Some people got it, some people dont

[Ragman]

ive been doing sweeps for awhile now, and ive heard bands do sweeps of course, and they are beautiful, i think those people got it, sortof naturally, like its in them and they just need to work on it a little and boom they got it, but for me, i think ive just been trying and trying and ill never get it that good, im just thinking some people got it, some people dont.

[satch_master]

We all have hands don't we not?
we all have brains to think about what we play?

Guitar masters are not born they are made.

Start off on easy 3 string sweeps at slower speeds and gradually work up to 5-6 string sweeps and at higher speeds.

I admit , sweeping is one of the most technically demanding aspects of playing guitar, especially when its at light speed. I am by no means a competent sweeper, but i can do a little bit, although i don't practice it much.
Jason Becker always leaves me awestruck.

[silent-storm]

I firmly believe that there is no such thing as natural ability and those that just "have it" and those that don't.

It's 100% just work ethic. Look at all the top players out there. At some point in their lives they practiced such a rediculas amount that there lives could not support anything but practicing. Can your life support something other then practice? do you have a social life? girlfriend? job? Well those guys you're thinking about did not have those for a significant amount of time...so don't expect anything less for yourself.

I am not saying go over board and get obsessive about it (although sometimes it helps) because we all have to eat, but if you really want it the only thing stopping you from getting it is putting in the hours.

I believe there are some things that we precieve as natural ability. Such as the ability to start playing a new instrument and pick up the basics, or even intermediate level quite quickly, but this I think is more based around someones ability to practice effectively and that ability can come from any part of your life or anything that you may have spent a significant amount of time on in the past.

If you want bad enough it will come.

[Factor]

Regarding natural ability:

I think there is a certain natural ability, but that has to do with enthusiasm, willingness to practice, dedication and connecting previous experience with current ones.

[ncook]

Amen brother, I'm not a natural at all, everything I can do I can do because I've put in hours of practice. It will come though, your hands have the same design and are made of the same material as everyone elses, you will get it. I think some of it is about state of mind. You have to understand that you can do it.

If you haven't yet, work with a metronome, start off slow and build speed up until you hit the point where you cant play it note for note, then back off a click and work until you can. Remember, its all about accuracy, speed is nothing without note definition. After you get to the point where you can play it fairly rapidly you can try bursting. That REALLY helps me with speed and clarity. A burst is where you take the first two notes and play them as fast as you can. Theres only two so it'll be pretty easy to play them clearly. After you do that a few times, add a third note. Then a fourth and so on. That takes you from pretty rapid to blazing fast and CLEAN!!!
Just some thoughts, I hope it helps.

[live]

Talent could also be a relation of luck or how you use your given facts! For Example I read that Shawn Lane could spread his fingers so abnormally because he had a genetic defect... He got it positiv in the end because it helped him to get incredible chord voicings....


live

[Ragman]

bastard!

[EricV]

I do agree that certain people might have a certain knack for different aspects of playing. Some students seem to have no problem with timing, or seem to have a very good synchronisation from the get-go, or might have an easier time than others playing ( bar ) chords etc.
However, you gotta keep in mind that those, in most cases, have the same problem that other students have when it comes to other stuff.
Like, one student that seems to have a "natural gift" when it comes to timing and rhythm might have the same or even more trouble others have when it comes to, say, ear training.
I had a student during my time in LA that made insane progress with fast picking. It seemed to come easy for him. But when it came to things like hearing, bending and vibrato, he had just as many problems as others had.

