Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 8:21 pm Post subject: anyone else feel this way?
i have absolutly no patience to sit there with a metronome and go through some type of alternate picking exercise.
what i do have the patience for is to learn songs or licks from songs that i like, that utilize a certain technique. i take that song into amazing slow downer, and slow it way down. and gradually build it up.
not only is this a lot more fun because i am playing along to a song i like, but it drills certain techniques, and it forces you to do it because well, if you don't do it, then you won't learn the song.
so if i decide that today i'm going to work on my alternate picking, i'll pick a paul gilbert song, or al di meola song. and learn sections of them that make heavy use of alternate picking.
if i want to work on sweep picking, i'll pop in jason becker's altitudes into amazing slow downer, it seems to go through all the common sweep shapes. or put in some frank gambale.
if i want to work on getting out of familiar rhythmic patterns and shapes, i'll pop in some john coltrane, charlie parker, george benson, etc. and learn stuff from them.
if i want to study jimi hendrix's blues guitar playing and his phrasing, i pop in red house, and cop licks from that.
while sitting there with a metronome for hours doing monotonous exercises may be great for some. i'm a huge supporter of the idea that you should "just play" and have fun, and the speed stuff will sort itself out sooner or later.
Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 30 Location: NY State, USA
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 12:20 pm Post subject:
Rich, I agree with what you are saying here about playing musical examples rather than just exercises to a metronome. They can be very valuable. As long as you are really focusing on what you are doing and not being too casual about it they can be of great benefit and also fun. _________________ Paul Tauterouff
http://paultauterouff.com http://myspace.com/paultauterouff
As the Essex-Boy J.K. once sang: "If I like it, I just do it".
Some days I like playing along to a metronome ... other times a record ... other times an mp3 (and the two don't seem interchangeable - wierd that) .. other times 2 handed tapping, other times a loop on the rc-2 ... other times jamming.
I'm learning to respect patience .. perhaps more than intellect.
Ursula Le Guinn once wrote - Mastery is 9/10s patience... I think that's right. _________________ Fabulous powers were revealed to me the day I held my magic Suhr(d) aloft and said "by the power of great scale!"
I hate practicing to a metronome, but I think it's still a necessary practice regime esp. for someone like me who's not naturally talented or has a good natural sense of meter or time.
Lately, I've become very dependent on it. Sometimes I feel even just practicing a small lick or fragment even just an hour a day to a metronome is 10x more beneficial to my chops than endless hours without. Not just for soloing either but everything from rock riffs to funk patterns...I need the metronome or else I'm kinda lost.
I know they are a lot of great guitar players that has developed awesome technique without ever using one, but I lack that talent and ability to pick up things like that
btw, those Guthrie picking exercise from his Creative Guitar Book 2 has done wonders to my right hand
I like to do these exercises while watching TV or laying in bed staring at the ceiling =).
Actually, a slightly fun variation is to set up a sequencer program like Cakewalk to function as a metronome that increases by 5bpm every 4 bars, ranging from 70-210+bpm. Works wonders.
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