Any tips for playing faster?

ElectroDan

It's also helpful to accent the notes that fall on the beats. When you are tearing up and down scales it can be easy to lose where you are (especially when learning rhythmic displacement).

Paul gilbert demo's this well in some of his vids and preaches it in his clinics.

Clarky

ElectroDan said:

It's also helpful to accent the notes that fall on the beats. When you are tearing up and down scales it can be easy to lose where you are (especially when learning rhythmic displacement).

Paul gilbert demo's this well in some of his vids and preaches it in his clinics.

funny you mention this….

I was explaining this in detail to one of my students only just last Thursday..

essentially, nail the accent and the chasing notes will generally just fall into place behind it..

mike_l

Clarky said:

mike_l said:

As an extra, I'm using crotchets, quavers, semi-quavers and triplets to vary my picking speed.

IE

Crotchets = 1 note per click

Quaver = 2 notes per click

triplets = 3 notes per click

semi-quavers = 4 notes per click.

another useful one is sextuplets = 6 notes per click

I'm building up to 5 and 6 notes per click.

I'm currently using 1/2/3/4 per click, and going at a not-massive speed (up to 75BPM for accuracy) 

Clarky

try this. on an open string to a click:

1 bar each of: 1/4, 1/4 triplet, 1/8, 1/8 triplet, 1/16, 1/16 triplet.. and than work back down to 1/4 notes

sounds easy don't it... you'd be surprised at how many guitarists [even very good ones] struggle with it..

going up is easier, coming back down is less so [especially moving from simple to triplet notes]

1/4 triplets seem to cause most folk the most agro

this exercise has nothing to do with making you a quicker player.. but it's very good for learning to feel and switch between the different note values..

mike_l

Clarky said:

try this. on an open string to a click:

1 bar each of: 1/4, 1/4 triplet, 1/8, 1/8 triplet, 1/16, 1/16 triplet.. and than work back down to 1/4 notes

sounds easy don't it... you'd be surprised at how many guitarists [even very good ones] struggle with it..

going up is easier, coming back down is less so [especially moving from simple to triplet notes]

1/4 triplets seem to cause most folk the most agro

this exercise has nothing to do with making you a quicker player.. but it's very good for learning to feel and switch between the different note values..

I tried this tonight. It is chuffing hard. Even at 60BPM.

I didn't do the 1/4 triplets either. I'm guessing that'd be counted   1  t  P  2  T  p 3 t P 4 T p  playing on the 1&3 and the capitols?

Clarky

mike_l said:

Clarky said:

try this. on an open string to a click:

1 bar each of: 1/4, 1/4 triplet, 1/8, 1/8 triplet, 1/16, 1/16 triplet.. and than work back down to 1/4 notes

sounds easy don't it... you'd be surprised at how many guitarists [even very good ones] struggle with it..

going up is easier, coming back down is less so [especially moving from simple to triplet notes]

1/4 triplets seem to cause most folk the most agro

this exercise has nothing to do with making you a quicker player.. but it's very good for learning to feel and switch between the different note values..

I tried this tonight. It is chuffing hard. Even at 60BPM.

I didn't do the 1/4 triplets either. I'm guessing that'd be counted   1  t  P  2  T  p 3 t P 4 T p  playing on the 1&3 and the capitols?

haaa… much tougher than it seems at first glance eh.. lmao

it's very very good for you though..

I get all of my students to nail this when we are taking a close look at timing and phrasing [which is very early on in the lessons]..

if we encounter a rhythm that trips them up at a later time, I will always pull this little exercise back out of the bag to get them reconfirm exactly how different note values should feel..

feeling the different note divisions of the count is a fundamental skill

nailing it is an absolute must if you want to be a nice tight player

solid timing and phrasing is what separates those that sound great / 'pro' from those that sound less polished / novice

hmm.. tricky to explain.. but easy to demonstrate..

try this…..

if you have a sequencer like Logic Pro

programme a piano note E [like your 6th string] to play the 1/4 triplets

turn on the click and play along with the piano..

you'll get to feel it in the end.. just takes practice.. 

mike_l

Clarky said:

I tried this tonight. It is chuffing hard. Even at 60BPM.

haaa… much tougher than it seems at first glance eh.. lmao

Yeah, I was feeling very brave. ^:)^

thomasross20

I'm going the opposite way... for years I've been trying to hone my technique but these days, I find myself enjoying some simple strumming and singing. Like... when the radio is on, I much prefer to listen to Fleetwood Mac (good tunes!) as opposed to something like Steve Vai.

frictionfraction

I know the agreed wisdom is practice it slowly get it right and then speed up however sometimes it is a bit like fitness training where it is beneficial to push yourself to failure and then back down to a lower level. Ie trying playing it at a speed for a while that is just outside your capabilities and then go back to a slower speed you can manage. You should see that slower speed getting progressively faster.

mike_l

frictionfraction said:

I know the agreed wisdom is practice it slowly get it right and then speed up however sometimes it is a bit like fitness training where it is beneficial to push yourself to failure and then back down to a lower level. Ie trying playing it at a speed for a while that is just outside your capabilities and then go back to a slower speed you can manage. You should see that slower speed getting progressively faster.

