tips for playing guitar after a long absence

[antiheroinc]

since ive been travelling for nearly a year and a half I havent been able to play guitar, I just picked up my guitar and fuck i'm atrocious now
any tips for picking speed and accuracy back up?

 

[TheDriller]

I had a similar experience not long ago, couldn't play guitar for a few months because my hands were in bandages. tips:

-Start slowly, don't get ahead of yourself, maybe learn some rock or punk songs to get back into the swing of things.

-Practice to a metronome always to re-develop your sense of timing.

-Take this "Slow Practice" time to learn/re-learn scale shapes and modes all over the fretboard, then you can work on your picking technique at the same time.


Aside from that its just all about regular practice.

 

[Flat Fifth Fury]

Don't assume that you can play like you used to. Just because your head knows how to play something doesn't compensate for the loss of muscle memory. You need to spend a few days or weeks going back to your various exercises to get your hands to remember how to do things.

I took 4 years off a long time ago and my chops were horrible but it forced me to play simpler and more melodic things while I got my dexterity back. Was the best musical thing I ever did.

 

[_Protoss_]

Yea. Your muscles are weak, so don't forget about it. You have to warm up
and stretch your muscles before and after the practice (Do the stretching excersises from John Petrucci's Rock Discipline)
It's easy to "think" that you can play like before when your muscles are
warm, but if you abuse it, you can get a tendinitis, so, start very very slow at minimum for two weeks.

 

[Jind]

While I've been playing guitar for probably 28 year of my 42 years of existence I can truly only say I've played for about 12 of those as I've been known to take extensively long breaks from music in general. Each and every time it's like starting all over again. The worst part about it is that while it takes time to get your good chops back, it seems like all the bad habits you have had over the years come right back immediately 10 fold. Just take it slow, find a good practice routine and stick to it - if you try to do too much too soon you will get discouraged and fall backwards. As noted, break that metronome out immediately and use it religiously. I actually broke out my Troy Stetina "Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar" last time and acted like I was a complete newb and went through it slowly and methodically to get some speed and accuracy back. I also always break out Petrucci's "Rock Discipline" video every time I come back. Rhythm chops always seem to come back quicker for me - I think I was really meant to be a drummer in another life so it seems to be naturally easier.

Just go slow and don't get discouraged.

 

[rino655]

i feel ya man. I go months sometimes without jamming because Im at school and then i come back to lay some ideas down and I sound like tom delonge in his prime.

 

[antiheroinc]

UPDATE: been getting back into guitar the last couple of days, was sketchy yesterday, then BOOM! today i was playing through both "Continent" and "The Dead Walk" by The Acacia Strain. weird, somehow i knew it even though i've never played it before :s

 

[amarshism]

-0-0-0----0-0-0--
-1-1-1----1-1-1--

repeat.

Lol

 

[Saculus]

----------------------------------1-----2---3-4-3---2-----1--------
--------------------------1-----2-----3---4-------4---3-----2-----1
------------------1-----2-----3-----4-------------------4-----3----
-----------1----2-----3-----4-----------------------------------4--
-----1---2----3-----4----------------------------------------------
-1-2---3----4------------------------------------------------------ etc..

 

[antiheroinc]

-0-0-0----0-0-0--
-1-1-1----1-1-1--

repeat.

Lol

exactly haha. read my mind

are you still camping in the studio? gone nuts yet?

 

[ttrentt]

get back into playing using any pattern and do it 100% to a metronome.

I also use a "stylus" pick. Best invention ever for speed picking skills.

 

[ndrewoods]

since ive been travelling for nearly a year and a half I havent been able to play guitar, I just picked up my guitar and fuck i'm atrocious now
any tips for picking speed and accuracy back up?

Regular practice would be the common answer. Try remembering the songs that you used to play, start with easy to intermediate one. Don't push yourself into getting back at playing in just few months. It's just a matter of time, and of course, practice.

 

[Terminus]

----------------------------------1-----2---3-4-3---2-----1--------
--------------------------1-----2-----3---4-------4---3-----2-----1
------------------1-----2-----3-----4-------------------4-----3----
-----------1----2-----3-----4-----------------------------------4--
-----1---2----3-----4----------------------------------------------
-1-2---3----4------------------------------------------------------ etc..

This, until your hand hurts. Every day for the next ten years.

 

[aytchster]

You can shake off the rust by making sure you warm up before playing, it ALWAYS makes you play better.

Do chromatics in different patterns, like:

| 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
| 1 - 3 - 2 - 4
| 1 - 4 - 3 - 2
| 1 - 4 - 2 - 3

Do it as slow as you need to, and build it up as you go. Don't turn off the metronome.

My best practice when I'm training for muscle (symmetrical shapes without focus on much scales) comes from having a metronome on through a headset and playing in 10 to 20 mins increments.

A practice routine that'll get you back in the zone and even move forward is:

10 mins - Chromatics and warm up
20 mins - Alternate Picking
20 mins - Economy Picking

This will get you well in shape, and you can do those separately through your day when you have the time. Once you're warmed up you remain warmed up until you sleep so you can warm up and then play hours later as long as you haven't slept your muscles are still ready to rowk.

I use this routine and it works magic for my tastes and keeps me tight.

Hope this helps.
Hadi