When Practicing Technique..

[headrulz101]

When practicing different areas of technique. For examlpe, I'll say Alternate picking. Do you work on different alternate picking excercises or take 1 or 2 and work on them till you got it perfect.

[EricV]

Depends, really. I think I elaborated on that in my articles. Basically, to use a philosophy by Mick Goodrick "Why not do both ?" =)
Really, there are exercises that I still do on a regular base, even after a lot of years, and there always are new ones I add.
So there´s a constant to push the limit and keep the chops up, and a variety to keep it interesting and challenging.
I think it´s good to practice mainly on what you can´t do yet ( I know, D´uh... ), but some exercises are just a constant I like to keep. Those I have memorized. The variety-ones I keep making up or I get them from a huge folder of exercises.
Eric

[headrulz101]

Depends, really. I think I elaborated on that in my articles. Basically, to use a philosophy by Mick Goodrick "Why not do both ?" =)
Really, there are exercises that I still do on a regular base, even after a lot of years, and there always are new ones I add.
So there´s a constant to push the limit and keep the chops up, and a variety to keep it interesting and challenging.
I think it´s good to practice mainly on what you can´t do yet ( I know, D´uh... ), but some exercises are just a constant I like to keep. Those I have memorized. The variety-ones I keep making up or I get them from a huge folder of exercises.
Eric

Yeah I get what you mean. I got some of the Paul Gilbert type licks from one of your articles and I've been using those for quite some time now. Thanks for the clearup.

Although I have another question. When working on these certain technique excercises do you play them perfectly at a slow speed for a period of time or do you increase it little by little?

[EricV]

Again it depends.
However, here are the approaches I use with most exercises:

- I play them slow for the majority of time ( I guess 80-90 % ). It might feel weird to play it at a slow tempo over and over even though you can play it kinda easily already, but the more you repeat it at a slow tempo, the better your hands and brain can memorize it.
At a certain point, you don´t have to pay that much attention anymore, and so you can do it even while doing other things.
Eventually, I´ll gradually speed it up, using a metronome or creating a ptb that I play along to.

- Skipping between slow and fast. This approach I was taught at the MI, and I have also seen it being demonstrated in Petrucci´s "Rock Discipline" video... If I work on a short lick, I play it slowly ( see above ), and then, in between, I play it at a higher speed, i.e. twice as fast as the slow tempo.
It might not work the first few times, but sometimes it feels as if those little "bursts" where I play it really fast help to push the limit and help to get up to a higher tempo.

- Practicing in bursts. Almost similar to the above one. Example: the PG lick. I might try to play it as fast as I possibly can, but only once at a time. At first, it might not be accurate or precise, but if you keep trying and mix it with slower tempos, you will eventually be able to increase the speed more efficiently

- "Milk it". I explained this in the "Squeeze It Out" article, I believe. Basically, I try to come up with as many variations as I can, using the basic idea or the notes of the exercise.
Hope this helps
Eric V.

[headrulz101]

Again it depends.
However, here are the approaches I use with most exercises:

- I play them slow for the majority of time ( I guess 80-90 % ). It might feel weird to play it at a slow tempo over and over even though you can play it kinda easily already, but the more you repeat it at a slow tempo, the better your hands and brain can memorize it.
At a certain point, you don´t have to pay that much attention anymore, and so you can do it even while doing other things.
Eventually, I´ll gradually speed it up, using a metronome or creating a ptb that I play along to.

- Skipping between slow and fast. This approach I was taught at the MI, and I have also seen it being demonstrated in Petrucci´s "Rock Discipline" video... If I work on a short lick, I play it slowly ( see above ), and then, in between, I play it at a higher speed, i.e. twice as fast as the slow tempo.
It might not work the first few times, but sometimes it feels as if those little "bursts" where I play it really fast help to push the limit and help to get up to a higher tempo.

- Practicing in bursts. Almost similar to the above one. Example: the PG lick. I might try to play it as fast as I possibly can, but only once at a time. At first, it might not be accurate or precise, but if you keep trying and mix it with slower tempos, you will eventually be able to increase the speed more efficiently

- "Milk it". I explained this in the "Squeeze It Out" article, I believe. Basically, I try to come up with as many variations as I can, using the basic idea or the notes of the exercise.
Hope this helps
Eric V.

Thanks man I understand what you're saying. Thanks for the clearup once again!:cool:

[syan]

- I play them slow for the majority of time ( I guess 80-90 % ).


I have seen said before, but am a little confused. What is meant by 100%? Is it as fast as possible, with an out of control feeling in your hands and as many mistakes as happen? Or is it as fast as you can while feeling in control, still making a few (or many?) mistakes? Or is it as fast as you can, in control, with NO mistakes? And does "no" really mean "no"? Or does it mean, like, only one or two every five repetitions or something?



thanks

[EricV]

What I meant by 90% is that 90% of the time I work on an exercise or lick, I play it at a slow tempo. The remining 10% I spend on speeding it up.
Sorry for the confusion
Eric

[itzfast]

i agree with eric. for instance i have been practicing picking in 4's for as long as i can remember but i was stuck at 120 bpm. then i started practicing 3 notes per string scales in groups of 6 instead of 4 and since july i have increased my bpm to 160. now part of that has to do with the frequency of my metronome practice, but it's good to change up. i was scared that by picking in 6's it would cause me to mess up when i tried to pick in 4's but it really hasn't, it actually has increased my speed when i pick in 4's. go for it!