I'm doing this too.

MatthewShreddery

A good way I know of for nailing the slower triplets is to think of them as 2 of the next quicker note value triplets.

Hard to explain but:

If you have crotchet triplets, subdivide the bar into quaver triplets, now tie every 2 quavers together, you now have crotchet triplets.

So you'd count:

1 2 3 4

then

123 223 323 423 (these are quaver triplets)

now tie every two quaver triplets:

The crotchet triplet pulse will be in bold:

123 223 323 423

I find this really helpful to work out slow triplets.

Clarky

frictionfraction said:

I know the agreed wisdom is practice it slowly get it right and then speed up however sometimes it is a bit like fitness training where it is beneficial to push yourself to failure and then back down to a lower level. Ie trying playing it at a speed for a while that is just outside your capabilities and then go back to a slower speed you can manage. You should see that slower speed getting progressively faster.

I do this too.. both for myself and my students...

the principle thing with the "nail it slow" is that you sort out the fingering and picking to the point where they are so well known that they never change.. this means that when you start piling on the tempo, you're essentially on auto-pilot..

I'll go quicker and quicker until I get ragged.. then back off around 20% of max bpm and go at it again [nail it, increase tempo a little and nail it again. and so on].. after a few attempts I'll begin to find that the ragged tempo is a little higher than before..

basically I keep throwing myself at the barrier until I can crash through it [and go crashing into the next... lmao]

Clarky

MatthewShreddery said:

A good way I know of for nailing the slower triplets is to think of them as 2 of the next quicker note value triplets.

Hard to explain but:

If you have crotchet triplets, subdivide the bar into quaver triplets, now tie every 2 quavers together, you now have crotchet triplets.

So you'd count:

1 2 3 4

then

123 223 323 423 (these are quaver triplets)

now tie every two quaver triplets:

The crotchet triplet pulse will be in bold:

123 223 323 423

I find this really helpful to work out slow triplets.

great strategy.. so the bar count would look like this

'1' and 'a' 2 'and' a '3' and 'a' 4 'and' a

Catthan

1. Do whatever you need to be able to hear slowly what you want to play fast. Whether that's playing it slow yourself or slowing the part down in a media player.

IMHO you can't play what you can't hear even when you technique is good enough. So you need to get the part in your ears/ brain. Fingers is the easy bit..

2. Mental practice: Imagine yourself playing the part (practice away from the instrument) and also nailing it at the desired speed, (positive imagery). 

#2 requires #1

I don't really get "other than practice" as there will be some effort required in however you approach it. What makes it effective is keeping the mind focused on the task. 

mike_l

Clarky said:

123 223 323 423

I find this really helpful to work out slow triplets.

great strategy.. so the bar count would look like this

'1' and 'a' 2 'and' a '3' and 'a' 4 'and' a

Like mine, but (I don't know why) I count triplets as 1 T P 2 T P etc

Clarky

mike_l said:

Clarky said:

123 223 323 423

I find this really helpful to work out slow triplets.

great strategy.. so the bar count would look like this

'1' and 'a' 2 'and' a '3' and 'a' 4 'and' a

Like mine, but (I don't know why) I count triplets as 1 T P 2 T P etc

ahhh... now I understand...

count them: 1 and a 2 and a etc....

mike_l

Clarky said:

Like mine, but (I don't know why) I count triplets as 1 T P 2 T P etc

ahhh... now I understand...

count them: 1 and a 2 and a etc....

I count 1/16th notes as 1 e & a etc so I'd get confused.

My 1 T P works for me, keeps me in triplets.

1 & 2 & etc keeps me in 1/8th notes as well.

 

carlos

frictionfraction said:

I know the agreed wisdom is practice it slowly get it right and then speed up however sometimes it is a bit like fitness training where it is beneficial to push yourself to failure and then back down to a lower level. Ie trying playing it at a speed for a while that is just outside your capabilities and then go back to a slower speed you can manage. You should see that slower speed getting progressively faster.

It's a bit like learning to sprint by jogging. You can pick bad habits by practicing slowly as it lets you get away with flat picking angles and lots of string hopping. At least for the right hand it's worth it to practice as fast as you can straightaway, even if you're just picking the same note for 60 seconds. Surprised nobody has mentioned Troy Grady yet!

ElectroDan

ElectroDan said:

Play very slowly and analyse your technique. Where are you going wrong? Try to keep your picking hand motion economical.

I've said this before in other threads, but different licks/scales can need different picking strategies.

When I got to the point where I was frustrated at my lack of speed increase, I always assumed my left hand fingers were the problem. Realising that the majority of issues are caused by the picking hand, was the start of really improving for me.

At the risk of sounding like a loop pedal, Troy Grady's "Cracking the code" will help enormously (I'm not on commission... but I should be).

I am his unofficial UK rep so it would seem.

thomasross20

I also push it fast and then slow down.