising.

Piotr Kaczor's Arpeggio Etude - Around the Chord lesson to be exact.

I can play the entire piece comfortably at the 89bpm backing track speed WITH strict alternate picking.

I can also play the piece at the 139bmp backing track speed, BUT my picking starts to do whats instinctive and not what I'm trying to train it to do.

To be more exact, the first arpeggio starts with an up stroke, and I continue to alternate pick correctly untill the upstroke on the 9th fret of the G string which then moves on to 10 and 9 on the B and E. When I hit the downstroke on the 10 fret, I can't seem to stop my self economy picking up to the E string. So going D U U instead of D U D. This means when I'm hitting the notes going down on the E string - I pick on the beat with a downstroke instead of an up.

If that makes sense!

I can keep my picking strict at slower tempo's, but at higher ones my picking just instinctive goes back to what I'm used to doing.

Finding it very hard to kick out the bad habits, they've been used for over 6 years so hard to rectify!

Posted by: Chokehold Nov 6 2008, 09:36 PM

Looking at it right now, thanks alot

Posted by: FenderBeater Nov 6 2008, 09:42 PM

Bro, those are exellent. We have a store here called Trader Joes and they have the best coconut macaroons. We raid them every time we go and even our parrots eat them.

Posted by: Paiva Nov 6 2008, 10:02 PM

Right Hand technique, I need to get faster ( well I don't need I just want to be able to do some fast runs when improvising), I need more METAL (I'm focusing too much on jazz and blues I don't want to be limited when I'm just 14)! I already know the modes but I want to know them intuitively and I really need to know the chords that I should use in each mode. ( I will work a lot in my school break!)

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Nov 7 2008, 03:34 PM

Pinky seems to be a big issue for alot of people, i kinda know what you are talking about with the click. I posted in another thread the reason for my own problem, i broke my pinky when i was younger and never had it set, so it healed crooked. So it does some odd things, so my hand angle constantly has to change to compensate.

As far as your ring finger not moving to the fret posistion, it could be alot of things that cause this. It could just be you haven't stretched this finger enough to get used to fretting in that posistion. Or it could just simply be your playing on a guitar that has frets that are too big for you. For myself, although i like jumbo size frets for ease of chords, i find that my lead playing suffers because i am more comfortable with smaller fret size. The best for me is having smaller frets...ala Wizard II neck.

Barre chords take the most amount of finger strength of anything you can do on the guitar. This is just purely a strength and stamina issue. I would challenge you to just set aside time in your practice routine for just playing barre chords all over the neck perhaps towards the end of your work out. Just keep playing them until you feel the "Burn" in your hands and forearm. Do this every other day. Give your muscles a chance to get used to it. Don't overdo anything in your playing imo.

Its just like people who are body builders. They generally won't work on their arms for example every day. They will work arms one day, and legs the next...abs the next day etc. So it gives time for recovery to avoid injury. I think guitarists in general are guilty of overdoing certain things because they are determined to "Get it". And it can actually hinder you learning a certain technique because your muscles are fatigued.

Daniel




Getting your bends in pitch has a couple key factors. First is ear training to hear the note you are supposed to hit. A good excersises for training your ear is just sound a fretted note for example on the 9th fret, any string. Than move down one fret and bend up to that note. Replay the fretted note, move down 2 frets and bend up to that note.....etc. This will train your ear to hear the correct pitch.

Secondly is muscle memory for your guitar. Every guitar is different with respect to how much pressure you have to exert to bend to a certain pitch. As well as string gauge, hardtail versus trem system etc. Once you have trained your ear to hear the note your muscles will being to remember how much pressure to exert to hit that note. For me now its not even a matter of listening, it is a matter of just how much pressure i exert. I know my guitar inside and out and i know how much i have to push a string to get a pitch.

Daniel



Playing fast cleanly is a goal alot of guitarists have, i think the biggest issue here is how fast do you want to be. Having a clear goal of what is "Fast enough" is a good place to start. I would not consider myself a "Shred" player. That was never my goal though. When learning at my goal was to hit 13nps on average. Not really shredding per se, but good company in that average range...Randy Rhoads for example was a 13nps player.

