speed exercises

FALKEN

FALKEN

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i'm looking for some patterns to play to a metronome that aren't 1234 chromatic exercises. those are good but i'm looking to move on to some that are built on scales...looking for triplet patterns as well as sixteenths, built around the "3 notes per string" fingerings. lets have it!
 
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Codmate said:
Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar by Troy Stetina looks cheesy but contains gold for those wishing to build speed with a pick.

http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Mechanics-Lead-Guitar-Stetina/dp/0793509629
Click to expand...

Honestly, if you're serious about building speed, this book is a must-have. Not because the drills are so much better than anything else, or something, but because it goes into the WHY of good technique, and looks at the physical aspects of fretting and picking and how to streamline them. For the $17 or so Amazon.com sells it for, it's a no brainer.

Something I do as a legato excersize (though you could pick it too, I suppose - I just like the legato sound) is to break scales down into six-note patterns. If you're playing 3nps diatonics, there are only a finite number of "shapes" you will ever play through. So, I practice them:

Code: 
|-------3-4-6-4-3-----|-------3-5-6-5-3-----|
|-3-4-6-----------6-4-|-3-4-6-----------6-4-|
|---------------------|---------------------|
|---------------------|---------------------|
|---------------------|---------------------|
|---------------------|---------------------|

|-------3-5-6-5-3-----|-------3-5-7-5-3-----|
|-3-5-6-----------6-5-|-3-5-6-----------6-5-|
|---------------------|---------------------|
|---------------------|---------------------|
|---------------------|---------------------|
|---------------------|---------------------|

|-------3-5-7-5-3-----|-------4-5-7-5-4-----|
|-3-5-7-----------7-5-|-3-5-7-----------7-5-|
|---------------------|---------------------|
|---------------------|---------------------|
|---------------------|---------------------|
|---------------------|---------------------|

Repeat each of those four times or so before moving on to the next "shape." If you'll notice, if you follow the pattern of moving one note up a half step when you move from one pattern to the next, the next logical shape you'll come to is the one you started at, just transposed up a half step. So, go back to the beginning and work your way up the neck this way. When you run out of frets, reverse it and start going from the last pattern towards the first, working down by a half step each time you go.

Transpose this across all strings - because the angle of your fretting hand changes depending on whether you're on the treble or bass strings (particularly if you play a seven like I do) and part of developing technique is training your muscles, you really need to practice this everywhere. Pay special attention to the G and B strings, where the actual patterns change due to the M3 interval....

If you're into 3nps stuff, this should help you. Also, whatever you do, don't force it. Stretch your hands, keep them relaxed, and take breaks every 15 minutes or so. You can really fuck up your hands if you rush this kind of stuff, it takes years to build the technique you hear from guys like John Petrucci, Joe Satriani, or (especially) Rusty Cooley, so be careful and don't try to force it to do it overnight.
 
Thanks!

This is actually the 3rd time in my life I've attempted to build speed. First when I was 16, then again in college when I was minoring in music, and now again a few years later. This time I think I have the best shot at it so far. If I can get this down...who knows, maybe I'll master chord melodies next.

This exercise you posted, is it just to pound out the mechanics of playing scale patterns? It looks like a good one, but I think what I had in mind was more like, something useable in practice. Here's an example of one I came up with for a triplet pattern (though I'm sure its very common):


1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 3 - 2 ; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

move to next string, etc

this lets you really push the triplets...

or the classic one for sixteenths:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 ; 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 ; 3 - 4 - 5 - 6..........8 - 7 - 6 - 5 ; 7 - 6 - 5 - 4.....

just running up and down scales....both totally useable in real situations...
 
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most players consentrate on triplets and for the life of me i don't understand why. I guess because they lend themselves to simple up down picking .. and if you play like that you will never gain any comfortable speed.
Learn to read music and forget about TAB it is more effort than reading music. (I guess I should duck now :cool:)
1.) practice tremlo
2.) play with a straight arm without using your wrist or anchored pinky and use an extra heavy pick and on a guitar with heavy strings. I practice with stone picks and gator grip 2mm. picks. and on strings 56(6th) down to 13(1st)
3.) develop the habit of sweep picking when ever possible.
4.) get a hold of a violn technique book such as the Wolfart Studies and work out each exersise using the technique I suggested in point #2. The Bach 2 part inventions are also helpful
5.) the key is to develop good habits left hand technique is as important as right hand technique. Apply economy of movement to the left hand.
6.) learn to relax
 
my fretting hand is waay faster than my picking hand, and getting them to play in sync is even worse....

when you say to keep your wrist straight...are you moving at the elbow or all in the hand? I've tried moving at the elbow and yeah its faster but it seems like cheating.
 
An Exercise for Finger Independence and Economy of Motion

This exercise should help your fingers develop the ability to move independently, lending flexibility and speed to (hopefully) everything you do. Also, it will train your hand to keep unused fingers close to the fretboard. Purpose being, they will have to move less the next time they are used.

