Little lesson on dynamics from Anton Oparin :-0

Playing Technique
#44

Man I completely agree with you. Having learned the true gypsy jazz rest stroke which was quite a pain in the rear, I realize everybody can learn difficult stuff. However the problem is you really have to slow to a baby steps, crawl, stumble to walk, walk, walk to jog, to run, and the results don’t happen over night. They might not even happen over a week or two, but the longer you ingrain the baby steps, when you start the crawl, stumble to walk, walk, walk to jog process the better off you will be in the long run when you decide to just get the speed to some astronomical limit. It takes an insane amount of patience and relaxation during this if you already play another way or half way know how to do something already. If you can have fun and brush off the fact you are playing so slow it will literally put you to sleep, it will work out great. But if you start feeling frustration due to outside interruptions you will erupt into a volcano of fury.

And the next problem is you need to have very good instruction on the motions, or at least mimic them to the best that you can by watching them done in a video. Because not all of the greats are recorded in HD. :smiley:

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#45

hehe i was kinda testing my genetic cap. having discovered the swing rhythm burst trick i revisited the troy stetina combinational phrases exercie out of the speed mechanics book that i use to practice as a teenager

the 1—4–3—4

using the swing trick to trick my hand to stay as relaxed as possible even picking i was ramping my metronome up 1 beat 1 second at a time start at around 300 got to 550 and my blood was flowing so much it was making my handle tingle and i capped around 9 to 9.5 notes a second before my body says enough lol. i couldnt believe i was feeling this tickling feeling like i had thick blood and poor circulation in my hands because that is what this trick and pattern can do to seriously exercise your hand very rapidly.

so i can feel that i am completely relaxed but my body doesnt go faster than this right now, if i did this everyday it probably would get faster. i just dont care to try to play as fast as humanly possible anymore. even 9 notes a second is incredible fast contrary to what some may believe. the pattern is why its limiting my speed i can go into about 10-11 notes per second which is also even faster. i find if it has to be faster because it just doesnt sound good slow well then the phrase itself probably needs some work shining it up.

editting it about an hour later after doing this and it feels like i did a hand grip strength thing for like 3 hours and i only did that pinky exercise thing for like maybe 20 minutes. my hand is cooked!! rofl!

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#46

Tingling is tendonitis and nerve pinching, careful with that you’re gonna hurt yourself.

#47

haha possibly but i think since it was just for fun hadnt done it in awhile i will be alright, although i can rub my meaty portion of my hand below my pinky and i feel it today. made that little digit sore, just dont think the pinky was meant to move that fast. :smiley:

#48

I’m a student of his thats been with him for like two years now. His way especially thesports talk is more mental states to truly relxas the hands

2 Likes
#49

How has your progress been at the AO school?

#50

I’m still stuck on the first lesson on keeping my wrist straight and stuff.

#51

After two years still stuck on the first lesson?!
What makes you believe to go on with this?

#52

I paid lot of money for it but am also doing othercourses with other teachers. Half the people on there go very slowly on the lessons and rhere was only one person who finished the entire course.

#53

There was one person who posted some of anton’s stuff for his first lesson but I never saw him in thetelegram anymore. I think he got kicked out or something e

#54

Wow, that’s not so good….
But there is no end date? So even if it takes you 10 years he will still keep on giving you lessons?

#55

As far as I’m aware he hasnt put renewals on pricing and doesnt ask. So your set for life but he doesn’t post much cause i think he had something wrong with his family. It’s moreabout correcting technique l

#56

Your good for a whole year too

#57

Ok, at least that’s a pro.

I am a teacher myself and correcting technique is very difficult, even more so with online lessons.
When i have students face to face they make much more progress on that.

#58

The two most important ones are the keeping the wrist straight and doing the inside outside picking

#59

Inside outside? Will you clarify a bit? Is that where string changes are addressed?

#60

Yes. Thoseare more important for developing thetechnqoue tr

#61

My 2 cents:

I’m one of those who thinks that Anton’s right hand is in a class of his own. At least I have not seen anybody as proficient.

And yes, I think in some way having a father well versed in movement physiology has helped, but not in the sense that Anton has a secret knowledge or something like that.

The guy clearly has an analytical mind, and he probably has been this way his entire life.

So, it seems to me that the difference with him is that he put a lot of thought into what constitutes proper guitar technique very early in his development. From the begining he was aiming for versatility and consistency: the technique must enable you to play anyhting, and it has to be easily reproductible. He and his dad identified problems, found solutions, and tried to keep everything as simple and consistent as possible.

He found a viable way… AND HE HAS ONLY PRACTICED THAT WAY. All his life.

Imagine having 3 or 4 months of playing, enough to start to fell some familiarity with a guitar in your hands, but to already understand exactly how the physical part of playing works at the insight and detail level that Troy have covered in this site.

And not only that, but to chose only one way to do it and stick to it with spartan discipline, not jumping from one style to another or trying to learn new ways , because you just know that what you have chosen to practice just works.

I think that’s how he makes it. He discovered very early a way that works, and he has followed that path methodically. Not a lot of vices to correct, not a lot of steps to retrace.

Nice and clean from the beginning.

I think it is as simple as that. No magic secrets (pretty sure you can find all the key components of his technique on this site), but the guy has been very intelligent in his approach to technique and it have paid big time.

99.999…% of beginners don’t do it that way, we just play, and when we get serious about it we start to correct some of our vices, and we continue to have some of them all our lives. Even the ones that are naturally good don’t put that much thought into how it should be done.

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#62

Very good points, i have to agree.
At a young age all those neurological pathways are created within the brain, and doing things exactely the right way from the start is a very BIG advantage.

There once was this interview with Anton and his father posted on “The truth of shredding ” which unfortunately is not available anymore.
Anton already played all this unbelievable stuff but his father said that it was not good enough and he still had a lot to learn. That tells something about the way he was thaught; the Russian way :wink:
One funny thing in that interview is that Anton said that his hero is Angus Young!

In another vid on YT, where he was about 12 or 13 playing for the Kramer booth at Namm, they ask him about his technique. He said it is based on that of Paul Gilbert combined with some classical stuff.

#63

Hey All!

Just a quick note for anyone who has bought Anton’s courses: please make sure you don’t share information / tabs / documents from Anton’s school that he does not want to give away for free. Same goes for any paid / copyrighted material from other schools, of course.

As far as I can see, nothing of the sort has happened yet in this thread, but I thought it would be useful to mention this moving forward.

Thanks all for the understanding!