sTx
03-22-2007, 02:20 PM
Sharper, Faster, Smoother & Better!
If you're serious about playing guitar like your idols, you'll need two things: determination & technique. Luckily, I'm here to provide the ultimate workout.
--
There are a few metal guitarists who don't possess good technique. That's not to say that all are blistering lead players, but they do have great chops.
Whereas punk may well rely on 'attitude', to achieve its characteristic sound, metal requires precise riffing and soloing. Loose, sloppy playing will result in a horrible mush, especially when you factor in highly distorted tones and radical down-tuning - control over your instrument is a must.
This extensive set of 19 exercises will give both of your hands a full workout. To start, there are some alternate picking exercises, great for building co-ordination - exactly what you'll need for Zakk Wylde-style speed-picking.
After you've worked through the latter, there are a number of triplet ideas to work on. These are great for your technique, as the triplets will force you to pay attention to your picking as the groups of three will work against the familiar alternate-picking patterns.
There's lots of hammer-on and pull-off workouts (legato playing) which should help you towards super slinky lead lines. Remember, take your time & rest if you feel any pain.
Points For Practicing
As with any disciplined practicing, bear these points in mind:
1) Adopt a relaxed body and hand posture when playing, as relentless playing can encourage a hunched back and tense arm muscles. This is a sure way of incurring RSI (Repititive Strain Injury). So, whenever you experience arm/finger muscle 'tingling', drop your hands down by your sides and shake them, to loosen the muscles.
2) Be brutally honest about what you fluff and then work to eradicate these weaknesses. You will improve quickly this way.
3) Reduce the distortion - yes, it adds excitement to your sound, but also blurs out mistakes. Even better, practise, both, unplugged and plugged into an amp, to encourage solid technique building.
4) If possible, record your playing - listening back to yourself will make you realize your flaws more quickly.
5) Be patient - you may only manage these exercises at 75 bpm after three weeks, but there will be a day when you're easily clocking 90 bpm (an amazing feat for beginners).
6) After the exercises, end the practise session with some fun, like playing over backing tracks. This will develop your individuality - a quality that will encourage others to play with you.
Speed
Guitar playing should not be a sport for achieving the fastest single note solo. There are tempos which constitute world-class guitar playing à la Zakk, Tremonti, Dimebag, Schuldiner, Hammett et al. Basing performances on three-notes-per-string scalic note sequences, six notes per click @ 120bpm+ and four notes per click @ 160bpm+ are considered elite figures. However, if you're just starting out, you should be happy at four notes @ 85-90 bpm. Soon enough, you'll be doing OK @ 100-110 bpm.
Ok, now we start with the exercises:
Alternate Picking Work-out: Start with a down-pick for the first exercise, and up-pick the second one.
e|---------7----------------------10-8-7------------|
B|-7-8-10---10-8-7---7-8-10-----------------10-8-----|
G|-----------------9---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------|
e|-7---------7-----------7--------------------7-|
B|----10-8-7-----10-8-7---10------------7-8-10----|
G|-------------------------------9----------------|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
String Skipping:
Picking across strings will greatly open up your playing, making it sound less scalic. Learn and develop these two phrases to explore a new approach to pentatonics.
e|---------7---10-7-------------------------------|
B|-------------------------10-7-------------------|
G|-9-7-9---9-7------9--------------9-7------------|
D|--------------------------------------9-7-------|
A|-------------------------------------------10---|
E|------------------------------------------------|
e|--------7------10-7---7-------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------|
G|-9-7-9--9-7--------9----9-7-----7----------9----|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------10---10-7-------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
Ascending In Thirds:
Moving up a scale in thirds is a good way of practicing a scale that's more melodic than playing straight up and down a shape.
e|--------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------5---7-5-8-7-|
G|--------------------------------5---7-5-8-7---8---------|
D|-------------------4----5-4-7-5---7---------------------|
A|-------3---5-3-7-5----7---------------------------------|
E|-3-7-5---7----------------------------------------------|
Triplets:
Triplets can be tricky to play regarding both timing and picking, so, this is a good pattern to work on. As with all triplets, played with alternate picking, each group of three notes will start with an alternate pick stroke - for example, if you start on a down-stroke, the next group of three will begin with an upstroke. This may feel strange at first, but stick with it, as there may come a time when you'll need to use both down and up picks, on the main beats of the bar.
