Picking Speed Builder
Added 2023-02-24 17:22:20 +0000 UTCThe votes for the monthly lesson poll were unanimously in favor of a lesson on speed-building, so here you go! For those of you who voted for one of the other topics, I plan to cover all of them within the coming weeks so fear not.
So then, speed! In my opinion it's essential for guitarists to spend at least some time working on their speed chops. Of course it goes without saying that playing fast isn't the be-all-end-all, but as an accomplished musician you want to have as big a palette as you can to paint from - so why limit yourself?
This exercise will help you push past those annoying speed plateaus that are holding you back AND help you eliminate any annoying tension and discomfort you may feel when you start to push your speed.
IMPORTANT NOTE! You can indeed inside-pick this exercise instead if you're not comfortable with outside-picking!
Good luck and don't forget to share your progress with everyone in the Discord server!
0:00 Intro
1:35 Exercise
3:01 How to practice fast
3:31 Picking pattern
5:10 Optimal picking position
6:10 Full exercise breakdown
7:32 On slower tempos
9:15 Practice!
Comments
I like the diminished moves in this and how it changes up the picking pattern. There’s too many linear exercises that use a predictable 1-5 or 5-1 fingering between strings for 6 note clusters Ala Paul Gilbert.
Kevin C
2024-09-12 21:16:14 +0000 UTCHey Shawn! I'll have a thorough workout for hand sync coming next week, should be perfect for you. But if you're fretting hand's struggling to keep up you need to focus solely on that for a while. Perhaps try building your speed on the exercise with JUST your fretting hand, don't pick at all. It'll feel a bit weird and stupid but it forces you to focus entirely on the fretting hand instead of splitting your attention. I used to do this kind of practice a lot and it really helped!
Bradley Hall
2024-05-20 21:09:33 +0000 UTCAny tips for hand sync? I can alternate pick fairly quick. But sometimes my right hand picks to fast for my left hand.
Shawn McCormick
2024-05-18 04:16:45 +0000 UTCI’m impressed and really thankful for this exercise. I’m playing since 40 years and tried many of these speed-building exercises, mostly this “gradually speed it up” stuff that Bradley mentioned in the intro. But this is the first exercise that really makes me brake through the plateaus. I never thought it possible but I can manage the 220bpm now. 250 still seems crazy, but let’s see :-) Anyway, great exercise, highly motivating and efficient. Thanks!
Andy JCP
2024-04-21 11:33:12 +0000 UTCDo tons of legato exercises
Ricardo
2024-04-03 01:56:15 +0000 UTCI’m slanting down, except for the last bit, diminished phrase that starts with the down stroke, my pick slants up there
Erick V
2024-04-03 01:55:36 +0000 UTCI can’t even do 160. Crap. How do you slant your pick? Up or down?
Ricardo
2024-03-31 18:36:52 +0000 UTCAh, this was an old lesson and I wondered why I saw the YT video but no recent Patreon post
Alexander Ehlert
2024-01-15 14:19:16 +0000 UTCCheers Chris!
Bradley Hall
2024-01-13 11:27:55 +0000 UTCThanks for the tip! I'll make a note of this for a future lesson
Bradley Hall
2024-01-13 11:27:48 +0000 UTCGreat tips, thanks Bradley
Christopher Bianco
2024-01-13 00:16:54 +0000 UTCThe thing I always notice is that videos are always on picking speed and never on fretting speed. My picking is fine but my left hand can’t keep up. I struggle to find videos on left hand speed. I just want to play pantera and avenged sevenfold solos without lagging behind. I’ve been stuck on ‘cemetery gates’ for ages.
Eiliya
2024-01-08 15:16:40 +0000 UTCCool, could you explain why the b flat (11th fret on B string) is ok to play or is it just a spicy note to make things interesting?
kai S
2023-09-26 10:37:50 +0000 UTCYup!
Bradley Hall
2023-09-24 11:49:49 +0000 UTCWhat key is this in? Is it A minor?
kai S
2023-09-24 11:46:05 +0000 UTCYou can indeed!
Bradley Hall
2023-08-29 11:39:49 +0000 UTCJust one question. Can we use different fingers than the ones you use in the video? For example, in the first lick use 1-2-4 instead of 1-2-3?
Jaime Ransanz Carcedo
2023-08-28 19:06:40 +0000 UTC160bpm is already mad 🤯
Jamal
2023-02-28 02:30:23 +0000 UTCThat's totally cool!
Bradley Hall
2023-02-27 18:24:38 +0000 UTCThe purpose of the exercise is about how to approach building speed, so how you choose to pick doesn't matter too much for this one. You could definitely benefit from trying both approaches though! You won't always be able to start on a down stroke so you should get used to it
Bradley Hall
2023-02-27 18:24:18 +0000 UTCI'm slow at picking things up. So I watch a few parts over and over till I get it down.
keikofxdesigns
2023-02-27 13:33:00 +0000 UTCQuick question. I know I'm supposed to start on an up stroke, but I'm able to do it a lot faster and cleaner on a down stroke. Is the purpose of starting on an up stroke for the majority of this riff to make us comfortable playing in multiple picking states? I'm struggling a bit.
Wesley Thoman
2023-02-27 12:54:48 +0000 UTCI'm in drop B flat on my favorite guitar, and that makes it quite a ways higher up. Looks like I'll be switching to my secondary for these.
Wesley Thoman
2023-02-27 00:01:57 +0000 UTCIt was so hard to play along at any speed, then I realized I was tuned to D standard. Here I go again
Luis Bonnin
2023-02-24 18:56:10 +0000 UTC
