#110 - How To Play Faster: Tension & Relaxation / Short Bursts
Added 2020-09-01 13:01:05 +0000 UTCTime for the first lesson of this week! This is the last topic from the August lesson wishlist. Since we talked quite a bit about theory in August, I thought it would be a great change of pace to discuss the top-voted technique topic: how to speed up your picking motion!
The tension and relaxation principle is quite helpful when it comes to identifying a motion that isn't very economic and relaxed yet: by pairing short & fast speed bursts with brief moments of rest, you get a nice comparison between both states. You can find more on that in the video, I recorded some video play-alongs for you once again: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lrroqjo1i8z0jk5/AADMj2BTG0vJSk3db_5IEhY8a?dl=0
Hope you have a lot of fun working on this and that it helps you with your speed/accuracy :)
Comments
Interesting exersice. I decided to use something similar with my scale runs. Playing 1-2-3-4-5, 2-3-4-5-6, until I reach the octave note, then work my way back down. I like that it forces me to think a bit more about the patterns I'm playing.
Damien Letham
2021-09-11 15:47:49 +0000 UTCYes I'm having trouble with power metal tremolo picking which requires consistency and endurance. And also my picking tension changes in 3rd string. That makes me change my picking feeling and also hand positioning which troubles me in ascending and descending at higher tempos.
Gökay Ülker
2020-11-16 15:18:09 +0000 UTCWonderful Exercise. Will you do one for Tremolo?
Rex
2020-09-06 15:49:46 +0000 UTCBernth, you must love Red Bull a lot :) That fridge is stocked with it
Jon Hew
2020-09-03 12:53:26 +0000 UTCThat's a great observation and question Justin! That's honestly not something I thought about actively or did consciously with certain phrases/exercises. I'd say I have 'medium' size hands but I'll pay more attention to the stretches and how it affects my finger position in the future! When it comes to that, I always just want to make sure to produce nice sounding notes - when the finger is not placed on the fret correctly, you will end up with some buzzing or unwanted noise, so that must be something my fingers adapted over many hours of playing :)
Bernd Brodträger
2020-09-03 04:57:08 +0000 UTCAnother awesome lesson. I've noticed that you seem to use the side of your index finger to fret when you have the bigger stretches, at least it looks that way. Is it because your hands are on the smaller side? My hands aren't that big so if that's why you do it, I'll try giving it a shot.
Justin Wagner
2020-09-02 19:11:04 +0000 UTCHey Bernth - Super! Vielen Dank für die ausführliche Antwort :-) Ich habe mein Plek lange Zeit viel zu fest gehalten und bin zu tief in die Saiten eingetaucht. Das Resultat war immer ein "an der Saite hängen bleiben".. Speziell beim tremolo picking! Leider wird dieser Topic viel zu selten in den picking Videos behandelt (ich meine generell). Eventuell kannst du ja mal ein Video zu diesem Thema machen. Grüße aus DE
Neil Werner
2020-09-02 13:13:46 +0000 UTCHey Neil, danke für deine Fragen! Das stimmt, ich benutze nur die Spitze vom Pick (der Rest ist zwischen meinem Daumen und dem Zeigefinger platziert) und ich habe einen sehr leichten Grip (keine Anspannung beim Halten). Ich bin nicht der größte Fan von viel Picking Attack (Stärke des Anschlags) weil ich auch auf Akustikgitarren und mit cleanem Sound schnell spielen möchte. Der Anschlag selbst ist meistens leicht, wenn es die Musik benötigt kann ich aber immer auch noch fester anschlagen :) Wenn die Bewegung von Anfang an schon zu fest/stark ist, ist es meiner Erfahrung nach oft schwieriger auch mit leichtem Anschlag schnell spielen zu lernen. Ich hoffe das hilft ein bisschen!
Bernd Brodträger
2020-09-02 04:54:02 +0000 UTCGreat stuff as always. Thanks👍🏻
Michael Iadevaio
2020-09-01 18:49:49 +0000 UTCThis works great. I've used a slightly different version of this in the past. I will be adding this to my routine definitely
FoZ
2020-09-01 14:44:55 +0000 UTCHi Bernth, drei Fragen. Wie tief tauchst du mit deinem Pick während den bursts ein? Nur mit der Spitze des Pick? Und wie fest hältst du dein Pick? Wie fest schlägst du die Saite an?
Neil Werner
2020-09-01 14:11:26 +0000 UTCCongratulations, on the youtube award!!!! Another great lesson!
David W Harper
2020-09-01 13:34:57 +0000 UTC