Now of course some days will be better than others, on a really good day i can hit bursts of 15nps cleanly, and other days i really have to push myself for that 13nps range cleanly. At this stage in my life, i think really that trying to hit 18nps ALA Shawn Lane, with precision is unrealistic. I suppose if i had focused on that speed in the beginning i might get close or hit that mark, but you know you can't teach and old dog new tricks heh.

There are tons of threads, and lesson with theories on learning to play fast. I suggest you check them out and try out all the different methods and find one that works for you. Me personally i take the Shawn Lane approach. That is play beyond your ability speed wise...yes its going to be sloppy, but your focusing on cleaning it up. Imo in order to play fast you have to know what it feels like to play fast. Learning things slowly is not a bad thing, but i find that if i learn something i want to play fast at a slow speed and try to make it clean by slowly ramping up the metronome, that i don't hit nearly the speed i want. Think of it like this, lets say your a sprinter on the track. In order to get faster you don't walk around the track briskly to get faster. No, you push with all you have and clean up your technique as you go refining all your basic muscle movements so you can go faster.

Slipping off the string is a common problem when starting out, but this will fade with time so just keep working on it. Even now i still have times when i am not focusing i will have my finger slip off the string, especially when trying to do vibrato on a bend.

Daniel



Don't be discouraged, it is not an easy thing to accomplish, but if you set realistic short term goals and work on those rather than focusing on the end you can acheive alot. As i said in the post above, for myself i think at this stage trying to play 18nps like Shawn Lane is unrealistic pushing 40 years old here myself. I think though at least for myself, as i get older its less about speed and more about expression, a more mature thought process is involved. There are times i wish i could play faster, some guys here just do it with such little effort. But at the same time i feel like i can say alot more with a few well placed notes and silence than i can say with a million notes. When i was younger of course it was all about the "Flash" now its all about how can i say this phrase in the most meaningful way.

Daniel




I said in an earlier reply in this thread my thoughts on 3 string sweeps. I find for myself at least that 3 string sweeps take more precision on my left hand than say 5 or 6 string string sweeps. For myself at least i find i have to pay special attention to fretting the strings with the very tips of my fingers, rather than using more of the pads of my fingers.

With any sweep techniqe though its about syncing your left and right hands and having good muting skills to get it to sound clean and uniform. When i first started to learn sweep picking i started with 3 string sweeps. I broke it down to start with, i started with just sweeping the open muted strings, just to get the rhythm right in my picking hand, just up down, over and over again until it was smooth. I then would just sweep up, playing 3 strings with my right and left hand together in a simple pattern, i would keep practicing that until i could do it cleanly anywhere on the neck. Than i practiced sweeping down with the same patterns all over the neck until i could do it without thinking about it. It was only after i reached that point that i would do the up down sweep, ala putting it all together. Just break down the sweeping to its most basic components and just work on the tecnique to get it smooth. It takes a bit of effort, but not as much as one would think. Sweeping 15 notes at least imo is easier to learn than playing an 11 or 12 note descending legato pattern for example.

Daniel




I definately know where you are coming from, i would do the same kind of thing, for the longest time i couldnt figure out why i couldnt play simple 6 note patterns cleanly at speed with alternate picking, until i realized as you did that when i speed up i was using a lame economy picking kind of thing. At this point i started to really hone in on what the culprit was, i would speed up to the point of almost falling apart and anyalyze exactly what was falling apart. I also noticed i was doubling up a note somewhere when i sped up. I found that for some reason my picking hand wanted to add another note because i wanted to end on a down stroke. But if you do the math on the neck, if you play 6 ascending notes in a 3nps pattern for example that last note is an upstroke. When i would speed up i saw that i was actually playing 7 notes and was doubling up the last note in the sequence so i would end on a down stroke. Once i realize that this was happening the only thing i focused on was ending on an upstroke. I didnt think about any of the other notes at all. My whole attention was making sure that when i hit note number 6 that i am doing an upstroke. Now i still do that and it helps immensly, knowing what stroke i am going to end on and not worrying about inbetween. Focus on your end note pick stroke make sure its right, now for me its just a matter of adding it up. Like if i do 12 notes, i know that it ends on a downstroke...6 notes upstroke...3 notes downstroke....5 notes downstroke...etc. See if something like this can help you get it worked out.

