#204 - How To Build Guitar Speed FAST + ALTERNATE PICKING MASTERCLASS
Added 2021-12-07 15:01:02 +0000 UTCIt's practice time! We focused on a lot of technique explanations and tricks lately, now it's finally time to put it all into action. This workout routine is perfect for building control and speed with your alternate picking, especially when it comes to string transitions :)
I also made an Alternate Picking Masterclass for you, the next course package - here are all your files (instructionals, video play-alongs, backing tracks, tabs, guitar pro): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BcrraeVlwEblQI8feWODYFY5yywkvksD?usp=sharing
As always, you can find the files for the workout challenge in the final folder! Hope you have tons of fun with this, happy shredding :)
P.S.: Here's a Dropbox link for the course as well: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/128necthldbj7ug/AADarR9YUtl2-qs-cxNy0hyba?dl=0
Comments
Hey Bernth, I have trouble keeping my fingers close to the fretboard. I tempt to release them too far from the fretboard which will effect my playing speed. What is the best way to fix this? I tried playing with a chair against my fingers to prevent them lifting to far but that isnt really a succes xD
Flay
2024-07-30 16:30:25 +0000 UTCdid you change what is in the folders? i cant access any of the excersizes that i could access yesterday
Sean Willmoitt
2024-07-05 05:52:36 +0000 UTCThanks Team B!
Able
2024-05-02 14:47:53 +0000 UTCHey Able, when it comes to string muting, Bernth made this video a while ago and it seems to have helped a lot of students here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/229-patreon-67802535 Additionally, there's also this episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/287-string-clean-87365440 Hope this helps you as well, have an awesome day! Team Bernth
Bernd Brodträger
2024-05-02 07:51:37 +0000 UTCHow do you handle the string ringing when you transition from 5th to 6th sting? I've tried to be very careful and very slowly lifting my finger off the string, but to have enough pressure to hear the note cleanly, no matter what I do the 5th string rings out when I transition. Palm muting could work but that feels like something I shouldn't have to do and watching your fretting hand in the videos does not appear your using your fretting hand to mute either... suggestions? I'm sure this is a common issue.
Able
2024-05-01 11:27:50 +0000 UTC3 days in here's my progress with 30-45 mins of practice daily 25/03/24 - 70 bpm 26/03/24 - 75 bpm 27/03 - 80 bpm (around 90% accuracy for picking notes) idk if its good progress still even if the bpm isn't up to speed yet but I relatively can see that my right hand movements are more relaxed and my fretting hand is a bit cleaner than before
Julio Osias
2024-03-27 10:56:17 +0000 UTCHey Julio, when it comes to building speed, Bernth made this helpful video, please make sure to watch it: https://www.patreon.com/posts/167-extreme-in-5-50839230 Hope that helps! Team Bernth
Bernd Brodträger
2024-03-26 07:37:15 +0000 UTCdo you increase bpm by intervals of 5 or do you do it by 1 when you raise the tempo?
Julio Osias
2024-03-25 09:49:53 +0000 UTCShould I combine the 30 Day Master Class with the Theory from #200 Switching the Picking Angle? Because the Exercises from the Masterclass seems to have a slower Tempo for the Beginning
Monsi 666
2024-02-03 16:59:12 +0000 UTCNot late at all, first moth done but many other courses ahead, so just in time. Thanks a lot, looks like we have a similar way to practise. Thats what I need to know. Rock on 🤘
Michal Polášek
2024-01-25 05:15:35 +0000 UTCsorry i hope im not late on this but what i do is practice 25 minutes of a certain workout then i hop to the next and i do take minor breaks just to get my head straight from non stop playing and I would recommend also breaks in between these workouts because they really killed my hand so i would pause the timer and stretch my hand for a min then get back to it. for the 5 minutes this and that i would not recommend because to get the best at something it would not only be hitting that PB but perfecting it then going further and further until you hit that timer. but besides all this info like Bernths says there is no perfect way to practice and what would work for me might not work for you. But mainly i would say not to go so hard on yourself and to have fun doing what you love then instead making it seem like a chore.much love Keep shredding.
Michael
2024-01-25 04:52:54 +0000 UTCYeah, I found that out after a few days, those workouts are awesome. But when you practise, do you play those workouts full 30 minutes in a row only with some short breaks ? Or do you play, for instance 5 minutes of workout, then 5 minutes of theory or something completely different, then again 5 minutes of workout until you hit that day goal?
Michal Polášek
2024-01-21 19:25:50 +0000 UTCYou slowly try to increase your tempo on that one workout and he recommends 20-30 minutes a day of practice. Good luck practicing.
Michael
2024-01-15 00:20:46 +0000 UTCHi, you have pretty good progress, I see it has been a while, but can you give me advice ? How do practise when you should give it 30 minutes a day, but those daily excercises playalongs are about 3 minutes. Do you just play them over and over for 30 minutes straight ? Thanks
Michal Polášek
2024-01-07 08:30:18 +0000 UTCWhen doing the 30 day course, how should I practise those excercises ? Because one playalong has 3 minutes and I am supposed to train 20-30 minutes a day. Should I just play it over and over again or is there some different method ? Anyways, this patreon is the best spend money in my life. <3
Michal Polášek
2024-01-04 21:35:39 +0000 UTCOmg. It took me almost two weeks to hit 100 bpm. It took me almost a week to touch 50. Now I'm confident I can hit 150. I only wish this exercise was a bit musical :P
Santosh Subramanian
2023-11-14 18:04:06 +0000 UTCThis is the hardest exercise possible to speed up I have ever done. 140 Bpm now. A bit like flight of the bumblebee. Great exercise.
Tijntje O Five
2023-09-29 17:42:48 +0000 UTCI am at 7 days and at on 105 somewhat clean. I fumble it when picking the high e string back to the b string, seems i double pic if i ply it at 115. Keeping a positive outlook though as i have seen improvement though
Pikel
2023-09-09 23:36:22 +0000 UTCshould my wrist be making a chopping motion, or more of a twisting while picking?
john carney
2023-09-07 16:24:09 +0000 UTC06/29/23, made it to 140 BPM relatively clean. 150 rough, pick hand is there but hands weren't in sync.
Gabriel Hatch
2023-06-30 13:06:13 +0000 UTCFor reference, I majored in music (voice) in college almost 20 years ago, but my guitar playing has always been self taught and I've learned primarily from choosing a new song, learning it and then applying those techniques to my own playing, which I think is pretty common. But this is the first exercise I have actually practiced in my 23 years of guitar playing. I'm also going to start the fretboard visualization masterclass today and do 30 mins/day on each masterclass. I think my substantial classical training (even as far removed as I am) has helped me to improvise well enough in the past, but I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I have never bothered to apply even basic music theory to the guitar. Just plugging in and ripping. Already playing faster than I expected 3 days in
Gabriel Hatch
2023-06-29 11:22:13 +0000 UTC06/28/23 120 reasonably clean, 130 rough (but again, less so than 120 was on day 2)
Gabriel Hatch
2023-06-29 11:11:32 +0000 UTC06/27/23 110 BPM a little sloppy, 120 rough (less so than 100 was on day 1]
Gabriel Hatch
2023-06-29 11:10:09 +0000 UTC06/26/23 90 BPM was a little sloppy, 100 BPM was bad
Gabriel Hatch
2023-06-29 11:09:09 +0000 UTC28.6.23 90 bpm
LY
2023-06-28 19:20:12 +0000 UTC90 bpm
LY
2023-06-21 08:45:24 +0000 UTC19.6.23 90 bpm
LY
2023-06-19 11:46:24 +0000 UTC14.6.23 80 BPM
LY
2023-06-14 20:55:11 +0000 UTC11.6.23: 70 BPM
LY
2023-06-11 14:30:27 +0000 UTCI'm in a similar boat and I've just been moving on and then revisiting the older exercises occasionally and I'm still getting faster despite not explicitly practicing exercise 1 for example. Can't definitively say that this is the "right" way to be doing things, but I personally prefer to go until I plateau, throw something new at my hands and take it from there.
