My left hand is sooo slow

[ash]

Hey Guys,
Great to be back on the forum. Some of you may remember me as the guy with the picking problems. (The one who couldnt play 16th's on a single string past 128bpm) In the end after some help from a pro I totally changed the way I held the pick, and after 1 year at the same (terribly slow)speed I made some gains and very good ones at that. In fact I gained 30bpm over night by simply adjusting the grip.
See, after dedicating 1 full year, approximately 1000 hours solely on my picking techn. my left hand needs some serious help....it feels extremely lazy.
At the moment my practice routine each day consists of working on chromatics from a very slow pace right up to my max speed, then going onto individual picking and left hand trills. All of this with the help of a metronome that speeds up at intervals. It takes about an hour and a half and if time permits I will do extra.
My concern is that because I am sooooo slow with my left hand that maybe its a technique thing, much like my picking, and that with work and proper adjustment it will just 'click'. I work on relaxing the fingers, playing with the tips of my fingers, using just enough force, small movements etc etc.
Any advice guys on what I should be looking for specifically mechanically that might help me to speed up??

[SkinnyDevil]

128bpm 16ths on a single string. Query: How fast is "fast" and how slow is "slow"?

128 is slow if you're looking to be a shred-demon, but I know guys who don't pick that fast and do just fine. How fast is your fret hand with hammers & pulls? Can you zoom through a 2 octave C major at 128? How 'bout a pentatonic?

[ash]

Hey there,
NO WAY, cant do that. If I was to give you a speed representation...... the trills with my fingers get sloppy after 105 bpm....yes.....thats right...its very poor.

As far as pentatonic goes it would be around the same as the above. At my speed you run out of cool licks very quickly.

Any tips??

[Bande]

Ash, I think it's more important to build up speed in scales, pentatonics, arpeggios, sequences, etc. So when I wanna improve my speed I never play chromatics, but things that I will benefit from, and also I try to come up with licks that I can play on the speed I currently am. So if I can only play 100 bpm in pentatonics then I wont start to work on a stretch-pentatonic lick at 160. And I realised that one has to improve his speed limits both in pentatonics, scales and others, because I've been practicing only scales, 3nps, and sequences, and now I can play em around 140, but pentatonics only at 95(!!!!)

Sorry, I know this post was very useless, but if you have asked for tips in improving speed... well... the only thing I can say is to practice practice, and practice. But in the meantime, don't forget about improv skills, musical feel, creativity, so don't just absorb in technique... 'Cause that's a mistake that I also made...

[Santuzzo]

At my speed you run out of cool licks very quickly.



Don't agree.

Cool licks don't neccessarily need to be fast licks.
Listen to Jim Hall, Bill Frisell, BB King, Albert King or even to Steve Vai, to see/ hear that there are tons of AWESOME licks or musical phrases that are NOT fast.
Often it's note choice or even more timing and dynamics that make lines, phrases or licks sound so good.

So, it's cool to work on your speed, but don't think good playing only consist of speed ....

[mattblack850]

Often it's note choice or even more timing and dynamics that make lines, phrases or licks sound so good.
Oftentimes it's what you DON'T play that is just as important as the notes you do play!!

When asked about his collaboration with Gary Moore, Albert King was quoted as saying :- "He's a great blues player, but, he plays TOO MANY DAMNED NOTES!"

[Santuzzo]

Oftentimes it's what you DON'T play that is just as important as the notes you do play!!



Yeah, totally agreed ! :)

[prodigy84]

Hey there,
NO WAY, cant do that. If I was to give you a speed representation...... the trills with my fingers get sloppy after 105 bpm....yes.....thats right...its very poor.

As far as pentatonic goes it would be around the same as the above. At my speed you run out of cool licks very quickly.

Any tips??

Just keep trying different positions till you see improvements. It's also important that you really study your playing techniques too. Make sure you are comfortable too. No point in torturing yourself to play music that should be enjoyable unless you are into that whole S & M thing.

Oh lastly, I'm not condemning shredding, but just remember - don't mistake notes per second for brilliance.

[Mcbane]

this is probably a mad idea, but try practicing on a guitar with very thick strings and high action, try playing on that it'll build your finger strength no end. Also the try attempting 8 finger tapping on it, it'll b impossible at first but it'll build you finger stength no end. Try putting your right hand over the neck at the lower frets then try to play appegios using only your left hand, hurts pretty bad at first but again builds your fingers speed.

[ash]

Thanks guys,
I think people get the wrong impression when someone asks about aquiring more speed in their playing :o , especially at my capabilities a gain in speed is a tremendous help.
At the end of the day I just think there was a major problem with my picking grip, once changed I had almost instant success. Now Im going through the process of trying to pick from the wrist instead of the elbow which also will take time but benefit me in the long run.
I see it as if there 'might' be a specific technique problem with my left hand mechanics that needs to be corrected.

[Len H]

I have to say that practicing chromatics, while not a bad thing, doesn't really "carry over" to playing pentatonic or diatonic scales, riffs, arps and so on. Try finding musical things to develop your technique, exercises are boring. You can either use someone else's riffs or make up your own. One thing that always helps me is to break the phrases into smaller sections instead of trying to tackle a long passage at once. When I say smaller sections, I mean as small as 3 or 4 notes. Also you can take a lick and keep repeating it, speeding up as it becomes familiar. I also like to push beyond what would normally be considered top speed for a bit to get the fingers used to moving faster than they normally would. This is analogous to a sprinter running down a hill to force his legs to speed up. This doesn't mean forget about accuracy, it is still the most important thing.

