Practice techniques

[leedon]

Hi all,

I am looking for some advice on improving my guitar playing. I am an intermediate guitarist, but would like to improve my playing more.

I am looking for any suggestions on practice techniques or methods. At the moment, I find I end up twidling away aimlessly, not really learning anything new.

Is it good to practice by playing other music ? Making up your own ? Learning scales ? Trying different things like tapping, pull-offs etc (whatever you want to improve) ? How long to practice for for it to make a difference ?
Any suggestions on a 'Training Program' ?

I just feel like I'm not learning as much as I could. I know that it will differ from person to person, but let's hear them anyway.

 

[guhlenn]

relax, play the music you like. if you want to be a better player you can add theory to it. but remember; this prob. wont be your job so make sure you're having fun learnin!

guhlenn

ps this is maybe to vague... what i ment is play tne music you like, you'll learn technique that way, although a teacher speeds up the process. theory is mandatory if you want to be a great guitarplayer (of course jimi never did theory so to all rules there are exceptions.

 

[Roel]

If you REALLY want to speed up your learning process, learn to play classical guitar. It's VERY good for technique, you NEED theory, it improves your feel... Really helpfull. But don't just focus on that, there is more.

This was an easy step for me (played piano, allready had the theory).

The nice thing about classical is that you can just go out, buy a cheap book, sit back with no inspiration, and just play some relaxing classical music.

Also, don't focus on techniques. Learn scales if you want to (but don't practice scales, you should learn what you can do with a scale instead of the scale itself...). Just play what you like to hear, explore the neck, different positions... The technique will follow automatically.

What styles of music do you play/like?

 

[leedon]

I play a lot of rock/punk/metal. The thing that gets to me is that I listen to sound clips demonstrating equipment, and the little guitar bits really sound great - and I can just picture the guy that recorded it, sitting down and just playing whatever - not having to think about it.

Lately I have been using backing tracks, and trying out soloing along with it - looking at a scale chart while I do. I have noticed I have improved quite a bit by doing just this. I always play along to midi files of the music I like, and can play a few songs no prob.

But it's the ability to just be able to play a 10 second riff, and make it SOUND like a guitar player. I guess it's just years of practice.

Also, to improve techniques like tapping/fast riffs/pull-offs & hammer-ons etc. is it just a case of practising over and over and over.... Is this the best way to lean ? Take a piece and play it until your sick of it, then play it some more ?

 

[Roel]

"Take a piece and play it until your sick of it, then play it some more?"

That's not a good method to learn music. It is a good way to breed wrist-probs, tendinitis etc... Make sure you are ALWAYS relaxed when you play. This is the greatest thing I ever learned. Another thing is, learn to LISTEN to what you play. That is, get out of your head while playing, and listen to it as a whole, as an outsider would hear it. This really isn't as obvious as it seems. Very hard to learn, but when you get the hang of it...

Tapping, fast riffs, and all these things... Don't just practice them. You can try using them while soloing. Speed will come with time. don't practice on it. I know a dude that's fast as hell, but cannot come up with a decent line. That's what you should practice. Explore the scales and charts, link them together, see how they add. This get's easy once you get the theory together. (but that'll take a few years...)

Really, believe me on this one: DON'T practice on technique only. It really comes automatically while you're learning to play music. And broaden your horizon. Nothing has enriched my playing more as listening/learning to play blues, jazz and classical stuff.

 

[guhlenn]

although Roel said it quit nice, i want to correct you on one point. IF, notice the IF, you want to play shred (ie fast) you will have to practice it. use a metronome to be sure of your timing. metronomes are important.

and i think you cannot practice writing decent lines, you know how or you don't.

for the rest; don't overdo it, you'll get bored with music or guitar. don't make it an obsession as, afterall, this is your hobby. kids tend to overdo it, bragging about how they practice 8 hours aday... get a f*ckin life! the greats of music were great because they had experienced stuff and translated that into music, so unless you wanna be another yngwie malmsteen, for god's sake; life!

guhlenn

ps although i really HATE classical music, i try to play it at least one hour a month, as , as roel pointed out, it is great for technique and you'll get tons of new ideas... i always get that "man this could be so freakin heavy" feeling which makes me more creative...

 

[Roel]

"and i think you cannot practice writing decent lines, you know how or you don't."

hmmmm... This might be true when you are writting on your own, but when improvising, it's just a matter of knowing instantly which note to play when, knowing what will sound in which way... When practicing, you just kindof speed up the writing proces, which is what you need when improvising. (improvising being playing alot of mainly sh!tty lines, with some good/catchy lines in between... )

The shredding thing is true. But I never liked that. That's why you shouldn't practice just technique. If you go for this, be VERY carefull! When it hurts, you're doing something wrong, and 9/10 it's playing too tense. If you really want to play that lick, just write it down and try again in a few months. And really, STOP IF IT HURTS! (I'll keep saying that 3 times in every post from now. Had some really bad experiences... being 2.5 years of constant pain, to be precise, and VERY GOOD doctors specialising in wrists telling me it WON"T EVER HEAL! That's why.)

