Prophet of Page

No disrespect whatsoever is intended. Just trying to be constructive.

Firstly, your tone isn't really clear enough for me to hear how clean or sloppy the faster sections were. There isn't really much in the way of note definition. I'm not sure whether that's intentional (I don't claim to know what's a desirable tone for that type of music), or if it's a result of the recording setup or just something youtube is doing to the audio.

Secondly, there's a lot of other sounds going in in that video, you are playing along to a track with drums, a vocalist, end probably a guitar aswell (or has the guitar been removed from the track?). It's easier to comment on your playing when we only hear you playing the guitar (and can hear it clearly).

So finally, on to your playing. The way you change the shape of your picking hand when you pick the faster sections suggests to me that your tensing up to play them (I might be wrong). You look very relaxed when strumming, then you seem to lock the pick into that position and play the single note lines with a lot more tension. Also, that pinky on the picking hand is sticking out way beyond what I can imagine is a relaxed position, which means you're unnecessarily tensing some muscles to hold it there.

I'd recommend you try to keep your hand in it's relaxed position at all times, whether strumming or picking the single note lines. To find your relaxed hand position, let your hand drop loosely to your side, then lift it loosely to about playing height. Notice the shape of your hand. Your four fingers will be naturally curled somewhere in the middle of their range. I sincerely doubt your pinky will be straightened while the others remain curved. Your index finger will likely be gentle touching your thumb. If it does, put a pick in between them. That is your relaxed hand position. If your thum is not touching, move the thumb and index finger together as little as possible until they do touch, and place a pick in between them. That is your relaxed had position.

You should try to play everything you were playing (the strumming and single note lines) with that hand position, only ever tightening the thumb and index finger enough to hold onto the pick (don't squeeze beyond what is necessary).

Left hand position is fine for what your playing, but the thumb should ideally be closer to the index finger and not pointing toward the headstock so much.

__________________
My name is Tom, feel free to use it.

Tmusician

Thanks, constructive criticism is always much appreciated. There is too much distortion to notice the detail I think, that's the style off these kinds of songs as you predicted haha. I'll record something else soon I hope.

Also I have no idea why my pinky does that! And now it's kind of hard to get it to not do that XD

Did you notice how I was holding the pick? I actually have both my index finger and middle finger contacting it and it is kind of a more "focused" hold than just putting the pick in between the relaxed fingers. The index and middle fingers are kind of pointing down with the pick.

Prophet of Page

Don't feel pressured into doing anything, but it'll certainly allow for us to comment better on your technique.



It's just a bad habit, and nothing you can't fix. If you focus on trying to maintain the relaxed hand position I mentioned, rather than conciously trying to stop that finger straightening out, you'll probably have more success.



I didn't notice that and on a second look, it's still pretty hard to see from the camera angle. I don't recommend using your index and middle to hold the pick, it's unnecessarily ties up a useful finger (for hybrid picking, muting, etc). I don't see any benefit you could get from it that you can't get from the relexed hold (again, holding tight enough that the pick isn't moving, but no tighter) between the index finger and thumb, other than that you might initially find the recommended position unusual.

__________________
My name is Tom, feel free to use it.

theguitar5555

Thanks Freepower! I'll keep you updated on the results.

rocklikeastone

Here is a quick video of me improvising, I usually do more than just noodle but the main area where I am hoping to get some critique/tips in is my improvised lead playing. I have been playing for a long time now and feel that my playing has become somewhat stagnant. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

sjones

I didn't see anything majorly flawed in your playing. Perhaps Freepower could spot something more in depth that I wouldn't necessarily pick up on, though.

One suggestion I will give you though, is to practice improvising over a some sort of backing track. Although that video isn't a whole lot to go on, I assume you have pretty good chops as a lead guitarist. However, being able to play fast is only useful if you can play in the context of the music. So, to really have someone critique your improv, I'd recommend posting a video of yourself jamming over some sort of musical backing.

__________________

rocklikeastone

Thanks! Using a backing track is a great idea, especially, like you said for critiquing improvised lead playing. So I recorded another video with me playing over a track its at Thanks Again!

vincelombard

Freepower,

how do i keep the pick at a consistent depth to the strings.