Paul T
2023-06-05 13:48:27 +0000 UTCHey all wonder if anyone could give me some tips here, I am pretty new to guitar (few months in of serious practice). I am 2 weeks into this masterclass right now. I hover around 100 bpm peak with the first workout and 90 bpm peak with the second workout at the moment... I am wondering if I should spend another week on workout set number 2 or would it be ok to move to the third and circle back later? It feels like my main challenge is keeping up with the fretting hand vs the actual picking technique since if I just use open strings I can get 10-15 bpm faster pretty consistently if that makes a difference.
IWannaGetBetter
2023-05-30 01:53:11 +0000 UTCThis course has been a regular part of my practice routine as well as a hand full of others here and I've never made this much progress in such a short amount of time.
Mark Sutton
2023-05-13 13:10:47 +0000 UTCMy brain seems wired to do the day 11-15 exercise with inside vs. outside picking - I can very easily keep up with the fastest play-along with an upstroke on the first note and a downstroke on the fourth. (It's frustrating because I switch to inside without meaning to :/) But when I focus on maintaining outside picking I definitely encounter a lower 'speed limit.' So now I'm treating it as an 'outside picking' exercise. Is that the intent?
Lance Gutzman
2023-04-11 13:42:51 +0000 UTCThis course has really helped me with my picking. I have taken a bit over two months on it. Now I'm about to start with the final stage. I've also switched up my picking grip. At first I was really struggling with my left and right had syncing with this new grip. But now I am playing a lot faster than I have been able to in all the years I've been playing guitar. I really want to play death metal and this was the key to it. I can't quite get all the exercises to that 100% speed. But I have noticed that I can play some of the death metal songs I've learnt a lot better. Thanks a million. ❤️
Dakalo Ramokgopa
2023-02-14 19:30:59 +0000 UTCI really hope this will help: https://www.patreon.com/posts/167-extreme-in-5-50839230 Aside from that, the best way to improve is posting practice footage in the VIP Facebook group, it's hard to give feedback when I don't see you playing :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-11-16 07:55:04 +0000 UTCHi Bernth, Been practicing this for a few weeks now and seem to have gotten stuck on the final challenge at 100BPM. It feels like my fretting hand can no longer keep up with my picking hand and starts to tense up. Any Advice?
Brady Nicholson
2022-11-16 06:37:58 +0000 UTCHey Bernth, I love this but I'm getting really stuck on the first exercise. I can play all of the exercises fast, but I know you focus on CLEAN playing. On the first exercise when I hit the single note on the E string, and I come back down to play the 4 notes on the B string again, I constantly tap the E String with the pick and cause a scratchy sound. I do a downstroke on the E string, but that means I have to come back up and... over? the E string to get to the B string again? It makes the whole riff sound sloppy when I scratch the E string on accident. I can't find anything on advice or how to fix this. Any help?
Pat McCloskey
2022-10-27 14:26:50 +0000 UTCThis is the first course I completed after joining recently. I've made significant progress. All of the exercises tie in nicely to one another. Day 16-20 was also very helpful in strengthening my ring and pinky finger.
RySi
2022-10-07 15:25:34 +0000 UTCFelt the same, but as Bernth said pick 3 different courses don't just focus on trying to perfect one as each technique intertwines and strengthens each other, spend about 15 minutes on one move on have to break. you'll find that over time it will just enhance on its own and start to feel natural, you won't actually notice but one of the days you'll try it and be blown away that you achieved it, it's all about patience and building the muscle.
Ciaran Wilkes
2022-10-05 05:39:53 +0000 UTCGreat, thanks!
Alexander
2022-10-02 17:34:21 +0000 UTCGreat question, I tried my best to answer it here - hope it helps: https://www.patreon.com/posts/167-extreme-in-5-50839230
Bernd Brodträger
2022-10-01 06:33:05 +0000 UTCGot to day 11-15, and Bernth said something interesting... "You're not going to get there by playing 2 bmp faster every day" or something like that. I'm like what? How else will I get there? Can anyone shed some light here? Sure in the beginning I'm building muscle memory and improve quickly, but then I start plateuing and can only push about 2-3bpm more each day.
Alexander
2022-10-01 04:31:11 +0000 UTCTook me the first day just recognising the pattern, found myself needing to focus intensely to get it right every-time but I assume it will come, at 70BPM on day two and managing.
Benjamin A
2022-09-27 02:12:42 +0000 UTCThis is unfortunate... I only just found the link to the instructional videos -_- ... I've been practicing daily without direction LOL! Will definitely try them tomorrow.
Angel Soler
2022-09-16 11:03:42 +0000 UTCI was posting this daily on youtube but here is better because it's more active. This is my current progress. DAY 1: Less that 50bpm (Learning pattern) DAY 2: Managed to play 70bpm Perfectly once. DAY 3: Managed to play 80bpm Perfectly once. DAY 4: Managed to play 110bpm Perfectly once. DAY 5: Can play 100bpm a lot easier. Managed 110bpm a few times. These 5 days I focused on my left hand control. *going slow, leaving enough space between each note to execute the following: Relaxed all fingers> press the one finger on the fret with the rest relaxed> relax that finger again back to relaxed state> press next finger in sequence...and so on. 120BPM is still too fast to play in an accurate and synchronized manner. DAY 6: 100bpm is easy now. Stuck at 110bpm. (I changed my picking technique to elbow since I can play much faster. I already have the picking speed for it from the elbow, but can't do both hands at the same time. so I focused today on my right hand picking and managed to play 120bpm once but wasn't clean or controlled. DAY 7: 100 and 110bpm is hard from the elbow but manageable - Working on technique. DAY 8: Focused on other Exercises today DAY 9: Almost achieved a perfect 120bpm DAY 10: Today I chose to ignore my fretting hand and focused only on my picking - specifically isolated wrist picking with elbow and forearm almost dead relaxed. My picking speed limit from my wrist was actually below 120bpm (112bpm) and I used to unconsciously incorporate my elbow to compensate, creating a change in technique to one that I haven't broken down intentionally for conscious control. (Foreign variables). In training my wrist picking control and top speed, I noticed that I couldn't even play the exercises as accurately as with my fretting hand joining. So I got to work on learning the exercise with my picking hand alone and found a domain with plenty of room for improvement. I could feel picking becoming independent, faster, and more relaxed. I can feel 120bpm coming! 😍 I will reach it in "Day 13" DAY 11: A breakthrough! so much practice... I'm dead. Hours.... hours of practice. I almost did a perfect 120bpm. I'm too tired to explain the ridiculously elaborate strategies I used today to improve my fretting hand accuracy. DAY 12: Almost a Crispy 120bpm! Focused on strengthening my fretting hand - squeezing hard on individual finger positions for strength. This was by far the most effective exercise. My finger felt nimble afterward. Weekend Break (2 days off) DAY 13: well.... I pulled off the perfect 120bpm... :D and not only that.. I almost got a 130bpm. (today I focused only on my picking technique. specifically the string tracking motion using my lats and shoulders for a sawing motion.) I am a LEGEND! 1 Week BREAK--------------- DAY 14: practiced it today but it was a bit sloppy. DAY 15: can do 120bpm but it's not always perfect and it requires a lot of focus. DAY 16: Got my guitar back from the shop getting serviced. Did perfect 120bpm's with little effort. AND managed to get a perfect 130bpm! (Super surprised) DAY 17: I'm a GOD! I almost got a Perfect 140bpm and 130bpm felt easy. (I'm So grateful and so SHOCKED. I had set 140bpm as my 2-month realistic goal. I never thought I'd reach this speed, let alone 5 days after reaching my big goal of 120bpm! whatever I'm doing, it's working)
Angel Soler
2022-09-16 10:45:22 +0000 UTC9 15 22 120 bpm then my fingers get all tied up
Jimmy old school
2022-09-16 02:14:11 +0000 UTCso, 4 weeks of work and go until 150 but here´s a real f*** up breaking point
Tonio Marcigliano
2022-09-14 10:58:03 +0000 UTCHelp... Im on day 10 and im hard stuck on 85BPM... im clean-ish on that tempo but anything past that is just a sloppy mess...
