Major goals accomplished, or massive gains?

Playing Technique
#21

Maybe you won’t succeed if you keep with it, I don’t know. I do know that you definitely won’t succeed if you don’t keep with it.

What this tells me is that you need to try a different approach. Would it be fair to say that you’ve had this mindset in the past when you were beating your head against that wall?

You need to take the pressure off yourself and try to enjoy the process. Let go of the expectation, and keep creating the conditions. Lightning will strike. Don’t be upset about the lack of repeatability, just be impressed with the possibility. In time, you’ll catch the lightning.

By the way, I’m 31, which makes me older than the majority of guys I compete against.

You keep going. It’s really that simple.

Stop comparing your progress to the progress of others. We’re all coming from different places and going in different directions. The only person you should be comparing yourself to is your previous self.

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#22

My original goal was (and still is) to “be able to play 16th stuff around 150 bpm”. Apart from true crosspicking licks, I am mostly there. A moderate goal, compared to what some other players here are capable of. Also, just KNOWING that what I originally did was DSX playing, instantly enabled me to just structure almost everything I wanted to play in a way that would work with that. I still have an on and off relationship with USX, and I dream of playing something REALLY fast every now and then.
However, I find one thing about CtC much more important than just enabling me to play some stuff.
I feel that CtC is searching for an “objective truth” about guitar technique. Wether you and I can make it work does not change that this may still just be how “it” works. That is such a breeze of fresh air in itself, compared to some of the schools, methods and youtube-quacks out there!
Apart from that, I also find, that the instructional material is not exactly bullet proof (yet), in the way that you’ll definitely get it if you just follow every step. But I find it encouraging, that they constantly update and adapt, even if it means changing the terminology and causing some confusion

EDIT: I should also add, that I didn’t practice a lot with CtC. Just casual, experimental maybe 30-45 minutes a few days a week, and I still improved a lot. Compared to the crazy hours a day in my 20s

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#23

I like this. Reach for 50% of your goal, and achieve that 100%. It feels better than going for 100% but achieving only 50%.

#24

These are good questions! This is honestly what I do. I’ll put a drum beat on or a metronome and set it at a good tempo for me which is fast but not too fast. And I’ll play the 5 patterns in E starting high to low. I’m not practicing ascending as much as I should so it’s understandable to me that they might not be as clean. I try and play them in all the positions, so I’ll play in the 12th position and try and move to other box positions like what EJ does. Basically what I’m trying to learn is moving up and down the fretboard piecing them all together smooth like Cliffs of Dover. I’ll also jam along to backing tracks or loops from my looper pedal. Anything to make it more musical.
‘Are there particular exercises you find easy, any that are difficult? Are you practicing the difficult things until they’re mastered? Are you reviewing techniques periodically to make sure they’re still usable in a performance situation?’ This is what stumps me?! When I’m “ON” it’s actually very easy for me to play fast and clean. I can play that 5 stuff at 200BMP smooth and clean. It feels amazing, and I’m thinking to myself “wow this isn’t really that hard to do” when you’re connected to what you’re suppose to be doing technique wise. Mentally and physically i start thinking ok, I finally got this! I got the feel of those rolling 5’s that swing and sound so cool when Eric does it, then BAM! It’s gone! The coordination is not there, i get confused with chunking, I start doing weird stuff like twitching, my picking hand starts jumping up and down and side to side, and i over all feel like I’m playing with a broken hand. That’s ultimately why I’m so damn frustrated with the guitar because it’s not just some minor set back it’s like a crippling downfall to where I can never try and attempt this type of stuff live in a million years. Once I’m in no mans land with it, i have no idea how to return to what I was doing before that sounded so great? The changes are so microscopic that i personally can’t pick up on what the hell I changed to have everything go to hell in a hand basket. That’s why getting a teacher in person would really help me, because having him watch me on Skpe or even having a magnet I don’t thing is really going to work. So anyway hope that helps? It makes me think, that maybe I’m practicing wrong? Idk :neutral_face:

#25

Hey @Regotheamigo, I see you have a few topics in technique critique already, but I didn’t watch most of them because I think they’re from before I joined the team officially. Or if I did I must have forgotten the details at this point!

Among those do you have a recent video that gives a good overview of the issues you are describing?

By the way, playing the EJ fives @200bpm (16th notes?) is no small feat, even if it happens only occasionally.

#26

That’s what I keep shaking my head about lol…but probably also why our friend feels frustrated. I’m not so sure EJ himself can play 5’s that fast (at least not these days)!!! Having the ability to do this, then all the sudden not having that ability is understandably frustrating. It’s probably a tall order, but a clip documenting when it’s ‘on’ and another of when it’s ‘off’ may help you get some good feedback @Regotheamigo. In other news, hang in there!

