Playing songs? what songs? Easy songs get you nowhere. You need to do drills. It's stupid and boring but it works. Play your scales, go up and down them like 100 times a day (no shit I did that). Play them right, play them clean, then your fingers will have the muscle memory to rip right through them like lightning.
How to improve?
- Thread starter ThisIsTheEnd
- Start date
Like wat i've told u earlier..the drill..even hydrofly does almost the same thing..and he emphasised like me too, 'do it RIGHT & CLEAN'..'I know it's stupid and boring,but hell i did dat,no shit'..
So it's up to u..if u dun believe in such practice, then too bad, i guess ur 'ambitious attitude' gets the more of u..
Dat kind of attitude would eat u up..
Someday u think u're juz not cut out for guitar and u'll quit..(dat's wat i meant by 'eating' u up)..
Just be a stupid slow shit guitarist again for ur own sake..it's worth it..
A simple example..Look wat happened to Anakin Skywalker(if u watch star wars la)..he was being too ambitious..and dat brought him to nowhere but to the dark side..being impatient to be as fast as Michael Angelo, is d dark side for guitarist..) bahahaha..
Ok la..i hope there's no trilogy for this..lolz..good luck!
ThisIsTheEnd
New member
No worries. I'm already doing that. What scales do i learn? I know a few but i just want to know what to do from scratch.
Thanks for replies. I'll not succumb to the dark side lol.
Thanks for replies. I'll not succumb to the dark side lol.
Well for a start..i'd say..learn the basic scales..
1) Major
2) Major Pentatonic
3) Minor
4) Minor Pentatonic
U can learn them thru youtube or juz google them up if u dun want videos..
Practice on them till ur fingers hav their own memory..For other complicated scales, they are somewat not very appealing to me,yet* As i'm still on the basic stage but eventho im not dat far yet, i could easily carry on making my original solos bcoz of my already 'shred-friendly' fingers combining with my hearing imagination..Thanks for taking stuff into consideration, hope u keep it up..=)
1) Major
2) Major Pentatonic
3) Minor
4) Minor Pentatonic
U can learn them thru youtube or juz google them up if u dun want videos..
Practice on them till ur fingers hav their own memory..For other complicated scales, they are somewat not very appealing to me,yet* As i'm still on the basic stage but eventho im not dat far yet, i could easily carry on making my original solos bcoz of my already 'shred-friendly' fingers combining with my hearing imagination..Thanks for taking stuff into consideration, hope u keep it up..=)
ThisIsTheEnd
New member
Haha thanks for the advice.
How long have you been playing?
How long have you been playing?
how to improve?
.... hehe.... pray to the almighty upstairs that he/she blessed you with the talents to go with the sweat and tears of perfecting your chosen craft.... hehe ...just joking bros.
really, know your chosen instrument inside out. explore everything. learnt everything. practise everything. take the critics. be thick-faced. be humble, dont strut around proclaiming yourself good (there's always people bteter than you out there) perform as much as you can. grab opportunities that come your way.
.... after all that, ask the guy/gal? upstairs again that it is all worth it....
:twisted:
.... hehe.... pray to the almighty upstairs that he/she blessed you with the talents to go with the sweat and tears of perfecting your chosen craft.... hehe ...just joking bros.
really, know your chosen instrument inside out. explore everything. learnt everything. practise everything. take the critics. be thick-faced. be humble, dont strut around proclaiming yourself good (there's always people bteter than you out there) perform as much as you can. grab opportunities that come your way.
.... after all that, ask the guy/gal? upstairs again that it is all worth it....
:twisted:
been playing for 2 years..2 years of amaturity dat is..lolz..and now i'm restricted to play Malmsteen!! by my teacher..aha..sad..coz i'm still doing the practice u're doing now..so same2 la..XD
and yes..2 hours is not enough..8-10 hours per day to be God-like..dat's wat i've seen so far right infront of my eyes..and not some youtube videos..
no la bro..i meant ppl being TOO eager to learn big stuff especially like shredding, which needs lots and lots of practice, and u juz cant wait to reach the top, hence, have no patience in practising from slow..
*dark side*..get wat i mean bro?
Ized
New member
haha well depends on what works for you. to be honest i started out wanting to play damn fast but without any melodic-ness or feel to my solos. As i garnered criticism about my playing i started to slow down a little while incoporating the feel and melodic elements in my solos. Now, i try not to shred unless its really necessary. Im a believer of playing for the music, not just to show off.