Daniel




Sounds like you have some good specific goals in mind, learning your theory at this point can only help you along in your goals. So good for you. If you run into any specific problems please feel to ask me, or another instructor thats what we are here for


Daniel

Posted by: Pi38 Nov 7 2008, 03:43 PM

I think my biggest weaknesses are: theory, staccato, and my sweeping is pretty weak also. I'm working on them though! Oh, and my alternate picking. There are tons of lessons here to help me on my weaker points, and I definitely plan on checking them all out...very soon.

Posted by: CathShadow Nov 8 2008, 12:44 PM

Yeah the pinkie thing is cause a) i'm double jointed there
and I had a sports injury

thanks I'll keep at the barreing.... found a lesson on it here http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/beginner-guitar/barre-chords.htm that I can mess with...



On the positive side... for some reason, yesterday I was able to do barre chords nicely ??

Posted by: CathShadow Nov 8 2008, 01:23 PM

hahah wicked I think I got the barre down

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Dec 9 2008, 12:21 AM

Sorry i missed this.

Good to hear dude, if there is anything else you need just ask...


Daniel

Posted by: DaniHel Dec 9 2008, 04:12 PM

My weakness is my right hand (picking hand). My left hand i feel is more developed than my picking hand. I can do fast and clean legatos, my sweep picking is acurate, and anything that requires more left hand movement than right i am comfortable with.

It´s my picking hand that sometimes i think isn´t keeping up or has coordination problems.

Also fingerpicking, im not that good at it =|

I have good technique, but can´t seem to apply it in the musical way that i want, for example Ian Bushell has great a sense of melody and musicality when playing constant sweep picking or on etudes. That´s what im lacking unfortunately

Posted by: Fsgdjv Dec 9 2008, 11:32 PM

My biggest weakness is one thing I've noticed when trying to write riffs. It's basically that I'm really bad at keeping stuff interesting rythm-wise, I tend to go all out on (for instance) 16'th notes and then end on some strong note, then repeat, it's really rare that I actually mix it up a lot with the rythms and make it interesting. When I do the melodies tend to not be that interesting, so my biggest weakness could be summarised as the lack of abillity to keep both melody and rythm interesting at the same time.

I hope it made sense, but this is something I've been trying to figure out what it was for quite a while and I think this is pretty close to the real problem.

Posted by: Sircraigery Dec 10 2008, 04:22 AM

HAHAHA I never used it until I played guitar hero a couple of times, which I sucked at first. Now I use it all the time.


My weakness is that I don't learn new things. I have my 10 favorite songs/riffs that I morph from my favorite songs. Every couple of weeks, a new one comes in, and my least favorite seems to get pushed out. LOL Realizing this, I changed my tune to a Drop C...now, I'm on all newer riffs.

Posted by: Rob Wilson Dec 10 2008, 12:17 PM

My weaknesses mainly are tapping, full bends and vibrato. With tapping i tend to make a lot of noise on the other strings, but I havent properly practised tapping yet.. With full bends I sometimes play the string im bending towards when I pull back down to the original position. Vibrato I never properly learned in the first place and only noe realise that it is done with the wrist rather than rapidly slightly bending the string with my finger!

I would say my strength is timing and rythem

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Dec 10 2008, 12:39 PM

I am just the opposite, my legato playing is mediocre at best i fall back on AP often. But from a learning standpoint i would try to do things that will improve your picking accuracy. When i was starting out i would do tremelo picking excersises to get my left and right hand coordinated. The first thing i did was just two notes, pick any two notes on the fret board next to eachother and play on your left hand like a trill...but pick each note with Alternate picking. I would do this for like 5 minutes each day and go as fast as i could keeping the picking at a steady tempo. Once i got good at doing this and i had some stamina in my right hand to keep it up i would do 3nps using the same trem excersise i would play 1 3 4...1 3 4...etc..over and over..once i got it clean as fast as i could pick i would reverse it and play 4 3 1....4 3 1...etc. You can do this anywhere on the neck. Than i would alternate 1 3 4...1 2 4...1 3 4...1 2 4...etc. Than do that pattern backwards. After all of this i started doing larger stretches using the same technique of 3nps but using wider intervals and moving posistions inbetween each rep. Not exactly the most glamorous excersise but it gets the job done.