Olivier Papineau
2022-09-13 02:24:14 +0000 UTC50bpm to 115bpm no problem 120bpm is still needs work almost there 125bpm sloppy but day 4 now and I can tell a massive difference in control working through the different bpm.
Ciaran Wilkes
2022-09-09 23:17:42 +0000 UTCOMG Bernth, I just went from 50 bpm to 100 bpm in a week. This is the fastest I have progress. Man, thanks!!
Ricardo Madrigal
2022-08-22 01:37:37 +0000 UTCThe Dunlop Jazz III Max Grip picks should not slide around on you.
Nick C
2022-08-14 18:22:00 +0000 UTC9/8/22 - sloppy 120... i can't keep a decent grip on my pick at this speed, it's just sliding around all over the place!
Andrew
2022-08-09 10:59:19 +0000 UTCDay 1: 125 bpm, getting sloppy at 130 bpm
Johannes
2022-08-08 10:08:01 +0000 UTCRome wasn't built in 16 days. Think about how many days you've spent on your rhythm playing. Everyday you cap at 110bpm is one more day closer to capping out at 120bpm.
Kildozer666
2022-08-05 17:07:24 +0000 UTCday1: 110bpm day2: 110bpm day3: 110bpm day4: 110bpm day5: 110bpm day6: 110bpm day7: 110bpm day8: 110bpm day9: 110bpm day10: 110bpm day11: 110bpm day12: 110bpm day13: 110bpm day14: 110bpm day15: 110bpm day16: 110bpm not looking too good, not gonna lie. maybe i should stick to rhythm
papa barwis
2022-08-04 19:39:41 +0000 UTCPaul, for what it’s worth my plan is to work through the course and advance after I feel that I have achieved clean and comfortable execution at 100BPM. I plan to come back after completing the course and see if I can work towards 150BPM. With that said. I have not reached total comfort at 100 yet after 5 days so I am not moving to days 5-10 yet. However, I have been trying to do all of this with a “floating hand” and did feel comfortable with my wrist “rested on the bridge”. BERNTH just posted that he always rests on the bridge for these exercises so I am hoping that when I work on it tonight I will feel I have reached the comfort level I am targeting.
Mark Sanders
2022-08-04 17:12:51 +0000 UTCHi all--brand new to the course, just starting out on Day 1. 90bpm is comfortable but 100bpm is pretty sloppy. Is the idea that I should be comfortable playing the first exercise block at 150bpm on Day 5 before moving onto the Day 6 exercise block? Sorry if that's dumb question.
Paul
2022-08-04 15:15:56 +0000 UTCNo, I don't recommend any 'floating' hand technique or approach - I'm always resting my wrist on the bridge :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-08-04 06:13:02 +0000 UTCBERNTH, should we be trying to avoid wresting our wrist on the guitar?
Mark Sanders
2022-08-04 02:42:10 +0000 UTCI'm right there with you man! Day 3 and whats been the most helpful is following Bernth's lesson on focusing on the minimal pressure pushing down on the strings so my other fingers don't pop up and keeping them floating on the neck. I'm feeling more comfortable at 100 BPM, but past that its slop city right now. (Day 4 tomorrow ).
Joseph Ness
2022-08-03 19:14:20 +0000 UTCUPDATE. July 28th I've continued pretty much everyday and today and got through 180 and tried 190 I think 160 was pretty good.
Mike Whitla
2022-07-28 12:44:16 +0000 UTCFunny thing, I seem to do better when I close my eyes and focus more on how it “feels” instead of looking intensely at my fingers 🤔
Mark Sanders
2022-07-25 02:52:32 +0000 UTCDay 1 (7/24/22) - 50BPM was super easy, but 100BPM was super hard! LOL Worked up to 100BPM-ish, but not quite as smooth as I would like it to be. 🙂 Oh, and to try and nail my technique I am doing the challenge on acoustic so that I can hear every little mistake.
Mark Sanders
2022-07-25 02:28:38 +0000 UTCKenny, are you noticing 3/4 time, not 4/4 time?
Mark Sanders
2022-07-25 02:24:43 +0000 UTCHey all. I have a question. I hope im just missing something. The videos say 100 Bpm but when I tap it out its actually 80. The 150 is actually 100. What am I missing here? thank you and great course. Sorry.. Days 11-15 Day 1 = Finished Day 6 = Finished up to speed Day 11 = Tempo is confusing
Kenny McLaughlin
2022-07-22 00:05:17 +0000 UTCDay one until 100 / Day 5 until 135. bit i feel that i have to train hard to get over the next landmark
Tonio Marcigliano
2022-07-14 07:53:50 +0000 UTCHi bernth; Started working on this. Had to skip one day because work related issues, Day 8 114 BPM
Leif Schaffland
2022-07-11 19:07:57 +0000 UTCDay 3 - 110bpm
John Cleere
2022-07-07 14:15:51 +0000 UTCDay 2 72 bpm
Christo
2022-07-05 14:48:33 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 110bpm
John Cleere
2022-07-04 20:58:23 +0000 UTCDay 1-5 Day 1 70 bpm
Christo
2022-07-04 19:30:42 +0000 UTCHa! Small world indeed.
Zachary Van Sickle
2022-06-28 20:52:17 +0000 UTC-- Day 1-5 Challenge -- Day 1 - 60 BPM Day 2 - 80 BPM Day 3 - 90 BPM (95 BPM - I'm tensing up but can do it cleanly, 100 BPM - Sloppy) At the moment I feel like my fingers are holding me back for the 100 BPM. Think I'm going to need a few extra days in the Day 1-5 excercise. I've been bumping up my BPM by 5 if I can play the first exercise cleanly twice (bumping up by 10 was too much). 150 at the moment seems daunting but I thought that about the 100 BPM on day one. If I can build up my fretting hand speed, I should be able to hit the 150 in 7 days.
Deanna Jones
2022-06-28 10:24:22 +0000 UTCWelcome Ricardo, hope you have fun getting started!! :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-06-27 06:33:39 +0000 UTCstarting my patreon with Bernth today!! and starting my first challenge today!! made day 1-5 at 150 bpm a little bit sloppy, at 150! 4 days left to put this perfect! love the workout
Ricardo Figueiredo
2022-06-26 22:04:18 +0000 UTCZach? Small world or are you a different Zach Van Sickle?
Matt Brown
2022-06-24 17:43:15 +0000 UTCForgot to report, (this was my first challenge) 6 may: Start, stuck at 110 bpm 7 may: 110 bpm done 8 may: 120 bpm done 9 may: Stuck at 130 bpm 11 may: 130 bpm done, 140 bpm kinda sloppy 14 may: 140 bpm with satisfying result, hit a wall in 150 bpm so i reduced to 5 bmp increases 17 may: 145 bpm 21 may: 150 bpm 24 may: 155 bpm 26 may: 160 bpm At first i was thinking "there is no way i can complete this challenge, but what can i lose, lets give it a try", then i really enjoyed and practiced more and more after work nearly every day. When i completed it i was shocked. "Wow, i actually completed this challenge in 20 days !, lets find some other excercises and practice more" Danke Schön BERNTH for this great challenge.
Çağrı Aydın
2022-06-18 10:30:19 +0000 UTC11 june first time stuck at 120bpm 12 june better 120bpm sloppy at 130bpm
Fill my thought with art
2022-06-11 12:06:02 +0000 UTCAwesome, thanks for the reply!
Benjamin
2022-06-09 13:39:13 +0000 UTCHey Benjamin, thanks for the comment! There's nothing wrong with economy picking, but this exercise specifically teaches you the string transitions with alternate picking (since they fall in odd places) - so I'd suggest continuing to work on this, if you're having trouble that's actually a good thing! You found exactly what you should be working on. So focusing on that upstroke for a while could unlock this playing style for you :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-06-09 04:43:34 +0000 UTCHello Bernth and community - question for you about day 1-5 exercise. I’m new to Patreon but I’ve played on and off for awhile. My alternate picking needs a lot of work. So for the first week exercise I can hit 120 bpm pretty comfortably, but when I upstroke first it is significantly harder. I can approach 140 bpm when I down stroke first, but I can’t break 120 when I upstroke first unless I economy pick the string transition. Is this something I should keep doing or should I just suck it up and upstroke the note on the high e string and hope my technique/speed improves over time? I watched bernth’s video about string escapes but I can’t really do it yet, and not sure if that’s part of what I should be practicing here. I’m committed to doing these exercises and I am seeing improvement, but I want to practice correctly. Thanks in advance - cheers!
