Few questions about practicing

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Cybermax

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Hey!

Got some questions:

1) Does "speed" come from alone, or do u need to practice it? plz gimme exercises.

2) Do u practice downpicking? For some reason i find fast downpicking way harder than alt picking. Exercises?

3) I suck when it comes to legato playing. need some good exersises for that as well.

thx in advance

and one more thing:
something is wrong with my low e string ... the "c" on the 20th fret for example is slightly higher than its supposed to be. Its only the high frets on the low e string that are "wrong" ... any ideas? Probably the string is just fucked, but i just put it up.

thx
 
1) Does "speed" come from alone, or do u need to practice it? plz gimme exercises.
Click to expand...
You have to excercise. A hell of a lot. The stuff I've had to work hardest on was alternate picking between strings and string skipping - both good for doing scale runs and soloing.

2) Do u practice downpicking? For some reason i find fast downpicking way harder than alt picking. Exercises?
Click to expand...
I practiced downpicking by repeatedly playing songs like "Master of Puppets" and "Shortest Straw". =)

3) I suck when it comes to legato playing. need some good exersises for that as well.
Click to expand...
I can't think of any good practices for this except...uhh...just to play around with it.

something is wrong with my low e string ... the "c" on the 20th fret for example is slightly higher than its supposed to be. Its only the high frets on the low e string that are "wrong" ... any ideas?
Click to expand...
If the notes are right in all other positions, this sounds like it's the 20th fret that screwy. Potentially expensive/hard to fix.

'bane
 
Speed does not come right away, you need lots of practice and patience. Start slow and learn scales and arpeggios, unfortunately I don't have any exercises on me right now (I have some sweep secuences on my comp, gotta look for them)

Check this site out for exercises and techniques.

Click here

Xenophobe might be able to help you more on this.
 
1. Well, the longer you play and more you learn, the more your speed will increase to a certain extent, but I reckon you should practice sequencing scales. You play, for example, the first four notes of a scale, then back to the second note and play four notes from there, then from the third notes and four notes from there, and so on. So you're playing 1 2 3 4 - 2 3 4 5 - 3 4 5 6 - 4 5 6 7, etc. Play that to a metronome, in sixteenth or eight notes or whatever. Start low and build up speed. There are plenty of sequences you can play, not just in fourths like that. Also do 1 2 3 - 2 3 4 - 3 4 5 and so forth, and 1 3 - 2 4 - 3 5 etc. This way you also learn your damn scales.

2. Sure if you want. Practice playing some songs with lots of downpicking (Master of Puppets, Creeping Death, shitloads of Iced Earth songs, etc.). I've also practiced just downpicking the low e-string to a metronome. You can start at a comfortable speed and play eight notes to that, then building up until you become a bad ass motherfucker.

3. I don't really know since I suck too, but right now I'm practicing this with three note per string scales. With a metronome (of course) I'll hammer on up and pull off down these scales in triplets or sixtuplets or whatever it's called. I'll also pull on and off the same string a few times before moving on to the next one sometimes. Stuff like that.

One more thing: Your guitar's intonation is fucked, at least on the low e string. Search for some instructions on how to intonate your guitar or take it to some guitar tech dudes who can.
 
Originally posted by Cybermax
and one more thing:
something is wrong with my low e string ... the "c" on the 20th fret for example is slightly higher than its supposed to be. Its only the high frets on the low e string that are "wrong" ... any ideas? Probably the string is just fucked, but i just put it up.

thx
Click to expand...

THis could be either that the intonation isn't set correctly (saddle position, you can fix this by moving the saddle back or forward) or something more sinister....
 
check you intonation e at 12 fret should be same as open adjust saddle to compensate (use a tuner or else).to be fast and sound fast are very different things . play repetative phrases all the time.relaxation is key.dont just play 16th notes all the time you you will be fast BUT NOT SOUND FAST mix it up in the same phrase1/4...1/16...1/8...in same bar in any tempo. try down picking leads learn an yngwie song(trilogy suite is good helped me)get a al dimeola video iyou cant get much faster than dimeola
 
Speed: practice practice practice, and caffeine. :lol:

Intonation: play the 12th fret on any string, then play the 12th fret harmonic on the same string. If they are in tune with one another (or very close), your intonation is fine. If not, adjust the saddles and keep checking.

By the way, it is damn near impossible to get PERFECT intonation, but the better the guitar the closer you can get.

EDIT: I don't do all down-strokes on Master of Puppets. :)
 
Speed will not come by itself, but you must not push yourself either. It takes practice, but you have to practise in a way that will not hurt your arms. Practise but make sure that you stop before you feel pain or unease. Moreover, try to practise every day, not once a week. If you can spend five hours a week, practise an hour every day, not seven hours on Sunday........... But also remember that you will need about ten-fifteen minutes to warm up, so a practice of, let's say, 10 minutes will not do. And NEVER begin right away, you have to wait until you feel you're warmed up before you begin running or playing hard stuff. Begin with scales etc or some easy pieces, SLOWLY for the beginning and gradualy increase speed. After ten-fifteen minutes (as I said) you'll be ready to push it :)

BTW, don't try to play when the room is cold. Make sure the room is rather 'dry' and warm before you go, elseway you'll never be able to move your fingers easily and smoothly on the fretboard and you will be unable to warm up. :(
 
ok thx for all the info.

I got some more questions though :)

1) I seem to have two different ways holding the pick; whenever I palm mute or doing palm muted triplets, I hold the pick slightly different than when i play runs or just non palm muted stuff .... is this weird or bad?

2) Is it normal, that u hear the picking sound (chuck chuck chuck)? Or is it a question of practice to get rid of it as well?

All those questions sound like newbie questions, which I wouldnt call myself. I've been playing the electric for 2 years, but I recently started to practice a lot more and especially in the right way, and now I'm getting aware of all those little things Im asking here. :eek:


thx in advance
 
I had a similar problem, it looked like every 12 fret I would loose a note somewhere and would end up sounding completely fucked up. I never noticed until I started using a new axe and some tabs about a year ago and that all of my solos I would now play a fret lower than before.

I heard it was possibly the neck that curved due to it's age and staying in a humid environment
 
Originally posted by serenesorrow
does anyone else play master of puppets with alternate picking
i just did it by accident and it stuck
is it better or worse?
Click to expand...

I play it all downpicking, but it's neither better or worse, just different to do it with alternate picking. although all downpicking does tend to sound a bit more 'agressive', for what that's worth.. (at least for my playing it does)
 
A: Speed? Like has been said, practice practice practice...

Learn all your modes in positional and 3-note per string patterns (which will help you break out of the "box position"... 3-note/string blues scales are also good too. You can do some neat stuff with them...

@Ultimate Symphony: :lol: Thanks for the vote of confidence! :heh: Actually, I'm not all that great a musician, I'm pretty much a part time hack and I know how to fake it pretty well! Though, I do know my gear decently well and have been in numerous bands and have played a bunch of shows... I'm sure at least half the people here would out shred or outplay me. ;)
 
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