Printable Version of Topic

Click here to view this topic in its original format

GMC Forum _ Ben Higgins _ Ben's Practice Journal

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 2 2011, 10:55 AM

Righto, I thought I'd share my current practice regime with you. Until very recently, I was concentrating on several licks. Some of them from my own songs/solos and some I created to improve a certain picking motion. However, as some of you know, I've been busy with recording the first album from The Reckoning, my band. This necessitated that I was able to deliver the best possible performances of my solos. Alas ! I've become a bit rusty at some of them, most of all the solo from a song called Wall of Eyes. dry.gif

So, I've devoted all my practice time (and any spare time I get) to concentrating on 3 tricky alternate picking licks from the solo, mainly this one:


|--3-| |--3-| |--3-| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--| --
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
E||-------------------------------------------------------------13----13-|----||
B||-------------------------------------------12----12-15-12-15----15----|----||
G||-------------------------10----10-13-10-13----13----------------------|----||
D||----------9----9-12-9-12----12----------------------------------------|----||
A||--11-8-11---11--------------------------------------------------------|----||
E||----------------------------------------------------------------------|----||





It's tricky because it involves lots of outside picking in quick succession. The song was recorded without a click track but the tempo is around 110-112bpm by my guess. Now, that doesn't sound very fast. If you were to alternate pick at 16th note triplets on one string it's not that bad. However, the nature of this lick means that there's a lot more being demanded of the picking hand.

You can hear the lick at 3:16 on this old recording of the song.



As I said earlier, I'd been spending time working on licks and solo bits, mianly because I want to improve my picking technique. It's a lot sloppier and tense than I'd like it to be. I started out by practising 8th note triplets at around 80bpm. The extra clicks from the metronome make it easier to keep time. I had various other licks and speeds but I'll stick with the triplet speed because this lick is a triplet lick too. I kept at that speed for about 2.5 weeks until I felt I'd developed a much more even alternating motion.

When I had trouble laying down my solos, however, I ditched my excessive library of practice licks and narrowed my focus. It's made quite a difference.

So, any spare time I get, I pick up the axe and start cycling through some slow reps of this lick. If I'm actually having a practice session, then I'll warm up by doing slow reps of the lick. The faster I go, the more reps I do at each speed because that's where I need to put in the work. So I'll start by doing about 10 or so reps at 80bpm (8th notes, which would be the same as playing 16th notes at 40bpm), go to 90bpm, same again or more, 100bpm, increase reps... all the way to my comfortable limit. At the moment, it's somewhere around 160 - 170bpm, which translates as 16th note triplets at 85bpm. I increase the bpm to about 180 or more and try a few reps to get the hand and brain working harder but I bring it back down again to somewhere perhaps a bit higher than I was previously to do a few perfect (or near as possible) reps to finish before moving on to another lick or finishing practice until the next time.

(It looks like I'm increasing the speed by large increments but it translates as only 5bpm increments in 16th notes)

I'm pushing things along a bit quicker than I would normally do, because I have to record it. Although I know that I'm not going to be able to perfectly and effortlessly play it at the required tempo, I certainly know that the increased accuracy at lower speeds mean that I can push it even further at higher speeds for short periods of time. So, although the technique may not be perfect, it will get the job done. Afterwards I'll be free to hone the lick at my own pace.

One thing I'm finding interesting is the idea of discovering the 'secret' of alternate picking by just doggedly persuing one lick. It reminds me of the Zen phrase 'From one thing, know ten thousand things' and also of Michael Angelo Batio's story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_QEk1Fyi8w&feature=related Watch from 4:50

I'll keep you informed with my progress ! smile.gif

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 2 2011, 12:05 PM

Very interesting - I remember practicing that lick from Marty solo on Countdown to Extinction I think. I love the sound of it because (as with most pentatonic licks) you cover a lot of ground quickly. Somehow it also changes direction in an unpredictable way.

By the way I love that Reckoning video!

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 2 2011, 12:20 PM

QUOTE (Kristofer Dahl @ Dec 2 2011, 11:05 AM) *
Very interesting - I remember practicing that lick from Marty solo on Countdown to Extinction I think. I love the sound of it because (as with most pentatonic licks) you cover a lot of ground quickly. Somehow it also changes direction in an unpredictable way.

By the way I love that Reckoning video!


Yes, Marty is a master of unexpected turns ! wink.gif

This lick is a diminshed progression so the finger shifts are also challenging as you need to move diagonally across the neck ohmy.gif

Hehe, thanks.. it was a nightmare to edit ! I trawled through lots of practice footage and tried to choose bits where we didn't look too ugly ! laugh.gif

Posted by: Mudbone Dec 2 2011, 05:13 PM

Great video Ben, I'm gonna have to try that lick biggrin.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 2 2011, 05:43 PM

QUOTE (Mudbone @ Dec 2 2011, 04:13 PM) *
Great video Ben, I'm gonna have to try that lick biggrin.gif


Thanks Senor 'Bone. Yeah, do it !! cool.gif

Posted by: Mudbone Dec 2 2011, 06:00 PM

Just tried it... its not happening lol I'm actually working on this one lick, a sequenced G major scale in triplets (123,234,345 etc..) I'm gonna practice it until I can play it comfortably at 160 bpm. I'll practice it almost every day for 20 minutes. Right now I'm focusing on two or three strings at a time. Do you think this is a good approach?

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 2 2011, 07:41 PM

QUOTE (Mudbone @ Dec 2 2011, 05:00 PM) *
Just tried it... its not happening lol I'm actually working on this one lick, a sequenced G major scale in triplets (123,234,345 etc..) I'm gonna practice it until I can play it comfortably at 160 bpm. I'll practice it almost every day for 20 minutes. Right now I'm focusing on two or three strings at a time. Do you think this is a good approach?


Hehe, it is a tricky number isn't it ?? wink.gif

Well, the funny thing is I change my opinion of how to practice things every now and again. I'm usually an advocate of isolate just one motion and practice the hell out of that but I guess that serves a purpose if you are having trouble with a particular motion. In the last few weeks I'm gravitating towards just practising the lick as it is (if it's fairly short and not excessively long, that is). I find that personal experience is the best teacher there is and lately it's been teaching me that just playing a lick as it's meant to be, slowly, accurately, day in and day out seems to work all the necessary elements in one go. The inside/outside motions and the general accuracy/hand synch.. and last but not least, the speed.

Just by doggedly practising the above lick, my whole picking technique has improved. Even though it's entirely an outside picking lick, I can noodle away with greater ease and accuracy than before. It's amazing how the improvement in one area spreads to the others ! smile.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 3 2011, 12:07 PM

Friday 2nd Dec - Practiced this lick for about an hour or so.. got up to about 170bpm where it was sometimes accurate/ sometimes not. I have the biggest problem when I have to go from the G to the B.. probably because my hand is starting to get tired by that point. So shoved it up to about 180 and isolated that G/B string section and played that for a bit.

Back down to 170 and things were a bit better. Still not perfect but my hand is handling these sorts of tempos better and with a relaxed state. A funny thing has been happening lately. Normally when you tire yourself out you can't really go on without tensing up or playing through pain. However, instead of hitting a wall and being unable to carry on, I get to the 'burn' stage and it sort of stays there. I don't cramp up or tense and it doesn't get painful (I'm sure it would if I kept doing it for another 30 mins straight) and I think that's a result of keeping correct, relaxed technique.

It's getting better slowly but surely. I'll keep you updated smile.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 4 2011, 11:39 AM

Saturday 3rd Dec Ok, so yesterday wasn't going so good to start with. I got up to my usual familiar tempos but things felt even less accurate than before. I was still having issues with the G / B string movements. I realised that I had been ignoring my own advice. I was concentrating on speed instead of accuracy. So I took a break and went back to it later. I went up through several tempos as I normally do and stopped at a much lower tempo of 110bpm and realised that my accuracy was starting to deteriorate at this tempo. I could pick it fast enough but the actual pick strokes weren't that controlled, relaxed or even. So I concentrated only on the accuracy, getting each repetition as accurate as the previous one. Needless to say, this still makes your muscles tired so it's a good sign.

Overall, I felt I benefitted a lot more by remembering that speed is a by-product of accuracy. Focus on the accuracy and speed will come as a result, when you're not looking for it.

I just need to follow my own advice ! laugh.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 4 2011, 06:16 PM

Sunday 4th Dec A good one today. Started off with the same approach as yesterday - accuracy not speed. Felt a lot more relaxed as well. I'm sure that the pyschological effect of not striving for speed contributes to being more relaxed too.

Spent plenty of time at each tempo and thought I'd have a go at seeing how accurate I could get it at 120bpm. Not bad but things started getting even better when I tapped into a mindstate that I discovered about a year ago and had forgotten about: Leading with the fretting hand.