What you have to keep in mind is that, even if you seem to have a harder time with sweeping than others do ( if this actually is the case... it´s tough to compare practice regimens ), you shouldn´t let that discourage you, or even use it as an excuse ( "Well, I´d love to be able to sweep, but I don´t have it, so I won´t even try" ).
Hard work will eventually pay off, and I believe that even if it feels like you "don´t have it", you should keep working on it. Don´t put too much pressure onto yourself, don´t let the progress of someone else discourage you ( I know though that that happens kinda easily )... the more you "tense up" and pressurize yourself, the harder it will be.
Abi once told me "Don´t think "If I can´t do this, I suck"... instead, think "Once I can do this, I´ll be a better player"."
Small difference in phrasing, but a big difference in attitude / thinking
Just a few thoughts, gotta run
Eric

[satch_master]

Yeh some good points guys. Its about deep inside within you whether you want to achieve it or not. In the end, put a bit of pressure on yourself and set goals. as soon as it stops becoming fun and starts becoming a chore thats when i realise i have to revisit my prioritises. Cause thats why i play guitar, to have fun, also to improve and get better, but im not gonna kill the other important things in my life over it just to play at say 220BPM or whatever your goals are. For me, guitar playing is my own self accomplishment, and what i do is for my own gain and personal satisfaction. Just work hard, have fun and find your own niche.

[Los Boleros]

When it comes to mechanicle abilities, I think that it is fair to say that it comes easy for some and it can be very difficult for others. Compare guitar playing to playing soccer. You ever notice that alot of the pros have ankles as thick as your neck? Some people have huges calves, some have really strong wrists. Some athletes break speed records and others are quite slow. I think that alot of this, you are born with and while it may not seem fair, it is what it is. I spent many years trying to increase my speed and while it worked to a certain degree, I reached a plateu and never went beyond that.

In my opinion, you should not be so worried about it because you can do alot more with one well delivered phrase than a fast sweep. Yes you will always want to work on your speed and accuracy, but in the end, it's not what is most important.

[Gdude2]

for me speed comes from literally just playing for ages but not working to your limit just playing at a confortable pace so it's easy. I've tryed using metronomes but when I use them it causes tension because I'm working to a strict beat, without a metronome I can slow down and speed up when I want. Just try working on an area sweeping picking etc and make sure whatever you play feels easy but make your practice work so that you are for example contantly picking (anything) to improve on picking or contantly playing a lick to improve on that lick.

most of the time actually sit watching tv while practicing (with the same rules mentioned above included while practicing) this way it improves my playing subconciously so I don't have to look when playing.
once you start doing this type of practice for HOURS everyday for a year you shouldget better though this takes a lot of patience.

[Schooligo]

Hi,

as many people have said in this thread try to take a balanced approach, I particularly agree with what EricV said(about attitude),

being a musician and creating music is about so many different things:

Technique is just one thing, and even though it's important(because you have to have some way to get the notes out)

there is so much to being a musician and creating

and just as important to your musicianship(and life in general) is have a good learning attitude.

What do I mean?

Have an attitude that you will always be learning and that you will always be a student of music and the instrument,

Have an attitude that instead of discouraging you, the attitude motivates you

for example yes there are musicians who are 40 or 50something years old who are monster musicians(Steve Morse and Eric Johnson)come to mind but have the attitude that even though they can play like that at their age, you can play like that at your age(I know 8year olds that can play thier music)

My point is age is not important,

Hand size is not important,

granted if you want to have the exact same voicing, then it may not be possible, but usually in most music with a small hand you can duplicate the voicing(I have small hands so I know beyond a doubt this is true), or you can change the notes around to have a different voicing of the same chord. This is a great instrument to be able to do that, and offers a large amount of options.

Equipment is only somewhat important
I don't have the same equipment as (insert your favorite guitar hero) so I can't play as good as(insert your favorite guitar hero)

I'm one of these people that believes that if Steve Morse played on my guitar he would sound almost as good as if he was playing his own guitar.
That his sound & tone are predominantly from his creative mind and fingers,
in otherwords he has mastered the 2 elements necessary: the musical element(Rhythm, Musical Theory, etc.)and the physical(technical element)

I have respect for musical gear but what I'm trying to emphasize is don't depend on your gear for a LARGE amount of your tone:
I would recommend that a musician invest into taking lessons from a good quality teacher, studying the vast Professional advice, theory, etc. at IBreatheMusic.com, playing with others, working on intonation, bending, vibrato, etc. my experience is that this will contribute to a Better tone than the newest pedal that comes out.


