#161 - This Is Why You CAN'T Play FAST! (and 2 guitar exercises to FIX it)
Added 2021-04-02 13:00:06 +0000 UTCTime to discuss one of the MOST important guitar speed topics ever - economy of motion! We barely talked about this yet and I want to show you the 2 key exercises I work on right now.
Here are the video play-alongs and backing tracks for you: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/keclm4cpsoc8s8f/AAAItMu8Hrfri5gXAb1I-028a?dl=0
Here's the unlisted YouTube link in case you prefer this platform: https://youtu.be/CWlqfMpSuDQ
I'm currently working on my left-hand middle finger and on pushing my wrist motion to higher tempos - this is the best workout I came up with for these issues so far. Working on this for a week really helped me out already and I hope these exercises will help you from now on as well :)
Comments
Sounds very close to the walking dead theme lol
Marco Prado
2022-12-07 04:57:14 +0000 UTCThanks for asking! I definitely don't want to rely on palm muting exclusively, it's an awesome sound/technique but I also want to play clean open notes :) I went over string noise and muting in the first part of this video: https://www.patreon.com/posts/202-10-life-59095578
Bernd Brodträger
2021-12-07 05:59:49 +0000 UTCHi Bernth, first: I loved the credits at the beginning :-D One question regarding the position of the right hand: So far, I placed it on the strings above the bridge pickup. That's because my initial guitar teacher taught me to mute the strings below the string your currently playing with your palm and the strings above with your left hand. When placing my right hand on the bridge, I obviously can't do this anymore. Do you mute all unwanted noise exclusively with the left hand or do you twist your right hand in a way you can still mute the lower strings?
Fhynix
2021-12-06 17:23:41 +0000 UTCI have been practising this for two weeks now, about 15mins a day. It's the third week now. It's getting so fluent now that I'm also practising my picking with eight, sixteenth notes, triplets, etc so that checking if I can keep my picking motion tight. It's hard but still fun to try try try. ALSO, doubling this with some flanger effect and playing along from all around fretboard seem to take me to meditative Chuck Shuldiner -type of passages so thanks Bernth, you kinda opened a box of creativity as well with this exercise.
Lauri Laurila
2021-05-05 18:46:34 +0000 UTCYou'll probably need hand surgery if you do that
Mark Seymour
2021-04-17 15:40:11 +0000 UTCI really love the sound of this exercise, thanks so much Bernth! Cant wait to practice this all day long.
Joey Flores
2021-04-16 00:24:17 +0000 UTCthe pinky buzz!
Dax
2021-04-12 21:18:21 +0000 UTCI'm glad I'm not the only one whose left hand aches a bit after doing this. It's trying to stop the middle finger reaching toward the first finger when starting the arpeggio again that was the hardest part at first. That and the repetitive buzzing from the 12th fret note with the pinkie when I hadn't stretched quite far enough.
Mark Seymour
2021-04-11 12:26:48 +0000 UTCOK, BERNTH! You outdid yourself here :D I can't go more than 10m at 40bpm without gnarly cramps in strange places on my hand
Arcanist Bear
2021-04-07 21:51:54 +0000 UTCI really like this one. Will be mixing it in my practice routine for sure.
Matthew Ryndfleisz
2021-04-07 06:50:04 +0000 UTCa really great exercise for the left and right hand. extreme focus on small movements with the fingers of the left hand, and still maintaining the simple up / down picking of the right hand is the challenge here. very good for me. :)
Jürgen Franz
2021-04-06 21:34:06 +0000 UTCThank you, for everything you've done for us! These exercises are not only really challenging to play correctly. I honestly feel like I'm practicing an actual song that makes sense while building these skills. I never liked the classic "running drills" with a random chord/scale out of a book, because it sounds too much like running laps in school or something and has no context to what I'm trying to eventually learn to play. I am very happy to have discovered you and will continue to support you as much as I can. Thanks again, Bernth~
T-Bone
2021-04-06 11:21:35 +0000 UTCHm... my brain is fine but my left hand really hurts xD it is not a bad hurting it is more about training the muscles. To maintain the stretch and keeping all fingers in right position is the real task here for me. Especialy the middle finger mostly tries to go back to the lower strings after lifting it. This workout seems to help a lot.