What I mean by this is imagine that your fretting hand is in charge of everything. It is responsible for all sound, including picking. Don't even think of your pick hand at all. Let it be led by your fret hand instead. It sounds weird but when you notice this for the first time you'll think 'WOW !'

The benefit of this is unparalleled levels of relaxed picking. If you imagine that your fretting hand is causing your pick hand to move automatically, you end up by not putting as much effort into the picking itself. If you get it right, this means that you can't force the speed by tensing up. That's a good thing because you get an accurate result of where you are with your picking. It tells you exactly what tempo you can handle with natural, relaxed picking and it isn't distorted by extra force or tension. If you play with tension you can kid yourslef into thinknig you're technical ability is better than it is. If you take away the tension, you're left with the truth.


So try it - let the fretting hand 'drive' and let the picking hand be led. smile.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Dec 4 2011, 07:57 PM

Excellent points Ben, will try to follow your advices smile.gif

Posted by: jstcrsn Dec 5 2011, 01:51 AM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Dec 4 2011, 11:39 AM) *
Saturday 3rd Dec Ok, so yesterday wasn't going so good to start with. I got up to my usual familiar tempos but things felt even less accurate than before. I was still having issues with the G / B string movements. I realised that I had been ignoring my own advice. I was concentrating on speed instead of accuracy. So I took a break and went back to it later. I went up through several tempos as I normally do and stopped at a much lower tempo of 110bpm and realised that my accuracy was starting to deteriorate at this tempo. I could pick it fast enough but the actual pick strokes weren't that controlled, relaxed or even. So I concentrated only on the accuracy, getting each repetition as accurate as the previous one. Needless to say, this still makes your muscles tired so it's a good sign.

Overall, I felt I benefitted a lot more by remembering that speed is a by-product of accuracy. Focus on the accuracy and speed will come as a result, when you're not looking for it.

I just need to follow my own advice ! laugh.gif
st
well Ben,I can't play that fast,but at my fastest(when I am Playing well), when I am getting close to the speed I am aiming for.I quickly ramp up the speed by 10's until I am about 30bpm faster than what I want,it usually is sloppy ,but once it gets a little prettier ,I start slowing it down by 2bpm and spend a few minutes there .Each time I lower it , it gets a little cleaner and sometimes(not every time)by the time I get to my desired speed,it is slower than I have been playing and I think I can hear the notes better after I have heard them that fast.
of course ,you don't want to program slop into your brain - so I don't stay there to long,and I always try to slow it back down to perfection before I stop


Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 5 2011, 10:07 AM

QUOTE (jstcrsn @ Dec 5 2011, 12:51 AM) *
st
well Ben,I can't play that fast,but at my fastest(when I am Playing well), when I am getting close to the speed I am aiming for.I quickly ramp up the speed by 10's until I am about 30bpm faster than what I want,it usually is sloppy ,but once it gets a little prettier ,I start slowing it down by 2bpm and spend a few minutes there .Each time I lower it , it gets a little cleaner and sometimes(not every time)by the time I get to my desired speed,it is slower than I have been playing and I think I can hear the notes better after I have heard them that fast.
of course ,you don't want to program slop into your brain - so I don't stay there to long,and I always try to slow it back down to perfection before I stop


Yeah, I think the key with using this speed up technique is to know that it's just a quick fix tool - it temporarily makes us feel we can play a bit faster so that the lower speeds seem more manageable. I think it has it's uses mainly with warming up before a show or recording something but in terms of improving technique it doesn't really do anything because all the muscle memory drilling work is still only enhanced with manageable, correct reps smile.gif I guess it's just knowing how to combine the two.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 5 2011, 12:40 PM

Very cool to follow your thinking and strategy.

I have also expereinced that when you start off by focusing on accuracy instead of speed - you quickly see speed results and then you tend to forget how you actually got there! =)

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Dec 2 2011, 12:20 PM) *
Hehe, thanks.. it was a nightmare to edit ! I trawled through lots of practice footage and tried to choose bits where we didn't look too ugly ! laugh.gif


You did a great job - you all look very attractive!! laugh.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 5 2011, 02:29 PM

QUOTE (Kristofer Dahl @ Dec 5 2011, 11:40 AM) *
I have also expereinced that when you start off by focusing on accuracy instead of speed - you quickly see speed results and then you tend to forget how you actually got there! =)


Yes, us guitarists tend to get excited as soon as we appear to get results and then we run off with it too far ! wink.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 5 2011, 07:03 PM

Monday 5th Dec: Today was a good one smile.gif Continuing the approach of leading, thinking, driving with the left hand and I tell you that it makes a massive difference to how relaxed your picking hand is.

I took some inspiration from another thread about students at the Juillard School having a break every 15 mins.. seemed to work pretty well.

Got up to around 140bpm.. although it wasn't perfect all the time, it was a definite improvement.

Posted by: dark dude Dec 5 2011, 08:56 PM

Nice journal! I miss the practice journals we had on here sad.gif

I reckon that both techniques for boosting speed are essential: slowly programming the muscle memory and creeping it up, and doing bursts beyond your capability (the former has to form the majority of the practice, though). Oh, and I can't disagree with Shawn Lane laugh.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 7 2011, 05:49 PM

Tuesday 6th Dec: Pretty much the same story as Monday.. excited about the effect that this approach is having.

Wednesday 7th Dec: Ok, things were really motoring today ! Following on from a great video chat session yesterday eve, where I talked about this idea of leading with the fretting hand and used a simple repeating lick against the metronome, I warmed up today using this approach. Just single string patterns, but I quickly whizzed up to around 170bpm, 16th notes. I plan to do this every day to keep pushing my upper speed limits. It feels weird having a picking hand that is so relaxed yet is furiously keeping up with these speeds. As I said to the guys in the chat yesterday, it almost feels as if you have lost some control over your hand.. but it's just less tension giving you the illusion of less control.

After that, I worked on some simple inside & outside picking movements using two strings. I did this for all strings, low to high. Using this new approach, I managed to achieve results that I've never achieved before. Up around 110-115bpm for inside picking. I was pretty shocked but pretty damn excited as well !! smile.gif

Posted by: jstcrsn Dec 8 2011, 04:44 PM

I was wondering what motivated you to keep the one fret movement from the g string to the b ,hence taking it out of the diminished minor scale
and theoretically having 2 diminished scales(one step apart),unless my theory is incorrect- if it is please fell free to correct me
but either way, sometimes I like it and other times my ear wants to keep it in the same scale
just interested in pickin you nose laugh.gif , uh,I mean your brain for its reason

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 8 2011, 06:03 PM

QUOTE (jstcrsn @ Dec 8 2011, 03:44 PM) *
I was wondering what motivated you to keep the one fret movement from the g string to the b ,hence taking it out of the diminished minor scale
and theoretically having 2 diminished scales(one step apart),unless my theory is incorrect- if it is please fell free to correct me
but either way, sometimes I like it and other times my ear wants to keep it in the same scale
just interested in pickin you nose laugh.gif , uh,I mean your brain for its reason


Hehe, well picking my nose is an interesting way of asking a question wink.gif

Well it actually is in the same dimished scale.. it's just that any intervals played on the B string and high E string are 1 fret higher on the neck. This is because of the B string. You know when you fret the 5th to tune your guitar strings, but when you get to the G you have to fret the 4th ? The strings are all tuned a 4th apart except for the B, which is a Major 3rd above G. Then from the B string, the high E is another 4th above that. So it's the G/B string relationship that throws everything out. So shapes that are symmetrical elsewhere on the neck change by one fret once you get to the G/B string area smile.gif

I hope that all makes sense. I also hope my theory is correct on this.. I'm doing it all without a guitar in my hand laugh.gif

Posted by: jstcrsn Dec 9 2011, 12:37 AM

I see what I did,my theory was correct ,I just read your tab wrong and my ear wanted the 2 fret move( to keep it in the same scale)between the g and the b
but when I read your tab, the 12th and 15 freted on the E string whilst ( how many times do you get to use whilst in sentence) I fretted the 14th and 11th on the b string by accident
but it put sort of a majorish vibe in the middle of that run- give it a shot and let me what you think?

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 9 2011, 11:14 AM

QUOTE (jstcrsn @ Dec 8 2011, 11:37 PM) *
I see what I did,my theory was correct ,I just read your tab wrong and my ear wanted the 2 fret move( to keep it in the same scale)between the g and the b
but when I read your tab, the 12th and 15 freted on the E string whilst ( how many times do you get to use whilst in sentence) I fretted the 14th and 11th on the b string by accident
but it put sort of a majorish vibe in the middle of that run- give it a shot and let me what you think?


It does sound nice doesn't it ? It does have a Major / bluesy 7th vibe cool.gif

Thursday 8th Dec: Ok so I haven't actually been practising the tabbed lick for a couple of days because I've been too excited with my new approach. I've been warming up by playing 16th notes on one string (but doing it on all strings) and leading it with the left hand. My limit before my hand gets inaccurate is around 165-170. If I tried to keep it going further I would tense up which would ruin the whole point of things.