Benjamin
2022-06-08 23:45:25 +0000 UTCIt is impressive how in 30 minutes I'm already picking more gently to match the bpm. Tks Bernth.
Roberto Martynenko Luiz
2022-05-25 19:25:48 +0000 UTCThis is the single best resource for guitar playing I have found in 20 years. I can actually see my speed improving. And am learning theory in a way that has elevated my playing and composing skills exponentially. In less than a month. Thank you!
Zachary Van Sickle
2022-05-23 16:47:01 +0000 UTCExcellent course! My 57-year-old fingers died of cardio overload and it's just day 1.
Raymond Ho
2022-05-22 12:17:38 +0000 UTCDay 4 - 142.5 (95%) bpm
Stuart Donald
2022-05-19 19:40:37 +0000 UTCI to was self taught and picked up a lot of bad habits the main one is playing with my fingers flat but I'm working on it I've already learned a great deal from bernth he's an awesome teacher
Jimmy old school
2022-05-19 11:25:47 +0000 UTCDay 2 - 135bpm Day 3 - 135bpm
Stuart Donald
2022-05-18 17:23:34 +0000 UTCAwesome Stuart, welcome to our community! :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-05-17 05:49:19 +0000 UTCMay 16th - Day 30 - 150 bpm and tried 160 - 140 up not great but getting better.
Mike Whitla
2022-05-16 13:48:38 +0000 UTCRecently joined your Patreon after seeing you on YouTube, being self taught, some of the fundamentals I’ve seen you teach have made a huge difference already, thumb behind the index finger, pick grip, not anchoring my palm to the bridge etc, hoping your courses/practice sessions will let me break through this plateau Day 1 - 120bpm, over 125 starts to get sloppy
Stuart Donald
2022-05-16 10:29:58 +0000 UTCMay 15th - Day 29 - 150 bpm not great tho
Mike Whitla
2022-05-15 19:38:35 +0000 UTCMay 14th - Day 28 - 150 bpm got through 2x not great - 140 is better tried 160 bpm
Mike Whitla
2022-05-14 19:41:01 +0000 UTCMay 13th - Day 27 - 140 bpm better somehow
Mike Whitla
2022-05-13 16:13:13 +0000 UTCMay 12th - Day 26 - 140 bpm but not great yet.
Mike Whitla
2022-05-12 15:01:31 +0000 UTCDay 11-15 is killing me. After three days anything over 50 bpm still starts to get sloppy, and by 80, I'm falling apart completely.
Fred Phillips
2022-05-12 03:39:13 +0000 UTCMay 11th - Day 25 140 bpm
Mike Whitla
2022-05-11 12:58:02 +0000 UTCMay 10th - Day 24 - 140 bpm
Mike Whitla
2022-05-10 12:53:30 +0000 UTCMay 9th - Day 23 - 140 bpm - made through to 160 but it was garbage.
Mike Whitla
2022-05-09 15:40:57 +0000 UTCMay 7th - Day 21 140 bpm
Mike Whitla
2022-05-07 22:16:43 +0000 UTCMay 6th - day 20 - 140 bpm - still not good and tried to get through 150 and brain is tracking it.
Mike Whitla
2022-05-06 14:16:35 +0000 UTCMay 5th - Day 19 - 140 bpm - !30 bpm is sounding a bit better - 120 is better too
Mike Whitla
2022-05-05 15:25:44 +0000 UTCMay the 4th be with you. Day 18 - 130 bpm - worked with the drum machine too and 120 bpm sounded better.
Mike Whitla
2022-05-04 13:39:32 +0000 UTCMay 3rd - Day 17 - I made it through 140 bpm but when I practiced with a drum machine only everything from 120 up was pretty terrible and sloppy.
Mike Whitla
2022-05-03 14:36:48 +0000 UTCMay 2nd - Day 16 - 120 bpm not good today.
Mike Whitla
2022-05-02 14:30:56 +0000 UTCMay 1st = Day 15 140 bpm but terrible!! more relaxed today.
Mike Whitla
2022-05-01 16:16:30 +0000 UTCApril 30th - Day 14 130 bpm and took a while to get there. Need more warm up!
Mike Whitla
2022-04-30 13:37:33 +0000 UTCApril 29th - Day 13 130 bpm and took a while to get there.
Mike Whitla
2022-04-29 14:15:47 +0000 UTCApril 28th Day 12 - 130 bpm
Mike Whitla
2022-04-28 12:59:06 +0000 UTCApril 27th Day 11 -130 still a bit rough got through 140 and started 150
Mike Whitla
2022-04-27 13:06:55 +0000 UTCApril 19th Day 3 100 bpm
Mike Whitla
2022-04-19 14:48:27 +0000 UTCApril 18th Day 2 90 bpm
Mike Whitla
2022-04-18 13:33:10 +0000 UTCApril 17th - Day one 70bpm
Mike Whitla
2022-04-18 13:32:51 +0000 UTCday one for me stuck at 140bpm
Jonas Klaus
2022-04-14 17:46:47 +0000 UTC4/11/2022 Day 1-5 max BPM 123
Jankó Ferenc
2022-04-11 15:39:15 +0000 UTCBlock 1: Starting bpm: 40; Ending bpm: 165; Block 2: Starting bpm: 40; Ending bpm: --; Block 3: Starting bpm: --; Ending bpm: --; Block 4: Starting bpm: --; Ending bpm: --; Block 5: Starting bpm: --; Ending bpm: --; Block 6: Starting bpm: --; Ending bpm: --;
Bill Combs
2022-04-08 02:43:27 +0000 UTCUse the youtube custom playback speed to tweak the speed past 100 but under 150
William Thomason
2022-04-06 13:16:42 +0000 UTCStarted 3/26/2022 3/26 - 3/31 - Day 1-5 (50BPM -> 90BPM) 4/01 - 4/06 - Day 6-10 (70BPM -> 83BPM) 4/07 - 4/11 - Day 1-5 redux (100 BPM - 100 BPM Sloppy) 4/12 - 4/16 - Day 1-5 :( re-redux (100 BPM) Following BERNTH's advice to try to run slow rather than walk fast. Stumbling a whole lot but it's coming together.
NewAgeQuanta
2022-04-06 10:36:25 +0000 UTCBeen driving myself nuts trying to decide the best grip for my pick while going through the exercises. Still, I've noticed big leap in coordination and speed, when I'm not fussing over the grip.
Gm F
2022-03-21 02:15:48 +0000 UTCStarting it today, memorizing the pattern now, will go for max speed when I can stop thinking about what is next. Day 1 - 80bpm max... still make mistakes due to it not being fully ingrained. Day 2 - Got a very dirty 90 out, 100 is still a mile away, gonna practice 60 and 70 a few more times tonight... just noticed the nastiest part for me is the chromatic descent. Day 3 - 90 is cleaner, 100 is super dirty but on the cusp of doable Day 4 - Took a couple days off, caught myself back up to day 3 Postponing this for now, gonna jump over to the hand sync exercises to try and improve on that...
Ricky Myre
2022-03-20 17:39:07 +0000 UTCI can't really get past like 80bpm right now. But I will keep working at it! will probably take me more than 5 days though.
Nathan Killen
2022-03-19 21:48:26 +0000 UTCDay 1 started falling apart at 120bpm. I'm not sure if my ring finger and pinky are even connected to my brain at this stage but we'll get there. Great excercise!
