I don't know what to practice

Playing Technique
#1

Hi, I recently got an urge to improve the technical side of my playing and I’m wondering what should I practice. I can pretty comfortably tremolo pick using elbow motion (~184 bpm 16th notes when playing precise, I can pick faster but lose precision), also I can pick using DSX wrist motion in lower tempos (~152 bpm 16th notes) and I think I managed to get the USX wrist motion when playing around 140 bpm 16th notes.

I’m thinking about what to practice. Also I’d like to do a technique critique, but I don’t know what to record. Any advice would be appreciated.

#2

It sounds like you have some of the basics already. If your DSX motion is consistent and goes fast, the next step is to get the hands working together on simple phrases, to make sure hand sync is working at speeds faster than where you can mentally focus on individual notes. The Yngwie six-note pattern is a classic that we like to use for this purpose:

Can you do this one fast on a single string yet? If not, give it a shot and film it, and make a TC with the results. We’re happy to take a look.

If you * can * do this, then you’re ready to move on to musical practice. The Metronomic Rock seminar is designed exactly for you – DSX players looking for cool stuff to work on:

So, two options. TC for help with hand sync. Or MR-DSX for working on cool phrases with your DSX technique. Let me know if that helps!

1 Like
#3

I can pick 16th note triplets at 130 (or to be more precise, 16th notes at 163, the equivalent, because for some reason I can’t really play triplets at high tempos) but my fretting hand is a lot slower. What should I record then?

edit: I can do 195 pretty well, not super precise but definitely fast enough and the hand doesn’t get tired fast

#4

You’re in good hands with the man himself, but I just wanted to add:

16th note triplets at 130 equals 16ths at 195.

An easy way to translate 6 notes per beat to an equivalent speed four is by figuring out notes per second. Sextuplets (a single beat of 6 16th note triplets, if you like) just requires you to put a decimal before the last number: 130 becomes 13.0, 13 notes per second.

For 16ths, just start by remembering that 16ths @ 150 is 10 notes per second, and an additional note per second is attained in 15bpm increments: 165 is 11nps, 180 is 12, 195 is 13, and so on.

You can get a little “mathier” if you want: notes per beat X tempo / 60 = notes per second, but I like my method for quick and dirty conversions.

2 Likes
#5

That’s the exact same method I’ve been using for ages :slight_smile:

1 Like
#6

alright, for some reason I thought you just multiply the bpm by 4/3

#7

I just multiple by 1.5. 130 * 1.5 is 195. That’s probably what you did initialy I assume.

I hate notes per second. Nobody knows how to play .5 of a note. But an experienced metal player can definitely learn the difference between tempos like 220 and 230 bpm, even though they are very close in notes per second. I go for tempos!

#8

I just noticed I multiplied 130 by 4/3 wrong :laughing:
that’s what I get for doing maths in my head

#9

OUTRAGEOUS! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Isn’t that what Rusty was doing in the Blues Gilbert Skips? :smiley:

1 Like
#10

Don’t make it more complicated than it is!
You might get bored if you think too much about it and lose interest for guitar.
Here’s what I recommend you to do:

  1. Think about what you want to achieve on guitar (is it extremely fast alternate picking a la Al Di Meola? is it extreme chord fluency a la Tommy Emmanuel? or is it fast legato (hammeron/pulloff) a la AllanHoldsworth/Guthrie Govan?
  2. When you find out which one of these things you want to improve, do this:

Start listening to your favourite musicians and your favourite licks from them.
Learn them PERFECTLY with or without a metronome (works differently for each one of us, although metronome helps you become a lot more rhytmically solid)

  1. I HIGHLY advise to NOT practice your usual exercises for guitar unless it’s for warming up because in the long run it’s going to make you sound very robotic.
    there’s a reason why you hear guys like allan holdsworth and yngwie say they never practice (actually they did! but they didn’t do it in a repetitive way that causes you to become a boring player; they always thought of music. yngwie used to play ritchie blackmore solos over and over again all day long until he broke a string. it is repetitive but he was practicing MUSIC! not a pattern.)

anyway this is my 2 cents, i’ve been playing for 2-3 years with some long breaks. not a veteran of guitar by any means.
i love music more than i love guitar, and guitar is my tool to make music.

2 Likes
#11

For everyone that wants a super easy way to know how to find equivalent subdivision speeds, I got you:

https://metricmodulationcalculator.com/subdivision/

#12

Alright, I just opened a TC if anyone wants to take a look