QUOTE (Frobb @ Mar 10 2008, 10:24 AM)
Hey fellow GMCers,
I've got this question I've been wondering about for a couple of weeks or so.
Chromatic excercises are a part of my practicing schedule and I do classics such as "1234", "1324" and "1423". Meaning, if we take "1234" for instance, that I play frets 1234 from low E to high E, and then reversing the pattern and going 4321 from high E to low E, and continues the same thing down the fretboard all the way to fret 12, and then going back to fret 1. You get the picture!
A couple of weeks ago I started doing this at 110 bpm, playing sixteenth notes, and when I do these excercises at this tempo I tend to get a tiring feeling in my right arm when I've done the excercise for a couple of minutes or so.
Is this tiring feeling a sign of my arm being tense while playing this and that I've pushed myself too hard? Or is it simply that I haven't developed the endurance required for doing these kind of things at this speed for a longer period of time?
Thanks in advance.
Hey I had the same problem when I first started with a serious practice schedule....fortunately though it's a quick fix!
The first thing you could try is elevating the leg that you rest your guitar on when sitting down. It feels to me like an unnatural position having both legs on the ground without one elevated. The second thing you could try is slowing down your exercises to a comfortable pace. When your arm stops hurting and you can go for 10 or 15 minutes (alternate and chromatic picking) without it cramping up then you know that you've reached a good pace. The cramping is usually a sign that your arms aren't ready for that speed.
So just make sure you always warm up prior to jumping into the higher speeds and you should be fine.
Hope this helps!!!!
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