Ronkde
2022-03-17 08:35:38 +0000 UTCHey Derek, I highly recommend working on this for better finger control: https://www.patreon.com/posts/182-best-finger-53895697 Hope that helps :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-03-07 05:46:30 +0000 UTCI've been at this for only 4 days but I'm hard stuck at 80, playing cleanly. Trying to figure out what differences there are between myself and Bernth I noticed his fingers stay very close to the fretboard at all times, whereas my fingers need to shoot out a large ways. I can't really seem to control this. Is this just a strength issue? Any ideas on how to correct?
Derek Mars
2022-03-06 18:52:23 +0000 UTCDay 11-16; 150 bpm. I’m wondering if anyone here was not even close to being able to play this when they started but can now play it no problem. And how long did it take you to get to that speed?
Charles
2022-03-05 23:03:39 +0000 UTCDay 1 was just memorizing the pattern, made it to 80 bpm. Day 2.....still 80 bpm. Love the exercise though, this one feels like it's making a bigger impact than many other exercises.
Derek Mars
2022-03-05 02:08:52 +0000 UTCHardcore stuck at 100bpm
Luke Wylde-Browne
2022-03-03 10:23:33 +0000 UTCPhew... so I am doing this for several weeks now... in combination with day 21-25 and realisticly I'm pretty much stuck in between 110 and 120 (each day is a bit different, you know) and it seems to be impossible to get over 120... even with 125 I am losing control, I think mostly with my picking hand. Wanted to rule this out of my daily training after getting to at least 150 if not 160 but I have the feeling 120 is my limit. Any ideas? (I know... stupid question, but I am out of any...)
Sephiroth
2022-03-01 07:33:31 +0000 UTCI just started Day 1-5, but it seems this works out my left hand more than my right hand. Even at 120 BPM, my arm and hand are on fire after only a few runs. I've always avoided playing solos near the nut because I have short fingers, and it was more difficult to play there. Hopefully these exercises fix that.
Kevin Niemeyer
2022-02-22 19:24:28 +0000 UTCI reached 140 yesterday!!
Gabriel Padial
2022-02-20 09:24:58 +0000 UTCDoes any one success with the 150BPM? I'm stuck at 115BPM xD this wall is annoying lol
kevin Dumont
2022-02-16 20:15:18 +0000 UTCYou can always change the BPM of the guitar pro files to your liking :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-02-15 05:48:50 +0000 UTCoh man these BPM jumps on the exercises are huge!
Aaron Shepanik
2022-02-14 22:53:25 +0000 UTCBernth this I have to say... After little over a year being subscribed here and even started months before that training my guitar skills with great lessons of yours on a dedicated and regular, nearly daily basis but barely noticing any real progression in my overall skills sadly, I believe that THIS exercise, especially the day 21-25 section finaly helped my playing - at least picking and fretting hand wise. I am still a little frustrated seeing so many great guitar players rising in such a short time of their training compared to myself, but now I feel like making progress again... just a little... way to little after that long time of training though... but now I can feel a little breath of hope again for me and my skills. It may be not much, not nearly as much as I hoped for to be honest, but still! It is a good feeling. Thank you for that :)
Sephiroth
2022-02-08 07:44:14 +0000 UTCI recommend alternate picking but if you feel like economy picking is not limiting you creatively with your style/music, you can also go for that :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-02-04 08:11:56 +0000 UTCI was under the impression that economy picking only works on odd number of notes per string. I'm picking everything alternate.
Marcus Daw
2022-02-04 05:34:27 +0000 UTCHi bernth. At exercise 3 i always fall into the economy picking at the string transition. So the next "package" i start with an downstroke. i have no problem with it, but its not like the requirement. is that a problem?
Mani 83
2022-02-03 10:58:31 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 100 bpm, feels comfortable to this level, will try to hit 120 tomorrow ... Day 4 - 120 bpm, now I feel comfortable and clean at this rate, will push harder on the exercises to reach 140 next week ... Day 8 - 130 bpm, it is cleaner now but still struggle with the alternate picking motion at 140 or higher. ... Day 10 - 140 bpm, now I feel that I can keep it up to this tempo, 150 is at 80-85%, 160 is 60%. I have 2 more weeks to go yet! ... Day 16 - 150 bpm, I got it in a 95% and the lower bpms now feel cleaner, I hope to get 160 next week ... Day 30 - 160 bpm, Finally got to this level!!!, took me several tries and warm a lot before, but for now I feel satisfied.
José Iván Aguilar
2022-01-21 19:31:34 +0000 UTCDo the mp3 files have DRM? I’m trying to use them on the Boss pocket GT. the browser won’t show the files in it file browser
Brian LoBue
2022-01-16 21:30:58 +0000 UTCThis got me at first too lol I put the click up to 150 just to see and thought damn that’s fast! I need to hear it and then I heard the video click and was like waiiiitttg a minute! That’s not 150 lol!
Rick
2022-01-12 03:17:47 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 120Bpm Day 5 - 150 Bpm Day 6 - 122 Bpm Day 8 - 134 Bpm Day 10 - 139 Bpm Day 11 - 75 Bpm Day 15 - 84 Bpm Day 16 - 92 Bpm Day 20 - 114 Bpm Day 21 - 102 Bpm Day 25 - 118 Bpm
M H
2022-01-12 00:39:13 +0000 UTCDay 24 01/11/22: 105 bpm - 110 bpm 1/2 a step back today, but focused drills on pieces of it to clean it up at 110.
Michael Latham
2022-01-11 23:49:24 +0000 UTCHey Tyler, I recommend checking out this: https://www.patreon.com/posts/200-youre-using-58546504 And this: https://www.patreon.com/posts/198-3-picking-57884181
Bernd Brodträger
2022-01-11 05:46:53 +0000 UTCDay 23 01/10/22: 105 bpm - 110 bpm 110 is cleaning up, but nowhere near ready to try 115. Still too tense and spastic at 110.
Michael Latham
2022-01-11 01:18:41 +0000 UTCHey Bernth, I have found that I am slow in my transition from an upstroke on the 3rd string to a downstroke on the 4th string. I am much stronger ascending compared to descending. Do you have any tips or videos about how to transition faster?
Tyler Ott
2022-01-10 15:30:59 +0000 UTCPhew.... don't know what day I am at since I took a guitar and sports break during holiday time... something between 16 und 20 it should be (as said with a break, a little over a week long) My biggest problem is, by far, getting the fretting fingers to the right notes at "higher" tempos. Indeed it's not too common to get this straight and right even at the first bpm takes. Just because my finger don't seem to like the way they have to fred here... curse you, you not well functioning muscle memory of mine! The best run I barely managed to get at least one line (without the repitition) is around 90/100 bpm. Everything above really seems totally impossible and my fretting hand is losing more and more touch.
Sephiroth
2022-01-10 07:29:09 +0000 UTCYep - the faster I try to go, the more spastic both left and right hand techniques become. I did some drills today to focus on left/right consistent synchronization.
Michael Latham
2022-01-10 00:33:06 +0000 UTCI hear that! I've been working on my pinky/ring finger technique and pick placement as well. Concentrated practice is really helping though! I started at a sloppy 62 bpm and am almost comfortable at 110.
Michael Latham
2022-01-10 00:27:11 +0000 UTCDay 22 01/09/22: 100 bpm - 110 bpm Mainly worked at 110, including just some drills to sync left and right hand. No pain today, which is nice!
Michael Latham
2022-01-10 00:24:13 +0000 UTCThis exercise made me realize where I lose it. I've found that as the tempo increases, picking hand technique is the staple. I think my hand tries to compensate by moving my thumb and pointer finger and consequently change the picking angle and it kills the consistency needed to maintain that speed. Gotta really focus on keeping the right hand technique the same in every tempo
Patrick
2022-01-09 13:38:09 +0000 UTCAt every bpm i have problems on the way back with the accuracy and of pinky and second finger grrrrrr also still truying to place my thumb in the middle of the neck which gives me other issues and the best way of picking (pick placement between my thumb and index) to be as accurate as possible, even at 50 bpm...