This same idea can be applied to sweeping, instead of notes on the same string apply the same down up picking to multiple strings in varied patterns. Start with simple patterns to begin with such as a simple three string sweep...down..up...down up...etc. Practice that pattern all over the neck and on different strings. After you get good at it add 1 note to the next string. Rinse and repeat. Getting fluid in your sweep picking without stopping requires you to make your lick bag nice and deep so experimenting with all the shapes you can think of is a must. After learning the easy ones you will start to see much more complex shapes. It just comes with learning the neck experimentation goes a long way.

As far as fingerpicking goes i am not great at it either. I suggest you check out some of Muris lessons on it.

I am trying to remedy my lack of finger picking skills i have been doing alot of research and study of Eric Johnson recently who imo is one of the best "Chording/ Fingerpicking" players in the world. His approach to chording and chord voices really appeals to me too so i don't get bored quickly.



Daniel




I had this same problem when i started getting into faster playing. I found what really broke me of this habit was conciously learning some different rhythmic groupings. What i mean by this is you can still play 16notes, but learn how to break them up into smaller groups. See what it feels like to play 5 16th notes and stop. play 4 16th notes and stop etc...when you can break them up into smaller groups than you start mixing and matching...i find actually writing down on a piece of paper a series of numbers and following it helped me like i would write.

4
7
12
5
6
4
4
3

I would than compose a series of licks based on those amount of note groupings all using 16th notes..than i would take it one step further...lets take that same list and add different rhythmic value

4 16th notes
7 8th notes
12 8th triplets
5 (2 16th notes and 3 8th notes)
6 one sextuplet (32nd notes)
4 quarter notes
4 16th triplet
3 8th notes

After awhile you start to see varied patterns that you can use. Timing is crucial when learning this so a metronome will be invaluble set a speed you are comfortable with and see what kind of different patterns you can use. You said that you use a strong note to end on. Also see what recessive notes you can land on to add tension. Recessive notes also make good transistion notes into the next lick. Just experiment and have fun with it.

Daniel

Posted by: Fsgdjv Dec 10 2008, 12:43 PM

Wow Daniel, awesome reply, thank you! I will definetly work on that.

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Dec 10 2008, 12:57 PM

I bet you really know more than you give yourself credit for. I think the hardest thing for us guitarists is that we hear ourselves all the time so we hear the repetition when you play something for someone else it sounds completely new to them. If you learn a new lick and lose one i doubt you really lost it i bet you could still play it if you wanted to but its the problem of being the only one listening to us play alot of the time so we are always searching for something we havent done a million times. Its just the nature of the instrument and your connection with it. I am sure all instructors here will tell you that there are alot of things they hate about their playing. But when i hear someone like Muris...or Ivan or David Walliman play a new lesson i am thoroughly intrigued with something new and they are probably listening to their own lessons picking apart all the mistakes they made heh.

Daniel




Tapping is not my strong suit either, i can do it for some things but i don't use it often. I never felt like tapping was useful for me to express myself so i never developed it.

As far as the full bends go, if i understand what your saying correctly it sounds to me like your hand posistion is off when you bend up so your actually covering the next string with your finger everyone has their own way of looking at approaching this problem. Myself i angle my hand so that when i bend up my finger actually goes under the string i am bending toward i am just very careful not to move my finger when i release so i dont get string noise. On some guitars that have much lower action than mine this is not an option so you would actually have to press into the string your bending towards, when this is the case i make sure that i do the full bend with any finger but my index finger because i will use my index finger to muffle the string i am bending towards as i release so i dont get any string noise.

Vibrato is one of those skills that has no wrong answer and it comes down to personal preference if you have the finger strength to do how you were doing it and it sounds good to you i say go for it. If wrist action is more comfortable for you than use that too. I actually use two different things for vibrato, i use the finger wiggle without my wrist...and i also actually shake the guitar instead of moving the string with my finger i move the whole guitar and just slightly move my finger giving my vibrato an eliptic shape not quite round, more of an oblong oval.

