The musician's playing speed. How do I increase the speed of my electric guitar? Left hand position
In this article we will look at the questions:
How to develop speed when playing the guitar.
At the same time, do not lose the quality and purity of the sound.
What to do if progress is slow
How to achieve perfection when playing speed guitar solos? Many guitarists ask themselves this question. Especially if they do not feel progress, or it is progressing rather slowly.
So how do you learn how to play fast solos and fast parts on the guitar. The answer may seem too simple, but it is:
Play slowly!
And not just slowly, but so slowly that the work sounded smoothly smoothly. The sound produced by the guitarist must be clear and of high quality. There is no sense in speed if the sound production is smeared and contains a lot of extraneous overtones. This is especially audible when playing the electric guitar.
Set the metronome to the lowest tempo and start from there.
You think that progress will diminish. Nothing like this. The more slow pace you take it at the beginning, the faster it will turn out to be achieved when the piece is completely parsed and played.
When does the skill of a guitarist grow?
Only when he focuses on a certain aspect of his game.
Many novice guitarists (the overwhelming majority) think that if you try to play faster, their progress in playing high-speed pieces (and in general as a musician) will go faster.
This is not true. Please note that if you try to play immediately quickly, errors always appear in the same place. And they stay in this place for a long time.
How can a guitarist perform beautiful and clean sounding during fast passages?
There is one good way... Take and bet on the minimum. And you play any piece of music like that for two weeks. And after fourteen days you will not know the quality and speed of your game.
When playing fast solos, do not forget to warm up and rest for your hands.
Especially if you are just starting to play and do not yet fully know all the capabilities of your body.
Warm up your arms before playing the guitar
Give your hands a rest in time
If you feel that your hands are tired, there are unpleasant or even painful sensations (this should absolutely not be allowed). Know you are "overplaying". Be sure to rest your arms until you feel ready to continue working out normally.
When playing the guitar (especially on fast passages) it is very easy to overwork your hands so much that you can be left without a guitar for several months! Don't neglect this advice, especially if you are an aspiring guitarist.
In this short article, we've covered the main useful tips to improve the speed of guitar playing and the purity of sound extraction.
I wish you the best of luck with your guitar learning.
The work on it is useful not only for those who wish to become the fastest guitarist on this planet. Having started play guitar fast, you will feel more relaxed, your fingers will become light and flexible, and your guitar playing will become free. In other words, your fingers will flutter over the strings effortlessly. Development of the speed of the game is an important skill that the guitarist should work on and improve on. To save you from sudden disappointment, I will say right away - this is, first of all, hard work and patience, and only then - admiring glances of busty beauties.
In order to learn play guitar fast it is important not only to work on this, but also to practice according to the correct method, otherwise you will spend days, months, possibly years of your own life, but you will not achieve the desired result - to increase the speed of playing the guitar.
How to develop the speed of playing the guitar?
Most aspiring guitarists on a long and thorny journey face a wide variety of obstacles, while the following tips will help you overcome the most common ones.
First, as paradoxical as it sounds, take your time. Remember that even Olympic running champions once, as children, started walking slowly, gradually developing their skills. Most novice guitarists try to play quickly, but in the end they only get an awkward, sloppy set of sounds that can hardly be called music. Therefore, you should not run in front of the locomotive.
To learn play guitar fast, start slowly, gradually increasing the speed. Make sure to also attach the correct ( if you are right handed). Do not accelerate until you feel that you are playing each note correctly, cleanly, and without discomfort.
Play your guitar with alternating strokes
One of the key points game speed development on the guitar is the use of a variable stroke. There are other techniques that allow play guitar fast, for example - sweep, but it is the variable stroke that is the simplest, but, at the same time, effective method which will significantly increase the speed of your guitar playing... The essence of the alternating stroke is as follows: you hit the string with a pick from top to bottom (towards the floor), then from bottom to top (towards the ceiling). Thus, instead of making an extra movement each time, bringing the pick over the string, you make another sound, and the speed of your guitar playing, respectively, doubles.