After doing my speed workout I concentrated on the outside/inside picking motions. Outside was great.. I think I pushed it to around 120-125bpm. It's difficult to do this and not be aware of your picking hand. It's tempting to concentrate on your pick strokes but you've got to resist and trust it. I combat this by doing a very deliberate pattern with my left hand, using my index finger on the low E string and middle finger on the A string. For example, I will fret the 7th fret on E with my index finger and the the 9th fret on A with my middle. In the rhythm of 16th notes.

I do the same for inside picking but it didin't go as well this time. I think it's because I already tired my hand and arm out dry.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 11 2011, 09:49 PM

Wow, have I really not updated for 3 days ? huh.gif Ok, let's rattle this brain and see what falls out..

Sunday 11th Dec:

Well, I've actually stopped practising this diminished lick and I'm now using my time to focus on more areas of picking. I've got a couple of really basic patterns that work for both inside picking and outside picking.

E----10---------------------------
B---------13--11--10--11--10--

and:

B----10--------------------------
G---------12--10--9--10--12--

To be played as triplets. That should be right, I'm doing it with no guitar at hand and visualising the correct frets. If you try it and it sounds weird then I probably messed up because I wouldn't play werid licks. Not me. ph34r.gif

So yeah, it's been going real good with this. Start slow as normal and then bump it up by 5bpm each time. Friday and Saturday were good but today I was tired. I had a Karate course today and we did this warm up that involved clenching and unclenching your fists as fast as you can. My forearms and hands were like lead after a minute or two of that so when I got to my guitar this evening my stamina wasn't so hot but I just changed approach a bit and decided to do smaller bursts but push the speed even higher. As a result I was doing busrts of these, 16th note triplets at 105bpm max.. I know it sounds slow but this is really the first time that I'm doing it right smile.gif

So far, so good (so what ?) cool.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 18 2011, 01:27 PM

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated...

I've been spending most 'guitar time' recording, which has left my hands and arms in a 'well used' state afterwards.. I started getting aches and pains the day afterwards so I've either been a ) not playing any guitar at all and resting b ) recording or c ) too busy doing other things to practice..

Hopefully now I'll be able to get back to things. I'm sure we all get these times. rolleyes.gif

Posted by: jstcrsn Dec 18 2011, 02:37 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Dec 11 2011, 09:49 PM) *
Wow, have I really not updated for 3 days ? huh.gif Ok, let's rattle this brain and see what falls out..

Sunday 11th Dec:

Well, I've actually stopped practising this diminished lick and I'm now using my time to focus on more areas of picking. I've got a couple of really basic patterns that work for both inside picking and outside picking.

E----10---------------------------
B---------13--11--10--11--10--

and:

B----10--------------------------
G---------12--10--9--10--12--

To be played as triplets. That should be right, I'm doing it with no guitar at hand and visualising the correct frets. If you try it and it sounds weird then I probably messed up because I wouldn't play werid licks. Not me. ph34r.gif

So yeah, it's been going real good with this. Start slow as normal and then bump it up by 5bpm each time. Friday and Saturday were good but today I was tired. I had a Karate course today and we did this warm up that involved clenching and unclenching your fists as fast as you can. My forearms and hands were like lead after a minute or two of that so when I got to my guitar this evening my stamina wasn't so hot but I just changed approach a bit and decided to do smaller bursts but push the speed even higher. As a result I was doing busrts of these, 16th note triplets at 105bpm max.. I know it sounds slow but this is really the first time that I'm doing it right smile.gif

So far, so good (so what ?) cool.gif


Ben, outside picking is by far my weakest link.It starts with the fact that I learned wrong and got real fast but it was never in perfect sync.
the first riff ( in a minor I believe ) is one of my many practice riffs, but my problem is when I outside pick and cross over to the E string ,I accent that note(throwing my timing off)when I am going slow my picking is fast enough to compensate ( catch up),but when I get to 95 bpm triplets that is were my imperfection shows up ( now I have set my metronome at 135 quarter notes with a different click every four notes so that the accent shows up on a different note each time and within 12 notes the triplet gets repeated ( starts over)
now it is coming up on 5 years of steady practice and I am still here
any clues on how I can jump this hurdle .my daily routine usually starts off with this at 80 bpm quarter notes
dam I am getting frustrated
any hints ( that I may not have heard in the past 4 years here at Gmc)

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 18 2011, 06:11 PM

QUOTE (jstcrsn @ Dec 18 2011, 01:37 PM) *
Ben, outside picking is by far my weakest link.It starts with the fact that I learned wrong and got real fast but it was never in perfect sync.
the first riff ( in a minor I believe ) is one of my many practice riffs, but my problem is when I outside pick and cross over to the E string ,I accent that note(throwing my timing off)when I am going slow my picking is fast enough to compensate ( catch up),but when I get to 95 bpm triplets that is were my imperfection shows up ( now I have set my metronome at 135 quarter notes with a different click every four notes so that the accent shows up on a different note each time and within 12 notes the triplet gets repeated ( starts over)
now it is coming up on 5 years of steady practice and I am still here
any clues on how I can jump this hurdle .my daily routine usually starts off with this at 80 bpm quarter notes
dam I am getting frustrated
any hints ( that I may not have heard in the past 4 years here at Gmc)


One thing I noticed was that after a day of playing these licks I started playing them slightly differently for the outside picking part. Instead of starting on the E string.. I played it like this instead:

E-----------------10------------
B--10--11--13-------13--11--

Start on a downstroke, so you will hit the E string with an upstroke and come back to the B string on a downstroke. Remember to 'count' and focus with your left hand too, not your right.. allow it to be 'led'.

(I also realised I wrote the tab out wrong on the top lick in my other post.. the last note should have been on the 13th fret again)

Basically I'm starting the phrase with 3 notes which gives you more time to get into the groove before crossing strings. So you're playing the same notes but in a different order. I definitely recommend playing licks where you play at least one note (more if possible) before crossing a string to give you the time to get into the groove and 'feel' it.

I also recommend switching exercises around and trying different things every few days. So, instead of doing licks that cover 2 strings, I might do licks that span all 6 strings but play it through once, pause, then repeat. So you're still training the necessary motions but in a different way.. it also gives your brain time away from the other licks. After a few days of that, go back to your other licks.

Today I started introducing the typical Zakk Wylde type pentatonic licks.. the 16th note ones like this:

E-------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------
G---12--10------------12--10------------
D-------------12--10------------12--10--

You know the kind of thing. Start on a downstroke always. Try this with the approach of focusing on your left hand and allowing your picking hand to go 'weak' and relaxed. It's weird. But this is a brilliant exercise for outside picking and different from the triplet style licks. You can move these basic lick around on any strings, the pentatonic box shapes work really nicely for these. It will complement your other licks really well. So try swapping these types of licks around every few days.. or practice them all together smile.gif

You'll also find that you'll require different tempos for different types of licks, even though they may be using the same note values, like triplets or16th notes. Certain licks just require more dexterity or more energy.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Dec 22 2011, 05:41 PM

Excellent advices Ben, I'm following your series closely smile.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 22 2011, 06:33 PM

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Dec 22 2011, 04:41 PM) *
Excellent advices Ben, I'm following your series closely smile.gif


I'm glad you're enjoying it Ivan smile.gif

Thursday 22nd Dec: Today was a kick ass day for guitar ! It started ok, but then I really hit paydirt after about 20 / 30 mins..

You see, I've been focusing on the fretting hand and allowing the picking hand to stay relaxed as possible.. well, when I started doing this I noticed that my picking hand tended to want to have no fingers touching the guitar body.. however, the more and more that I relax.. my hand (well, the side of my hand/little finger) wants to start resting on the guitar/bridge again. Weird huh ? It's like I've come full circle again blink.gif

But I tell you.. the results were so much better today. I was doing the same kind of thing we discussed in the video chat. Take a basic pentatonic shape like this:

E---13--10-----------------10--13--10-----------------10--
B-------------13--10--13-----------------13--10--13-------

I've been using basic Dm pentatonic shapes that cross 2 strings. Typical Zakk Wylde licks - simple but brilliant ! cool.gif

Anyway.. you can play this lick either straight 16th notes or as 16th note triplets. I do both. Set the metronome at around 80bpm and try this: Play the lick twice as 16th notes then insert 1 16th note triplet version.

That's the basic idea. But you can take it as far as you want.. I generally don't start doing 16th note triplets until I've warmed up with basic 16th note licks. The idea is that it sets the groove for your hand and then it should be easier to just blaze out a quick burst inbetween the slower licks. smile.gif

Posted by: JaxN4 Dec 23 2011, 09:21 AM

great info Ben..... Thanks rolleyes.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 23 2011, 10:21 AM

QUOTE (JaxN4 @ Dec 23 2011, 08:21 AM) *
great info Ben..... Thanks rolleyes.gif


Always happy to be of service, Sir smile.gif

Posted by: pikman Dec 23 2011, 05:31 PM

excellent lesson Ben!!! shred!

here is a little jam dude for you to check out and see what you think............

