Left hand synchronization issues

Playing Technique
#1

So…I’ve been a lurker here for quite a while, on/off Mechanics subscriber (as finances permit). I’ve experimented with the different motion mechanics, and found a few that work. Luckily, I do not, as far as I can tell, have an issue with string-hopping, just gauging by feel and what I can see. I contributed to the kickstarter, so whenever things are sorted out with that, and it ships, I’ll be able to use the magnet to investigate this further. I do not feel like my issue, at the moment, is my picking hand, but is the fretting hand, and synchronization. I’d like advice or some clarification on if I’m understanding the chunking/syncing concept correctly.

If I were, for example, working on a six note fragment. Would my best approach be to start at the fastest speed where things are still synchronized, and push the speed up from there (while focusing mainly on the ‘target’ note and trying to ignore the rest), and then eventually when I hit the ‘faster than thought’ speeds, ‘chunking’ will take over?

Or is there another, better, way?

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#2

Off the top of my head, the 3 “modes” that I seem to rely on:

  1. Slow speed, slow enough that I can use it as a warm up. Focus on having the fretting be precise, “feeling” which notes are going to be the accents, and other “movement” related things (position shifts, string skips, wide stretches). Especially necessary when first learning a riff. With or without metronome.
  2. “Chunking” as fast as you can, going from one accent to the next. Depends on the riff, but typically for me it’s quarter note to quarter note, maybe a few quarter notes. Typically use this on the tougher sections, with or without metronome.
  3. The full riff, using a metronome, starting at about the tempo I described in #1 and slowly increasing the speed to ideally end up at the tempo used in #2.
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#3

Thanks. I will give this method a try.

#4

Echoing @Pepepicks66 thoughts on the accents and chunks - I get my best results when I can accent the quarter notes at the required speed.
I only go really slow to memorize the lick or when the left hand is struggling, so definitely agree with point 1. In recent times I haven’t been using point 3 as a method in that I don’t bother starting slow, I go straight to upper- medium tempos, where the likelyhood of errors increases (or if I hit a brick wall, I try way beyond what I can currently do to give my body a sense of what it would feel like to play that fast). I’m not saying that it will do harm as described by @Pepepicks66, but I question how much it actually helps me when I spend time doing it. I havent had a lot of practice time thoughout 2020 because of covid (schooling my kids and working in the evenings), yet I have made the most progress than I have in the previous 15 years…

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#5

You’re right in that #3 is the least used method I do, and I feel it’s hit or miss compared to #2.