e|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------5-5-7-5-7-8-7-|
G|------------------------------------------------5----5-7-5-7-8-7--7---------------|
D|------------------------------4---4-5-4-5-7-5-7----7------------------------------|
A|-----------3----3-5-3-5-7-5-7---7-------------------------------------------------|
E|-3-5-7-5-7----7-------------------------------------------------------------------|
Twelve-note Patterns:
This is the last of the patterns commonly favoured by guitarists to vary their scale practise, using the three-note-per-string approach to scalic playing. Notice that after completing the pattern, on two sets of strings (this occurs every three groups of four semi-quavers), the picking pattern repeats itself. Ultimately, this means that once you've mastered the sequence on two sets of strings, you're sorted picking wise for the rest of the exercise's ascent.
e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------5-----5-7----5-7-8-8-|
G|------------------------------------------------------4----4-5---4-5-7-4-5-7---5-7-----7----------|
D|-------------------------------4-----4-5---4-5-7-4-5-7--5-7----7----------------------------------|
A|-------3-----3-5---3-5-7-3-5-7---5-7-----7--------------------------------------------------------|
E|-3-5-7---5-7-----7--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Arpeggio Work-out:
Malmsteen - watch out.
Dividing a scale into arpeggios is a great way to expand your options within a shape. Despite being tricky, using this in your solos will instantly make you sound more sophisticated. For maximum versatility, practise both picking methods (i.e, starting from: i) a down-stroke ii) an up-stroke).
e|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------4----------------5-4---------|
D|-------4-----------------5-4-----------4-7-5-4---------5---7-5-4-----4-7-----7-5-4-5-|
A|-----5----7-5-3------3-7-----7-5-3---5---------7-5-3-7-----------7-5-----------------|
E|-3-7------------7-5----------------7-------------------------------------------------|
If you're serious about playing guitar like your idols, you'll need two things: determination & technique. Luckily, I'm here to provide the ultimate workout.
--
There are a few metal guitarists who don't possess good technique. That's not to say that all are blistering lead players, but they do have great chops.
Whereas punk may well rely on 'attitude', to achieve its characteristic sound, metal requires precise riffing and soloing. Loose, sloppy playing will result in a horrible mush, especially when you factor in highly distorted tones and radical down-tuning - control over your instrument is a must.
This extensive set of 19 exercises will give both of your hands a full workout. To start, there are some alternate picking exercises, great for building co-ordination - exactly what you'll need for Zakk Wylde-style speed-picking.
After you've worked through the latter, there are a number of triplet ideas to work on. These are great for your technique, as the triplets will force you to pay attention to your picking as the groups of three will work against the familiar alternate-picking patterns.
There's lots of hammer-on and pull-off workouts (legato playing) which should help you towards super slinky lead lines. Remember, take your time & rest if you feel any pain.
Points For Practicing
As with any disciplined practicing, bear these points in mind:
1) Adopt a relaxed body and hand posture when playing, as relentless playing can encourage a hunched back and tense arm muscles. This is a sure way of incurring RSI (Repititive Strain Injury). So, whenever you experience arm/finger muscle 'tingling', drop your hands down by your sides and shake them, to loosen the muscles.
2) Be brutally honest about what you fluff and then work to eradicate these weaknesses. You will improve quickly this way.
3) Reduce the distortion - yes, it adds excitement to your sound, but also blurs out mistakes. Even better, practise, both, unplugged and plugged into an amp, to encourage solid technique building.
4) If possible, record your playing - listening back to yourself will make you realize your flaws more quickly.
5) Be patient - you may only manage these exercises at 75 bpm after three weeks, but there will be a day when you're easily clocking 90 bpm (an amazing feat for beginners).
6) After the exercises, end the practise session with some fun, like playing over backing tracks. This will develop your individuality - a quality that will encourage others to play with you.
