Hello again codesters. I have a question. There is a ton of material to learn in the volcano seminar and I am wondering if anyone familiar with its contents can recommend some material I can work with from it while trying to get the 6 note pattern going, or should I just dive in? My fear is I’ll get lost and not make any progress. I am also battling unwanted tension while alternate picking and im thinking that I am probably tryin to play to fast to soon. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
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Picking tension aside (thats somewhat of a different discussion and there may be existing threads in the forum that you could take a look at) I suggest diving right in. If you want to completely master what is in the Volcano seminar, it has everything you need. Providing you understand the concepts involved, going over all of the material in volcano and trying to put it in practice may boost your progress and stop you getting bored. Don’t get me wrong, it is sometimes good to prioritise a particular lick that you think will be beneficial to your progress, but Troy has said a few times about how he doesn’t think there is a set route of progress such as “Do not go onto lick B without mastering lick A”. There is also evidence that the random practice is highly effective, which requires you to have different things to learn, not just stick to one thing - there is an insightful CTC interview with a guy from Julliard who goes through it. Good luck and let us knownhow you get on!
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If you really want to learn it, I recommend just pick a couple of the ones you like, and work on them. Give it some time. If you try to work on too much at once you may not retain as well.
On picking tension, this is my theory and may be worthless but it works for me. A certain amount of tension is required. I like to use as little as possible and am constantly reminding myself to loosen up. I like to experiment holding the pick very loosely and this helps me feel where I’m having trouble with certain string changes. I can work on revising my motions this way to see if I can smooth things out.
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Im finishing the Volcano(all te stuff) after about 4 months and I studied a lick at the time. My advice for you is try not to focus only in speed and focus in fluidity. I practiced each link until I reach 9 nps, wich was my maximun speed at first, but today when I try to play the first patterns I’m able to play 11 nps and my speed still increasing. I think if you play correctly and use the licks frequently in your improvise, you will gain more speed even without trying to get it.
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Thanks so much for all your advice guys. I am thinking maybe I’ll work a chapter at a time until I can can play with fluidly at a specific tempo and then move into another chapter, thanks for the advice on the tension issue also. I’ll keep you all posted, until then may your journey be blessed.
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