Use a metronome
Despite the fact that the use of the metronome has been described more than once in our previous articles, I will not fail to note that a prerequisite for fast guitar playing is the correct rhythm, evenness, if you will. This is precisely the point of playing with the metronome, because you want to play not only quickly, but also legibly and accurately. You can buy a metronome, for a reasonable price, in any music store, You can also successfully and perfectly.
Avoid Excessive Stress
At first, when trying increase the speed of playing the guitar, your fingers are likely to feel a lot of tension. Feeling tense will significantly slow down your playing speed, so try to relax as you play your guitar. Working on the development of the speed of playing the guitar, do not let your hands get too tired, otherwise, instead of the expected result, you will pick up some kind of joint disease. You should not practice for several hours in a row. If you feel pain or excessive tension in your fingers, wrists, hands, shoulders, or back, immediately take a break.
Play fast
Once your guitar playing level allows you to play each note cleanly, correctly, and comfortably, try increase the speed of the game... Play faster, maybe even a little faster than you think possible. This process can be compared to lifting weights. If you try to lift too much weight, you will, after a little rest, move on to a lighter load, and, with surprise, you will find that it is lighter than before.
The same is true in deeds. development of the speed of playing the guitar... Sometimes you need to speed up the metronome, and speed up yourself more than usual, so that then, returning to your usual pace, you can feel your own progress.
At the same time, keep practicing your guitar slowly, as playing slowly develops clarity and accuracy. Fast play promotes speed development.
Analyze your guitar playing
Analyze your own play during each session. Draw conclusions. Observe the position of your hands. Fix mistakes. Pay attention to the elements that are not working out for you. Be creative - modify the exercises you know and come up with new ones to fix these problems.
For example, if your ring finger and pinky are too weak to accelerate, think of an exercise for those two fingers to develop their speed to the desired level.
Record your activities on video
Videotaping your activities is a great way to see the sides of yourself ( analyze) and evaluate your own progress in development of the speed of playing the guitar... Acceptable video quality ( will fit almost any phone or tablet) will allow you to assess the correct hand position and posture while playing the guitar. You will be able to see some points that you usually do not notice.
Also, comparing a recently filmed video with a recording two or three months ago, you will personally see how much your guitar playing speed.
Exercise regularly
As I already said, development of the speed of playing the guitar- it's not a matter of one day. To play really fast, you need to practice for months, even years, but if you are working on the speed of playing the guitar right, the results will not be long in coming, and, after a few weeks or months, your fingers are much faster and more flexible than before, which will also significantly raise your overall the level of playing the guitar.
So…
Regular exercise is very important. If you are on a limited time basis, even fifteen minutes of daily guitar practice will be more beneficial than daily bullying on the weekends.
The main thing is not the time spent on the classes, but their quality. Remember this. At the same time, exercise regularly.
Guitar Speed Exercises
Three notes per string
These are pretty basic, but nonetheless effective exercise that can be used to warm up before playing the guitar, to develop the speed of the game and also as an element fast guitar solo... To enlarge the image. click on it with the left mouse button.
Exercise 1 (Key Em (E minor)
Exercise 2.
Exercise 2 is also played on the 5th (A) and 4th (D) strings, then another string down, and so on.
Exercise 3.
Repeat exercise 3, moving fret forward on the neck of the guitar. For example the next step would be 2-3-5 on the 6th (E) and 2-4-5 on the 5th (A) strings.
Note : Common Tablature Exercises
Guitar Speed Exercise (Part 1, 2)
Tom Hess
Source: tomhess.net
Part 1. How to do to develop maximum speed
The boundaries of this topic are too broad to be able to cover everything in one article. After receiving hundreds of requests for advice on developing speed, it seems like it is high time to write an article on this topic. Teaching advanced players to reach the level of a virtuoso is a very rewarding and enjoyable process for me (I am sure, as for most teachers who teach highly advanced students).
Typical student question: What particular strategy should I use to improve speed development?
While my answer may vary from person to person, depending on what I know about that person's current abilities and goals (among other things), I tend to recommend different variations of the following strategy:
Stage 1: When you start learning new technique, determine (of course, use a metronome) your maximum speed at which you can play cleanly. Write this speed down on paper.
