Power Drill and Left Hand Synchronization at faster tempos

Playing Technique
#1

First and foremost I can post the most silliest asinine way out there thinking, but I am honestly being serious. I am seriously searching for exercises that I can utilize to develop speed for my body and my technique. I don’t care how silly I sound, cause at the end of the day it is just an idea. I am brainstorming constantly to come up with exercises that can help speed up my alternate picking.

Ok so first we know we can seperate the hands, and then use them together. We have all seen the cute videos of the professional players use power drills.

But what if we actually used them to help speed up the dexterity in the left hand to then go back to try to speed up the right hand. Since we can then take more pressure off the left hand since it can easily fly from practicing with a power drill maybe we can then free up some tension to develop speed in the right hand. Has anyone ever tried this over a period of time?

#2

Just to make sure I understand, the process would be

Don’t pick, but use a power drill
Get the left hand in sync with the power drill (or try)
Left hand is now blazing fast
Don’t use powerdrill, go back to pick
Both hands are now blazing fast

Is that what you’re getting at?

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#3

Well not quite that easy haha but I am wondering if you can actually develop the necessary speed in the left hand if you can take some sort of mental pressure off to work on speed up the picking.

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#4

How about just using a fret wrap and use all left hand hammer ons? That removes the right hand entirely (don’t even need it to hold the drill) and allows focus on the left hand speed. Unless you think the speed of the drill would encourage the left hand to speed up?

#5

I think of like fretting a single string line run while picking like fleet fingered. I don’t know where I have seen this term, but I liked how it sounded. And if I legato I have to use a bit more pressure for it to come across with the same amount of volume and pronunciation between the notes as I descend. It is a different feel in the hands.

Well I am thinking the process of actually hearing the picking sound with say a single string line run all picked and going faster than the normal speed due to limiting right hand picking speed utilizing a drill. You can develop a coordination of hearing each pick attack, and fretting each note of the sequence synchronizing it, a sort of crutch to help develop more of the left hand duties so you won’t have to worry about this zone when you start to bring back in the right hand to start alternate picking again.

#6

I dunno - I think the practice Steve Vai and Kiko Loureiro suggest (I’m sure others) is good - consciously practicing with the least fretting tension possible, like rest your fingers on the strings until you can barely eek out a note.

But you’re playing gypsy jazz stuff - are you using the traditional guitar/agate pick setup or are you more forgiving on yourself? I imagine there’s a lot more tension involved there.

#7

I mean most of the gypsy jazz stuff doesn’t get into the Shawn Lane or Rusty Cooley territory of speed. This is a zone that is beyond most stuff in this realm. And when I am talking speed I mean the crazier speeds that not many have ever reached. I have both electric and the nylon ibanez 21 fretted violin cheaper 300 dollar pretty nice string action version. Just brainstorming and wondering, I always remember I believe Rusty Cooley saying he practiced to a kitchen timer at some point alternate picking for a significant period of time, most likely to develop speed through strengthening his endurance.

#8

I was a huge Rusty Cooley fan throughout my teen years. That’s not why he used the timer: it was to keep him working on one lick (at many different speeds) for five (ten?) minutes, and then to move on to the next one.

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#9

Dang no wonder he got fast quick, that’s such a good way to work on phrasing, super efficient. A timer, and a metronome, no wonder he turned into a machine gun. :smiley:

#10

He didn’t use a metronome. :slight_smile: (Edit: or at least claims not to have.)

#11

That is right which is why I like that term fleet fingered. Because if you actually use the least amount of tension possible on non legato phrasing it is such a small amount of tension that it will not be enough for legato period, but it will be enough if you use a pick to create the sound. And in my body the two feel different as far as the motions are concerned.

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