As for your mechanics, determine what position and posture is best for your playing. Make sure that your left hand is not tensed up; try to fret (and pick for that matter) in a fluid manner, not jabbing at the strings. I realized this when I would try to play really fast, I actually slowed down because I became too tense and my movements became choppy. Also don't be afraid of trying a different guitar setup; while most people prefer a low string action with the strings as close to the frets as possible, I like to have my action set a little higher, maybe 3/32" from the string to the top of the 17th fret (Fender uses the 17th fret to measure action). I get a better feel for the guitar with this setup, so I play more accurately, and the guitar sustains better too. With all your work on upping your speed, don't neglect your vibrato and bending. These techniques are often overlooked, but are very important tools to develop. An accurate bend accompanied by vibrato shows real control and command of the instrument.

[ash]

Anyone got any other ideas??
Has anyone else had the same problem??? If so, how did you overcome this???

[Mateo150]

I have to say that practicing chromatics, while not a bad thing, doesn't really "carry over" to playing pentatonic or diatonic scales, riffs, arps and so on. Try finding musical things to develop your technique, exercises are boring. You can either use someone else's riffs or make up your own. One thing that always helps me is to break the phrases into smaller sections instead of trying to tackle a long passage at once. When I say smaller sections, I mean as small as 3 or 4 notes. Also you can take a lick and keep repeating it, speeding up as it becomes familiar. I also like to push beyond what would normally be considered top speed for a bit to get the fingers used to moving faster than they normally would. This is analogous to a sprinter running down a hill to force his legs to speed up. This doesn't mean forget about accuracy, it is still the most important thing.

As for your mechanics, determine what position and posture is best for your playing. Make sure that your left hand is not tensed up; try to fret (and pick for that matter) in a fluid manner, not jabbing at the strings. I realized this when I would try to play really fast, I actually slowed down because I became too tense and my movements became choppy. Also don't be afraid of trying a different guitar setup; while most people prefer a low string action with the strings as close to the frets as possible, I like to have my action set a little higher, maybe 3/32" from the string to the top of the 17th fret (Fender uses the 17th fret to measure action). I get a better feel for the guitar with this setup, so I play more accurately, and the guitar sustains better too. With all your work on upping your speed, don't neglect your vibrato and bending. These techniques are often overlooked, but are very important tools to develop. An accurate bend accompanied by vibrato shows real control and command of the instrument.Thats some really good general advice. I used to do something like Vai's 10 hour workout thingy with the chromatics, but I don't think it helped me nearly as much as practicing scales and more musically applicable exercieses. Anyway, I'll share my experience on this matter. I picked really roughly with my arm for about 2.5 years. Then i started playing a lot with other people and when playing rhythms, they sounded awful. The picking attack was choppy, some strings were "SMACKED" while others were barely touched. This was awful sounding comping and I felt bad for the others trying to play along/over what I was doing. I worked a lot on rhythms, funk type of rhythms in particular because these require a nice fluid relaxed wrist motion to sound natural, in time, and clean. Playing single note phrases can help, but to really initially train the wrist and learn "what it feels like" (which is difficult to explain), I suggest trying to strum chords effortlessly and cleanly in time. If you aren't really sure what the wrist should be doing/feel like, just shake your hand like you just burnt it on something. Have it relaxed, and shake it, its kinda like that. Listen to rhythms and try to duplicate the tone and everything exactly. Good luck.

EDIT: confused this thread with another one, but the strumming advice can still be used to help build relaxed speed since more attention can be placed on the wrist. I'm NO speed demon but, A lot of times speed is a syncronization issue. Also, make sure you try to use your fingertips to fret, I played a lot with my thumb over the top, and learned that way. When fretting strings with the thumb on the bass string, the fingertips often don't get used (I've gotten better), but I sometimes still revert to using the digit area of the fingers rather than the tip, and using the finger's tip is faster. Remember to use the fingertip.

[oRg]

I think one of the main ideas and concepts behind practicing chromatics is supportive fingering, finger independance, dexterity, and sweep picking. Chromatics do have a practical music advantage. There are many songs that focus on playing chromatics along with more tonally complete licks. "Flight of the BumbleBee" is a very good example of this not to mention when applying this to scales and arps with practice you can achieve 4nps in both major/minor scales and all the modes and it also helps sweep picking when you practice chromatic sweeping. If you watch John Petrucci's "Rock Discipline" video, he first introduces sweep picking with chromatic sweeping excersizes. Not to mention there's Buckethead who builds alot of stuff off of chromatics (but also applies mathematics to it as well). Then there's Yngwie and his crazy diminished chromatic licks. Chromatics and their excersizes are very practical in modern music.

[nuclear81]

Anyone got any other ideas??
Has anyone else had the same problem??? If so, how did you overcome this???
I am kind of in the same boat as you. I have been working on this exercize for the past week that has helped a lot with playing 3-4NPB I usually start on the G string (3rd fret for example) and play 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th fret all in a rew semi slow. I slowly build up a bit of speed doping that going foward and backwards. Once I am comfortable I play it one way on the G string abd then the otherway on the D string.
I have been practicing this about 20mins a day for the past 5 days and have increased my speed about 5NPS according to my metronome. I know this exercize it pretty lateral, but you can make any kind of variations you want to see. Hopefully you'll get similar results to mine.