Stage 2: Practice at 20% -35% of your maximum speed. Do this for 5 consecutive sessions of your practice. Resist the temptation to play faster at this stage. Make sure you play everything very cleanly. There should be NO excessive tension anywhere in your hands, arms, wrists, shoulders, neck, head or anywhere else.
Be careful not to make unnecessary or unnecessary movements with both hands. For some guitarists, this first step is boring. You MUST remain patient with yourself and your practice all the time. It is very important! If you skip this step, you will most likely teach your hands to play incorrectly, ineffectively, and to no avail. At this stage, you develop the proper muscle memory for this technique.
If you are currently studying with an excellent guitar teacher, your progress will be much faster, easier, and better than if you are trying to do it all yourself. Once you get the hang of Stage 2, you can move on to Stage 3, but not before! I said above that you should practice this stage for 5 consecutive sessions of your practice. This is just a general guideline, after the fifth session, evaluate your progress. If you have not made it through this step, keep doing 20% -35% before moving on to Stage 3.
Stage 3: Practice at 50% of your maximum speed. Do this for 3 consecutive sessions of your practice. Again, make sure you continue to play very cleanly. Play in a relaxed manner without any tension in your hands, arms, wrists, shoulders, neck, etc. Make sure you don't make unnecessary or unnecessary movements with both hands. Do not go further until you have mastered this step (this may take more than 3 sessions, but DO NOT move further into Stage 4 before the Stage 3 sessions).
Stage 4: Practice 60-65% of your maximum speed. Do this for 3 consecutive sessions of your practice. And again, with complete relaxation and economy of movement (no unnecessary movements).
Stage 5: Practice at 80% of your maximum speed. Do this for 5 consecutive sessions of your practice.
Stage 6: Practice at 85% of your maximum speed for the next (1) session of your practice only.
Stage 7: Practice at 90% of your maximum speed for the next 10 practice sessions.
Stage 8: DRILL IT! TOTALLY RIPPIN (translation - 100% game) during the whole week!
Stage 9: After this week, determine what your new maximum speed is (it will be higher than the one you recorded in Stage 1).
Stage 10: At this stage, you will alternate every 3 sessions of activities like: Session 1 = 60%. Session 2 = 85%. Session 3 = 95%. At the end of each session, SLAM IT (100%) for a few minutes.
Once a week, measure your new maximum speed and adjust the speed of your metronome accordingly.
Warning: NEVER play / practice the guitar in pain. You could be seriously injured. This is not a joke, I personally know people who had to do wrist and hand surgery!
Part 2. Strategy for building speed
Please make sure you read Part 1 before following the advice offered here in Part 2... Here I propose a completely different approach to increasing the speed of the game, compared to the one described in Part 1, but this new system will not work well for you until you master the skills of playing clean and tidily at a slow pace (this is very important).
Unfortunately, the first system described in Part 1, takes several weeks to complete, and the one below can be completed in one practice session. However, this new approach is not a replacement for the method from Part 1 rather, it is an addition to the practice process, intended for more experienced guitarists.
My system "Pyramid"
For example, you can play a certain technique with a 100 beats (beats per minute-bpm) metronome tempo cleanly and evenly. Let's also assume that your goal is to play this technique at 200 beats per minute.
Do warm-up exercises during:
15 minutes in winter
10 minutes in spring or autumn
5 minutes in summerPlay at 60 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 75 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 90 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 105 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 120 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 135 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 150 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 165 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 195 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 180 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 210 bpm for 2-3 minutes
As you may have noticed, starting this program will be easy if you are already playing it with no problems at 100 bpm. But it will be absolutely impossible to play well in the later stages of the program. Play it anyway! Yes, I know it will sound just awful, there will be a sea of dirt, noise and other musical chaos. Do not worry about it while doing this program because you will not be doing this on a daily basis.
The Pyramid is based on two main things:
1. (most importantly!) It trains your brain to be as fast as possible (even if it’s played sloppy right now) for you. What you will do is important as psychological training. Achieving high speed (as with many other aspects of music) is made more difficult by psychological rather than physical limitations.
