Improving muscle memory?

R

rockabilly1955

New member
I been tryin to find ways to improve my guitar playing and have come across a lot of people saying to practice your muscle memory. Anybody have any good exercises to improve muscle memory? My main thing I am trying to improve is coming in and out of solos cleanly. For example, I might be playing a E full chord and then have to go up to the 12th fret E to begin a solo. That's where I still have trouble. I can do it, but its not as clean as I would like. I might hit the wrong string or note for a split second before getting back on track.
 
Of course, remember these:

1) slavish, obsessive attention to the best technique you can muster (hopefully that you learned from a qualified, individual instructor), and regular assessments of how you might improve your technique now that your hands are stronger/more conditioned than the last time you checked and;

2) endless, mindless repetition, preferably with a metronome, slowing the tempo until you can do it cleanly, then gradually increasing the tempo.

3) Doing the second one without the first one can be worse than doing nothing if your technique is bad.

Then, with that in mind, coach yourself (or get someone to help) to determine the best positioning/technique for what you're doing, and get after it.

I played major/minor scales up and down a lot, and tried skipping up the cycle of 5ths, etc. for a long time. I could have got a lot more out of it if I had been more religious about technique and timing, but it still helped.
 
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What I do sometimes when I know a lead is coming is play the chord I'm in, at a different position closer to where my lead starts. For instance if I'm going to solo in E at the 12th fret, I'd play an E chord at the 7th fret, or at the 12th.

but as mentioned.. there is nothing that is going to replace repetition. Perfect practice makes perfect.
 
Switching Boxes...

I don`t know about this whole muscle memory thing, but an old guitar teacher taught me a brilliant lesson, or series of lessons, on moving up and down the neck quickly. I`ll try to tab it out.

Basically, going from the first fret to the twelfth fret, you want to have only two shifts in hand position. I know this doesn`t answer your question exactly, but I think if you practice this way, and work on getting fast with it and doing it with your eyes closed, you will solve your problem.


So, here goes...

shift shift shift shift
0--1--3--4--1--3--4--4---2--1--4--2--1--1--0
g]]--0--2--4--5--7--9--10-12--10-9--7--5--4--2--0

The bottom line is the actual tab on the guitar, which is a g major scale played on just the g string. The line above it are the fingers you play it with, and above that, are where you should shift. Note that the `s` of shift is in the correct position. Also, note that the shifts come at different times and places depending on going up or down.

Play the thing very slowly and evenly, making sure that there is a fluidity between the shifts. The best way to get real fast is to start real slow.

hopefully that works. check the notes, too. Im typing on a german kezboard, and I haven`t seem a guitar for a month, much less played one.

Hope it helps.
 
Oh, and slide up -- that's another thing to practice a lot, and it's difficult to land in the right place, but it does click eventually. As a bonus, you'll be able to "voice" the slide or not depending on how hard you push down and whether you mute the string while you're sliding. Don't look at your hands or the guitar while you're practicing, but instead rely on the feel and the sound.
 
The only way to improve is to practice. Just make sure that your practice is actually doing you good. Don't practice doing it wrong. Figure out what would make you do it right and start practicing that. :D
That might mean you need to do things really slow at first, but it will pay off.

By the way, it's certainly a good idea to do things by feel, but when I've got to do a quick slide way up the fretboard to a certain note - I always fix my eyes on that target position and my finger just stops right there.
That's just how I do it.
 
...Or take the EASY way out.

For gigging on a dark stage, I should develop a way to jump to 5th and 7th fret without looking at the bass....(busy moshing):cool::D:D

Instead of practicing..(lacking time)....
I took a piece of adhesive sandpaper, and slapped it in the point where my thumb is when my indexfinger is on the 5th and ringfinger on 7th fret.:D:D

tried a couple of rehealsals before the gig, seemed to work, used at the gig, worked. Left it there for now, in time, my arm will memorize the place.

(playing guitar, baritone, and a couple of different basses breeds havoc on muscle-memory):D:D
 
Muscle memory requires memory. (I know, "duh." :D)

It means repetition, repetition, repetition. It's the only way I know of to build it and maintain it.
 
Good tips guys. I do believe there is such a thing as muscle memory. When I am doing a new song over and over again and then go back to one of my old songs, it seems like my hands tend to go into the positions of the new song I been working on.
 
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