 Beyond_The_Light.mp3 ( 6.96MB ) : 123
 

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 23 2011, 10:00 PM

QUOTE (pikman @ Dec 23 2011, 04:31 PM) *
excellent lesson Ben!!! shred!

here is a little jam dude for you to check out and see what you think............


WOW ! That is incredible.. it's like Racer X meets Megadeth ! I love how you combine different guitar tones for the solos too, just the sort of thing I like cool.gif

You should upload this elsewhere in the forum too.. people need to hear this.. Todd Simpson would love it too ! biggrin.gif

Do you have any videos ?

Posted by: jstcrsn Dec 24 2011, 04:54 PM

all this outside picking stuff is showing me just how bad I suck at it , it's starting to piss me off

anyway, I can't seem to unclench everything from picking hand to my jaw when outside picking , when I switch to inside (180 quarter notes)
but outside -even at 100 quarter notes ( I like to set a click for every note because in the past when changing strings I slow down and throw thing out of sink)and it just seems like to more I try to practice ( your diminished outside picking run the worse it gets

what must I do

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 25 2011, 02:54 PM

QUOTE (jstcrsn @ Dec 24 2011, 03:54 PM) *
all this outside picking stuff is showing me just how bad I suck at it , it's starting to piss me off

anyway, I can't seem to unclench everything from picking hand to my jaw when outside picking , when I switch to inside (180 quarter notes)
but outside -even at 100 quarter notes ( I like to set a click for every note because in the past when changing strings I slow down and throw thing out of sink)and it just seems like to more I try to practice ( your diminished outside picking run the worse it gets

what must I do


I haven't been practising that diminished run as a whole for quite some time now. I think the best thing to do is to break things down into musical little drills that work the motions you need. Try those Penta licks that I put up.. they've been working really well for me lately.

Don't forget to relinquish control of your picking hand.. it sounds as if you're still trying to motor through things with your right hand and are still consciously moving the pick up and down etc..

I know it seems totally alien but pretend that your fretting hand is in control of your picking hand. Whenever and wherever your fretting hand moves, your picking hand is pulled along with it. It takes practice to get into that mindset but it's worth persuing because it will eradicate all that tension you're experiencing.

It makes sense to start doing it very slowly too and get used to the sensation of it.. but you'll be surprised at what your hands can do smile.gif

Posted by: jstcrsn Dec 25 2011, 03:39 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Dec 25 2011, 02:54 PM) *
. but you'll be surprised at what your hands can do smile.gif

that's what my wife keeps tellin me laugh.gif oh,I kill me

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 29 2011, 07:50 PM

Ok, update for Dec 29th 2011: My schedule during the Xmas period has totally gone out of the window with my organisational skills !! rolleyes.gif However, in between catching up with editing audio and video I've managed to sneak in the occasional flirtation with the guitar and it's been good ! biggrin.gif

Well, as you know, I've been messing around with pentatonic shapes lately and I've discovered to my delight that they are an amazing method of training speed and dexterity. I've enjoyed bigger gains than ever before, compared to other alternate picking licks..

Today I picked up the guitar for an informal noodle/practice whilst I was rendering videos in Sony Vegas and I noticed that I was able to play things almost immediately that would normally require me to practice for about 15-20 mins for. The co-ordination has improved. I put a lot of this down to my 'lead with the fretting hand' approach. I've come to the conclusion.. to get faster - think faster.

Anyway, after an hour or so of noodling away, I gravitated towards playing some triplet pentatonic licks. I don't just mean the 2 string repeating licks.. I'm talking about the kind of thing that John McLaughlin does.. using the pentatonic box shapes to ascend or descend in a triplet rhythm. It doesn't necessarily have to cover 6 strings.. I've devised a lick that covers 3 strings, descending and ascending.

You'll have to slide from the 10th fret on the G string to the 7th fret, using your 1st finger. Then play the 10th with your little finger and use 1st finger,4th finger for the B & E string, climbing up again. When you get the the last note on the 10th fret, slide with your little finger to the 13th fret and start the lick again. ( The idea is that you can cycle these licks. ) Even if you would not normally use your little finger, you will find it useful for these types of licks because of the position slides.


E--13--10--------------------------------------------8--10--
B------------13--10------------------------8--10----------
G----------------------12--10---7--10------------------

----(4)-(1)-(4)-(1)-(3)-(1)-(1)-(4)-(1)-(4)-(1)(4)-

The numbers in brackets refer to the finger you should use.

You can practice this either in 16th note triplets or straight 16th notes.. but the end goal is to play it as 16th note triplets. Playing pentatonic box shapes in triplets is very difficult because of the 2 note per string formation, but it sounds amazing and will be worth the effort !


Posted by: pikman Dec 30 2011, 03:55 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Dec 29 2011, 06:50 PM) *
Ok, update for Dec 29th 2011: My schedule during the Xmas period has totally gone out of the window with my organisational skills !! rolleyes.gif However, in between catching up with editing audio and video I've managed to sneak in the occasional flirtation with the guitar and it's been good ! biggrin.gif

Well, as you know, I've been messing around with pentatonic shapes lately and I've discovered to my delight that they are an amazing method of training speed and dexterity. I've enjoyed bigger gains than ever before, compared to other alternate picking licks..

Today I picked up the guitar for an informal noodle/practice whilst I was rendering videos in Sony Vegas and I noticed that I was able to play things almost immediately that would normally require me to practice for about 15-20 mins for. The co-ordination has improved. I put a lot of this down to my 'lead with the fretting hand' approach. I've come to the conclusion.. to get faster - think faster.

Anyway, after an hour or so of noodling away, I gravitated towards playing some triplet pentatonic licks. I don't just mean the 2 string repeating licks.. I'm talking about the kind of thing that John McLaughlin does.. using the pentatonic box shapes to ascend or descend in a triplet rhythm. It doesn't necessarily have to cover 6 strings.. I've devised a lick that covers 3 strings, descending and ascending.

You'll have to slide from the 10th fret on the G string to the 7th fret, using your 1st finger. Then play the 10th with your little finger and use 1st finger,4th finger for the B & E string, climbing up again. When you get the the last note on the 10th fret, slide with your little finger to the 13th fret and start the lick again. ( The idea is that you can cycle these licks. ) Even if you would not normally use your little finger, you will find it useful for these types of licks because of the position slides.


E--13--10--------------------------------------------8--10--
B------------13--10------------------------8--10----------
G----------------------12--10---7--10------------------

----(4)-(1)-(4)-(1)-(3)-(1)-(1)-(4)-(1)-(4)-(1)(4)-

The numbers in brackets refer to the finger you should use.

You can practice this either in 16th note triplets or straight 16th notes.. but the end goal is to play it as 16th note triplets. Playing pentatonic box shapes in triplets is very difficult because of the 2 note per string formation, but it sounds amazing and will be worth the effort !

great lick dude! i will keep jamming these until it hurts and you are right about pentatonics...they are difficult to get going fast like Zakk Wylde......thank you for this....shred......

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 30 2011, 04:04 PM

QUOTE (pikman @ Dec 30 2011, 02:55 PM) *
great lick dude! i will keep jamming these until it hurts and you are right about pentatonics...they are difficult to get going fast like Zakk Wylde......thank you for this....shred......


No worries man, I love these licks too..!! biggrin.gif

Posted by: jstcrsn Dec 31 2011, 04:54 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Dec 22 2011, 06:33 PM) *
I'm glad you're enjoying it Ivan smile.gif

Thursday 22nd Dec: Today was a kick ass day for guitar ! It started ok, but then I really hit paydirt after about 20 / 30 mins..

You see, I've been focusing on the fretting hand and allowing the picking hand to stay relaxed as possible.. well, when I started doing this I noticed that my picking hand tended to want to have no fingers touching the guitar body.. however, the more and more that I relax.. my hand (well, the side of my hand/little finger) wants to start resting on the guitar/bridge again. Weird huh ? It's like I've come full circle again blink.gif

But I tell you.. the results were so much better today. I was doing the same kind of thing we discussed in the video chat. Take a basic pentatonic shape like this:

E---13--10-----------------10--13--10-----------------10--
B-------------13--10--13-----------------13--10--13-------

I've been using basic Dm pentatonic shapes that cross 2 strings. Typical Zakk Wylde licks - simple but brilliant ! cool.gif

Anyway.. you can play this lick either straight 16th notes or as 16th note triplets. I do both. Set the metronome at around 80bpm and try this: Play the lick twice as 16th notes then insert 1 16th note triplet version.