Necessity is the mother of invention, you can create great music because of this

Use necessity to find ways to create music and attitude is an important part

[Mateo150]

be true to thy known self, right, do what your good at and improve it. If your playing basketball and your only 5.5 feet tall, then you'd better not try to develop you inside low post game.

[forgottenking2]

I totally agree with the basketball thing. BUT if you're a skinny wimpy nerdy looking guy and start doing weights you will see results and, just like on guitar, if you try too hard you'll hurt yourself. Same with martial arts, you can' expect to be Bruce Lee after a few months of training once a week. But if you stick with it and work on it hard and smart you'll get far.

[silent-storm]

That basketball reference got me thinking...

Is there actually anything that has been developed on the guitar that is just physically impossible for the average human to do?

There's a lot of rediculas guys out there...but physically impossible?

or how about 'you would be wise to focus on a different area' kind of idea? such as the basketball point brings up.

I can't really think of one.

[MattW]

That basketball reference got me thinking...

Is there actually anything that has been developed on the guitar that is just physically impossible for the average human to do?

There's a lot of rediculas guys out there...but physically impossible?

or how about 'you would be wise to focus on a different area' kind of idea? such as the basketball point brings up.

I can't really think of one.

I think there are things that the current evolution of humans will find physically impossible on guitar, just like we are too dense and can't flap our arms fast enough to fly!;)
Seriously though, it is possible to always get better at something but never pass a certain barrier if you are increasing in an asymptotic manner and I firmly believe that at any point in time humans or one particular human have/has a limit, which less and less people can reach as you get closer and closer to the limit itself. Besides, given the amount of things a rounded musician has to practice it is highly unlikely that they will ever be able to fully complete all of their own goals, nevermind actually reach the boundry of human capability in one specific area.

[Ragman]

its weird, i got the major scale down so simple, since its the first scale i learned, and on my own, before i even knew it was the major scale, but ever since i got that down, all the other stuff has been more difficult, without surprise to me, but the thing is nothing is sticking, i really wanna get those 'evil' sounding typical thrash/death metal solos, like morbid angel and stuff, those are great, but i can never seem to get the nack of it, but definitely from what ive read to this post its on in your head, its all up to you, and all that jazz. i guess im looking for some direction towards those types of solos, im sure these solos are nothing to most of the greatly skilled musicians on this site, they are pretty weak for the most part, at least in originality, they still give ya that straight evil sound which never lets me down. i just need a good starting point, any tips?

then jazz, but thats later.

[gawain]

Shawn Lane And Vinie Moore Both Have Tiny Hands But They Put In 12 Hours A Day Practice Thats All It Is Down To

[perth]

its weird, i got the major scale down so simple, since its the first scale i learned, and on my own, before i even knew it was the major scale, but ever since i got that down, all the other stuff has been more difficult, without surprise to me, but the thing is nothing is sticking, i really wanna get those 'evil' sounding typical thrash/death metal solos, like morbid angel and stuff, those are great, but i can never seem to get the nack of it, but definitely from what ive read to this post its on in your head, its all up to you, and all that jazz. i guess im looking for some direction towards those types of solos, im sure these solos are nothing to most of the greatly skilled musicians on this site, they are pretty weak for the most part, at least in originality, they still give ya that straight evil sound which never lets me down. i just need a good starting point, any tips?

then jazz, but thats later.
many of those 'evil' sounding solos arent based on diatonic scales, which is why the ionian mode isnt helping you. the half-whole diminished, hungarian minor, harmonic minor, and chromatic scales might give you some inspiration. in the end though, its in your head and you need to learn how to get the notes out of your head and into your fingers, and the only way to do this is to keep experimenting and practicing.

make up your own scales. chances are they have already been played before, and have a 'formal' name, but at least this way the scale came from you and not the other way around.

