Sloppy guitar playing

Life Sucks

Life Sucks

and then you die
Dec 30, 2002
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Does anyone else here that plays guitar sometimes have a problem with playing sloppy? What I mean is for instance, when you are picking a fast metal palm muted metal rhythm, you miss one of the times you pick the string, or it doesn't come out exactly how you intended it for a measure. Sometimes it happens because it feels like the pick gets stuck, when you are moving your wrist so fast. I'm having trouble describing this, but maybe you know what I mean. I find it very frustrating.
 
I'll second that.

My playing style is inherently sloppy, but for another reason: I'm sometimes having trouble correctly muting unused strings. My awkward picking hand posture is one reason for this and I'm always working on improving this side of playing.

'bane
 
What he said!

Metronome practice is the only way!

Take even the most simple 8th note chug riff and play it in time with a metronome. Speed it up slowly and see how well you can stay in time..and work at it.

I am working hard on keeping my timing steady-learning Iced Earth , Megadeth, and other tunes that have very steady, fast rhythm.
I am pushing my endurance right now; I find most people slow down or fall off time due the muscles getting tired.

Slow down and keep working at it!
 
Yeah, I'll look into getting a metronome for the timing end. In terms of picking complex quick rhythms cleanly, that is indeed just practice, as I thought. I will try playing a little slower, at a tempo where I can play it cleanly consistantly, and then increase the tempo as I get more comfortable playing it.
 
Yes, metro-gnome. Also make sure you play it accurately at slower speeds before speeding up. If you can't play it correctly at half speed there's no way you can play at normal tempo.
 
Sunbane said:
I'll second that.

My playing style is inherently sloppy, but for another reason: I'm sometimes having trouble correctly muting unused strings. My awkward picking hand posture is one reason for this and I'm always working on improving this side of playing.

'bane
Click to expand...

I also have this problem 'bane, it's a real bastard when playing live.
 
Another thing that can help a lot of guitarists is to back down on the gain a bit, often muddiness of tone has a lot to do with one sounding sloppy. Of course you've gotta still have your chops up to par or it won't sound good.
 
Dude, just practice, practice, practice...

I played for a solid year focusing on only my right hand, and now my speed picking is up there with Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, etc. However, you will come to realize that it's not just the speed picking that gets harder and harder, it's mainly the control of those riffs...knowing when to mute, when to let ring, etc.

And we're not even talking about the left hand yet...
 
My advice would be to start off slow but then do a kind of jogging sprinting motion almost. Start off going kinda slow but then just start going crazy fast and bringing it back down then sprinting back up. If you practice doing this, in time you'll have that endurance and strength to pick fast and it'll be second nature. Just don't forget that playing fast isn't everything you need to play clean as well. When you are ascending to the next string try to keep your thumb on the string you just played that way it wont ring out. This is especially helpful for those sweep passages which can be a MAJOR pain. The hardest part of playing guitar in my opinion, is keeping those unwanted strings from ringing out. I would suggest playing clean and with distortion. Because when you play clean you can hear all your mistakes and once you kick on the distortion it'll sound that much tighter. Don't forget to also incorporate your left hand fingering with those shred right hand riffs cause you dont want to have your right hand all ready to shred then your left hand can't keep up. You might as well kill two birds with one stone. Hope this was some sort of help take it easy guys.
 
Also, if you want to test yourself out, try switching to an acoustic. This might help you spot your problem spots easier.
 
FretsAflame said:
Also, if you want to test yourself out, try switching to an acoustic. This might help you spot your problem spots easier.
Click to expand...
:lol: I get shit for this, but I practice speed and technique on an acoustic, prefferebly with heavy strings and shit action.
 
Life Sucks said:
Does anyone else here that plays guitar sometimes have a problem with playing sloppy? What I mean is for instance, when you are picking a fast metal palm muted metal rhythm, you miss one of the times you pick the string, or it doesn't come out exactly how you intended it for a measure. Sometimes it happens because it feels like the pick gets stuck, when you are moving your wrist so fast. I'm having trouble describing this, but maybe you know what I mean. I find it very frustrating.
Click to expand...
Dude, practice might be the answer but there is another possibility. It could be the way you hold your pick. While the way I hold my pick varies with different style songs, normally for most metal chops, I curl my index finger in to where it pointsback at my hand and grab the pick between my thumb and the side of my finger. For the faster palm muted picking I usually hold the pick at about a 35-45 degree angle with the string.

Bryant
 
hell yes i fluke up sometimes like when im heavy palm muting on the e string while playing intrecitily in the g, d ,and e strings, i sonetimes miss a note or misspick it the best thing to do is slow down practce your up and down picking becuase once you master that than you can play like hell, well at rhythem at least
 
Yes, practice is the main thing here, but what to practice hasen't really been said. I reccomend scales, for a few reasons, they allow you to keep a steady picking pattern with the right hand, but at the same time your left hand is not forgotten, allowing you to develope both hands at the same time. While learning all your scales which will help with song writing and improvisation. And no matter how fast you get, you are never done practicing your scales, you need to keep up the patterns and movements, personally i try to practice atleast 2-3 hours a day, and I dedicate about 1 hour just to scales. It really makes a huge difference, I've only been doing them about half a year, and I have already become fast enough to pull off Zakk Wylde's riffs
 
Also make sure your pick is the right choice for you. Luckily, I noticed that all the sloppiness in my playing was mostly because my choice for pick.

When I changed from Dunlop's nylon picks to Dunlop's 1,00mm gator grips I was suddenly A LOT more accurate and shit. So, especially if you're playing with that piece of nylon crap, make another choice.
 
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