Daniel

Posted by: Sircraigery Dec 11 2008, 03:38 AM

Yeah, I can still play the old riffs. But like you say, then end up getting sort of bland after a while. As a positive note, I can vouch that repetition of a song 1000x really lets you relax while playing it. That relaxation has transfered over to other songs, and now I just play more relaxed than I used to. That was my worst weakness a few years back; the faster I'd try to play, the more I would tense up.

Here's Proof:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl98kxzHOw0

ps - apparently I can't make a link. wtf?

Posted by: mhskeide Dec 18 2008, 06:12 PM

I`ve got TONS of weaknesses. I could mention someone like sweeping(getting better), sweeptaps, legato, particulary AP(as I mentioned in another topic I`ll usually play economy picking which falls more naturally for me), phrasing, and sure a whole lot more.

But my most annoying weakness per today, is my lack of theory competance. Even though I find it interesting to study how the scales etc are built and how they color the sound of the music, I`m almost not spending one exercise on practising exclusesivly one scale or something like that. And I`m horrible at analysising the music I`m playing, even if it`s by tab or ear. Usually I just find a minor pentatonic which fits over the song and improvise from that.

Posted by: Alexiaden93 Apr 16 2009, 07:13 PM

Hey, I just registered and I am really satisfied. I've started the "Heavy Metal - Solo & Rhythm exercise" by Hisham Al-Sanea, and it's a really beautiful composition, and good exercise for my fingers. (Sorry, I guess this statement doesn't belong in this thread...)

Anyway, as an amateur guitar player I would say I have tonnes of weaknesses, most of them easily removable through practice.

1. As quite a lot of other people up the comments-list, I have a problem with legato, and tend to use fast picking as an alternative. In the end, however, I have to realise that fast picking can never get as fast and smooth as legato, and I will have to practice more, and maybe use some of the advice Daniel Robinson gave. My problem with legato is that I can't adapt to many different speeds, as I kind of get carried away with my maximum speed. This is most likely a finger-strength problem.

2. I need to build more strength in my ring-finger (3rd finger), for things like hammer-on / pull-of triplets, which I can only do very fast with my "doigt d'honneur" as the French would say (2nd finger). I can just forget writing about my wimpling of a pinky !

3. I need to get a bit better at bending, but this might of course be the fat strings on my guitar. My goal is to be able to bend 2 frets on the second fret, and hopefully with a wailing artificial harmonic. I am talking, of course, about the Don't Cry intro (Guns N' Roses)...

I will stop my verbal diarrhoea right now, as the instructors will need to drink coffee to stay awake during the lecture of my comment, and I could certainly write two Bible-length books about my weaknesses in guitar playing.

Alexander, 15

Posted by: Canis Apr 17 2009, 10:11 AM

My biggest weakness these days is muting the higher strings while playing solos.. I can palm mute the lower strings fair eough, but I often get accidental accidentals from the high E and B strings, so to speak

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Apr 17 2009, 11:35 AM

I wish i could just zap the information into your head, but unfortunately i am not Harry Potter. Theory is an ongoing process. Honestly music theory in general is a lifelong pursuit. When you get the basics of it, then you start to see emerging patterns that make you go back to analyze something more complex, etc and so forth. Someone who has an absolute mastery of music theory has taken years and years for them to hone that particular skill. Just take the steps that will get you where you want to go for right now. Your musical influences, and ideas will mature just as your guitar playing will. So dont try to learn it all right now, you have time


Daniel

Posted by: enforcer Apr 17 2009, 11:40 AM

Clean sweep picking, tapping sweeps, and vibrato(I think I nailed this last one lately)

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Apr 17 2009, 12:35 PM

Good to have you aboard Alex

As stated in this particular thread in a few cases, speed is not evil, nor is going slow. Its all about the process that will help you write a particular song to get a specific idea or mood across to a listener. Sometimes that requires lightning fast precision. Sometimes it requires blatant use of silence. I can certainly relate to your legato issues, for i myself don't have a strong repertoire of legato licks. The best advice i can give is listen to some professional players that have really strong legato skills and try to emulate them. Even if you have to learn the songs by TAB, at least you have a reference for good legato technique. Obviously Joe Satriani comes to mind, as he has one of the smoothest techniques in the business.