2. This allows your hands to move faster than during normal daily activities (even if the movements are blurry, and this is not something you can insert when recording your next solo),
Most of the difficulty in developing speed arises as a result of synchronization problems between the right and left hands - lack of speed usually does not come from the fact that you cannot move your hands fast enough, but because of the problem of hand synchronization. Therefore, your activities are usually limited to the practice of synchronization (that is, you play mainly at those speeds at which you can play with clear synchronization, and not trying to reach maximum speed as such (even if you do not notice it).
Improving your timing skills will improve your overall technique, but you really won't train your hands to move much faster than you can now ...
This system will fix everything. I apologize for repeating the same point, but this is really important. This system is a supplement, not a replacement for normal activities.
Warning: Since this exercise system is extremely stressful for your fingers, hands, wrists and hands, you should avoid any pain while exercising. If you feel pain while exercising, you should immediately stop playing and rest before practicing it again.
Never play with pain or extreme stress on your muscles or ligaments. Follow this rule to avoid long-term health problems. Also, be sure to warm up thoroughly before starting your intensive classes (especially if you are doing my Pyramid program!).
When I told my metal friends that I was going to Greg Howe's workshop, they looked at me in bewilderment. It turned out that they did not know who he was. Why hide, when I went to the Central House of Artists, I myself did not know who he was. All I knew was that he was a famous fusion guitar virtuoso who played as a session guitarist for many Western pop stars. Imagine what my surprise was when I learned that Greg Howe is a mulatto. Moreover, quite young (not older than 40). And he's a really cool guitarist, but first things first.
They began to launch into the hall at about fifteen minutes past seven. At the entrance, visitors could take the Music Box magazine for free (in my opinion, a great promotion). Since I was in the CHA for the first time, I will describe my impressions of the cinema and concert hall. Small room, all seats are seated. There is a screen behind the stage, a projector on the ceiling. Cozy and warm environment.
The hall is sold out. There are practically no vacancies. There are mainly musicians in the hall (well, who else needs master classes?). There is famous people- Vladimir Kholstinin from Aria and the keyboard player of the Valkyrie. Unfortunately, I did not notice the guitarists from the club scene, apparently, they also do not know who Greg Howe is. Or maybe they do, but they think that the rock guitarist will not show them anything interesting.
There is a chair on the stage, next to it a guitar and related equipment. Greg Howe enters the stage at 6:34 pm. He is dressed simply - in sneakers, washed washed jeans and a white T-shirt with the ESP logo. It was ESP, together with Music Box magazine, that organized this master class.
At first, Greg played a difficult solo, some of which was probably improvised. The musician's playing speed is impressive. The sound of the guitar is mesmerizing. I don’t know how he managed to achieve such an iridescent and melodic sound, but it was damn nice to listen to. By the way, the musician's hands were projected onto the screen behind his back, so even from the last row it was possible to follow Greg's playing technique. Having played enough, Greg pressed a button on a box lying on a nearby chair, and the soundtrack started playing. Hmmm, guitar playing with drum backing is much more interesting to listen to than a clean guitar solo. However, Howe did not play so much, he spent much more time answering questions. Greg answered questions cheerfully, with humor. I communicated with the public through an interpreter who, as far as I understood, did not understand all the questions and answers. By the way, a serious omission of the organizers was that the listeners had to ask questions without a microphone, and often even the translator did not hear them. So, about Greg Howe's sense of humor. After the translator translated the musician's response, Greg would often exclaim: “I didn’t say that!” (I didn't say that! - English). This will be followed by short review questions asked by the audience and answers to them. Due to the fact that I myself do not play the guitar, I will not cover questions about the playing technique. Yes, they practically did not ask such questions.
Why are your strings set low?
GH: It's easier this way.
You played with such a technical musician as Cosmo (sorry if you misspelled the last name). How do two guitarists of such a high class interact on stage?
GH: I don't know.
What kind of pick do you play, medium or hard?
GH: I haven't decided yet, so I play with both.
Play a solo from the '89 album.
GH: I have no idea what solo you mean, but there is no difference since all my solos are the same.
Everything I do is mostly improvisation. I don’t remember what I’m doing.
In general, you see for yourself, it is very difficult to get anything out of this guitarist. But there were also questions that Greg answered.
Are you planning to release video schools?
GH: Yes, my video tutorials should come out in the middle of summer. There will be two courses. One for technique, the other for improvisation.