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#27

I’m telling you THAT’S why I’m so damn frustrated that i want to cry over it all. :cry: Don’t get me wrong I’m not automatic with it, and can only do it on incredible days, but when I’m on it feels easy and free. Lately I’ve been pretty “on” with it so started to feel good about myself and my accomplishments then poof it disappeared. I’m tripping over stuff now, sweeping again has become very choppy sounding, my picking hand hurts like I’m holding a bowling ball between my thumb and fingers… Over all just very uncoordinated. It just doesn’t make any sense to have that much of a decline. It would be like Tiger woods missing the ball every time he swung at it or sliced it off into the woods. It’s just very disheartening because I want to do this stuff live or on record and I’d be a fool to ever attempt it being so hit and miss, mainly miss. :confused:

#28

When I’m “ON” it’s actually very easy for me to play fast and clean. I can play that 5 stuff at 200BMP smooth and clean. It feels amazing, and I’m thinking to myself “wow this isn’t really that hard to do” when you’re connected to what you’re suppose to be doing technique wise. Mentally and physically i start thinking ok, I finally got this!

The fact that this happens, even only briefly, shows that it’s possible to develop skill in the technique. The challenge for you here is to keep this level of flow at a sustained level for long enough to become subconscious. This is how neural-muscular programming works.

A friend of mine at music school gave me some really good advice once: “Water only starts boiling when you keep sustained heat and pressure on it.” The boiling point is where change happens, not just the heat by itself. If you keep moving the pot on and off the heat without it reaching the boiling point, it will never get there no matter how much time you’re in the kitchen.

So that flow is where everything is working, the tempo is moving, and it feels almost impossible to miss a note. That’s the point you need to reach every time you practice. When you can sustain that “boiling point” for enough time - that’s where your technique can really transform into something you have consistent control over with much less effort.

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#29

I like this analogy. Also, just like mama always said “a watched pot never boils” lol!

Sounds like that’s a big problem at the moment. Maybe some time away from the guitar (or not shredding, just playing some easy stuff for joy of it for a few days???) would be good. Kind of a reset. We all get burnt out and need to recharge.

#30

@Regotheamigo, if you’re playing EJ’s descending 5s at 200bpm some days, you’re already experiencing the lightning strikes. In time your body will learn how to make those movements consistently and repeatably. Please don’t stop now.

On the subject of analogies, my Jiu-Jitsu instructor’s instructor visited our gym for a seminar last year. He gave this analogy:

“To make a diamond, you need coal, pressure and time. You put in the time. Your training partners give you the pressure. I make sure you’re coal, and not shit.”

If your hitting 200bpm on the 5s, even if it’s not regularly repeatable, you’re definitely coal. You might not be a diamond yet, but the transformation is already underway.

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#31

Maybe I’m just burned out and need to recharge. Since i was doing so well lately I’ve been playing more so might be suffering from mental and physical fatigue. On another note I recently switched my guitars from 10’s to 9’s. Could it be that the lighter strings are messing me up?? I wouldn’t think so, but anything’s possible with me. :flushed:

#32

If you’ve changed the tactile feedback you were receiving for a movement you weren’t yet fully in command of, it’s entirely possible that you’re unconsciously varying your form to try to find how it felt when it was working for you.

Your body tries to intuit what is correct based upon that sensory feedback until the movement is trained and repeatable. Later, you’ll be able to perform those movements at will and you won’t be so affected by such variables.

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#33

I hope so! If not you all may be visiting me in a nuthouse! :crazy_face:

#34

Yes. Heck yes. Ive been a member of the website a little over a month. Ive been really disciplined about developing strict alternate picking/ cross picking technique and I’m starting to get pretty solid at it

Before this website I literally didn’t know anything about picking technique besides “hold the pick and turn your wrist…or maybe it’s just the arm…I dunno”

This website gave me the keys to the Lamborghini (even if I haven’t learned how to drive without crashing yet)

One tip I would give to reach your goals on this site: Only commit to trying to learn things that sound super cool and useful to you. A lot of the economy picking stuff sounds a little bit puny to me so it’s just a fun little side excursion for me when I’m watching tv.

I love the Molly Tuttle/ Steve Morse sound and so I am “eat sleep and breathe” that stuff at the moment. I have a set of musical requirements and Ive designed myself a right hand to match them using Tuttle, Morse, and Robert Fripp (some outside studying) as models

I think if I was trying to learn all of the different picking styles I would be making almost no progress

#35

I can say that studying the CtC materials has really led to a massive improvement in my playing over the past few months and it’s all stuff I can take out on the bandstand and actually use on gigs.

