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Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 16 2012, 08:23 PM

Task 4 :  Beginner_Bushido_Lick_2.gp5 ( 3.03K ) : 194
Record and upload your version of this lick by next Thursday 23rd February

You knew this was coming guys, didn't you ?

You've done it one way, now it's time to do it the other way !! Having a degree of proficiency in these 3 note per string shapes will allow you to unlock the entire neck.

Everyone will find one way easier than the other way so don't be confused or annoyed if it's more difficult than the previous lick.. if it's easier to do it this way then great

The same thing about speed applies as well.. don't worry about the tempo you record it at. If you're able to make good progress in speed throughout the week then that's great but ultimately, record it at a speed that is comfortable enough for you to keep good synchronisation between your hands.

Every Task so far has been dedicated towards alternate picking and hand synch.. next week will be a different direction ! Enjoy

Posted by: Cem Feb 16 2012, 08:29 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if that was Killer Pentatonics of Wylde lesson

Posted by: Olivier777 Feb 19 2012, 01:52 PM

Hi all,

I've made some cool backtracks for this week lesson, check them out

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 19 2012, 04:11 PM

Cool ! Makes it a little more interesting !!

Posted by: Olivier777 Feb 19 2012, 05:04 PM

Hello again,

Here is my take for this cool alternate picking exercice. I started at 90bpm and ended up being able to play it at 120.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 19 2012, 05:16 PM

Thank you for your take Olivier.. I love your video.. you even got a shot of the Temple !!!

This is good but I would say you should slow down a bit more as the synch isn't quite there at 130bpm

Posted by: Olivier777 Feb 19 2012, 05:21 PM

Ha yes that's what I thought after rewatching it a few times... I guess I'll work on it a bit more then !

Posted by: mad Feb 19 2012, 09:05 PM

Awesome, thanks a lot mate!

Posted by: Cem Feb 19 2012, 10:37 PM

Nice take man, congratulations

One thing I noticed, you have only one finger touching down to the neck when playing. Try playing with fixing your fingers to frets e.g. when playing 5-7-9, fix your index finger at 5, and when going from 9 to 5, lift your pinky and middle finger simultaneously.

Posted by: Olivier777 Feb 20 2012, 12:08 PM

I'm glad you like it !



Hey Cem thank you for your feedback, regarding my index finger position, it is something I was actually wondering about. Somehow maybe at the time I figured I would have better control over I don't know what by playing it this way.
I will practice this lick the way you are suggesting from now on.

Posted by: mad Feb 20 2012, 09:58 PM

Master, this is what I have so far..
my guitar is tuned down a half step because of another lesson I'm doing atm, hope that's OK (@Olivier: I'm using them for another recording for this task for sure!)
These ones I played to a metronome..

 Lick2_80bpm.mp3 ( 843.66K ) : 140

 Lick2_90bpm.mp3 ( 750.38K ) : 127

 Lick2_100bpm.mp3 ( 703.48K ) : 137


back to practice..

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 21 2012, 10:14 AM

Guten morgen Mad

This is very good. I would perhaps suggest one thing to help you when going up to higher tempos like 100bpm.. instead of playing it all together without stopping, break the phrases up so you have pauses. This will make it easier for you to play quality repetitions at this speed without getting too tangled up.

This is what I do when practising things at higher speeds. If I plough ahead without stopping I'll make a mistake and get tired etc.. so I do a small amount of reps to ensure that I'm practising good quality stuff !

These patterns are things that you can always put in your practise routine from now on.. just 5 mins of these will be good to do. This will set you up for when you start to tackle other picking exercises because you'll find that these shapes will feature in most of them.

Posted by: zoom Feb 23 2012, 01:21 AM

Here I am again with a 150bpm. Found this a bit harder than descending. Good exercise Ben.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 23 2012, 10:54 AM

Excellent work my friend ! You've got really good hand co ordination and timing

I also find this ascending pattern more demanding and more energy consuming. I'm not sure why.. I think the way the fingers flow from index to pinky doesn't seem as smooth as doing it the other way. If you just hold your hand out in mid air and try and roll your fingers in order you can feel the difference there ! Although as ever, more practice makes it better !

Well done guys for all your work in this Task.. Task 5 will be available shortly so keep your eyes open for it

Posted by: Praetorian Feb 24 2012, 03:36 PM

Ben - I'm sorry that it is taking me so long to record a take. I'm a full time working father of three, so life can get a little hectic! I'll get the take recorded and posted tonight if that's ok!

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 24 2012, 03:52 PM

Yeah that's totally fine, I understand completely !!!

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 24 2012, 03:52 PM

Yeah that's totally fine, I understand completely !!!

Posted by: mad Mar 1 2012, 07:02 PM

Sensei, I came back to this Task today - after this week of rhythm.
I did some improvement though, maybe you can take a look if I'm going into the correct direction when going faster..









btw - even it's not perfect, I never thought I can play that 'fast' ...

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 2 2012, 11:00 AM

Oh wow - I'm not just impressed, I'm ultra impressed !

Your timing is impeccable and you look relaxed throughout. Ironically, the hand synch gets even better as you go faster. However, this is probably because the more warmed up you get and the more you play something, you get more 'locked in' after a while so this is just fantastic !

Out of all the 'shapes', the first one is probably the weakest.. the one where you use index, ring and pinky fingers. It's not bad by any means, but compared to the other ones it's not quite as tight as they are

Posted by: MossRoller Mar 19 2012, 05:27 PM

Initially I was having a little trouble with this.
But as you keep saying, work on getting the sync right at slower speeds.
So I spent more time with it slowed way down and trying to relax. To work on getting the muscle memory right.
That helped a lot. Anyways, here is my take at 100 bpm.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 20 2012, 02:30 PM

Nice work, man It can still be improved yet but overall it's getting there. I think it's the timing that probably needs more work but the actual synchronisation itself sounds good.. and that's what we're looking for !

So, which direction did you find tougher ? Descending from pinky to index or the other way ?

Posted by: MossRoller Mar 20 2012, 03:10 PM

It seemed that index to pinky was slightly harder. When increasing speed, I would quickly get to the point
where i would completely lose it (sync). With pinky to index, it seemed I could test myself faster and somewhat keep
the sync together.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 20 2012, 03:48 PM

Yeah I think a lot of people find it that way too.. pinky to index seems to have more of a natural flow, almost like gravity

Posted by: alexpabue Dec 12 2012, 11:12 PM

Hi Ben!

My Bushido #4 task:

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 13 2012, 10:37 AM

Excellent.. I like how you guys used the backing tracks !

Great co ordination. As before, the only thing that may cause you a slight problem is the last shape which involves the 3rd and 4th finger being next to each other. Getting the 3rd and 4th finger to work independently of each other is one of the hardest things about developing the fretting hand.. so just keep a close eye on that aspect

Well done !