Hi from Switzerland

Introduce Yourself
#1

Hi all.
Having started as a kid with classical guitar, I started subsequently to play electric guitar at around the age of 15. Unfortunately, I stopped when I was around 20. However, that was in the 80’s…I restarted to play guitar about 3 years ago after a 20 years break…However, musically, I am still attracted to all these 80s shred stuff, still being fascinated about all that speed and virtuosity which I never could attain.
However, restarting to practice, I was following the advice by some guy in the internet who recommended to practice and master just one thing but that to perfection. So, literally, I was practicing 1-2-4 on one string for about 4 months…nothing else…all that got me was a lot of tension and frustration and still to date I am struggeling to play 1-2-4…it seems I got some bad habits in my muscle memory. My right hand is doing quite well but I have problems to bring my left hand up to speed and find synchronisation (although I understand the concept of chunking)…not sure if I need to work more on what Troy calls “the athletic aspect”, finger independence whatsoever…any advice would be highly welcome…btw. currently working on the pop tarts lick…using DWPS of course…at least I got it to around 110 bpm which is already quite good for me…

Overall, I really like to thank Troy and his team for the great work and scientifc approach which I like very much (having a PhD in chemistry…;-))

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#2

Welcome Sichti! Don’t worry as everyone here has been or is or will be frustrated with their playing at one point in time haha. I’ve discovered that certain licks that are easy for others are hard for me and vice versa. You were trained with a different style and so you must learn as a newbie if you will a new style. No matter how good Gary Moore may have been at the blues, it doesn’t mean he could have automatically played some Al di Meola off the bat you know? Have you considered getting a guitar teacher? I recently got a new guitar teacher after almost 15 years and I am grateful I did. He or she can help you spot things otherwise you couldn’t see. With that being said, the members here are one big family and if you post any critique videos in the technique forums they will go above and beyond to help. If you check my DWPS request I have had amazing replies from members all over the world here. Really fantastic bunch of people.

Bottom line, dont beat yourself up (I’m super guilty of that), get a teacher ASAP, and post videos on this site, you got the best members around…

GOOD LUCK and all the best- BB

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#3

Thanks for the encouraging words and advice BullseyeBrutality!
Unfortunately, never really considered to get a teacher…but probably will give it a shot as we had recently a new so called “school of rock” here opened in town (Basel)…there should be some good teachers around.
I guess for now I will start with posting a video (which I was not even aware that you could do so…:roll_eyes:…)…

Again thanks so much!
Sichti

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#4

It’s my pleasure Sichti! Having a teacher is incredibly important.

#1. MOTIVATION. He or she will drive you or should drive you to practice every day and be a better guitarist. Not for ego but for the love of the instrument.

#2. Guitar is a funny beast. When you play a piano the keys are fixed. Depending on how hard you press the keys, subtleties, etc. it can get complicated. But IMO not like guitar. Forget all of the techniques we have, just look at this forum and what @Troy has built here. The science behind picking is unbelievable and for playing since I was a kid, I never knew about all this until recently. With that being said, definitely post and upload videos. Once you are steered in the right technical direction, you can more intelligently find the right guitar teacher. I’ve had some fun conversations with @Frylock (who also is chalk full of technical insights and a great guy) about having the wrong guitar teacher growing up (all I wanted to do was play Metallica and my mom stuck me with an old jazz guitar teacher lol). It will slow down at best and at worst hurt your playing over time.

#3. If any teacher you meet tells you “this is the only way to do xyz” RUN.

#4. Make sure that every lesson you have is tailored to you. Aside from scales and the like, if a teacher hands you a stock lesson plan, move on. Your style and your playing is unique and should be treated as such.

Best!

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#5

Thanks for the advice!

I am fully with you with your comments on guitar teachers…also, very often you see great players that are very poor in teaching…I just watched the Teemu Mäntysaari Interview…very inspiring as I find him an extraordinary player AND teacher, this combination is probably hard to find…at least in the place where I live…

Definitely, looking forward to posting a video and get some feedback from all you guys that will hopefully provide more insights onto my journey to reach a level to play some decent shred stuff!

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#6

Hey, welcome to the forum! Yeah, that whole “practice one single exercise for months til its perfect” method definitely runs counter to what we’d advise! For one, given what we’ve learned about motor learning and practice, it can be beneficial to mix it up and alternate practicing several different things (see: ‘random practice’ or ‘interleaved practice’). And secondly, we think it’s important to play things in actual musical context, so you’re not just learning isolated exercises but putting technique into practice with the things you actually want to play.

Have you watched our “Intro to Picking Motion” broadcast? We recommend starting there to learn about the various common picking movements. Try them all, then pick one (whichever is most comfortable / close to what you do currently is fine) and practice that for a while, trying to get it pretty consistent at your maximum speed. You can watch through the Pickslanting Primer as well for more. After you’ve been practicing per the above for a couple weeks, please feel free to post video if you have questions / would like some feedback!

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#7

Hi Brendan!
Thanks for the feedback! Indeed, after that frustrating experience with “practicing one single exercise”, I searched the internet for other approaches and that was when I also found the cracking the code site. Initially, I thought, it might not be too helpful for me at that point as the main focus is on the string switching mechanics and I could not even play fast on a single string with synchronisation. Nevertheless, that picking motion overview was quite helpful and I changed my motion mechanics from elbow to a more wrist based approach that I have now developed over the past six months (isolating right and left hand). I can play 16 notes at around 140 bpm (short bursts even faster) with my right hand only…however, as said still struggeling to work in my left hand and find synchronisation. I planned to work also some more on the 6 note pattern that Troy recommended to start with in “pickslanting primer” but I am somehow afraid that I might do too much then again of one single exercise and find myself in the same situation as two years ago with exercising that 1-2-4 thing too much…so definitely want to have a decent amount of variation in my practice time…

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#8

You got it… Don’t forget the power of video and Skype! Lots of great teachers around the USA and world that can do Skype lessons too. While the internet has sadly made bieber and auto tune wildly popular, it has connected us all. Use it to your advantage :slight_smile:

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