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What Are Your Weaknesses
Daniel Robinson
May 20 2008, 09:29 AM
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QUOTE (Alex87 @ May 18 2008, 12:33 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.



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

QUOTE (at lights end @ May 18 2008, 12:39 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.



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

QUOTE (Outlaw2112 @ May 18 2008, 12:44 PM) *
women.... cool.gif



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 tongue.gif


Daniel

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This post has been edited by Daniel Robinson: May 20 2008, 09:24 AM


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jacmoe
Jun 13 2008, 09:12 PM
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Excellent topic, Daniel! laugh.gif

My weakness is that I have been playing the guitar for so many years without actually playing it. ph34r.gif

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! biggrin.gif
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! laugh.gif

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? tongue.gif

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This post has been edited by jacmoe: Jun 13 2008, 09:17 PM


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QUOTE ("Steve Vai")
Start by playing something - a bend, a riff, a scale, a song - very slowly; if you make a mistake, start over; do this over and over, until you can play it flawlessly - and I do mean flawlessly - many times in a row. Next, gradually increase the tempo. Eventually you'll be flailing like a madman.
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TreyDeschamp
Jun 13 2008, 09:24 PM
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I cant seem to make things up. of course i dont know to many things but still haha laugh.gif

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Matt23
Jun 13 2008, 09:51 PM
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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.

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

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Daniel Robinson
Jun 26 2008, 07:32 AM
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From: Normal, Illinois
QUOTE (jacmoe @ Jun 13 2008, 04:12 PM) *
Excellent topic, Daniel! laugh.gif

My weakness is that I have been playing the guitar for so many years without actually playing it. ph34r.gif

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! biggrin.gif
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! laugh.gif

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? tongue.gif


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

QUOTE (TreyDeschamp @ Jun 13 2008, 04:24 PM) *
I cant seem to make things up. of course i dont know to many things but still haha laugh.gif



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

QUOTE (Eat-Sleep-andJam @ Jun 13 2008, 04:55 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.



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

QUOTE (Matt23 @ Jun 13 2008, 04:51 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.


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

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Gitarrero
Jun 27 2008, 09:16 AM
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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...

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Daniel Robinson
Jun 29 2008, 07:23 PM
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QUOTE (Gitarrero @ Jun 27 2008, 04:16 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...


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

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kjutte
Jun 29 2008, 08:33 PM
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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.

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Mark.
Jun 29 2008, 09:26 PM
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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 biggrin.gif I've already did this a couple of times and till now it has worked smile.gif
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 smile.gif

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besip
Jun 29 2008, 11:13 PM
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NO.1 Theory!!!!!!! rolleyes.gif


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

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vintageplaya666
Jun 29 2008, 11:38 PM
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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

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Pizzoaro
Jun 29 2008, 11:44 PM
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I have a lot "unfinished" practice tongue.gif

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 sad.gif
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... sad.gif

Any tips in 8 finger tapping playing positions?

-Lars

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SonofDestiny
Jun 30 2008, 09:11 AM
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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?

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Lithuanian
Jul 2 2008, 07:25 PM
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Motivation... Sadly...

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Daniel Robinson
Jul 6 2008, 01:45 PM
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QUOTE (kjutte @ Jun 29 2008, 03:33 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.



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

QUOTE (Mark. @ Jun 29 2008, 04:26 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 biggrin.gif I've already did this a couple of times and till now it has worked smile.gif
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 smile.gif



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

QUOTE (besip @ Jun 29 2008, 06:13 PM) *
NO.1 Theory!!!!!!! rolleyes.gif


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


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

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Jesse
Jul 6 2008, 01:49 PM
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... 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.

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Canis
Jul 6 2008, 01:53 PM
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My number one weakness now, is that I'm on holliday and don't have my electric guitar with me sad.gif
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...

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Daniel Robinson
Jul 6 2008, 02:39 PM
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QUOTE (vintageplaya666 @ Jun 29 2008, 06:38 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


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

QUOTE (Pizzoaro @ Jun 29 2008, 06:44 PM) *
I have a lot "unfinished" practice tongue.gif

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 sad.gif
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... sad.gif

Any tips in 8 finger tapping playing positions?

-Lars



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

QUOTE (SonofDestiny @ Jun 30 2008, 04:11 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?


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

QUOTE (Lithuanian @ Jul 2 2008, 02:25 PM) *
Motivation... Sadly...


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

QUOTE (Jesse @ Jul 6 2008, 08:49 AM) *
... 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.



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

QUOTE (Canis @ Jul 6 2008, 08:53 AM) *
My number one weakness now, is that I'm on holliday and don't have my electric guitar with me sad.gif
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...


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

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Rated Htr
Jul 8 2008, 06:56 AM
Experienced Rock Star
Posts: 2.119
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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! biggrin.gif)

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