Fret the 2nd string 5th fret with your index finger. Simultaneously fret the 1st string 7th and 8th frets with your ring and little fingers, respectively. Pick the second string, alternating the 5th and 6th fret by leaving the first finger down and alternatively fretting and releasing the 6th fret. Strive for rhythmic evenness. Your hand, arm, and finger may tense up. Do not let this happen. Stay relaxed.

Repeat this exercise, fretting 2nd string 5th, 1st string 6 and 8, this time fretting and releasing the 7th fret with your ring finger. Repeat, this time using your 4th finger. Repeat, moving your first finger to the first string, and second finger to the second, alternatively fretting with your ring finger, then little finger. Finally, fret 1st string 5th and 6th frets, 2nd string 7th, and alternate fretting and releasing with little finger.

You can also try this exercise legato. Eventually, when you can do this evenly, you can alternatively fret the two fingers working on the picked string. That is, fret the first string with ring and little fingers, and alternate index and middle on 2nd string, raising each finger from the string each time, rather than leaving the index finger fretting the 5th fret. I don't even bother doing this, the preceding form is tough enough. :)

This exercise is taken from Sal Salvador's Solo String Studies.
 
FALKEN said:
my fretting hand is waay faster than my picking hand, and getting them to play in sync is even worse....

when you say to keep your wrist straight...are you moving at the elbow or all in the hand? I've tried moving at the elbow and yeah its faster but it seems like cheating.
Click to expand...

I use no wrist movement when practicing.
Yeah, it is a little hard to get started but after a while it becomes natural.
I was self taught initially back in the '50's and picked up a lot of bad habits. It took around two years with a good teacher in Philadelphia to undo them.

I am not saying that you will never play using the wrist, there are times with electric guitar when you have to; but it is not very efficient. The path to speed is relaxed economy of movement.

Almost forgot .... it is a paradox but the way to get your right hand to catch up with you left hand is to slow down, practice on and acoustic guitar and gradually increase your speed. use a metronome.
 
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This may seem like a weird exercise, but it's something that has helped me a lot. Do it on all strings and all frets. 10 minutes of this, a few days a week, will actually help sync up your hands since that's what seems to be your problem.

You'll never play fast if you can't sync your left & right hand. Or you'll always play sloppy-fast.

I think that this simple pattern, while easy to play, kind of restricts your right hand from going faster than your left because it involves a lot of the left hand.

speed1.gif
 
You may not like him but Michael Angelo's 'Speed Lives' dvd is the best I've seen when it comes to breaking down the mechanics of speed. Another one worth checking for incredibly difficult runs and patterns is Rusty Cooley's 'Chops from Hell' effort.
Not everyone likes them but when it comes to speed and technique, these two guys are the top of the food chain - might as well learn from two of the fastest.
 
is this common to not use the wrist when speed picking?? I mean, if I just crank it up and pick from the elbow I could go way faster but....it just doens't seem like playing. :confused:
 
One night many years ago I was hanging out with Pat Martino after one of his shows (It's a Philly thing). Anyway he used a very unorthox picking style at the time, Kind of like bowing a violn. I asked him in a rather coy manner how in the hell he could play like that. He said (kind of jerking my chain) "you gotta get it out anyway you can man". I just shook my head yes as he gave me one of his old time classic hip grins. There is somthing to that (not the hip grin). On the other hand I saw Pat a few months ago at a masters class and he was using the straight arm technique.

Pat plays man, he dosent cheat. If Pat's on board there must be somthing to it but of course I have known this for around 40 years.:D
 
FALKEN said:
is this common to not use the wrist when speed picking?? I mean, if I just crank it up and pick from the elbow I could go way faster but....it just doens't seem like playing. :confused:
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I've heard this debated endlessly.

Honestly, there are some SERIOUSLY fast players who pick from the wrist, and some SERIOUSLY fast players who don't, and pick from the arm, with circular picking driven by their thumb, whatever.

Really, if you've got several years of experience with one picking style, unless what you're doing is physically damaging you're probably better sticking with what works for YOU and just building off the base you already have. If you have a picking style, it feels comfortable to you, and you don't have to force anything, then run with it.

and yeah, that drill was to get your fingers used to the movements needed for every possible 6-note grouping of three note per string diatonics played in sequence. Besides, I tend to build lines based around those groupings, sliding linearly around the neck, so for me it also has direct applicability to the way I phrase.
 
Back in the olden days, I bought a Stylus Pick package with the exercise booklet. The exercises are good, and the pick does promote a controlled picking motion. They still make 'em, I checked.
 
Whatever works for your own arm, for me it's a combination of wrist and the whole arm.
Try this exercise, pick an open string up and down as fast as you possibly can with an even rhythm. It's probably a hell of a lot faster than you can play licks at the moment - well that's the speed you are capable of, it's just a matter of syncing up the left and right. You can get marginally faster than this with practice but it will just start to sound like a Nintendo game.
 
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