Why do you play ESP guitars?
GH: I like their guitars. The company is open for cooperation, and we are working on my guitar together. She has already approached the ideal in my understanding.
Will you continue to work with Cupri?
GH: Not likely.
What, were there any problems?
GH: No, there were no problems. It was just that it was originally planned that I would only produce the album, but in the end I had to play. In fact, this kind of music is not for me.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
GH: From playing other musicians. The most boring thing is when one musician sounds like another. I like the novelty. I also draw inspiration from traveling around different places, From the movies. Yes from anything! For example, you watch MTV, you see some pop artist and you think, "What a cool trick, why not use it?"
Will you come to Russia with concerts and are you going to record an album with your brother?
GH: I would love to come. The main thing is to find a place to perform. My brother has a long story.
What is the difference between working in a studio and in a concert?
GH: There are more emotions at the concert, you can improvise. I love the support from the public. It's harder to work in the studio. Sometimes you have to do up to thirty takes to get a result that suits you.
What kind of guitarists do you listen to?
GH: Almost everyone. I like Ska Hendersen (?), The guy from Limp Bizkit, ...
Don't you think that fusion is dying, that it has exhausted itself?
GH: No, it doesn't seem. He was always dead.
How is your creative process going?
GH: Differently. Sometimes the song is born in the process of improvisation, sometimes the song is just formed in the head. Sometimes you wake up and you have a fully formed composition in your head with parts of guitar, drums and bass.
How do you feel about alcohol and drugs?
GH: I don't drink before or during the show. Afterwards I drink like most rock musicians. I have never used drugs. I'm afraid to get hooked on them. The fact is that I am already addicted to smoking. I started smoking, as my favorite musicians smoked, and quickly got used to it.
By the way, this issue has been recognized the best question evening, and the person who asked him received a T-shirt as a gift.
Have you adopted techniques from non-guitarists?
GH: Constantly. Perhaps I even took most of the techniques from them. Sometimes you listen and think: “Why don't I try this? How would that sound on a guitar? " And when you listen to a guitarist, you just see the neck of the guitar in your mind, and how he plays it.
How much time per day do you spend on training?
GH: Now, if I'm lucky, I'll work out for an hour. But in my Lately the "telephone ability" increases, so often I have to work on the phone.
How long did it take to record your last album?
GH: The songs were written in a month, and the recording took a long time, in two sessions. I had some problems.
We also learned that:
- Greg often uses the technique: "going up a semitone and returning back."
- He trains using a drum machine.
- For a quick play, he clamps two or three lower strings with his index finger, and works along the same strings with the middle and ring fingers of the same hand. It seems like there are two guitarists playing.
When asked if he played with Enrique Iglesias, Greg played something Latin. He also played a bit of the blues.
It all ended at 20:21.
In general, in my opinion, the master class was a success. Although, it was more like a press conference, since there were practically no technical issues.
I am grateful to Anastasia Bakhmeteva (Music Box) for the accreditation provided.
& nbsp & nbsp & nbsp Date of publication: October 25, 2011
The shape and thickness of the pick plays an important role when playing with a variable stroke. Many novice guitarists cannot use a thick pick, while more experienced guitarists cannot use a thin one. It's all about the speed difference. When your speed is low enough (70-80 BPM), and your technique leaves much to be desired (large range of motion, there is no synchronization between the left hand and the right), then you need a flexible, plastic pick, the springy properties of which will smooth out the shortcomings of the technique. And at first, playing with such a pick is much easier than playing with a fat one. On the other hand, if you play at a speed of 130-150 UVM, a thin pick simply will not have time to bend in time and the game will go to hell. I would advise starting with a thickness of 0.5-0.8 millimeters and gradually working up to 2-3.