Speed
Guitar playing should not be a sport for achieving the fastest single note solo. There are tempos which constitute world-class guitar playing à la Zakk, Tremonti, Dimebag, Schuldiner, Hammett et al. Basing performances on three-notes-per-string scalic note sequences, six notes per click @ 120bpm+ and four notes per click @ 160bpm+ are considered elite figures. However, if you're just starting out, you should be happy at four notes @ 85-90 bpm. Soon enough, you'll be doing OK @ 100-110 bpm.
Ok, now we start with the exercises:
Alternate Picking Work-out: Start with a down-pick for the first exercise, and up-pick the second one.
e|---------7----------------------10-8-7------------|
B|-7-8-10---10-8-7---7-8-10-----------------10-8-----|
G|-----------------9---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------|
e|-7---------7-----------7--------------------7-|
B|----10-8-7-----10-8-7---10------------7-8-10----|
G|-------------------------------9----------------|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
String Skipping:
Picking across strings will greatly open up your playing, making it sound less scalic. Learn and develop these two phrases to explore a new approach to pentatonics.
e|---------7---10-7-------------------------------|
B|-------------------------10-7-------------------|
G|-9-7-9---9-7------9--------------9-7------------|
D|--------------------------------------9-7-------|
A|-------------------------------------------10---|
E|------------------------------------------------|
e|--------7------10-7---7-------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------|
G|-9-7-9--9-7--------9----9-7-----7----------9----|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------10---10-7-------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
Ascending In Thirds:
Moving up a scale in thirds is a good way of practicing a scale that's more melodic than playing straight up and down a shape.
e|--------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------5---7-5-8-7-|
G|--------------------------------5---7-5-8-7---8---------|
D|-------------------4----5-4-7-5---7---------------------|
A|-------3---5-3-7-5----7---------------------------------|
E|-3-7-5---7----------------------------------------------|
Triplets:
Triplets can be tricky to play regarding both timing and picking, so, this is a good pattern to work on. As with all triplets, played with alternate picking, each group of three notes will start with an alternate pick stroke - for example, if you start on a down-stroke, the next group of three will begin with an upstroke. This may feel strange at first, but stick with it, as there may come a time when you'll need to use both down and up picks, on the main beats of the bar.
e|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------5-5-7-5-7-8-7-|
G|------------------------------------------------5----5-7-5-7-8-7--7---------------|
D|------------------------------4---4-5-4-5-7-5-7----7------------------------------|
A|-----------3----3-5-3-5-7-5-7---7-------------------------------------------------|
E|-3-5-7-5-7----7-------------------------------------------------------------------|
Twelve-note Patterns:
This is the last of the patterns commonly favoured by guitarists to vary their scale practise, using the three-note-per-string approach to scalic playing. Notice that after completing the pattern, on two sets of strings (this occurs every three groups of four semi-quavers), the picking pattern repeats itself. Ultimately, this means that once you've mastered the sequence on two sets of strings, you're sorted picking wise for the rest of the exercise's ascent.
e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------5-----5-7----5-7-8-8-|
G|------------------------------------------------------4----4-5---4-5-7-4-5-7---5-7-----7----------|
D|-------------------------------4-----4-5---4-5-7-4-5-7--5-7----7----------------------------------|
A|-------3-----3-5---3-5-7-3-5-7---5-7-----7--------------------------------------------------------|
E|-3-5-7---5-7-----7--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Arpeggio Work-out:
Malmsteen - watch out.
Dividing a scale into arpeggios is a great way to expand your options within a shape. Despite being tricky, using this in your solos will instantly make you sound more sophisticated. For maximum versatility, practise both picking methods (i.e, starting from: i) a down-stroke ii) an up-stroke).
e|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------4----------------5-4---------|
D|-------4-----------------5-4-----------4-7-5-4---------5---7-5-4-----4-7-----7-5-4-5-|
A|-----5----7-5-3------3-7-----7-5-3---5---------7-5-3-7-----------7-5-----------------|
E|-3-7------------7-5----------------7-------------------------------------------------|