Paganini's 5th Caprice in A minor

[elmariachi]

Hi all,

Im currently working on the 5th caprice *(Guitar World edition) to improve my right hand picking accuracy and speed. I was wondering if anyone else has attempted this edition/piece?

If so, has anyone been able to get it up to speed?! : (Crotchet= 168 bpm)

Any advice on how to approach learning it and getting it up to speed would be greatly appreciated.

Also on a more specific note do people recommend sweeping or alt picking in sections such as these?: *Bars 16-19* (I currently sweep, picking the the forth and eight notes of each bar with an upstroke).


|------------------|------------------|-------------------|

|------------------|------------------|-------------------|

|-----5--------4---|-----2--------0---|-------------------|

|---5--------3-----|---2--------0-----|-----3--------3----|

|-7-----7—-5-----5-|-3-----3—-2-----2-|---3--------3------|

|------------------|------------------|-5-----5--4-----4--|


Thanks Again!!

P.S sorry about the messy tab! wouldnt let me paste it exactly..

[KodyD]

I learned the 5th caprice about 8 months ago, and it's proven to be a very helpful piece for me in terms of advancing my abilities in multiple areas. It took like 3-4 days just to convert the whole thing to memory, but once I did then it was just a matter of playing through it.

That's the process I take w/ pieces like this, tackle it one step at a time, measure by measure- not moving onto the next measure until the one your presently on is converted to memory. You don't have to be able to hit it in time, but just so that you know all the notes. Then once you have it memorized, you're free to just play it until you can hit it. Personally, I'll sit down in front of the TV w/ my guitar and go through whatever piece or exercise I'm working on and do it for, say, an entire football game. Or even during the commercial breaks of your favorite show. Just remember: there's no replacement for repetition. That's how I learned the caprices that I know, that's how I learned "Moto Perpetuo", and in my experience is just the way to go about conquering these seemingly monumental classical pieces.

I'm at about 125-130 bpm's w/ Caprice no. 5, tho I normally don't play em w/ a metrinome. As for the part you referenced, I personally play it alt. picking, and eventually as your able to play that faster and faster, the alt. picking will sorta evolve into a sweep. But I haven't actually listened to a recording of the piece, except for like one time, so I really don't remember how it's played.

[elmariachi]

Hey KodyD,
Thanks for the reply!

I am in the process of committing it to memory but have been lingering over the first page trying to get it accurate before moving on. Considering the size of the piece i am kind of daunted at maintaining that kind of speed for so long!
Can you suggest any techniques or methods for getting a piece of this size up to speed? and maintaining this speed?

yeah i've been focusing on particular problem measures at the moment (theres quite a few!)

How did you get it up to 120 bpm-130 bpm?

I've been considering switching to alt. picking for the bars mentioned so its good to know someone else does.
what do you mean by alt. picking evolving into a sweep?

thanks again :D

[Unhorizon]

It's not impossible, I'm sure someone out there can play it at 168, but that is freaking fast. There are huge string skips in that piece that I doubt many people in the world can pull off cleanly. I don't think Yngwie, the guy they got the transcription from, can play it at 168 to be honest. Prove me wrong with a link (I don't know, I just don't think he can).

[KodyD]

You know there's not any secret method I can give you, other than what I've already said: isolation & repetition. In terms of this caprice, isolate your trouble spots, and repeat them, over and over. I got it up to where Im at in terms of bpm's by simply playing it over and over. In a sense, it's mental. It's easy to get mentally frustrated when you feel like you've been playing it a lot but the results aren't coming. That's why I recommend getting into a routine of doing it over and over while your watching TV, or whatever.

A lot of people want to know the secret to getting fast or better at guitar, and I'll just give you my honest opinion: there is no secret. Ya just gotta practice, and the guy that practices more than the other guy, is probably gonna be better than the other guy. Now that's not to say that there isn't a RIGHT WAY to practice, but I truly believe that if you were willing to practice 10 hours a day, doing the monotonous metrinome work and such, then you would be as good as Vai or Petrucci. Those guys didn't get to where they are by means of some secret methodologies, they simply practiced for hours on end.

Now there is something to be very weary of w/ this approach. When you sit down w/ your metrinome or drum machine, and set about to the task of repetitiously attacking some exercise (for example, when mastering some technique, you may practice some exercise showcasing that technique for an hour straight w/ your metrinome), well doing something like that can detract your mind from being focused strictly on the music. IMO, this is why shred is considered such an esoteric discipline. Non-guitarists have no interest in it b/c they're not concerned w/ the technicality of it, they're concerned w/ the musicality of it. In truth, most shred artists got to where they are by virtue of that tedious metrinome work. That type of stuff can cause you to lose (to some degree) your sense of the musicality of it, and let's face it, at the end of the day it's all about the melody, the harmony, the musicality. Well, for me it is, but not for a lot of shred artists. :D

Even my approach of mindlessly running through the caprice while you're watching a football game, that method is also conducive to training your ear away from being focused solely on the melody. In spite of that, I'm still a big believer in metrinome work, I just think ya gotta be weary of losing sight of why you're doing this in the first place: to make powerful, beautiful music.

Sorry, just thinking out loud.. :)

[MJK]

Awesome post Kody. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Unhorizon, check out Jason Becker playing the caprice on youtube... should be around 160bpm, and even then, it sounds a little sloppy.

[elmariachi]

In response to unhorizon im of the opinion that you can play pretty much anything if you put enough time into it. Caprice No.5 at 168 bpm i think is not too unreasonable althought it is no mean feat! Apparently jason Becker has performed it live a few times at that speed. I see the huge string skips as the main problem with playing at such a speed.

Thanks for taking the time to reply KodyD!

I actually chose caprice No.5 to develop chops because of its musicality. Im a big fan of paganini and thought it was an ideal choice rather than just practicing scales etc.
I totally agree with your point that alot of shred players lose sight of the musicality whcih is easy to do if you practice things like chromatic scales over and over with no context. No application to real music. It was actually the whole purpose of that lesson in guitar world. But is obvious that a piece like Caprice No.5 cannot be mastered without alot of serious grunt work *(metronome etc.). Its important to remember that work is to achieve a musical end!

The reason i ask about your approach is because im primarily a classical guitarist and ive never tried sustaining a piece that fast for that long *(I usually have to deal with short bursts of speed)* So i guess i was looking for an approach to build stamina paricularly in the right hand (picking hand).

Thanks for your advice!