Hi guys,
I'm looking for some advice on how to practice difficult licks/song parts. One approach to that is to sit down with a metronome and go slow until you can go fast.
That doesn't work too well for me , often I hit the wall and can't go any faster without going all sloppy ( and the speed I'm stuck at is usually around 75% tempo of the actual song).
I'm also not too sure how long I should practice particular lick, I usually stay on something for a week or so pretty intensively and then get bored/frustrated with lack of progress. Does it mean that the part is too difficult for my level or should I just chip at it for a longer period of time?
All the best.
Adrian.
Comments
I don't really know how Vai did it, my back is sore after practicing for 2 hours straight and my concentration level drops down dramatically, it's much more effective for me to practice in shorter intervals but more often.
If it comes to practicing slowly, with economical movement etc it's all fine and dandy until I try to play it at speed, then it all falls apart, it makes me realise that it might not be true that you have to play slow to eventually play fast.
Vai’s mammoth practice sessions are legendary, but not necessarily the best way to learn. Most of us learn things better in short stints, followed by intervals which allow our brains to process the information.
is to start art off playing only the notes on the beats, then add the notes on the half bests, then add the quarter beats etc.
then as I add the xtra beats I can also do the slow then fast technique
Then metronome on and getting the timing right. Same for any phrases or licks that are really fast. Ingrain it into muscle memory.
The internet is full of advice on this but you might something more constuctive with the particular rather than the general.
Post something specific and let's see how it goes.
Wis for @Veganic
What is it you're trying to play? Where does it break down?
Video of yourself coming unstuck would also help (post it as unlisted on YouTube, then the link will only appear in this one thread, and not come up in searches, etc.).
Tip to be running with: force yourself to play the part (a short section, not a whole piece) 15% faster than your fastest "successful" metronome speed (X). It'll sound like shit. But after a couple of repetitions, reset the metronome to 3-5% faster than X.
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@Vibetronic Both have their place, in my opinion. @octatonic posted about "doubling up the grid" here:
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/2174598/#Comment_2174598
Drum machines are great for that sort of thing.
Metronomes can get very
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I've done so much metronome time over the years that I can put up with it, but I need to get a recording "rig" in place again to practice over drum/percussion sounds again. I used my old set-up far more for that than for recording – just playing MIDI/VST drum patterns at different tempi.
Opening lick from the Final Countdown solo and quick run from Into The Fire solo by Dokken.
The first one seems to be a real bugger , I just can't get it right at decent speed , especially first arpeggios causes me a headache. I can't play it clean and up to speed despite going at it for nearly a week.
The second one is slowly coming together after quite a few weeks of practice but still not as quick as the recording. I'll try to record myself and post it here for your evaluation.
Regards.
Adrian.
I've been playing for over 20 years, and that solo was a bugger for me to master.
The tricky thing is achieving that 'swirling' effect created by the rhythmic motif of those arpeggios, maintaining the integrity of the demi-semiquavers and the semiquavers, without it all sounding like semiquavers.
For me, the trick was so practice very slowly, and really being aware of where in the beat the demi-semiquavers occur, and really making a point of accenting them, and pretty much playing them as quickly as I could to make time for the next note.
I also found focussing on the demi-semi that lands on beat 3 and using that as an 'anchor' to keep the timing solid really helped.
This would be much much easier to explain in a video