Sephiroth
2021-04-06 08:42:39 +0000 UTCOh man, this is exactly what I need! It still hurts my brain after a couple of days incorporating this into my daily routine but it's getting better.
Janne Oksanen
2021-04-04 05:12:53 +0000 UTCThe exercise 1 is awesome. Thanks Bernth!!
Manuel Garcia
2021-04-03 19:30:22 +0000 UTCSo, I am trying the lick higher up, like on the 14th fret, and the finger is still odd for me, easier now but odd. So I devised a 101 exercise to bring my fingers into position better. I am going from 14th on the A up to the 6th fret just doing the fingering on the 1st, 3rd, and pinky. So 3 notes instead of 4. Getting my 3 fingers used to that 5 note stretch without using my middle finger, leaving it in limbo for now. I feel like if I can train my 3 fingers to do the 5 fret stretch, adding in the middle finger on the 2nd fret of 5 will be a lot easier. So far my speed in the stretch is getting better. It's very similar to the Rocksmith game approach. Get the shape to feel comfortable before making yourself add all the notes. If anyone is interested in trying this 101 workout, I did a GP file for everyone. No paywall or anything, just free sharing for those, who like me have never used these three fingers for this stretch. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ty2KaayVFOk7EQXGhzvTHLa8UoyRS0Lk/view?usp=sharing
Bryan Butler
2021-04-03 18:04:10 +0000 UTCVery challenging, I find it easier to start it on the 12th fret because the reach is not as hard then once I get the feel of it, lower it back down to start on the 8th fret
Bobby McKee
2021-04-03 17:33:27 +0000 UTCVery challenging but nice exercise with a funny “Walking Dead” flashback!
Noah
2021-04-03 14:52:14 +0000 UTCBernth gave me a good tip, for long stretches, lift up the neck more vertical, you will find you can stretch further that way.
Steve Shaw
2021-04-03 12:06:11 +0000 UTCNew exercice added to my daily routine !! Improvment already observed on my technique.!! Thx a lot Bernth
kevin Dumont
2021-04-03 09:45:22 +0000 UTCIt sounds a little- Knight Rider ish. I like it
steve jowers
2021-04-02 22:00:28 +0000 UTCThat would be a good call
Bryan Butler
2021-04-02 19:51:17 +0000 UTCMy technique is improving all the time with these exercises. Thanks, Bernth.
Steve Shaw
2021-04-02 18:39:44 +0000 UTCThanks, this exercise rules.
Lauri Laurila
2021-04-02 17:46:31 +0000 UTCI've done it for 15 minutes now. It gets better. Keep it up!
Daniel Timm
2021-04-02 17:23:52 +0000 UTCIt's definitely harder than it looks! You can always move it up to minimize the stretches before you start in this position 👍
Bernd Brodträger
2021-04-02 17:20:02 +0000 UTCNo, you're not the only one. Let's hope it get easier over time...
Daniel Timm
2021-04-02 17:07:52 +0000 UTCOk, this exercise is solid, but am I the only one to have issues with the finger placement and reach to start with? The position of the fingers is really unnatural..
Bryan Butler
2021-04-02 16:48:17 +0000 UTCahahhhaa loved this intro 😂
Erick Wendel
2021-04-02 15:18:55 +0000 UTCI never understood the floating wrist. I Neeeed to have my right hand on the bridge!! It is it's Home lol
DarthWooPV
2021-04-02 14:09:05 +0000 UTCAh great... there where some cool videos in the last weeks but none of them really flashed me... this is looking more interesting for my personal self :D
Sephiroth
2021-04-02 13:50:41 +0000 UTCLMAO!! i loved the intro. When everyone expected a magic exercise or magic pill haha
Jon Hew
2021-04-02 13:50:08 +0000 UTCFixed 🙂🤘
Bernd Brodträger
2021-04-02 13:38:55 +0000 UTCKann die Videos nicht mehr abspielen. Man muss jetzt auf Vimeo oder Browser und da kommt nur eine Fehlermeldung
Wolfgang
2021-04-02 13:09:59 +0000 UTC