[Ragman]

many of those 'evil' sounding solos arent based on diatonic scales, which is why the ionian mode isnt helping you. the half-whole diminished, hungarian minor, harmonic minor, and chromatic scales might give you some inspiration. in the end though, its in your head and you need to learn how to get the notes out of your head and into your fingers, and the only way to do this is to keep experimenting and practicing.

make up your own scales. chances are they have already been played before, and have a 'formal' name, but at least this way the scale came from you and not the other way around.

very true, thats how the major scale came to me, i didnt know about it, its just the first thing i ever taught myself, it just sounded right, so it came out easy for me, the other stuff doesnt come to easy, but i have gotten harmonic minor down pretty well, with work, which was definitely worth it, i think i need to get minor down much better, but minor really confuses me when its just major, only played differently? i never understood that, i dont know why, Cm A major, wtf, if its the same then its the same, i dunno, Eric has tried to help me but i get so lost because im dumb when it comes to theory and Eric is a wiz at that. hmm. i dont know they, we'll see what happens, ill just work on it.

[jan 87]

hey man, when i first learnt sweeping i was absolutly fascinated, if you gave me an advanced piece and i would be able to sweep it well, in half an hour, but i laid of the sweeping for abit, cus it got abit samey, and now i wish i hadnt, i realised it wasnt talent or naturel skill it was working at it bloody hard, so im relearning all my sweeping which is even harder than learning it the first time.

and with the scales, C major is A minor. A mi is C maj's relative minor. and it just so happens that they have the same notes, its just the first positions of where you play them that are different, if that makes sense to you. maybe not.

[smallbusrider]

I firmly believe that there is no such thing as natural ability and those that just "have it" and those that don't.

It's 100% just work ethic. Look at all the top players out there. At some point in their lives they practiced such a rediculas amount that there lives could not support anything but practicing. Can your life support something other then practice? do you have a social life? girlfriend? job? Well those guys you're thinking about did not have those for a significant amount of time...so don't expect anything less for yourself.

I am not saying go over board and get obsessive about it (although sometimes it helps) because we all have to eat, but if you really want it the only thing stopping you from getting it is putting in the hours.

I believe there are some things that we precieve as natural ability. Such as the ability to start playing a new instrument and pick up the basics, or even intermediate level quite quickly, but this I think is more based around someones ability to practice effectively and that ability can come from any part of your life or anything that you may have spent a significant amount of time on in the past.

If you want bad enough it will come. There is natural ability. Just consider it a head start. The ones without will have to work harder at it, but it is attainable. The firebreathing monster guitar players out there are the ones who had natural ability AND practiced like hell.

[smallbusrider]

hey man, when i first learnt sweeping i was absolutly fascinated, if you gave me an advanced piece and i would be able to sweep it well, in half an hour, but i laid of the sweeping for abit, cus it got abit samey, and now i wish i hadnt, i realised it wasnt talent or naturel skill it was working at it bloody hard, so im relearning all my sweeping which is even harder than learning it the first time.

and with the scales, C major is A minor. A mi is C maj's relative minor. and it just so happens that they have the same notes, its just the first positions of where you play them that are different, if that makes sense to you. maybe not.

They're the same notes, but you have to be mindful of what the root notes and intervals are depending which chord you are playing over.

[Sav.M]

Ahh I always browse here but I thought I should say something so hello guys ;).
From my experience I sucked at most aspects of playing guitar, I couldn't pick past 100 16ths on a good day now I am able to play faster than I had ever thought to a metronome! Although these days I find players like Gilmour very inspiring. Its all about how much time passes of good solid practice and if you keep trying eventually you will get there. You can do it! anyone can if they put their mind to it, I'm not saying you need to sacrifice your social life, just manage your time effectively and you will get there. Also why not try different approaches to playing arps like tapping them, who knows you can make em a strong part of your playing.
Anyway keep practicing!