practicing technique with "mock"-scales

[six]

hi there

i picked up practicing technical stuff again some days ago and I do a lot of exercises on a pseudo-chromatic-scale (frets V to VII on every string, for example) to kind of equally use each finger.

now I really started to wonder if my playing will actually benefit from this or if it's a waste of time or even contra-productive and I should only practice on "real" scales.

opinions, experiences?

 

[cephus]

I recently started to encorporate the same thing into my playing actually. Not chromatice, but non-scalar finger patterns that I can rip through up the neck. I have found that it is better to have a few technical licks to throw out there, even if melodically they don't make sense. When the licks are fast enough they are essentially grace notes. You just make sure you stop on the right one. I know it seems sloppy, but the fact is the resolution of the beer-soaked ears of night club crowds isn't good enough to detect that I played an F# 32nd note in a song in the key of C.

 

[ermghoti]

Remember the half-step difference in the tuning between G and B, and you get genuine chromatic exercises. Good for making sure all the sausages get some practice, if nothing else.

 

[iqi616]

On my bass I warm up similar to that. All four fingers. 1-4-3-2 on E, A, D. 1-2-3-4 on G, D, A. 2-5-3-2 on E, A, D. 2-3-4-5 on G, D, A. etc all the way up the neck and down. I think it builds strength and a willingness to move around the neck.

 

[Codmate]

Practicing chromatics is essential IMO.
It is also, as has been said, an ideal warm-up exercise.

 

[TelePaul]

Its a warm up and improve alternate pickign dexterity...it's real popular with thrashers and guys who like their licks flamingly fast. i do it whenever I remember to!

 

[metalhead28]

It would help alot more if you were creating more complex patterns with your fingerings, even if you're still not adhering to a typical scale pattern.

Like going up 4, back 2, up 4, back 2, etc, etc. Changing the direction that you start the picking so that you consistently challenge your picking hand is good too.

As far as incorporating that stuff into your playing...I like to at least build a chromatic or symmetrical pattern out of a fragment of a common scale so that I have a nice "home" point, if that makes any sense.

For example, consider the half step / whole step or whole step / half step 3 finger pattern that commonly pops up when playing 3 note per string patterns. You can easily start from a position being in key, and play a symmetrical pattern across every string with the same fingering and unless you try and stop on a sour note, it will sound pretty cool. That will also add in a bit of an exotic flavor sometimes...so even though it feels like cheating, it sounds like you really know what you're doing.......sometimes.

 

[cephus]

As far as mindless noodling, another of my favorites goes across the strings in a pattern that are more geometric than melodic. I put one finger per fret, but spread them out over 4 strings.

Pinky on 1st string, 8th fret, ring on 2nd, 7th fret, middle on 3rd 6th fret, to index on the 4rd string, 5th fret, then repeat with the pinky on the 2nd string 8th fret. Moving up and down. It really helped picking across strings. - especially adhering to up/down on adjacent notes. I started out doing it as 16th notes at like 60-80 bpm years ago, and now I can throw it in every once in a while in a solo because it sounds so angular and disjoint.

It also is neat to play it the opposite way (like a maj7) or mix up the notes into a chord or scale that you can move around.

Perfect for couch picking while watching the 2nd episode of seinfeld on TBS.

 

[chazba]

The Spider Walk

Scales and arpeggios are like a form of weight lifting to Guitarists. They may not have a lot of value for themselves, but practicing lots of rep's makes everything else a lot easier. Here's a good one that I have shown to all my kids , and grandkids and friends. It's a simple chromatic exercise that the kids dubbed "the spider walk" Goes like this:

Start on the first string, first finger on the first fret. Play ascending-

1,2,3,4,then slide the 4th finger up 1 fret , then play descending- 3,2,1, then slide the 1st finger up 1 fret, then play 2,3,4, then slide the 4th finger up a fret , repeat till your left forearm has a nice burn to it. Play as far up as your guitar will allow, then as far down as you want to, then switch strings, repeat till you can't stand it any more. Repeat daily
Use alternating picking strictly, and reverse it when you go to the next string. By that I mean to lead with a downstroke till you change strings , then lead with an upstroke. Switch directions as you go from string to string.

This has really helped a lot of my kids, g-kids and students over the years to quickly advance their ability to control their fingers and to keep focused .

It may even help you to enjoy Seinfeld.


chazba