That's the basic idea. But you can take it as far as you want.. I generally don't start doing 16th note triplets until I've warmed up with basic 16th note licks. The idea is that it sets the groove for your hand and then it should be easier to just blaze out a quick burst inbetween the slower licks. smile.gif

well,this morning I was doin this lick at 100 triplets.I was only able to manage doing the lick twice,rest a beat and repeat,but I was able
keep this up for awhile.
Man these licks are my weak-points , they seem to be gettin faster, Thanks for taking he time to post this stuff



Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 31 2011, 05:42 PM

QUOTE (jstcrsn @ Dec 31 2011, 03:54 PM) *
well,this morning I was doin this lick at 100 triplets.I was only able to manage doing the lick twice,rest a beat and repeat,but I was able
keep this up for awhile.
Man these licks are my weak-points , they seem to be gettin faster, Thanks for taking he time to post this stuff


Hey that's good going !! I didn't play guitar yesterday so I can't wait to pick it up today and have a blast at it again biggrin.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jan 8 2012, 06:10 PM

Sunday 8th Jan 2012: Hey Geezers ! Guitar time has been sporadic lately but for the last 2 days it's been very cool cool.gif. I was inspired by something I read about called sprints. I know very little about this but I imagine Dark Dude and some others could shed some more info on the subject. In the book, Waking Dragons, the author, who is a karate practicioner, is training very hard for something called a 30 Man Kumite. Kumite is basically a one on one fight. A 30 man Kumite is where you have to fight 30 man one after the other. In this case, a short break was allowed after the first 10 and then 20. In this particular style of Karate, Goju Ryu, the kumite rules are: full contact punches to the body are allowed but not the head whilst full contact kicks are allowed to the body, legs and head. Serious knockouts do happen.

Anyway, I digress... he had to train for something which would require him to operate at a high stress level for about 30 mins. Part of his routine included sprints.. sprinting at full speed for about 400 metres. Resting, then doing it again for about 5 sets. Our bodies can only operate at maximum output for a very short time. Sprints was his way of slightly increasing that so he could perform at high pressure, with very little oxygen making it through his bloodstream and adrenaline on high alert.

This made me think about something I sometimes do, with the speed bursts on guitar. However, I approached it with more enthusiasm and faith than before. You all know about my picking approach by now so I concentrated on my fretting hand leading the way and maintaining total relaxation all over.. I nudged the metronome up to 150bpm, playing 16th note triplets on one string. I did short bursts that were only just manageable. After a while of that, did I go back down in speed ? Hell no, I went up to 160 bpm and did the same. I had to concentrate insanely hard on my left hand . The faster and harder things became, the more I relaxed.

Today I did the same thing.. when things got hard I just put the speed up even higher.. to 170bpm. Totally ludicrous speeds that seem totally unattainable (when you consider MAB's top speed was recorded at 165bpm for 16th note triplets). However, if you concentrate hard on being in the moment and being in time.. you can manage it for 1 or 2 bursts of a 3 note lick.

If it only does one thing, it gives you the experience of being in the super high altitudes, where the super shredders dwell... and if we know one thing, then we know that repeated exposure to new levels eventually desensitizes us to them and they become our new comfort zone. Not only that, but we stop fearing these 'untouchable numbers' because we keep exposing ourselves to them. So, if the idea of Muris's Extreme Neo Classic scares the hell outta you at 150bpm, then notch the metronome up to 160bpm until 150bpm doesn't seem so bad anymore ! If 160bpm feels too hard.. good. Go to 170bpm until no number on the metronome makes you feel like you're not allowed to attempt it !

Remember, it's about gradually exposing yourselves to the situations that previously intimidated you until they feel normal. If you want to be fast, think faster.

Posted by: dark dude Jan 8 2012, 06:54 PM

A valid method, for sure.

Shawn Lane spoke about how this way of thinking helped him gain speed (http://youtu.be/DhkbSBxPYcU), and Steve Vai has spoken about the "become what you want to be" mindset (http://youtu.be/atGBKuCJ-Jc) - it isn't something to be ignored!

As Ben said, playing above your level for short amount of time is beneficial. Even if you can only play it a handful of times at that silly speed, you've still accomplished that level. Remembering quality over quantity here, the method shouldn't be applied day in, day out for long periods of time, as some of the sloppy playing you'll definately encounter may work its way into your technique.

In time, if you can persuade yourself that you can play it faster, you will.You'll overcome those mental blocks, your hands will be more relaxed, and you'll find that things will flow a whole lot better.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jan 8 2012, 08:11 PM

QUOTE (dark dude @ Jan 8 2012, 05:54 PM) *
A valid method, for sure.

Shawn Lane spoke about how this way of thinking helped him gain speed (http://youtu.be/DhkbSBxPYcU), and Steve Vai has spoken about the "become what you want to be" mindset (http://youtu.be/atGBKuCJ-Jc) - it isn't something to be ignored!

As Ben said, playing above your level for short amount of time is beneficial. Even if you can only play it a handful of times at that silly speed, you've still accomplished that level. Remembering quality over quantity here, the method shouldn't be applied day in, day out for long periods of time, as some of the sloppy playing you'll definately encounter may work its way into your technique.

In time, if you can persuade yourself that you can play it faster, you will.You'll overcome those mental blocks, your hands will be more relaxed, and you'll find that things will flow a whole lot better.


I finally got around to watching that Shawn Lane vid again.. I'd seen it a long time ago but it was really good to catch up with it again. It definitely goes to show that different approaches work for different people. I guess it all comes down to putting yourself to work and listening to yourself all the time.. go with what works (if it feels good, not forced) and trust it smile.gif His picking was seriously phenomenal though, wasn't it ?


Posted by: JaxN4 Jan 9 2012, 01:31 AM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Jan 8 2012, 07:11 PM) *
I finally got around to watching that Shawn Lane vid again.. I'd seen it a long time ago but it was really good to catch up with it again. It definitely goes to show that different approaches work for different people. I guess it all comes down to putting yourself to work and listening to yourself all the time.. go with what works (if it feels good, not forced) and trust it smile.gif His picking was seriously phenomenal though, wasn't it ?



Such a great point, and good links to the YT vids. I totally agree, the method 1 person has used may not work for the next, I guess its about finding the right way for you. Try everything and see what works best for you.....

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jan 9 2012, 10:03 AM

QUOTE (JaxN4 @ Jan 9 2012, 12:31 AM) *
Such a great point, and good links to the YT vids. I totally agree, the method 1 person has used may not work for the next, I guess its about finding the right way for you. Try everything and see what works best for you.....


Go on and crank that metro' to 300 bpm today Jordan !! \m/ cool.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jan 14 2012, 08:44 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Jan 9 2012, 10:03 AM) *
Go on and crank that metro' to 300 bpm today Jordan !! \m/ cool.gif


Now I noticed why I don't play as fast.. My metronome only goes to 240bpm tongue.gif biggrin.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jan 20 2012, 03:24 PM

Friday 20th Jan 2012 Even though the days are cold and my hands are almost numb I'm still managing to get in some practice. I've been getting in about an hour every day for the last week.

I've widened my focus to include alternate picking, down strokes and sweeps.

Although the licks I practice seem to change a lot (just in the time you've been reading this journal) my approach remains the same: to constantly reach and marinate in the edge of the comfort zone whilst retaining a good, relaxed technique.

Before I was spending a lot of time practising ultra fast bursts which was beneficial for explosive, short tiny licks but in terms of increasing my general top picking speed, I needed to go back down to speeds where I could maintain the picking motion for more than 6,7 or 8 picks of the string.

Currently, I'm using an ascending and descending pattern on the high E string, which is played in straight 16th notes. My goal is to follow the same advice I give everybody else - to give yourself small, achievable goals in order to ensure progress and stay motivated. If I can make an increase of 5bpm a week then that's brilliant but 2 or 3bpm is great. I don't want to jinx things by writing them openly but so far, so good. smile.gif

Posted by: pikman Jan 24 2012, 12:35 PM

Hi Ben,what is on tap for todays lesson bro?

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 3 2012, 12:37 PM

Friday 03 Feb 2012 : Working on a level 8 GMC lesson by a former instructor. It's a great piece of music and a real challenge. However, I've got to work hard on my nemesis, which is sweep picking. More specifically, 3 string sweeps. Give me 5 or 6 string sweeps any day but 3 string sweeps are just evil. mad.gif I think it's the changing of direction in such short spaces of time that make it so damn hard.

Oh well, back to the grind stone ! biggrin.gif

Posted by: pikman Feb 7 2012, 03:14 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Feb 3 2012, 11:37 AM) *
Friday 03 Feb 2012 : Working on a level 8 GMC lesson by a former instructor. It's a great piece of music and a real challenge. However, I've got to work hard on my nemesis, which is sweep picking. More specifically, 3 string sweeps. Give me 5 or 6 string sweeps any day but 3 string sweeps are just evil. mad.gif I think it's the changing of direction in such short spaces of time that make it so damn hard.

Oh well, back to the grind stone ! biggrin.gif

You are not kidding on 3 string sweeps bro....i also have that problem.....it is the the direction of the pick....some guys slice the stings while others pick head on.....i watched Jeff Loomis sweep pick and it is insane!

