If I sat in one of Pebber's videos and practiced until I could reach his speed....I don't know if I could ever reach it ? I can't guess how fast I could potentially play ? I have no motive to shred right now.
Everyone is different, maybe you just want to shred ? If so, stay in the vids and practice daily until you can reach high speeds. Note: Don't just practice the scales Pebber demos over and over,,,Trill and Spider heavily. After awhile you will see your hand moving all over as if it had its own mind. Also, make sure both of your hands are synced up. What good is a Shawn Lane left hand when you have a Fred Durst right hand.
Overall message: Have a reason for everything you do while practicing guitar.
Do you have a musical reason to play that fast ? I don't have a musical reason to play fast, I pushed my self to the point of getting 300 bpm. After that I have been learning Giant Steps and focusing on that. Giant Steps has a tempo right around 290bpm. However I am not even at that point yet(solo). I am still working on the harmony and melody. Still trying to get the feel out of it. I have been working on the song for about 1 year now (I have only been playing for a little over 2 years).
My point is, do the exercises and ask yourself if you would incorporate it musically(speedwise). You should always trill, spider, etc. But ask yourself how fast you want to go.
That killed me haha...bravo. The problem is I don't think most people understand the amount of effort it takes to be a musician. I know I didn't until I started coming here. Over the course of 2 years I came to the realization on the instant gratification sprectrum, music(for me anyway) is on the complete opposite end of say ..watching a movie. Learning math, computer languages, etc falls somewhere in the middle for me.
After Holdsworth, I asked the people at the table if there was any fusion on Friday. I was told no fusion, but jazz at the highest level with Steve Kuhn. I have not heard of Steve(shame on me). He was there with Billy Drummond and a local bass player filling in. I will admit I don't listen to a lot of straight up jazz, but Steve's shit really hits. One thing that took away slightly from the concert were some fucking dipshits sitting up front and thought appropriate behavior during a quiet jazz set, is to start having a conversation. They shut up real quick as everyone gave them the death stare. I really think that some people out there need to get punched, for their own benefit. Not joking on this, you tell them to be quiet they will, but then the next night same old shit. A good punch followed by the words "Shape Up" with solid eye contact and a solemn tone, may do the person wonders.
I was a lucky lucky man in being able to see Holdsworth, Haslip, Husband perform over in Chicago last Thursday. Words can't explain the state I was in, all of his songs had such a different feel to them live. I found a clip from the show on youtube and wanted to share. After the show, I went over and sat in the bar to have a drink. Holdsworth and Haslip come into the bar and are sitting right across from me on the corner of the bar. I just about said something and then realized it is best to shut the hell up and listen to them. They were having fun. A few minutes later Holdsworth reached out and shook my hand. I spoke with them very briefly about why I like fusion music, where I was from, and my guitar playing(very brief/small conversation). I genuinely thanked them for playing. Just a great evening.
well unable to post (some issue with uploading to my youtube account). anyway, my stats: Did not hit my goal of 60 bpm, i ended up getting a recording done at 50 bpm( i could only get 40 right off the bat ). I ended up with about 4 hours of practice just on this exercise this week.
Lessons learned: minimize pick attack motion what I can expect for improvement in a 1 week timespan. i think in order to get the 60 bpm i would have needed another 12-16 hours on it.
alright, could only do 40 bpm...looking forward to see where I end up at. ......it really is amazing how inconsistent my tone is as well as shitty timing, im glad I am recording more.
Like a kid rushing to catch his early morning Saturday cartoons, I await this weeks picking/lick challenge. It is the first day of a new month and this means my practice routine will incorporate new exercises. I just started doing a month long practice routine rather than 1 week and like the results. With the weekly challenge it will help keep things fresh.
Took me a few days to get just downstrokes and upstrokes playable(only ever do alternate). I think this challenge ends this weekend and my goal is get it clean.
Now I am going to have to listen to those Vai albums, I have been hooked on Erotic Cakes for a few months now.
Anyway I know Marshall Harrison has been talked on here before. I found him doing Giant Steps(what I am slowly working on), it sounds pretty fucking sweet
Here is a vid of the melody of Giant Steps in 3 different positions. Still have a long road ahead of me, but it is fun. I am working on the harmony along with learning some soloing, both of which are to premature to even post. I am getting close to playing the harmony at full speed and once I do I will post no matter how shitty, just so a baseline is out there. The melody still needs more feel to it. My new Takamine P1NC( just love the cutaway )
My practice routine is 1.5 hours a day(I will have more free time starting in February, so I am looking to try and extend my routine to 2 to 2.5 hours a day...will have to see how that works)
10min of trilling 10min of picking 10 min of chromatic 5 min of Shawn Lane Lick
I agree Cliff, I am wary of it right now haha. I am testing this out slowly(1/8 notes at 60 bpm) and I think I have my ears dialed in to when I fuck up. I got the idea of an article I read on multitasking, that there really is no such thing. What you are doing is essentially a new task that involves trilling and reading. This is now a new skill, so like all other skills,,,I am starting out slow and going to see what becomes of it after 2 months. Also with the slow speed I can detect if my fingers are moving to far off the fretboard, my pick attack is overextending, etc.
We are all wired up a little bit different, if after 2 months I think that this is compromising my technique.....goodbye reading...haha.
I have a kindle and can work trilling or module 1 while reading,,,,,very handy. I have the kindle on a music stand and use the other hand to "turn" the page