Hickstir's Practice Room, for Gab's Army Options

[hickstir]

Thanks much, I see I just have to find it and go with it!

Hi Hickstir, I'm checking the analysis that he did to Malmsteen's picking and it's interesting. Everything you can see, hear and learn to have different perspectives is always welcome and helpful. Some stuff will work for you, while some other note, each of us is different, have different hands, fingers, mind, goals, tastes, so something that works great for somebody can work bad for you or the opposite. This is why there is not a unique way or method to play guitar. If you check the picking of different guitarists like Malmsteen, Michel Angelo, Frank Gambale, Steve Morse, you will see that each of them do it in a very different way.

I'm checking your picking hand basics video again and I can say that your right hand looks good, but there is something lacking if you want to reach high speeds. We usually start the movement from the wrist but also add some movement from the elbow. Imagine that you have water in your hand and you want to quit it shacking it.



The movement will be smaller and more precise, but the feeling is similar. Now pay attention to this two masters of Alternate picking. Check how they move their right hand. You'll notice that both move from wrist and elbow, but the % of motion is different. Vinnie seems to be moving more from the elbow, while Paul does it more from the wrist.






Which on you should use? Try both playing 16th notes on open E string for a while over metronome and decide which one feels more comfortable for playing fast. I personally use both, but when playing really fast, I'm closer to Vinnie's technique.

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Thanks much, I see I just have to find it and go with it!

Exactly. I'm here to check you progress by the way, to be sure that you are going on the right track.

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[hickstir]

Hi Gabe, well, I wanted to get my Buckethead vid up this weekend but smashed my finger while putting a battery in my Xterra. Sounds like a going thing with me. It's not too bad and I expect to be up and running in a few days. In the mean time, while I can't play anything too fancy, I would like to try and practice something you are probably going to notice... I have off and on trouble hitting the pick and fret finger at the same time. It's not real bad, but there's a clear double sound that you can hear when I hit the fret with my finger and then pick the note. So I thought maybe you have or know of a lesson that I can work on while my finger is getting back to normal??

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi mate, I'm sorry about that issue with your finger.

I think that you mean hand sync. don't you? You can work on this with any solo or lesson but if you want specific, but not very musical exercises, you can go for this series:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/lessonser...ynchronization/

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[hickstir]

Ah, that's exactly what I meant! Thanks much. This should help me for a few days while healing.

Hi mate, I'm sorry about that issue with your finger.

I think that you mean hand sync. don't you? You can work on this with any solo or lesson but if you want specific, but not very musical exercises, you can go for this series:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/lessonser...ynchronization/

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

[Gabriel Leopardi]

Ah, that's exactly what I meant! Thanks much. This should help me for a few days while healing.

Great!

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[hickstir]

Hi Gabe, yes it’s me, I’m finally back! I’ll be posting two video’s I’ve completed tonight. One is finally the Buckethead style, and one is just me picking the faster flowing parts of that piece so you can maybe get a better look at what I’m doing (or not doing). Since there is a very good possibility that you are right about now thinking “wow, he’s just been working on this piece since May???”. No, I haven’t .
The thing that this lesson made me realize (real quick) was that I really wasn’t ready for this. You may have even realized that but maybe knew what it would do for me?? Anyways; I quickly realized that I could not play the entire piece without messing up at least one or two sections. So once my finger was back and ready I started on a quest to learn and practice all of the individual aspects that make up this lesson. Here is basically what I’ve been doing the past couple of months…

Studying and practicing; alternate picking, sweep picking, economy picking, strengthening and using my little finger, trying to figure out and then practice where and how I want my hand/fingers on my picking hand, how and where I want my thumb and fingers on my left hand, how I want to hold my guitar (how high, low, neck up, neck down…), what kind of pick do I want to use (I think I’ve settled on the Dunlop torex sharpy), not flapping my fingers so far away from the fretboard, how hard or soft to pick the strings, and so on…
So as you can see, this one little ‘beginner’ lesson brought on a world of enlightenment for me! Now as you will also see, I’m still not even close to being there when you watch the videos. I am determined, and I know I will. If it’s like other things I’ve learned throughout my life, it will just kind of fall into place once I’ve practiced enough.

I know the video is terrible. I posted this one on purpose because there’s no sense in doing video after video to get one perfect for you since you need to see the real stuff to be able to help me. It also seems that I play completely different from day to day. One day I just seem to be “on”, and then the next day it’s like I never picked up the guitar before in my life. The thing is that I think the bad days are getting better so I have a little hope. As for the sound, sorry but still not good at getting what I’m looking for from my DAW. I almost forgot, I know some of the ‘bars’ come out a little different sounding than yours (something else I need to work on), but hopefully there at least close to the overall timing of the piece. If that makes sense.
Thanks, Wes

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi mate! What a post! Welcome back friend!

I have to say that your approach to practice is exactly how I base my lessons and mentoring programs. The lessons are excuses to work on specific areas in order to polish your guitar playing to be able to create your own music. While practicing lessons we usually note that some techniques or type or licks require more attention or extra stuff and that's why I add more "exercise" type lessons when it's required.

I'm now very curios to see your videos, when are they coming??

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[hickstir]

Hi mate! What a post! Welcome back friend!

I have to say that your approach to practice is exactly how I base my lessons and mentoring programs. The lessons are excuses to work on specific areas in order to polish your guitar playing to be able to create your own music. While practicing lessons we usually note that some techniques or type or licks require more attention or extra stuff and that's why I add more "exercise" type lessons when it's required.

I'm now very curios to see your videos, when are they coming??

As soon as I get home from work tonight and get them on youtube.

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[hickstir]

Very strange, my youtube upload did not bring the sound with it. I only got what my video camera recorded which is the sound of an electric guitar being played without an amp. However; I'm going to go ahead and post this because I'm thinking it doesn't get any more telling than this!

Very strange, my youtube upload did not bring the sound with it. I only got what my video camera recorded which is the sound of an electric guitar being played without an amp. However; I'm going to go ahead and post this because I'm thinking it doesn't get any more telling than this!

I think maybe I'm just trying to go too fast for where I'm at.


By the way, if this is too 'cheesy', just let me know and I'll upload the correct vid. I figured out that I uploaded from my converted videos folder and not my Mixdowns folder. Doh! I also see something that I don't do when practicing, which is pulling my little finger waaay off of the board. I'll be fixing that!

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This post has been edited by hickstir: Jul 7 2015, 02:13 PM

[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi mate, thanks for the videos. These ones helps by now to check your progress but videos with guitar tone and backing will help much more in the future.

You already know the main things to improve on this one, but here is a list:

- Timing: Your timing is not precise, are you playing this over the backing?
- Alternate Picking: Your picking is not consistent, some extra AP exercises would be good.
- Bending: You are still not comfortable with this technique. Remember to use the other fingers to help the one that is pressing the fret.
- Vibrato: It's still not there, work on it.

Please re-check these techniques and let me know if you need suggestions on complementary lessons to work on these elements.

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