I once read an interview with Steve Vai and he said something to the effect of “if you’re gonna develop any technique as a guitar player it’ll happen in the first couple of years”. Now I thought this was a very disheartening statement, because I’ve been playing music literally my whole life and never developed any really amazing technique. But I think the reason he said this was because once you understand the mechanics the technique can actually come together very quickly.

Before cracking the code this was something you either had the intuition to develop or you didn’t, hence Vai’s statement. But now the information is available to you to know how the mechanics should work and you can develop it on your own very fast.

For me the most helpful things are a good metronome app and also I highly recommend Shawn Lanes suggestion that you work on some thing mechanically using symmetrical fingerings that don’t make sense as a scale while you internalize how the motions should feel. Once you develop that a bit with speed and accuracy it’s much easier to apply it to various scales and modes.

The coolest thing about using the DWPS system to me is that it’s very self correcting and every time you sit down with the guitar you get better and better. If you stick with it, it will train you to be more accurate and authoritative every day.

#36

I tried elbow picking after trying strictly wrist picking for ~12 years and I can now play much, MUCH faster than I used to. (To the tune of 60 BPM faster!) I still need to figure out how to change strings, but I’m trying out economy picking for that. Strict alternate picking and wrist motion has had me stuck for FAR too long and frankly, I’m sick of it.

#37

Addressing the original question.

Before CTC, when it came to YJM nothing made any sense, tab or otherwise. I couldn’t play it slow either.

Two years and lot of hours initially… this is a clip from this evening.


Phone selfie cam (flipped) and phone room mic.
Not the best take or any production value here; just for fun and I need to iron that last line out.

I"m going to be 45 in September. My fingers never seems like they’d be able to pull it off, I had pains in my picking arm/neck for months, the pains started in the third month, travelled up the arm to the neck over the next three months, and then suddenly vanished ( also a heavy computer user, changed my mouse to a Logitech ball, made things better) also the pains would start after I stopped played, disappeared when I started playing ( I though it was the mouse but I’ve been at it for 20 years or more!). Anyhow somehow something clicked in the 7th month. BOOM, I huge shift and came naturally after that.

I do know what I have to work on and it’s just putting in the time smartly, 18-minute practice routines have been the most helpful, 18 mins with a metronome three times a day on a focused issue really helped, the benefits come the next day.

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#38

That’s great to hear! Yngwie stuff sounds awesome as well!! Congrats :champagne::guitar::ok_hand:

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#39

Hey man, thanks.

For what it’s worth, I have those same exact experiences. one day it’s all working and I’m feeling great, the next it’s not happening at all. This happens to stuff that usually new in my arsenal, over time I realised it’s just needs more time to assimilate and keep working on those things till they become a permanent part of your tool box.

For example; the vid; there’s no constraints; the minute I approached the backing track to play along it all went south; I had to revisit the riff at 30% to fix it. It’s just a process that keeps you moving forward, been working on it today and was tracking it; by the end of the day the swing was back in the groove at speed, and I know due to todays work, tomorrow is going to be a blast, as I sleep my brain will do it’s magic. But I need to pickup on it tomorrow to seal the deal. Well that’s how my head works anyhow.


as I said its rough, but tomorrow will be easier and can fix other details as I move along. It’s a process but you gotta be at it, the mind is a fickle thing.

#40

@Regotheamigo- I wouldn’t give up, you are too close. Here is some hope for you, in chronological order with dates to give you as much proof as you need. It’s one thing for the brain to read about someone’s success but I think videos help more.

Started alternate picking: June 17, 2017

August 11, 2017 - 8:26 PM … Just under two months in - Single-string run

May 2018 - Pop Tarts Lick 200 BPM

August 2018 - Pop Tarts Lick 220 BPM

January 17, 2019 - 2:32 PM - Black Metal Riff

June 12, 2019 - 8:14 PM - Original Death Metal Song 260 BPM

November 3, 2019 - 7:29 PM - Original Death Metal Riff

November 8, 2019 - 8:52 PM - Shawn Lane Diminished Position Sixes

November 19, 2019 - Original Speed Metal Riffs

December 2019 - Alternate Picking in vein of Gilbert & MAB

February 2020 - Original “Impossible” Death Metal Riff + Alternate Picking: 5/4 Odd Time Harmonic Minor Run

If you need me to make an unlisted video to explain my practice routine to get results this fast I will. Just say the word. You need to work hard but you need the right mindset to succeed, too. No negativity.

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