Pascal Verschaffel
2022-01-09 13:36:30 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 100 Day 5 - 120 Day 6 - 84 Day 10 - 104 Day 11 - 55 Day 15 - 72 Day 16 - 50
Robert Swanson
2022-01-09 03:55:06 +0000 UTCHey Joe, if building speed is your main goal I really recommend checking out this as well aside from the course/challenge: https://www.patreon.com/posts/167-extreme-in-5-50839230
Bernd Brodträger
2022-01-08 12:22:23 +0000 UTCDay 21 01/07/22: 105 bpm - 110 bpm Not a great day. Let's just say that.
Michael Latham
2022-01-07 22:50:44 +0000 UTCWelcome Joe! Great questions...I'll be in your same boat. I'll be happy if I even hit 120 in my next 9 sessions. I hope some folks pipe in!
Michael Latham
2022-01-07 22:50:25 +0000 UTCJust joined the community and this is the first one that I starting with. I've played for a long time, but am not a shredder. I can tremolo pick cleanly as fast as I need, but I'm pretty certain at the end of the 30 days I'll be in the group of those stuck around 120 BPM on exercises like this, so looking on recommendations for my approach. Once I finish should I just start over and repeat the 30 days over and over until I am at a target speed, or switch to something else and come back later? What should be the goal before moving on? The thing I am a bit worried about if switching things around is being able to do all of the classes, but not being where I want to be with any of them, or being stuck on one of them for all eternity. What would you recommend?
Joe
2022-01-07 05:51:23 +0000 UTCDay 20 01/06/22: 105 bpm - 110 bpm Started working at 110 today. Not very clean, but that's what the practice is for!
Michael Latham
2022-01-06 21:34:15 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 100 bpm, feels comfortable to this level, will try to hit 120 tomorrow ... Day 4 - 120 bpm, now I feel comfortable and clean at this rate, will push harder on the exercises to reach 140 next week ... Day 8 - 130 bpm, it is cleaner now but still struggle with the alternate picking motion at 140 or higher. ... Day 10 - 140 bpm, now I feel that I can keep it up to this tempo, 150 is at 80-85%, 160 is 60%. I have 2 more weeks to go yet! ... Day 16 - 150 bpm, I got it in a 95% and the lower bpms now feel cleaner, I hope to get 160 next week ... Day 19 - 150 bpm, reaching 160 at fairly 80%
José Iván Aguilar
2022-01-06 15:37:57 +0000 UTCDay 19 01/04/22: 100 bpm - 105 bpm Back at it today; didn't lose anything over my short break (and I still played every day, but for a couple). Dipped my toe at 110 and was surprisingly close!
Michael Latham
2022-01-05 00:22:37 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 100 bpm, feels comfortable to this level, will try to hit 120 tomorrow ... Day 4 - 120 bpm, now I feel comfortable and clean at this rate, will push harder on the exercises to reach 140 next week ... Day 8 - 130 bpm, it is cleaner now but still struggle with the alternate picking motion at 140 or higher. ... Day 10 - 140 bpm, now I feel that I can keep it up to this tempo, 150 is at 80-85%, 160 is 60%. I have 2 more weeks to go yet! ... Day 16 - 150 bpm, I got it in a 95% and the lower bpms now feel cleaner, I hope to get 160 next week
José Iván Aguilar
2022-01-04 00:33:09 +0000 UTCGreat content Bernth! I've been keeping a log of my BPM maxes on all excercizes. We need an app to track progress and see where other people are compared to us. Take a look at StrengthLevel.com I would be this but with guitar excercizes.
Matthew Spicka
2022-01-01 23:49:13 +0000 UTCHey Tyler, great question! The biggest goal is mastering alternate picking here, since it will grant you the most amount of freedom over your lines :) But economy picking is also great for many things, I made a video about it recently: https://www.patreon.com/posts/205-worlds-best-59894182
Bernd Brodträger
2021-12-30 06:06:51 +0000 UTCDay 18 12/29/21: 95 bpm - 105 bpm Finally a jump in speed! I finally felt quite comfortable with 100, so I bumped to 105. Lo and behold, I can play it 'fairly' cleanly 2 times through the exercise (i.e. 4 times through the run). VERY happy to see this progress! I still have 12 more days to strive for 160...
Michael Latham
2021-12-29 22:27:47 +0000 UTCI'm a little torn with my opinion, to be honest. That's a great question. On one hand, the point of the exercise is to practice alt picking and string transitions. Thinking of it that way, I've been trying to practice strict alt picking throughout. However, the other point of the exercise is to play fast, so if a different picking technique (other than legato, I suppose) gets you through the exercise, I see nothing wrong with that!
Michael Latham
2021-12-29 22:23:40 +0000 UTCI'm on day 11-15, and I notice my picking pattern changing once I get to 70bpm. I'm ending on a downstroke because I hit a double upstroke switching from the G string to the D string. I do that to keep up with the speed. I can play it consistently and cleanly at speed. It's been really frustrating to try to fix. Do I need to keep working at it or is it ok to play it like that? Its driving me nuts
Tyler Ott
2021-12-29 17:14:23 +0000 UTCDay 17 12/28/21: 95 bpm - 100 bpm I feel like a broken record here, but my 100bpm is getting quite clean and relaxed...almost, but not how I want it, yet. And no pain today! Woot!
Michael Latham
2021-12-29 01:11:08 +0000 UTCDay 7 - holidays got in the way. I'm clean on part 2 of masterclass and the video challenge at 100, beyond that is sloppy. Got my booster today so I'm also tired.
Noah
2021-12-28 03:44:15 +0000 UTCDay 16 12/27/21: 90 bpm - 95 bpm Rather off day with right-hand/left-hand coordination. I did a few bouts at 100, but not very clean.
Michael Latham
2021-12-28 00:23:13 +0000 UTCThe tabs on the video playthroughs have the picking pattern, maybe I'm being too picky, but sometimes I just play the PDF along with a metronome. It would be nice if the PDFs had the upstroke/downstroke noted on them please!
Chris Godlewski
2021-12-27 23:43:01 +0000 UTCDay 15 12/26/21: 99 bpm So, I backed up a little and will stay at 99 bpm until it's clean, fluid, and relaxed. Thanks, José!
Michael Latham
2021-12-26 21:12:31 +0000 UTCThank you, José! I really appreciate the advice. I've started as you suggest today. I definitely am guilty of really tensing up at the 'higher' bpm and I know that's not good. I need to be a bit more patient at each bpm notch before going faster.
Michael Latham
2021-12-26 21:10:54 +0000 UTCHi Maestro Bernth you save me life, with this routine program, now i can say that i found the best guitar tutor in the world!!! Again thank you soooo much
DAHOU Med Larbi
2021-12-26 18:44:03 +0000 UTCYou should try doing 5 bpm steps instead of 1, and start from a little below your current bpm, say start with 2 repetitions of 80, then increase to 85 and two more reps, then 90, and so on, pushing as far as you can still getting 70-80% of accuracy. For the pain, you should relax your hands and fingers the most that you can (use the lower bpms reps to train your hand to stay relax, minimize the motion) and keep that will increasing bpms. You should notice a faster progress.
José Iván Aguilar
2021-12-25 04:12:49 +0000 UTCThanks bro! Lets keep pushing it!
José Iván Aguilar
2021-12-25 03:47:32 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 100 bpm, feels comfortable to this level, will try to hit 120 tomorrow ... Day 4 - 120 bpm, now I feel comfortable and clean at this rate, will push harder on the exercises to reach 140 next week ... Day 8 - 130 bpm, it is cleaner now but still struggle with the alternate picking motion at 140 or higher. ... Day 10 - 140 bpm, now I feel that I can keep it up to this tempo, 150 is at 80-85%, 160 is 60%. I have 2 more weeks to go yet!
José Iván Aguilar
2021-12-25 03:47:07 +0000 UTCDay 14 12/24/21: 100 bpm - 103 bpm Despite some pain in my left hand (pinky muscle), I was pretty happy with a couple of runs at 103 bpm. Gee...this practicing something everyday just might work...hopefully I won't see a squirrel... 😁
Michael Latham
2021-12-25 01:18:15 +0000 UTCDay 1 12/7/21 @ 62 bpm ... Day 13 12/23/21: 100 bpm - 101 bpm Still can't break 101, but could hit 103 for first two measures. One day I'll break 101, I just know it! 😆
Michael Latham
2021-12-23 23:48:47 +0000 UTCNice work, man!