Also Ben forgot to ask what is on for today Feb.7.......

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 7 2012, 04:54 PM

QUOTE (pikman @ Feb 7 2012, 02:14 PM) *
You are not kidding on 3 string sweeps bro....i also have that problem.....it is the the direction of the pick....some guys slice the stings while others pick head on.....i watched Jeff Loomis sweep pick and it is insane!

Also Ben forgot to ask what is on for today Feb.7.......


For the video chat ? Have you seen my latest Racer X Collab ?

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=42887&pid=568159&st=0&#entry568159

I'm going to be talking about this, trying some ideas etc cool.gif

Posted by: pikman Feb 7 2012, 05:17 PM

yeah dude that is killer! i have no video just audio at the moment.is that ok? just to send in audio?

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 7 2012, 06:24 PM

QUOTE (pikman @ Feb 7 2012, 04:17 PM) *
yeah dude that is killer! i have no video just audio at the moment.is that ok? just to send in audio?


Yeah, I'll need to put something in the video though during your take so maybe a still pic of you playing ?

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 22 2012, 11:33 AM

Tuesday 22nd Feb- I've been busy with juggling several different things that needed practice. A couple of them were GMC lessons that have now been recorded !

I've gone back to practising not only the first diminished lick I posted in this thread but also the rest of that solo of mine. It's a very physical and exhausting piece for sure !

Aside from that, I've been playing around with some Vinnie Moore style ascending and descending patterns on the high E string.

Check it out at 4:15.. it's similar to this kind of thing except I go up 3 sequences, step back one and then ascend 2 again, step back 1 etc..



It's good for building speed and really tests your synchronisation to the limit. I like it because you can focus most of your concentration on the left hand and allow the right hand to be more relaxed whilst still pushing its boundaries of speed.

I previously had a tempo barrier that I couldn't seem to pass. I took a deviation from my normal approach of not focusing on the picking hand and I focused all my attention on it instead. I realised that I wasn't really trying to keep the tip of the pick as close the string as possible. I was just moving my hand faster as the tempo got faster. Instead I just concentrated on keeping the pick in as close to the string as possible and fighting the urge to let the hand movements get bigger.

This stuff seems so obvious but sometimes you're so close to the picture you can't see it. It's a bit like using a big road drill. When it's in use it shakes and vibrates and you have to try hard to keep it as still as you can.

As you pick faster, the pick wants to travel further away from the string as you put more effort in and you have to put the effort in to stop it from moving too far.

Anyway, I managed to break my barrier so I can go back to my previous approach of left hand leading !! smile.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 24 2012, 02:56 PM

Friday 23rd Feb - Nice little session today. With my 'drive with the fretting hand' approach I've always been puzzled how to make it work with the bottom E string. With the other strings it's easy enough to string together some 3 note per string shapes that you can repeat. However on the low E, repeating 3 note per string patterns just felt awkward and sapped my energy quicker than I could blink. Training speed by just blasting on one note doesn't allow you to shift focus away from your picking hand because your left hand isn't doing anything which is why you need a moving pattern to focus on.

Ah ! The light bulb went on in my head.. the 1,2,3,4 chromatic patterns that everybody learns way back when starting alternate picking. I must admit that I've never enjoyed those types of exercises but until now, I've never seen the benefit of them.

Due to using 4 fingers in a flowing motion, you use less energy than if you were using 3 fingers because the work gets divided between all 4. So, now I've got my pattern that I can move up and down on the E string and I can focus all my attention on the fretting hand, thus keeping the picking hand relaxed. Bingo !

I'm ascending from the 1st fret to the 12tth fret using index, middle, ring and picky and then descending using pinky, ring, middle and index. I'm doing 8 reps at each position and then moving up or down a semitone. The ascending part is pretty damn tricky, more than I thought it would be so I'm hovering around 155, 160, 165 bpm 16th notes. Not bad for the first day at trying it but I'm hoping it's going to crack the problem of applying my approach to the bottom E string.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 29 2012, 12:28 PM

Weds 29th Feb : One thing I noticed whilst playing through the chromatic pattern was that as I increased the tempo and the speed became more demanding, my pick was slipping so that I was holding the pick closer to the tip. At first, this felt uncomfortable so I kept changing it back. After a while I though thought that maybe it's telling me 'This is where I want to be' so I just went with it.

It was awkward at first because I'm not used to having my thumb/finger etc so close the the strings but it didn't take long to get used to it. Holding the pick closer to the tip means that it forces your wrist to move more, engaging the correct muscles.

Some of you will be thinking 'Errr..... yeah, Ben that's all really obvious stuff' and I know people are always saying about holding the pick closer to the tip but sometimes you just need to be whacked on the head by something at the right time ! If you're not in the right, receptive place to receive the information then it may be wasted. Things happen at certain times for a reason and all that..... wink.gif

Posted by: pikman Feb 29 2012, 12:56 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Feb 29 2012, 11:28 AM) *
Weds 29th Feb : One thing I noticed whilst playing through the chromatic pattern was that as I increased the tempo and the speed became more demanding, my pick was slipping so that I was holding the pick closer to the tip. At first, this felt uncomfortable so I kept changing it back. After a while I though thought that maybe it's telling me 'This is where I want to be' so I just went with it.

It was awkward at first because I'm not used to having my thumb/finger etc so close the the strings but it didn't take long to get used to it. Holding the pick closer to the tip means that it forces your wrist to move more, engaging the correct muscles.

Some of you will be thinking 'Errr..... yeah, Ben that's all really obvious stuff' and I know people are always saying about holding the pick closer to the tip but sometimes you just need to be whacked on the head by something at the right time ! If you're not in the right, receptive place to receive the information then it may be wasted. Things happen at certain times for a reason and all that..... wink.gif

that is so true dude.i have trouble holding the pick close to the tip but when you do you definitely get more control.i have seen guys rip without holding it close so both approaches are great but that chromatic exercise is taken for granted but when you dig in and discipline yourself it will reward you and the vinnie moore video is great.... the whole thing is on you tube somewhere.if you want the link let me know Ben.............i have missed your lessons a lot lately.just nursing my finger back to health,it spilt right at the tip of my index finger so i had to take a break...but anyway man thank you for the inspiration..........

Posted by: dark dude Feb 29 2012, 03:05 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Feb 29 2012, 11:28 AM) *
Some of you will be thinking 'Errr..... yeah, Ben that's all really obvious stuff' and I know people are always saying about holding the pick closer to the tip but sometimes you just need to be whacked on the head by something at the right time ! If you're not in the right, receptive place to receive the information then it may be wasted. Things happen at certain times for a reason and all that..... wink.gif

Aye, so many vital tips like this go unnoticed all too frequently. It's little things like this that bump your playing to another level!

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 2 2012, 01:52 PM

Friday 2nd March : I've added a new challenge to my practice routine... I'm going to learn Gabriel's Yngwie lesson http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/yngwie-malmsteen-lesson2/

There's lots of nice string crossing licks. I've been playing patterns lick this for years and years but I've never really tightened up my string crossing technique so this will be putting it to the test for sure ! smile.gif

Posted by: JaxN4 Mar 2 2012, 02:13 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Mar 2 2012, 10:22 PM) *
Friday 2nd March : I've added a new challenge to my practice routine... I'm going to learn Gabriel's Yngwie lesson http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/yngwie-malmsteen-lesson2/

There's lots of nice string crossing licks. I've been playing patterns lick this for years and years but I've never really tightened up my string crossing technique so this will be putting it to the test for sure ! smile.gif



Good on you mate... It's a great challenge that Im sure your ready for....

It will be a good journey to read about it in this thread.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 2 2012, 02:35 PM

QUOTE (JaxN4 @ Mar 2 2012, 01:13 PM) *
Good on you mate... It's a great challenge that Im sure your ready for....

It will be a good journey to read about it in this thread.


Cheers ! It'll be fun playing it. I've already learnt the lines etc.. I just need to get it up to speed smile.gif

To help me with the string crossing I isolated the inside and outside picking motions and practiced those. With my new pick holding technique it definitely works the wrist and forearm more. Not only that but I've noticed that I can play for even longer.. after a while of feeling the burn you can take short breaks and then go again but instead of getting harder each time I notice less strain.

There is a limit, of course.. I got to a point where I thought 'That's enough.. don't overdo it' but it felt like the more I pushed it and got it burning, the more warmed up and able to cope it was. Dunno if anybody else notices that ?

Posted by: JaxN4 Mar 2 2012, 02:41 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Mar 2 2012, 11:05 PM) *
Cheers ! It'll be fun playing it. I've already learnt the lines etc.. I just need to get it up to speed smile.gif

To help me with the string crossing I isolated the inside and outside picking motions and practiced those. With my new pick holding technique it definitely works the wrist and forearm more. Not only that but I've noticed that I can play for even longer.. after a while of feeling the burn you can take short breaks and then go again but instead of getting harder each time I notice less strain.