As for your ring finger strength, i can sympathize as well with this. What most guitarists eventually will learn though is that ring finger and pinky strength is really a paradox. Think about what happens when you trill between index and ring finger. The strength you need to build up is in your hand because of the motion of those two fingers. Just keep exercising that muscle grouping any way you can and the strength will come.

Pinky is another beast entirely, getting that little sucker to do what you want it to, first requires you to get some dexterity using it. Once you get used to using it, then the strength will come. Luckily when i first started learning guitar i was learning from a friend in highschool, since i was watching and learning from him he already used his pinky heavily, and the licks he taught me almost always utilized that finger. Try composing some licks that rely on your pinky and take some time during your practice session to work on them.

As i stated in a previous post, bending is something that requires both strength, and listening. Strength to push the string to the pitch you want, and listening so that you hit that pitch. Don't burn yourself out though trying to push a whole step on the second fret, with heavy guage strings on your guitar. Practice bending all over the neck, middle of the neck is good for starting to strengthen your fingers for bending, higher then the 12th fret is a good exercise for ear training because it require next to no effort to bend that high up the neck.

If you have any specific areas that i can help with please feel free to ask.

Daniel




Hey Canis,

I don't know if this will help you or not, because i don't know exactly what is happening to you. But, that being said most of the time this thing will happen not because of your palm muting technique per se, but its a hand position issue. I was rather guilty of this in my earlier days because i thought that my picking hand should be somewhat anchored to the bridge. There is a very subtle shifting of your hand down towards the floor that should be taking place when you start playing on the higher strings.

It's really easy to get into a habit of resting your hand on the bottom strings at a particular angle and instead of literally moving your hand down a bit as you approach the top strings, instead you open your hand a bit and stretch out. The correct technique is to not to stretch your hand out, but keep it the same and just adjust down a bit. If you can palm mute on the lower strings it should be at the same angle as with the top strings. I hope i explained it so you could understand. Just know that there is a subtle movement down. It takes a bit of getting used to, just make sure you don't change the angle of your hand that you are used to, just move it down a little bit as you approach the top strings


Daniel





Hey Enforcer,


As far as "Clean sweep picking" goes, if you can already sweep pick, just sloppy, you have to now pay close attention to the other techniques that seem like no brainers when you are not a beginner anymore. Especially your palm muting technique. Sweep picking requires an advanced palm muting skill. Its not that you need to do anything really different, but you have to refine more. Clean sweep picking requires more precise palm muting then normal. Also, the other thing to watch for is the intervals with which you "roll" your fingers across the pattern you are sweeping. It should be as uniform like if you were tapping your fingers on a desk for instance. Make sure you are letting up on the previous note uniformally even. As for sweeping in general i have stated my ideas on practicing it several times in this particular thread. As far as sweep tapping, i would suggest you look to Muris, Emir, David etc...I have a few sweep tapping licks in songs i have written, but wrote them out of necessity for something particular, and am not really going to give you advice to take to the bank on this technique because its something i do very rarely.

And as for vibrato, if you are happy with your vibrato, now what you have to do is look at it for what it is and listen to it and find out what is it exactly you like about it. Once you do that you can start to refine it so that you bring more to the surface of what you like about your vibrato. Vibrato particularly is a very personal thing, and it is imo what sets us apart from all other guitar players in feel and technique. You take someone like Ynqwie, what i love about his vibrato is the intensity it conveys his vibrato screams at you and it makes you remember it long after the song is done. At the other end of the spectrum, someone like Joe Satriani, even typing this i can't hear his vibrato in my head. There is nothing memorable about it......unless you are listening to it right at this moment Joe is about subltety of expression. You have to be in the moment to understand it.

Just find what you like about yours and bring more of it really make it your own.


Daniel

Posted by: Alexiaden93 Jul 13 2009, 04:09 AM

Thanks a lot for your advice, Daniel ! I somehow lost track of this thread, and I hence haven't had a chance to read your reply to my comment (whose font colour was rather irritating, which is why I changed it now) ! I guess I posted that comment quite a long time ago, and I feel legato is getting slightly better after having worked on it for some time, the same with my ring and pinky fingers...