Michael Latham
2021-12-23 23:48:36 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 100 bpm, feels comfortable to this level, will try to hit 120 tomorrow ... Day 4 - 120 bpm, now I feel comfortable and clean at this rate, will push harder on the exercises to reach 140 next week ... Day 8 - 130 bpm, it is cleaner now but still struggle with the alternate picking motion at 140 or higher.
José Iván Aguilar
2021-12-23 02:06:26 +0000 UTCDay 12 12/22/21: 95 bpm - 101 bpm Back up to 101 bpm today; did drills of the first two measures up to 103 clean and 104 'almost'. :) No pain in the left hand today! I started with Bernth's "Finger Independece Exercise", which is a legato exercise designed to help create a lighter grip and keep the thumb moving with the hand up the neck. It's a great warm up for this challenge!
Michael Latham
2021-12-23 00:54:37 +0000 UTCThanks for asking Karlo, the link is in the post above (either Google Drive or Dropbox, what works best for you)! Hope this helps :)
Bernd Brodträger
2021-12-22 06:53:38 +0000 UTCDay 11 12/21/21: 95 bpm Took a couple days off from the challenge riff and ended up taking a big step backwards. My left hand "pinky muscle" is so tight and on-fire (in a bad way), so I'm just calling it good with this exercise for today. :(
Michael Latham
2021-12-21 20:15:31 +0000 UTCYep, I know what you mean. Keep at it, of course! One thing I did was isolate that section with a loop and just played it (slowly) over and over until my hands were in sync and I didn't have to 'think' about playing it.
Michael Latham
2021-12-21 20:13:53 +0000 UTCday 3 120bpm. where can i find the alternate picking master class?
karlo Petigny
2021-12-21 12:53:10 +0000 UTCHi Bernth, I noticed one thing in the Masterclass Lessons: In Day 11-15, the "Cover Slides" of the Exercises say 50, 100 and 150bpm, while the file names (and the actual BPM in the Videos) are 50, 80 and 100bpm ;-) ...and i was wondering why I had such issues with the 2nd Level with just a metronome :D
Fhynix
2021-12-20 08:02:18 +0000 UTCThe second bar always throws me off. The speed isn't the main problem for me (at least, I could go up 20 bpm) but I'm stumbling at the repeated notes. Arguably, this is me not being confident in the melody or not being fluent enough, but I'll get there.
Robert Bjärmyr
2021-12-18 22:02:55 +0000 UTCDay 6, worked on exercise 2 in the master class for a while, comfortable at 100 bpm. Did the video challenge at 100 for a while but my fingers were definitely tired
Noah
2021-12-18 07:33:27 +0000 UTCDay 10 12/17/21: 100 bpm - 101 bpm Just stuck with 100, then 101 bpm for the 20 min or so practice on this. I should be able to pop up to 102 tomorrow, I think. Honestly, one bpm increase per day is where I am, it seems. And some days are better than others.
Michael Latham
2021-12-17 23:51:31 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 100 bpm, feels comfortable to this level, will try to hit 120 tomorrow ... Day 4 - 120 bpm, now I feel comfortable and clean at this rate, will push harder on the exercises to reach 140 next week
José Iván Aguilar
2021-12-17 05:33:46 +0000 UTCDay 9 12/16/21: 98 bpm to 100 bpm Focusing on going over the first bar, then the first two bars, I could hit 100 bpm cleanly. I was able to go through one cycle of the exercise cleanly (i.e. 1/2 of the exercise) at 100 bpm, then crashed and burned with some pain in my left hand. Figured I'd better call it there.
Michael Latham
2021-12-17 01:18:46 +0000 UTCDay 5 - no metronome. Just sat drilling the masterclass and the video challenge while watching tv with my wife. Felt faster than day 4 though.
Noah
2021-12-16 23:40:35 +0000 UTCRight on, man. I can't wait to break 100!
Michael Latham
2021-12-16 01:08:51 +0000 UTCDay 8 12/15/21: 93 bpm to 98 bpm Definitely did a bit better by warming up with some other exercises before going into this one. Had some pain in my right hand, so didn't push as much as I would have liked to. I sure hope I'm not stuck with sub-100 bpm speeds, though!
Michael Latham
2021-12-16 01:07:19 +0000 UTCDay 4 for me. Masterclass got up to 130bpm before it got sloppy. Was able to increase the video challenge to 105 and had a couple clean ones in between the messy ones.
Noah
2021-12-15 06:43:54 +0000 UTCDay 7 12/14/21: 90 bpm to 95 bpm Fatigue in my left hand instead of left forearm today. Just couldn't get 96 clean enough to call it good. Several crash & burns where I had to actually stop the GP loop and start over. 😁
Michael Latham
2021-12-15 00:39:19 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 100 bpm, feels comfortable to this level, will try to hit 120 tomorrow
José Iván Aguilar
2021-12-14 08:49:37 +0000 UTCDay 5 12/11/21: 85 bpm to 95 bpm Was feeling good a couple of days ago and managed to feel comfortable up to 95 bpm. 12/12/21 was band rehearsal day, so 4 hours playing set list songs. Day 6 12/13/21: 90 bpm only Today was rough. My left forearm is just fatigued from all the playing over the last week. I guess that's a good thing, but I wonder if, like lifting weights, I should take a day off from heavy left-hand/arm workouts?
Michael Latham
2021-12-14 00:07:26 +0000 UTC13.12.2021: Did the 120, now stuck at 130.
Fhynix
2021-12-13 08:10:20 +0000 UTCDay 2 - didn't get to practice with metronome, just played a little warming up for gig. Day 3 - can get to 95 but not clean. The runs back down get sloppy changing strings and I get off-time. Masterclass day 3 I'm up to 120 bpm. I looked ahead and I see the main video is the final challenge for the class.
Noah
2021-12-13 07:02:51 +0000 UTCHey Nathan, welcome to our community! :) Great to have you here. Yes, economy of motion is very important for building speed, this will really help you out! Here's something to get you started right away: https://www.patreon.com/posts/161-this-is-why-49190212
Bernd Brodträger
2021-12-13 04:51:49 +0000 UTCHi Bernth, I've just joined your Patreon community. I'm super happy to have discovered it as its exactly what I've been looking for to help improve my shred guitar playing skills. I love the play-along workouts. Anyways, I'm on day two of the alternate picking master class and I've noticed that I tend to lift my fretted fingers really high above the fret board when playing sometimes. Where as, observing you playing in the video, your fingers don't seem to move up and down very much at all. Is this something I should be trying to do as well? Do you have any tips to help do this?
nathan m
2021-12-12 03:15:09 +0000 UTCDay 5 12/10/21: 85 bpm to 95 bpm (1/2 hour practice) I found if I focus on my technique (left or right hand), I stumbled a lot. If I just focus on 'the piece' and 'let it play', I do much better. At 95, I am lagging just a bit - it sounds like two instruments when I play with GP; at slower speeds, it sounds like just me playing along.
Michael Latham
2021-12-12 00:11:54 +0000 UTC11.12.2021: NEARLY nailed the 120bpm, currently working on completely memorizing the whole thing :)
Fhynix
2021-12-11 09:01:07 +0000 UTCDay 4 12/10/21: 79 bpm to 87 bpm (1/2 hour practice) Interesting...my trouble spot was not the B->G turnaround today, but now I'm getting to my descending speed trouble spot. I did crash and burn a few times and would just 'restart' the lick cycle (using Guitar Pro), but I was quite surprised and happy that I walked up to 87 bpm. Now I'm on to some other excercises...
Michael Latham
2021-12-11 00:26:13 +0000 UTCRight on! I'm almost to 90 bpm... :)
Michael Latham
2021-12-11 00:22:30 +0000 UTCOK. so doing the actual exercise in the video, put some time into it and got some clean 90bpm runs!
