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Post subject: Playing in general Posted: Jul 13, 2006 - 01:25 PM
Joined: May 31, 2006
Posts: 2
Status: Offline
Ive been playing guitar for quite a while and have recently started practicing loads but i dont seem to be improving. I can do the alternate picking excercises on about medium as exercises but when i try to play them in a solo i always muck them up. A good example is the solo in take the power back by rage against the machine which has one of the exercises in it.
I also need to improve my alternate picking when you only play 2 notes before changing string and dont know how to do that as most of the exercises on this site have 3 on each string.
Another problem i have is that i stop being able to play after a while each day and just get worse.
If anyone could help with any of this it would be appreciated!
Cheers
bhuether
Post subject: RE: Playing in general Posted: Jul 24, 2006 - 07:14 PM
Joined: Mar 09, 2003
Posts: 232
Status: Offline
Wow - I am surprised no one answered this post!
Basically, I wouls be sure to practice to a metronome. And play a variety of pieces. There is a lot of classical music that throws a huge variety of picking patterns at you that will help you develop good technique regardless of how many notes you play on a string before changing. You will find this to be the case with Paganini's caprices.
good luck!
brian
rwmcjazz
Post subject: RE: Playing in general Posted: Aug 23, 2006 - 05:24 PM
Joined: Aug 23, 2006
Posts: 4
Status: Offline
The last post is quite true.
You may be experiencing muscle atrophy which basically means you need to build up your chops. So the metronome advice is a good one. Set the metronome at a speed that is comfortable. Crank it up a little bit every few days and see if you can keep up. Pick exercises that are reasonably within your level of experince and ability. Don't forget that guitar is supposed to be fun sometimes - and that pressuring yourself too much can have harmfull affects on your core attitude toward the instrument. Not good.
Also, keep trying to find your own voice on guitar. In other words - incorporate the essence of your picking exercises into your solos and worry less about trying to execute this or other learned solos perfectly. Over time you will develop your own ideas based on a multitude of influences. There are plenty of clones in the world already, so don't fall into that trap.
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