Thanks again,
Alexander

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Sep 10 2010, 11:42 PM

I thought it was time to kinda resurrect this thread. Its been pinned to the top of the board in another sub-category but some time has gone by since people were being helped by this thread.

I assume we have many more new people who would benefit from the topics covered here and also voice their own weaknesses and get questions answered.

So if you please what are your weaknesses (old or new) that you are having trouble with and lets see if we can't get you squared away.


Daniel Robinson

Posted by: slash48 Sep 11 2010, 03:10 AM

Cool! I'm glad it's started again!
My biggest problem is my picking technique which is limiting me from quickly accessing the lower strings with ease like I need to-E string, A string
I've been playing for 4 or 5 years and my current picking technique is resting my picking hand wrist lightly on the strings above what I am currently playing and picking at a slight angle. When I go from higher strings to say low E, I have no strings above E to rest my hand on so I have to move it to the guitar's body. This puts my hand in a completely new position and my elbow in an awkward position (since I have monkey arms) and makes it nearly impossible to change registers quickly. I know some guitarists anchor their pinky on the body of the guitar but my hands are not big enough for that and I've heard it causes tension in the hand. A new picking technique for the lower register would be great! (I'm sorry for the long ramble, I'm 13 and have more time on my hands to play guitar then I probably should.)

Posted by: thefireball Sep 11 2010, 03:33 AM

Sweeping, arpeggios, fast AP

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Sep 11 2010, 09:13 AM

I am not sure i truly understand what your talking about. I am gonna go on the assumption that when your playing stuff on the low E and A string that your hand is completely off the strings. If that's the case i can understand why you have difficulty with string transition.

You shouldn't have your picking hand all together off the strings on the body of the guitar. Now i know probably part of the problem is your hand just isn't big enough to palm mute all the strings because your age. But try to do what i tell you here.

Take the side of your hand and stand it up just above the string saddles on the bridge. (like your hand is a knife and your gonna cut the strings with the side of your hand.) Now put your pick in your hand the way you hold it. Now without moving the position of the hand just lay it down (like closing a book). Now note where your hand is. This should be the position that you play from. Obviously there is a little bit of adjustment up and down as you go up and down the strings, but its not a big motion. Most of the shifting will come from just rotation of the wrist a little bit as you go down.

Now this is the tricky part, when playing full chords you will do 1 of 2 things. Either you will shift your hand towards the bridge even more and strum. (this will sound the chord but it also softens it a little bit), or you will just pick up your hand as you strum the chord and come back to this position.

Playing rock guitar with distortion requires your hand to be resting on the strings in order to silence any string noise which will be much greater with lots of distortion. Generally speaking if your hand is back far enough toward the bridge the low E and A string you can actually just keep resting your hand on the strings and it will still ring a note. If you find your notes on those strings to be too muffled, then adjust your hand so its closer to the bridge of the guitar.

I hope this helps (if i understood your problem if not i will try to better understand your problem and go from there.)

Posted by: Vaidya Sep 11 2010, 09:39 AM

My main weakness is muting.Whether its sweep picking or alternate picking,when i switch over to another string I can hear the open string sound.

Posted by: slash48 Sep 11 2010, 03:34 PM

Thanks Daniel! That fix worked fantastic.

Posted by: stratman79 Sep 11 2010, 03:56 PM

A lot of it is relative to what you want to be as a guitarist...

I personally wouldn't say sweeps or AP are a particular weakness (well I never AP always economy) but if you put my technique in the hands of someone who wanted to shred they would feel they had a million miles to go...

My weakness as far as I'm concerned are
1. Sight reading, esp further up the neck than 7th position. But my reading is prob better the 90 percent of the guitarists out there.
2. My Ear, I can get by, but hearing complex chord progressions and melodies with non pentatonic/major scale notes is hard.
3. Application of theory during solos, my theory is pretty good and knowledge of scales and arppegios in CAGED system is ok buthe application of them over a Jazz chord progression is really hard..this is the one that I am currently working on with my teacher...