As for the angle at which to hold the pick, there is again no consensus. Troy Stetina - one of the most famous teachers in the field of playing the electric guitar advises to hold the pick at a right angle. Andy James, another equally respected teacher who is often seen in video schools from LickLibrary, says that you need to hold the pick at an angle of 30-45 degrees in relation to the strings. Ultimately, it all depends on how comfortable it is for YOU to play. Of course, you cannot take a pick by the very edge and count on success. You need to firmly squeeze it between your fingers, leaving the very tip free. There are many examples of how guitarists have achieved amazing results by pinching the pick between their thumb and middle finger. This is all quite individual and depends mainly on personal preference. Here is another confirmation of this - there are two completely opposite methods of setting the right hand. A guitarist like Michael Angelo plays with one or two fingers resting on the body of the guitar just below the first string. And, for example, Buckethead holds the brush in weight. Both have amazing techniques and therefore I cannot recommend either method - you choose.
As for the left hand, make sure that your thumb does not protrude too much from the bar. And let the rest of your fingers hover one or a maximum of two centimeters above the bar and be ready to clamp the right fret at the right time. This is especially true for the little finger - it is he who most often and further away from the neck than all other fingers.
Before starting the exercises, it does not hurt to warm up. Remember that bright future, when your speed reaches 120 and higher - never play without warming up. It's like in sports - not warming up the ligaments and joints, you can damage them. Enough unpleasant sensation, I confess ... After that, for a week or two, you can completely forget about playing the guitar, as it causes unbearable pain. What can you advise? First, rub the fingers of both hands well. Start from the base and gradually massage your finger towards the nail. Secondly, close your fingers in the lock and bend in the opposite direction several times. Finally, just shake your hands, clench into a fist and unclench with force - now you are definitely not in danger of stretching your joints. All this can be done without the name of the guitar at hand, for example, on the way to the rehearsal, especially in winter, when hands, freezing in the cold, are not capable of productive work.
Here are a couple of other good warm-up exercises. Remember the previous lesson? There we talked about external and internal strokes. The first exercise is designed to improve them. Moving from the top (in height) strings to the bottom, you work out the outer stroke. Moving in the opposite direction - internal. It is very important to always pay attention to your weaknesses. If you notice that, say, the external touch is given to you simply, but with internal problems (most often this is the case), then pay more attention to the second part of the exercise. Repeat this exercise until you reach the top frets. Then you can play its mirrored copy down.
The second exercise is designed to practice such an important skill as jumping over strings. An experienced guitarist has a feel for the neck and always knows where his pick is. This is one of the many things that sets him apart from a beginner. Try to perfect this exercise. At first, even without the metronome - here it is not so important. Just feel the distance that you need to cover from one string to another.
Well, it's time to move on to speed exercises. And the first of them will be a looping pattern in C major, an excellent feature of which is its looping :) That is, you can play it in a circle indefinitely. Start with 70-80 beats per minute and work your way up to 100. In the last lesson, I talked about a training method in which you reach your maximum, when you can no longer play without dirt, then slow down and slowly increase it again. There is another way, which also brings good results. You can, just a little short of the maximum speed, go in the opposite direction. Returning to where you started - repeat the whole process. Why can't you reach the maximum? Because in this case your strength will run out and every time, despite the fact that you reduce the speed, dirt will be present in the game.
The next exercise is again a looped chromatic pattern. These patterns are great for developing right hand endurance. For the left hand (I know from experience) endurance is not too important - here it is important to develop plasticity, independence of the fingers. For the right, the opposite is true. Making the same, monotonous movements, right hand gets tired very quickly. It is in order to avoid this that endurance is needed. Just play for a long time at a slow speed. And, despite the fact that at first glance it seems that this activity is meaningless, it is not. Ultimately, your right arm still gets tired, and at the same time, its stamina increases. Such an exercise will be much more useful than a thoughtless minute "rubilov" at maximum speeds.
The next exercise will be your first finger independence exercise. As you can see, it, like the previous two, is located on the top two strings. Don't be limited to this! Play everything in all five variations (first strings second, second-third, third-fourth, fourth-fifth, fifth-sixth).
Below is a similar exercise, only it does not involve the ring finger, but the middle one. Don't forget what we talked about in the first lesson. It is necessary to alternate between playing on a clean sound and on distortion, it is necessary to play economically, it is necessary to play with a metronome, etc.
So. In this lesson, you have made significant progress. I advise you to reach the speed of 100-105 UVM (7 notes per second) before moving on to the next lesson. There we will proceed to more complex passages that will cover all the strings, and sometimes the entire neck. Good luck!