As in how do i keep the pick only digging in the depth of the string itself. I feel like my pick digs in too much.

thank you

Freepower

^ pay attention to it and practice. You should be able to alter your attack, sometimes you will want to dig deep for the tone and attack it gives.

__________________

Youtube (Lessons + Music)

More than 30 MP3s

nrl87

here is a couple of photos i took (ignore the fact i have no shirt). i took these by yself and tried to focus solely on the left and right hand position as posture/standing up is pretty much ok
i ook a photo of a g barre and an a open chord, as i wanted to illustrate two aspects. the a chord i particularly struggle with in terms of fitting all three fingers without it feeling squashed together. also im making an endeavour to use my pick solely till i have good enough form to move onto attempting fingerstyle. im having real trouble getting a god sound with the ick as opposed to using my fingers in a brushing motion.

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums...87/IMG_1284.jpg
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums...87/IMG_1309.jpg
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums...87/IMG_1311.jpg
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums...87/IMG_1316.jpg
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums...87/IMG_1324.jpg
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums...87/IMG_1334.jpg

i also had a movie but youtube wont work for some reason and neither will photo bucket even though its a smallish file size. i would have liked to put this in its own thread but i knw how annoying forums get when every novice floods the forums with the same question

Zaphod_Beeblebr

The issue with the A chord I think is relatively easily solved by using different fingers, try using the 234 fingers instead of 123, the pinky is smaller and fits in to the small space easier.

As for the picking issue that's going to be harder to deal with without seeing you play. What I think might be happening is you're using a motion that is too much of a rotation (watch this: ) without having enough control over where your fingers are. Try changing the motion so it's more of a translatory motion where your hand moves more in parallel with the strings rather than as a curve against them, if you see what I mean. Really can't do any better than that without seeing what you're actually doing though.

__________________

nrl87

but from the pictures the wrist position for the left and right hand are?

berent

some nice sweeping lesson

Freepower

Oh do go away.

__________________

Youtube (Lessons + Music)

More than 30 MP3s

FrazerB6

Hi, my problem is that i sometimes have trouble feeling like im in control of a loud distorted guitar. I play for hours each day and almost always unplugged as i practise technique and keep everything nice and clean.
But when i play with an amplifier i sometimes get overwhelmed by how sensitive the instrument can be, and get self-concious of what i play because people are more likely to hear me.
Here's my least favourite video of myself playing, it demonstrates how i sometimes struggle to keep control of the instrument, to the point where i actually miss a note now and then. Its not my most technical playing (i have other videos that display greater technique) its just overall control of a loud distorted guitar and letting my head get in the way i struggle with. However if you spot any other flaws please point them out.



Its in HD so you can hear all the subtleties and nuances

For the record, i wish to be a guitar virtuoso, and my biggest lead guitar influences are Joe Bonamassa, Gary Moore, Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai, Al Di Meola
This issue i have is only a problem on the distorted channel, due to how tactile and sensitive the tone coming from your fingers can be.

Thanks, anyones input would be extremely welcome

Frazer

Zaphod_Beeblebr

Really the solution is to just play with distortion a lot more. I think you're uncomfortable with it because you're just not used to it, I can't honestly think of any other reason.

Incidentally, pretty damn good video, cool sound you've got going on there, reminds me why I want an SG

__________________

FrazerB6

yea i think writing out what i was struggling with helped me realise how simple a solution it is. I have subsequently noticed i really need to work on my muting, as string noise can be a part of the issue. I find when i play with conviction or aggression it can sound good, its just when i try and play delicately with distortion i tend to lose my confidence and therefore i screw up.

Thanks man its just my friends gear with my guitar (recorded at his house). That performance was with a solid-state Marshall, a tubescreamer and a tiny bit of delay from the amps effects unit.

hopefully there were a couple of nice notes

Thanks for your feedback Zap

Syndromed

Hey guys,

Just recorded a video of my alternate picking, it's a scale exercises at 120 bpm (16h) :



Let me know what you think.

(sorry for the mistakes, no time to do it again, but it's not important mistakes)

Thanks.

__________________
"Sans la musique, la vie serait une erreur" Nietzsche

Zaphod_Beeblebr

I've said it before and I'll say it again: every mistake is an important mistake.

Apart from that, I think you know what you did wrong... just one other thing:

Now play some music. That video has no application in it and without the application what's the point?

__________________