There is a limit, of course.. I got to a point where I thought 'That's enough.. don't overdo it' but it felt like the more I pushed it and got it burning, the more warmed up and able to cope it was. Dunno if anybody else notices that ?



I have noticed that also.... Gabe gave me a bunch of legato licks to smash out, 30 mins min each day, and I started to stop when i feel the burn, but after a few days of doing it now, if i push the burn a lil longer, i notice it does pay off in strength and stamina... it's a fine line of course....

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 2 2012, 02:45 PM

QUOTE (JaxN4 @ Mar 2 2012, 01:41 PM) *
I have noticed that also.... Gabe gave me a bunch of legato licks to smash out, 30 mins min each day, and I started to stop when i feel the burn, but after a few days of doing it now, if i push the burn a lil longer, i notice it does pay off in strength and stamina... it's a fine line of course....


Indeed.. you just gotta watch out for any sharp pains smile.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 5 2012, 07:34 PM

Monday 5th March : Really good session today.. and when I thought I was finished I eneded up doing another 30 mins or so.. ! laugh.gif

Am getting used to holding the pick differently and it feels really normal now. Focusing on some inside/outside picking licks over the last 2 days really nudged the speed up in my wrist.

Pretty much every practice day has been different but includes some of the same licks.. I've been warming up with my Picking Arpeggios lesson (which I always play on my own with no backing or metronome), then doing some sweeping.

After that it's alternate picking but I've been varying the licks so I might do 2 days in a row of the same licks and then do another set for the next 2 days. I do the chromatic exercise on the bottom E for top speed every other day.

I've been practising Gabriel's Yngwie lesson and today was much better. All the other picking work I've been doing has been an advantage to playing the runs in this lesson. Really looking forward to filming it ! cool.gif

I've been using a different tone for practice lately. It's a milder, crunch tone which you get on the JVM on the Orange setting of the OD1 channel. The reason I started doing it was to hear things better when practising the chromatic lick instead of a distorted mess.. and it's kind of stuck !! wink.gif

P.S. I'm always doing all this with my 'left hand leading' approach. Really helps keep the picking hand relaxed and makes the inside/outside picking licks much more manageable and effective. If I focused on my picking too much I'd screw up, especially doing inside picking !

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 12 2012, 11:23 AM

Monday 12th March 2012 : I had a day off of guitar yesterday, except for doing some filming. I decided to have a shot at Gabriel's Yngwie Malmsteen 2 lesson, which hopefully you'll get to hear soon ! (I wonder how Gab is getting on with my Michael Schenker lesson ?) wink.gif

I was quite pleased with it except I found that I picked a bit harder than I wanted to.. although I'd been practising it on and off, I didn't wait until I hit the required 180 with the metronome so I had to go with what it was..

Sometimes, when you're just going for it, you can play stuff that may be beyond your level because of the extra energy and the focused mindset you're in. That's what I chose to harness for the performance of that piece and hopefully you'll enjoy it (and Gab too !) smile.gif

I think I'm going to focus my practise on some licks that address technique that is found in he current GMC lesson that I'm learning (and have been learning for ages now.. maybe one day I'll get to record it !!) laugh.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 16 2012, 05:03 PM

Friday 16th March 2012 : Today I just picked the guitar without intending to practice.. but of course, I got hooked !

Didn't use the metronome today.. so instead of focusing on specific exercises I just isolated some small fragments that have been giving me trouble and concentrated on speeding them up with a really relaxed picking motion and hardly any movement.

After a while of doing that I felt much more relaxed and that my picking was overall much better. One thing I didn't expect though, was that 3 string sweep arpeggios would be even easier. I don't know how I managed to improve those as I haven't practised them for weeks but somehow, they were better. Hopefully this means the level 8 lesson I've been working on sporadically for weeks is closer to being recorded..... ph34r.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 20 2012, 03:03 PM

March 20th 2012 : Decided to spend today working on 3 GMC lessons, which makes a change for me. I've approached my practice lately with a very free attitude, letting myself do what comes naturally. I think it's the best way of really becoming comfortable with your technique. At some point you just gotta dig in and cut loose, without casting a thought to the finer points of technique.. playing along with backing tracks makes it easier to do that.

I've always found that having a real drum beat and real instruments to play along with helps me stay in the groove more. Metronomes are great but you're always acutely aware of the fact you're working on your technique and it's hard to shake that notion off and truly relax.

One of the lessons I decided to play was one that I introduced as a Bushido Task a while back.. Mate Nagy's 'Zakk Wylde Killer Pentatonics' lesson. That's really fun as a 'warm up' wink.gif My left arm was the one that find it harder, with all that position shifting...

The other 2 I'm keeping secret for now ph34r.gif

P.S. Oops, totally forgot ! The first thing I did was finish recording a solo. The last one of 3 solos that I've recorded for a vocalist who has a Dream Theatre/Symphony X type musical project. Very challenging and definitely interesting !

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 25 2012, 01:40 PM

Sunday March 25th 2012 : I've made quite a cool little discovery. It really proves that the best way to seek answers to your questions is through your own practice...

Over the years I noticed that my wrist has a tendency to want to 'roll' over the strings when changing direciton.. this occurs when picking and when sweeping. For a long time I thought this was an undesirable trait and that I should have a more planted, straight hand position all the time. When I watched other players do sweeping and play AP licks that cross the strings with inside picking and things like that, they appear to keep their hand on a constant plane and a lot of players seem to use their thumb and finger to push and pull the pick back and forth to perform sweeping, rather than rolling their hand across.

However, I realised that I should utilise this feature, seeing how my hands are telling me they want to do that. Plus, I'm a very rhythmical kind of guy who feels like I can get a better grasp of a technique if it has a physical, rhythmic feature to it. So I decided to embrace the 'rolling' effect and it's made a prety big difference already.

The principle is that the picking hand slightly moves into the direction of the next stroke that's required. Luckily, Jose Mena has exactly the same approach and has already made a lesson about it so watch the spoken video to understand what I'm talking about..

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Alternate-Picking-MyApproach/

So, if you're having troubles with changing direction when picking or sweeping, it could be that you're a 'roller' and you'll find it easier to use that method instead of doing the push/pull method with your thumb and index finger... give it a shot ! smile.gif

P.S. What Jose says about it making you slower, didn't happen with me.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Apr 9 2012, 10:29 AM

Monday 9/4/2012 : Lately I've been concentrating on reducing (or eradicating) excess forearm movement when I pick. Man, it's hell of a workout. It's just one of those things that sort of happened without me really noticing. At lower speeds my technique is how I would like it but at some point it switches to wrist and arm power ! laugh.gif

So, I used a mirror and noticed when I was using excess motion.. I started concentrating on stopping it. It works but I have to stay on top of it to make sure I don't allow Mr Arm to start getting involved !

Just goes to show, that no matter how many years you play for, you always keep learning and relearning, improving things... wink.gif

Posted by: SirJamsalot Apr 9 2012, 09:23 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Mar 25 2012, 05:40 AM) *
Sunday March 25th 2012 : I've made quite a cool little discovery. It really proves that the best way to seek answers to your questions is through your own practice...

Over the years I noticed that my wrist has a tendency to want to 'roll' over the strings when changing direciton.. this occurs when picking and when sweeping. For a long time I thought this was an undesirable trait and that I should have a more planted, straight hand position all the time. When I watched other players do sweeping and play AP licks that cross the strings with inside picking and things like that, they appear to keep their hand on a constant plane and a lot of players seem to use their thumb and finger to push and pull the pick back and forth to perform sweeping, rather than rolling their hand across.

However, I realised that I should utilise this feature, seeing how my hands are telling me they want to do that. Plus, I'm a very rhythmical kind of guy who feels like I can get a better grasp of a technique if it has a physical, rhythmic feature to it. So I decided to embrace the 'rolling' effect and it's made a prety big difference already.

The principle is that the picking hand slightly moves into the direction of the next stroke that's required. Luckily, Jose Mena has exactly the same approach and has already made a lesson about it so watch the spoken video to understand what I'm talking about..

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Alternate-Picking-MyApproach/

So, if you're having troubles with changing direction when picking or sweeping, it could be that you're a 'roller' and you'll find it easier to use that method instead of doing the push/pull method with your thumb and index finger... give it a shot ! smile.gif

P.S. What Jose says about it making you slower, didn't happen with me.