Guess that pain is what people that practice all day translate in their music.

By the way, that guy I mentionned... He could do all the fancy stuff, tapping, harmonics, the -arpeggio-in-one-stoke-thingy, all very fast, but I asked him to play a basic blues-shuffle, and he fucked up. Just couldn't get it right. This was a few years ago, maybe he can do it now. I doubt it...

 

[Roel]

(I noticed there were no smilies in this post, so I gave it my best shot. )

 

[guhlenn]

yeah, but improvising to most guys or gals is just playing the minor scale fast and often ... i had a very good teacher who learned me the basic theory and let me play music i liked... mostly punk

8 years further i still like guitarplaying!!! yeah!\\

greetz guhlenn

oh and yes; pain is VERY bad. stop when you feel pain.

 

[leedon]

What sort of pain are you guys talking about ? Cramps ? In the fretting hand ?

I am not only interested in shredding - don't get me wrong. I like being able to play the right thing at the right time. I think I'm more interested in adopting/learning a STYLE of playing.

Like I said first, just being able to jam on your own, with little riffs.

The best example I can think of, is the demo files on Guitar cd's showing off new equipment - some guy just jamming little pieces on different settings. Being able to just PLAY.

Anyway, I just wondered if there was a way to practise (1 hr scales, 1hr chords, 1 hr soloing) etc. in order to build up to play well constantly.

 

[Roel]

Well, make that 1 hours of theory, and 3 hours of translating what you learned in theory back on your guitar... If you want to jam like those demo thingies, it's important that you learn to understand chord-progressions, and the relations between chords and scales etc. (Read theory, theory, and theory.) This will take a while...

And don't end up just playing the minor scale up and down really fast... At least get the #4 in it, the major 3rd and some modes and a few chromatic licks to make it sound far out...

And as for the pain... Any pain. The only pain that is allowed is your skin peeling off. Any cramps, stiffness, numbing fingers, even BACK-ache, your neck, ANY pain. look for it. This is the WORST that can happen to your playing, believe me. Just when you start to know your intrument, you have to stop playing. (I play MAX one hour piano/guitar a week, and MAX 2 hours of sax. That's it. Have played >4 hours a day once. So now I know all the theory. )

Here's a link on RSI:
http://www.musicianshealth.com/
On this page there's a list with warning signs... I have about 12 of them from time to time. http://www.musicianshealth.com/newpage5.htm

 

[guhlenn]

our FORMER bass player got RSI...

and in the beginning cramp is normal, you have to get used to the odd positions your hand is in. no sweat. stop for five minutes then continue.

i wouldn't practice by a shedule... it gets to mandatory if you ask me. Roel said it best; read theory for an hour and then spend all your time understanding that theory and applying it to the guitar. it'll take you a year, maybe two, but you'll see that there are only 12 notes on the guitar... and you'll learn how to use 'm. but at the beginning the trees usually block the forest, you know?

guhlenn

 

[Roel]

and in the beginning cramp is normal, you have to get used to the odd positions your hand is in. no sweat. stop for five minutes then continue.

Odd positions... Ever noticed how classical players sit kinda sissy-kinda like? And those guys that play really good but have their guitar or basses almost in their neck? Well... They are doing it right! Doesn't look cool, but that's the way it is. If you really want to practice for hours, you gotta realize this.

The way you should find out your position is: just put your arm in a 80 degree angle, handpalm up, and let your hand rest. Now just put your guitar in it. This is the position you should play in... Better start getting used to all those people looking weird...

Cramp is indeed normal in the beginning, first barre chords etc... But you can work around it, practicing other, less demanding things untill you will be able to more easily learn this, with NO PAIN.

No pain no gain is bullsh!t... Believe me. Pain is WRONG. VERY WRONG. VERY VERY... ah. You get it.

(This really is something I've been looking at. And it's one of those thingies I don't like to discuss... Why would that be... )

And the schedule... Well. Forget about a schedule. Just practice when you feel like it, and just play when you don't feel like practicing. Don't forget the playing part. Very important if you want to keep the joy in...

 

[effedupstrat]

leedon,
As far as the "just playing off the top of your head" thing goes, from my experience, learning lots of chords in lots of positions realy helps. It gives you a strong foundation for rhythm playing, if you learn the chord constructions (1,3,5 etc) it helps to build theory knowledge and lead playing can follow as just lines to connect the chords together. If you look at song tablature and play it, try to visualize the chord shapes that the leads outline. Playing along to songs or jamming improv over chord progressions is great to develop technique and feel, which are of equal importance when you want to "sound like" a guitar player. There seems to exist a point of diminishing returns, at least for me, when practicing. I'll play something repeatedly, until it actually starts to sound WORSE, then I'll stop and return to it the next day. Muscle memory is a very wonderful thing, and I think you'l find that the stuff that didn't sound so good on the previous day suddenly sounds much smoother.