Noah
2021-12-10 18:56:54 +0000 UTCEdit: just watched the above video. I thought everyone was talking about the masterclass. 😆🤦♂️Forgot to comment yesterday. 110 bpm for day 2. I find my pinkie finger tends to hit the high e string when coming back down the runs. More noticeable when using distortion/gain on my tone.
Noah
2021-12-10 18:22:22 +0000 UTC10.12.2021: still stuck at 120bpm
Fhynix
2021-12-10 08:08:55 +0000 UTC10/12/21 after going through day 1 to 25 blocks i got this workout up to 100 bpm decent , and playing this has helped tremendously with that damn #167 speed block ....and descending scales( one of my main week spots ) , hand sync ,timing, melodies and everything in between . thanks so much bernth
jaz
2021-12-10 06:40:28 +0000 UTCThat's a great question! This is something that comes quite naturally for me, but it would be great to try this out for a video (different positions and the effect on finger technique). Thanks for the great input :)
Bernd Brodträger
2021-12-10 06:14:27 +0000 UTCNo RGA ? Studio looks well nice brother 🤙🏼
jaz
2021-12-10 05:31:11 +0000 UTCDay 3 12/9/21: 75 bpm to 80 bpm in 1/2 hour practice Actually having trouble today with the B -> G string on the descent. I maybe wore myself out jumping back to 75 and climbing from there. Regardless, I guess I need to isolate that trouble spot and loop it there...? Anyone's thoughts on how they break a sticky spot?
Michael Latham
2021-12-10 00:52:36 +0000 UTCthe slow tempo is too hard and i haven't even had a go yet haha
jaz
2021-12-09 23:44:40 +0000 UTCDo you have any advice where to position your left elbow? I feel like that makes a big difference on how you position your fingers on the freboard and I'm finding keeping my elbow closer to my body seems to help, especially on the higher frets.
Michael Comerford
2021-12-09 16:45:01 +0000 UTC09.12.2021: 120bpm, did the 110bpm today :-)
Fhynix
2021-12-09 07:55:30 +0000 UTCAwesome thanks for sharing this David! Killer results for day 1, congratulations :)
Bernd Brodträger
2021-12-09 06:50:08 +0000 UTCBernth, you've done it again! This course is going to be fun and I'm sure challenging. I haven't been able to keep up with your posts lately but I'm excited to be able to tackle this with everyone. Day 1 I'm with you at 150bpm but a little sloppy at times. I'll tighten that up this week.
David W Harper
2021-12-09 01:38:54 +0000 UTCDay 2 12/8/21: 62 to 79 bpm (couldn't quite get 80 bpm 100% clean) in 1/2 hour practice. I can predict my upcoming struggles: 1) the turn-around descending part; my left hand isn't as fast descending (pinky, ring, middle, index). . . yet 2) My fastest clean 16th notes picking (just right hand) is about 140. I'll be happy if I can raise that, though!
Michael Latham
2021-12-09 00:03:58 +0000 UTCstopped at 80bpm for today, can go faster but it's not clean and my middle/ring run together, so it ends being the same note some of the time. Expect to get 100 clean tomorrow
Noah
2021-12-08 22:52:14 +0000 UTCwow, super fast, thanks a lot and also for the awesome course 🤘
Cranneg
2021-12-08 17:21:38 +0000 UTCThanks for sharing, I just added a Dropbox link 🤘
Bernd Brodträger
2021-12-08 17:11:06 +0000 UTCHi Bernth, any chance for a Dropbox Link, Google drive doesn't work for me :-( many thanks in advance :-)
Cranneg
2021-12-08 17:02:54 +0000 UTCThanks Bernth, this class is exactly what I am looking for! :)
Andreas Urban
2021-12-08 14:27:17 +0000 UTC08.12.2021: 110 bpm. Bah, that's exactly where the problems with #70 (Mid Tempo) arise. But i think here the string transitions are easier and more fluid. I'll see where I'll go :-)
Fhynix
2021-12-08 07:45:06 +0000 UTCLooking forward to getting started on this exercise tomorrow after work!
Rob Lee
2021-12-08 07:19:46 +0000 UTCDay 1 - 70 bpm (the biggest problem is remembering the lick... :D )
Robert Bjärmyr
2021-12-08 03:22:51 +0000 UTCDay 1 12/7/21 - started at 30 bpm to learn it, worked up to 62 bpm in 1/2 hour practice.
Michael Latham
2021-12-08 00:11:11 +0000 UTCThis is me a few months ago. Not this many but I did have 3 running courses at one point. I switched to a max of 2 and only if I'm in the last 2 weeks of one of them but I only have 1-2 hours max and not every day available. Appease the wife though! No sense in alienating your biggest fan ;)
Edwin van Slingerlandt
2021-12-07 22:30:16 +0000 UTC7/12/2012: Start! Starts to get difficult at 70BPM as the pattern is not in my fingers yet... Curious to see how far we'll get in 30 days! @bernth, I just read your advice here about better doing one package at a time... I should have had this advice 2 weeks ago, as I'm now working on #173 (Picking Workout), #178 (Sweep Picking), #184 (Legato Course) and #191 (Hand synchronization) ... I'm practicing about 2-3 hours per day and spending +/- 20 minutes for each 30-day-workout. My wife is getting crazy (I'm at day 12), but I feel that it's paying off already! Tnx for the extra course ;-)
Kenny Claes
2021-12-07 22:24:06 +0000 UTC07.12.2021 start :D
Albin
2021-12-07 20:58:21 +0000 UTCHappy noises ;)
Marco
2021-12-07 20:53:23 +0000 UTCHey! I'm making a mix of exercises. I mean, do the patterns for two hours, with the same exercise for me is hard, because I feel tired faster. So now I'm doing the sweep picking, hand syncronization and the speed picking and normally use the sweep picking and hand sync, to rest my arm and wrist from the speed picking. It works for me and I've noticed that let me stay playing for 3, 4 hours changing them. I've improved several things. Maybe would be a your suggest Bernt about what exersises could be mixed.
Alejo Betancur
2021-12-07 20:45:09 +0000 UTCDanke schön!
A҉L҉E҉X҉ S҉
2021-12-07 16:30:35 +0000 UTCOmg omg omg! 😩 *Adding to playlist*
Robert Bjärmyr
2021-12-07 16:06:23 +0000 UTCSo in my case it"s probably best to go 173 -> 200 -> 204 then. Maybe with 198 mixed in there at some point :) Regarding mixing things up, I am starting the fretboard mastery one (169) this week, finally addressing a BIG blind spot for me
Edwin van Slingerlandt
2021-12-07 15:41:38 +0000 UTCI am adding 204 after 173 - I've been on repeat of day 26-30 for a couple weeks. This is going to take it to a whole new level.
John H
2021-12-07 15:40:53 +0000 UTCGreat question! While both are about alternate picking, the workout in #173 is just on one string and the course files are mostly compiled out of the picking exercises we looked at earlier this year :) This one is all about string transitions and avoiding unwanted noise or getting stuck between the strings - with new exercises in the course focused on this as well! So this is the video I'd check out before tackling this challenge: https://www.patreon.com/posts/200-youre-using-58546504 Concerning the question about doing both - I'd recommend working on one package/workout at a time. Your routine will get a bit one-sided otherwise (just alternate picking) and it would be great to also work on theory and other topics :)
Bernd Brodträger
2021-12-07 15:33:02 +0000 UTCGood day to you my friend!
Eric Bailey
2021-12-07 15:31:39 +0000 UTCGood morning! :)
Bernd Brodträger
2021-12-07 15:29:22 +0000 UTCMe - wakeup, make coffee, sit to watch new Bernth video, unable to find new line command 🤟🏻
Eric Bailey
2021-12-07 15:28:19 +0000 UTCYes, I was wondering the exact same thing. I am working on #173 also. ?
Tim
2021-12-07 15:24:50 +0000 UTCCool! I am actually working on #173. Are they similar in topics covered or should I complete 173 first and then move on to 204? Or do both in parallel? :)
Edwin van Slingerlandt
2021-12-07 15:13:37 +0000 UTC