Something I've been struggling with myself, but more so on the turn around from an ascending pentatonic to descending run in the following snippet - ( think I typed this correctly...)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->>> Turn Around <<-------------------
E: ---------------------------------------------- (d) 9-------------- (d) 9------ (u) 12 -----||----(d)9
B: (d)9 ----- (u) 12 ---- (d) 9 ---- (u) 12 ---------- (u)12 -----------------------------||----------(u)12 ---------- (d)9


Going from a down stroke on the High E to an upstroke on the B, you have to really concentrate on getting over the High E, and back in picking position for the B string, then all the other strings on your way back to Low E. At high speeds, it's nothing less than IRRITATINGLY HARD! LOL. I've found that as Jose observes, you really have to pay attention to the upstroke (in this turn around) while ignoring the rest of the strokes to even have a chance at hitting that string correctly. I've been working on just this for the past several months in my daily exercises, and honestly, the improvement has been negligible for me. What is really odd, is that ascending (moving from low E to high E is a breeze - I'm able to pay close attention to the down stroke hitting its target, and can get really good speeds - 170 bpm, but the turn around is MESSY! I'm fortunate if I can make the descending AP sound decent at 100 BPM!

This topic by far is the toughest obstacle I have encountered in the years I've been practicing!

Chris!

Posted by: Ben Higgins Apr 10 2012, 08:53 AM

QUOTE (SirJamsalot @ Apr 9 2012, 09:23 PM) *
Something I've been struggling with myself, but more so on the turn around from an ascending pentatonic to descending run in the following snippet - ( think I typed this correctly...)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->>> Turn Around <<-------------------
E: ---------------------------------------------- (d) 9-------------- (d) 9------ (u) 12 -----||----(d)9
B: (d)9 ----- (u) 12 ---- (d) 9 ---- (u) 12 ---------- (u)12 -----------------------------||----------(u)12 ---------- (d)9


Going from a down stroke on the High E to an upstroke on the B, you have to really concentrate on getting over the High E, and back in picking position for the B string, then all the other strings on your way back to Low E. At high speeds, it's nothing less than IRRITATINGLY HARD! LOL. I've found that as Jose observes, you really have to pay attention to the upstroke (in this turn around) while ignoring the rest of the strokes to even have a chance at hitting that string correctly. I've been working on just this for the past several months in my daily exercises, and honestly, the improvement has been negligible for me. What is really odd, is that ascending (moving from low E to high E is a breeze - I'm able to pay close attention to the down stroke hitting its target, and can get really good speeds - 170 bpm, but the turn around is MESSY! I'm fortunate if I can make the descending AP sound decent at 100 BPM!

This topic by far is the toughest obstacle I have encountered in the years I've been practicing!

Chris!


Urgh ! Inside Picking strikes again !! ohmy.gif

Do you ever allow your thumb and finger to move when changing strings ? I would recommend doing so because it allows you to feel your way with a lot more accuracy than trying to change strings and keeping a rigid thumb. Some people are able to do it but you'll see a huge amount of famous pickers allow their thumb & finger joints to take care of the smaller movements. As we all pretty much agree, you don't use the thumb and finger for straight out alternate picking because it's just not possible but for smaller movements it's like the difference between using a scalpel or a big hammer smile.gif

Posted by: SirJamsalot Apr 10 2012, 03:27 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Apr 10 2012, 12:53 AM) *
Urgh ! Inside Picking strikes again !! ohmy.gif

Do you ever allow your thumb and finger to move when changing strings ? I would recommend doing so because it allows you to feel your way with a lot more accuracy than trying to change strings and keeping a rigid thumb. Some people are able to do it but you'll see a huge amount of famous pickers allow their thumb & finger joints to take care of the smaller movements. As we all pretty much agree, you don't use the thumb and finger for straight out alternate picking because it's just not possible but for smaller movements it's like the difference between using a scalpel or a big hammer smile.gif


There's a point in speed where I stop moving the thumb and finger joints and rely solely on wrist action. So I do when playing slow, but at some point those actions wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed. I just gotta practice more at that threshold and be (***shudder*** patient with myself smile.gif


Posted by: dark dude Apr 10 2012, 05:27 PM

I know what you mean about ascending being easier, Jams, and I think I know why.

I play with a straight wrist/forearm, and if I did a downstroke from my neutral straight wrist position, it would travel further than an upstroke from that same position.

You can test this by putting your hand on the bridge, in the regular neutral position you use for playing, and test the range of motion a maximum downstroke and upstroke have. Your hand must be fixed on the bridge:

* For a max. downstroke, start on the low E and sweep down as far as possible, you should be able to pick all the strings and a bit further.
* For a max. upstroke, start on the high E and sweep up as far as possible, the distance will be smaller - I couldn't pick the low E with a fixed hand.

As the upstroke's range isn't equal to a downstroke, descending inside picking licks are tougher.

One solution, for me at least, would be to change my neutral position, and instead of having a natural, straight wrist/arm alignment, I'd have to angle my wrist downwards a few mm, to take away from downstroke range and add to upstroke range. Would take a lot of work, though.

----

As for the thumb movement, Andy James mentions the technique of 'snap picking' for some 2 string pentatonic stuff that he got from a Shaun Lane DVD (he said Gilbert and Buckethead use this technique, too), where he only uses the motion of his thumb and index finger to pick the strings. He said that you can get some stupidly fast speeds from this, and that Shaun used it in his playing a lot.

In the lick, he takes a 4 note pentatonic pattern over two strings, and using the thumb and index, essentially does economy picking (2 note downstroke sweep, 2 note upstroke sweep, 2 notes per string). Then proceeds to play it really quickly tongue.gif

I know it's not the same thing you were talking about, but figured I'd mention that speed pentatonic idea smile.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins May 21 2012, 11:59 AM

Monday 21st May 2012: It's been a long time since I updated this journal. Mainly because I've had lots of different things that have meant that I haven't kept a consistent routine for a while. However, I managed to fit in an intense short session today, practising an upcoming GMC lesson. I can't wait to show you guys this one. It's pushed me right to the edge and when I've done it I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief !! biggrin.gif


Posted by: Ben Higgins Jun 8 2012, 09:07 AM

Friday 8th June, 2012 : Well, this actually an entry for the last couple of days. I've been practising some pentatonic runs after getting into a pentatonic frame of mind after Tuesday's video chat. I started a thread with some basic penta ideas, designed to help with picking co-ordination but they're also commonly used shapes as well, so they're not just an exercise.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=44716

As usual, I've just been working on it free time with no metronome, just feeling the technique and feeling the groove. Would be very interested in seeing some video takes from the GMCers too ! biggrin.gif


Posted by: Opetholic Jun 8 2012, 09:15 AM

For me the ultimate pentatonic run is the one at the end of Tritone Terror lesson by you smile.gif If I can do that whenever I want, I am happy..

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jun 8 2012, 09:29 AM

QUOTE (Opetholic @ Jun 8 2012, 09:15 AM) *
For me the ultimate pentatonic run is the one at the end of Tritone Terror lesson by you smile.gif If I can do that whenever I want, I am happy..


Well, thank you ! I actually look at that kind of pattern too in the video I posted in the Penta-Shred thread smile.gif

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jan 27 2013, 10:55 AM

Sunday 27th Jan 2013

Man, it's been a long time since I posted in the journal. During that time I'm sure I've been learning and unlearning loads of different things, not to mention giving myself a crash course in learning some GMC lessons from people like Piotr and Emir Hot as a challenge thrown to me by some of the guys. That'll teach me for making them the Donut King ! tongue.gif

Lately I've been concentrating mainly re-learning some of my own guitar solos. I'd recently switched to gauge 10 guitar strings for added tuning stability. When I hit a hard E5 chord the bottom E tends to go a bit sharp, I'm sure you guys have experienced the same thing so I thought the extra weighty gauge would compensate. It did a bit but I'm still heavy handed when it comes to those low E chords wink.gif

That means I've had to get to grips with playing with 10's again. It was a shock to my fingers, let me tell you. At first I thought, 'I can't do this - I can't bend the strings right' but after about 4 days the pain started to subside and I could hold a bend without feeling like the string was trying to cut my fingertip like a block of Edam.

Now it feels totally normal and I'm bending those babies like they're elastic bands again. So far, so good.

I also notice a slight reduction in gain saturation with heavier strings. I've always said this and some may disagree with me (but they're wrong) but you do sacrifice a bit of sustain when going heavier. So if you like your slippery legato just bear this in mind. You have to put in a bit more work to get things sounding as smooth as notes have a tendency to die out mid-lick so your fingers will have to work harder but it's like anything: you get used to it the more you do it.

As y'all know I'm big on vibrato but I've also made an effort to reign it in when I don't think it needs it. Part of developing and using any technique is deciding when NOT to use it too. It's like the basic concept of contrast. How can something be big unless something else is small ? Or can something be ugly if there is not first beauty ? And things like that. So an effect is surely made more effective when it is used alongside its contrasting opposite. So sometimes it's fun to let the note just sing and let the amp do its job. It can be counter intuitive to experienced guitarists because we feel that by not using vibrato we're not taking charge but in fact learning when to let a note ring is a discipline in itself.

Powered by Invision Power Board (http://www.invisionboard.com)
© Invision Power Services (http://www.invisionpower.com)