Oh no! I didn't mean it like that dude. Pebber covers nearly damn everything that can possibly be covered on video haha. I meant it in the sense that the topics Pebber talks about have to "become real" to you or "click". Things that can't be covered that come through experience from learning and playing songs 500 times. I'm very interested in what Pebber has to say about the whole left hand muting thing.

edit: Post directed to diego

The previous Troy Stetina thread was a complete and total mess. Thank you for getting rid of it.

P.S. I've been studying your material for the left hand for 4 years now. It doesn't cover everything, but it covers the most important things. It is pure gold. Thank you.

I'll be lurking this thread like a hawk. It's really inspiring to see you go through this tune, I'm certain the end product will be well worth it too. Hopefully we can meet each other in the end but I feel I don't have a firm grasp on simpler jazz standards yet. I am rooting for you dude!

Okay... I'm just going to put it out there now. I do not look for the same things at all as Nick when it comes to guitar playing.

Yeah my last post was mainly for people who feel they have to use tension or force to get a desired attack (a viewpoint I understand all too well because I was stuck in it), hence the focus of their technique practice may be something like: sound > relaxed technique. I've noticed the greatest improvement in my playing when the focus in my practice has been relaxed technique. After that is down then I start to experiment in what sounds and attacks I can get. However, I still personally struggle with the temptation of focusing on how things sound as a first priority when practicing/learning new things.

On a completely different tangent: I'm getting a little confused because I do not relate at all to this warming-up discussion going on. I am good to go the moment my pick hits the strings. Are you guys having problems with being consistent?

That guy is fast as hell. I always find the midi tracks on these picking speed things to be a major annoyance though. On this it seems like the midi is really loud.

Just wanted to give my 2 cents on something that helped me improve my picking hand, take it for what it's worth. What was holding me back in terms of being able to pick in a relaxed/controlled/fast manner was how I held the pick. I didn't realize it at the time but I was over-gripping the pick big time. I could pick fast before and get a really good sounding attack but it came from tension and because of that there was no control. The biggest problem that I was running into while I was transitioning was that the much looser grip on picking was giving me an attack I wasn't happy with. I ended up experimenting with many many different angles and small nuances, and after many months of practice and developing my right hand i was able to get a much better attack with a looser grip and also build a lot of control and consistency. Just thought I'd share since this was one of the most frustrating things about picking for me personally.

The latest thing I have been working on when it comes to picking is relying more on my wrist. That came from watching players like Andy Wood who are all about picking completely from the wrist even for deadly fast runs and it is a beautiful thing to see executed.

Video (The playing specifically @5:41 is mesmerizing)

Okay so I'm going to mainly talk about the two most common vibrato techniques out. Classical and blues. A classical vibrato will pull the note flat and sharp and is achieved by using a side to side motion (left and right) on the string. A blues vibrato will only pull the note sharp and is achieved by using the thumb as leverage to push the string up and down. Both vibrato techniques will be very useful for you to learn because they're great for different things. I'm not going to get to in depth on the motions for sake of space but I can help you out with the blues motion the most. Now that we've established that, I'll be talking about your vibrato next.

Using Pebber's technique will put your hands in a position where your fingertips are curled in and the thumb is behind the neck, It already lends itself to using a classical, side-to-side, vibrato quite well. BUT if you want to be pulling off vibrato like Petrucci, Wylde, Yngwie, Gilbert, and the like you have to switch your grip to the blues grip and use your thumb as leverage; you won't get that sound otherwise.

From what I see in your video is that you're trying to move the string up and down like a blues vibrato but because your left hand grip hasn't changed, you have little control over it. I suspect that is the reason Tom is telling you to stick to a classical vibrato. And he's right, as long your left hand is in that position stick to a classical vibrato. For me, I've had to learn how to switch my hand quickly to a blues grip and back to Pebber's left hand grip quickly so I could have all options at my disposal.

EDIT: Also thank you for the kind words it means a lot bro :)

Cliff your left hand has improved a ton woah! Always strive to make sure the left hand is nice loose and relaxed. Once you have the technique down your hand will feel like a butterfly. Also to mirror what Tom is saying, start looking into building a nice controlled vibrato.