However, if you don even have the minimum technical ability, you wont even be able to show off. so having good technical ability in guitar is never a bad thing, cos its always better to have more options.....right?
Unless you suffer from OCSD (Obsessive-compulsive shred disorder) which a certain online dictionary cites as "a constant urge to shred in order to strike fear into the hearts of men' 8)
However, if you don even have the minimum technical ability, you wont even be able to show off. so having good technical ability in guitar is never a bad thing, cos its always better to have more options.....right?
Unless you suffer from OCSD (Obsessive-compulsive shred disorder) which a certain online dictionary cites as "a constant urge to shred in order to strike fear into the hearts of men' 8)
Amazing
New member
lol sweet, where'd u get that OCSD line? it's awesome
ThisIsTheEnd
New member
Ok so the four scales, i can do them clearly at a decent speed. What do i do now? Create my own solos? or just practice them faster?
carry on practising on them..if u're bored, u could try rearranging afew notes and find some decent melody, but making ur own solo now is kind of, difficult..depends on how good u could transfer ur hearing imagination onto ur guitar..if u found the melody u want on the guitar, dun forget to arrange the notes like how scales look like..wat i meant is by at least 1-3 frets used on a string and not more than 3..after playing the 3rd note on the string and the next note is juz a few frets away on the SAME string, avoid using it and jump onto the next string which is of the same note..
A pro would condemn me for not being pro in explaining this simple practice, aha..sorry..hope u understand tho..
eh not understanding this part
yea sorry..dat's wat i meant by ppl may find my explanations unclear..aha..ok..an example of how the song goes..
e -------------------------
b -------------------------
g -------------------------
d ----5--7--8--10---------
a -------------------------
e -------------------------
Let's say dat's how ur lead guitar goes for the intro..
Instead of playing on just one string..we shape it like how scales look like, grabbing other strings which consist of the same note, but NEARER..
e -------------------------
b -------------------------
g --------------5----------
d ----5--7--8--------------
a -------------------------
e -------------------------
So it's simply rearranging ur notes, ending up like a 'segment/part' of a scale..
I'm not sure if this practice is related to 'diatonic and 'chromatic'..if anyone noes, do help explain further..
So why is this a good practice?
1) It educates ur mind on getting a nearer spot to grab the notes u want..Especially when it concerns shredding, the amount of time for ur fingers to reach the note is an essential factor..
2) It helps u choose whether u want the note of higher pitch or a lower one..if u want a higher pitch, u could choose the same note which is on a further string..wat people call it..a jump to the next octave?
Eventually..all this link to one thing..dat is to understand the further usage of the 6 strings..
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ooooic...i think i'll leave that for next time when i'm better at the very 1st exercise :mrgreen:
btw...are there also exercises to improve coordination btwn left and right hand cos while doin this i realise i tend to play the note too early sometimes and get the muted "twag" sound
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good one bro. it is essentially fretboard mastery. ery very important in making notes choices.
playing a solo is like telling a story, with cadences, sentences and pacing. in order to do it well, you need tools and choose your tools accordingly depending on the situation and styles you are playing.
music is a language. everything is inter-connected - your scales, chords, harmony, techniques etc. if one of your tools are not on par with the rest,you cant express yourself thru music/solos well.
you'd be surprise if i tell you that when doing consulting, sometimes even pro players have difficulties pinpointing where to find the notes on the fretboard.... hehe. a case of playing too much note for note solos rather than trusting their creativity and talents. especially true with club guitarists.
cheers
ooooic...i think i'll leave that for next time when i'm better at the very 1st exercise :mrgreen:
btw...are there also exercises to improve coordination btwn left and right hand cos while doin this i realise i tend to play the note too early sometimes and get the muted "twag" sound
yes sir, there are numerous exercises out there. google is your friend...
one thing you gotta be aware of is, when doing finger/scale exercises, do not neglect the rhythmic part of music. afterall, rhythmn/time is as important a part of music as is harmony.
what i like to do as a warm-up before going on stage is to do the quarters, eights and 16th notes exercises. just mute the strings with your fretting hand, set a tempo on your metronome and starts strumming, dividing your note values with your strumming hand. occassionaly, fret a note or a chord anywhere on your fretboard. this exercise serves me well as a warm up routine and i used to incorporate it into my practice routine. half hour of this non-stop, in various tempos and styles each. always use a metronome.
before i retire from playing full-time, i used to practise 8 hours a day, with an hour or 2 focusing on different aspects of guitar playing, making up 8 hours. those hours does not include songs practices and preparations.
pm me guys if you need more info.
cheers