But yeah sweeping, tapping, AP all could be far better but I'd rather focus my energy into places that would make me a better musicain.

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Sep 11 2010, 10:41 PM

I find the best approach to sweep picking is to break the sweeping down to the most basic components and work on each individual thing till you get the technique down.

First, imo you should work on just 3 strings, the highest 3 strings work well for this. What you want to do is first just mute all the strings with your left hand,(we are not playing any notes here we are just raking the strings) just practice sweeping up the 3 highest strings. Pay special attention to the *clicks* of the string make sure they are all uniform i.e. your not making some notes faster than others. Once you can do this start going up than down. As before just get comfortable with sweeping up...then down. Make sure the *clicks* are uniform and clean.

After you have those down, now start from the first exercise, but this time your gonna play notes. For the sake of this exercise place your fingers with index finger on the 9th fret high E string, middle finger on the 10th fret on the B string, and ring finger on the 11th fret on the G string.

Now with the same sweeping motion you did in the first exercise sweep from the G string to the E string in one fluid motion, make sure your using good palm muting technique to squash unwanted string noise, and also make sure as you make the transition from one string to another you lift your finger off the previous note so each note sounds individually (imagine its like when you tap your fingers on a table it is the same kind of motion). Once you can do this so it sounds really good than do, then add the down from the high E string.

Now once you get his going at a good pace and it sounds good, practice it on different frets, and different string groupings. Once your comfortable with this just start adding 1 note at a time and practice it. Honestly once you get it down for 3 strings you can add strings pretty easy.

Now for arpeggios, obviously an arpeggio is just notes of a chord played separately i would suggest you look for lessons on arps here on GMC and look at the different shapes so you can get a good bit of shapes to practice for picking arps...as well as sweeping them.


Now as for fast AP, i hold to the idea of breaking down AP into its most basic form. The biggest problem to overcome with AP is just sync between left and right hand. Lets break it down to the most basic to get your hands working together.

This is also part of my warm up things, what i do is just pick two notes on the same string usually right next to each other. It doesnt really matter which string or what fret, what your going to be doing is a an AP trill. Normally when you trill is just hammer ons and pull offs but for this exercise your gonna AP the trill. Start out at a slow pace and slowly speed up (not like metronome work) your gonna speed up fairly quickly keep paying attention to when you fret the note and pick it it should be in sync. Up down ...up down etc, while playing 2 separate notes. Once you can do that at a fair amount of speed just add 1 note to the mix any 3nps shape will do thats not important at this time. Just work with that one shape and keep AP'ing as quickly as you can without messing up.

Once you can do this start changing the fingering so you get used to syncing up your other fingers with your picking hand.


I think if you just break down each thing you want to acheive to the most basic components most times it will come much easier than say...trying to learn a whole lick first.


Daniel






Good palm muting takes time but i would ask if your hand is just coming off the string, or it rings despite your hand resting there.

The reason i ask is if your still getting string noise even when your hand is resting on the strings its not a muting problem per se but a problem with your picking hand rest position.

If indeed your are having your hand rest on the strings but they are still ringing than you need to adjust your hand position. Move your hand rest position slightly more away from the bridge of the guitar. Even though you muffle the strings real close to the bridge you can't deaden them entirely, you need to "choke up" more on the muting so your closer to the looser part of the strings.

Try to adjust your hand slightly and see if that helps.




Just as i told Fireball above the thing with sweeping and AP its best to break them down to the most basic components to achieve greater control in those areas

I am not a big sight reader myself, i suppose if someone put a gun to my head i could manage but i have developed my ear more than my ability to sight read.

The ability to apply theory to Jazz chord progressions is difficult to do even for a seasoned guitar player. My best advice is just to learn all you can from people who do it well. Thats why i really enjoy Pedja's video chat sessions. He is really knowledgeable on that subject.

Hearing complex chord progressions is another tricky thing from an ear training perspective. What helped me a great deal was listening to orchestral music. Listening to that kind of music allows your ear to take in all the varied levels of hearing the chord layers. I would suggest trying to find some symphonic type music that you would enjoy, and listening to that. And if possible pick up the score for the things you are listening to so you can see the relationships of the different chord layers and how they are grouped together to make a whole.