Hope this helps a little,

peace.

 

[rats]

Are you looking to be a soloist, a cover band guitarist, a songwriter, or a guitarist for a songwriter? You need to decide what you want to do, or what you feel your style and personality is most suited for. If you want to write songs, then do that. Get a recording set up in gear if you don't already, track some simple melodies/rythyms out with bass, drums and a rythym guitar, then let your soul float through your fingers and express yourself through your lead. Do multiple punch ins, whatever, listen over and over and hear the way it should sound in your mind, and make it sound that way. You will develop your own sound systematically. Its simple, obvious, natural, and it works.

 

[rats]

If you're interested, here is a link to an MP3 of a song I wrote with an obvious example opf what I'm talking about.
http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/1084/1084032.html

This was a quick idea based on a riff (the verse riff) I had been noodling with. I quickly mapped out a chord change for a chorus, found a preset drum pattern, and layed it out on the 4 track. I added some words, then double tracked 'em. Then I toyed with a lead section towards the end. You can hear all the punch ins pretty clear. What I was doing was basically hacking until I found the feeling, then going back and listening for what works, what doesn't, and over dubbing what I want in those spots that needed it. Its a hack solo, granted, but it's how I found out what I wanted for teh established song my band now plays. I only wish I had a recorded version of the final product. I'll probably post it when we get it recorded, but this may help anyway for now.

 

[Roybot]

Sorry to belabor the pain thing but I've been playing very steadily since approximately 1976, had thumb surgery on my fretting side in 1983, and played 5 nighters for many many many years. I guess I'm pretty lucky but it still feels really great to play and play hard. I still experience pain when I play like in the middle of a song with lots of bar chords ... but I keep going. I can play pretty fast and also know how to play with finesse but I can't imagine playing without some pain. Are there really players that play pain-free?

 

[Wallycleaver]

Read old guitar mags you have stacked up at home. I mean it I looked through some mags that I hadn't read in years and there is stuff in there that was too advanced for me then but perfect now!

 

[BBB]

I'm not too sure where everyone is coming from, but based on my experience, you need to practice/play a lot to get better quickly. I remember when I used to practice/play over 5 hours a day. At that point, I could take any emotion I had and translate it to the guitar effortlessly.

Here's a minimal schedule:

1/2 hour: practicing scales with a metronome.

* Good for technique, foundation, and warming up. For example, learn the A minor scale at all positions on the neck.

1/2 hour or more: learning licks of your favorite guitarists.

* This shows you how to implement the scales you are practicing. You may want to eventually strive for originality, but it's easier to break the rules once you learn them.

1 hour or more: jamming.

* This also allows you to implement the scales and licks you have learned. Play along with records, backing tracks, MIDI files, other musicians, whatever. This gives you a feel for rhythmically implementing your playing. Also, playing is supposed to be fun. It becomes even more fun once you realize you are progressing and developing.


Me

 

[Torpid-x]

I Agree With BBB

you have to practice allot,

I also have to disagree with the always play relaxed, that'll give you tendonitis for sure, if you practice for hours strait.

one thing you may notice when you see great guitarists that play fills "right on", they are always ripped little dudes, the ones who never worked a real job anyway. they stand in a firm position with every muscle in there body flexed, covered in sweat from stance alone, building strong muscles (and using them) will protect your joints from injury, disclaimer, I'm a guitar player, not a doctor, point being, add an exercise program(strenght training) into your overall practice, if you don't exercise.

players who play relaxed tend to sound sloppy, or they aren't fast players, they may hide behind distortion, or they are just exceptionally gifted.

holding your body firm creates a more accurate syncronization between both hands, more accurate and faster abillity to move up and down the neck stopping for one quick note, and moving on, on demand. (a relaxed player won't have that firm stop on the note/chord, rather slide past it, picking on the pass)

remember to try to square your elbow with the position on the neck your playing, any teacher will tell you that, that keeps your wrist in the right position, which helps to avoid injury also. it will come naturally by playing in a firm stance over time though. also standing in a lunge position will help to take your mind off of your stance.

as far as what's best technique wise is really up to you, what works, what type of sound you like, theory is important. jamming is important, if you wan't to tap or whammy, save most of it for when your tired of regular practice. when you get control over it, add it into jam sessions, make fills out of it, when everything comes together, you'll be a great guitarist. then you'll get old and weak and be a so so player again (but with more technique)

TX

p.s. ah dammit, I forgot what the ps was