Hi all
I've been visiting this board quite a bit of times and there's something that I wanted to say about the often discussed technique and speed subject.
a)
If you play since a couple of years and practice regularly and your posture, picking technique etc. are correct, you're relaxed and not tense but still you're "only" able to pick 16th notes at 120 bpm or whatever, chances are that it's like that. That's your limit.
You probably could go on practicing scales and technique forever and maybe take it to 130, but you won't be able to pick 16th's at let's say 180 bpm or faster. Either you have a natural basic "speed" or you don't.
That's my personal opinion from what I've seen and I'm saying this because I think a lot of guitar players are wasting too much of their time on this.
All of the fast players I know had it together at a pretty young age and it just came out naturally. There are no "secret exercises" that will take you from 120 to 180, like you won't be able to run 100 m in 10 seconds if you're actually doing it in thirteen. So basically you can forget about all the videos, instructional methods and stuff telling you that you'll become fast. You won't (besides, you'll find all the exercises you'll ever need on sites like iBreahtemusic and others).
b)
Even if you can play fast - I assert that in every major city on this planet (let's say a population from 250000 +) there are at least a couple of fast players. Now, how many tousand cities on this planet meet this conditions? 1000, 5000, 10000 ? Multiplicate this with the fast players and you'll easily have 4 or 5 digit number of guys that can play fast.
Got the point. Only being able to play fast doesn't mean nothing. It takes a little more to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack.
c)
The faster you play, the less complicated the scale has to be to be able to do it using alternate picking. I'd say 90 % of the hyper-fast stuff is based on the diationic scale using common patterns like 123-456-456-712 or 123-432-123-456-456-765-456 etc. etc.
Now, except for the sake of speed, basically all the fast cats are playing more or less the same or similar **** when it comes down to the hyper-fast stuff. It's all here already, does it really need another fast cat doing the same?
Unless you're 8 feet tall and the fingers of your hand can stretch over 13 frets I really can't find any new ideas between the actual players.
Having said all that, don't neglect technique, but also don't overvaluate it. Music is not only about speed but also melodies, rhythm, cool riffs, great chord progressions etc.
Find out what's your strength, concentrate on that, and don't waste your time with stuff that doesn't get you further.
One last thing - guys like Paul Gilbert didn't have all the instructional vids and sites like this back in the 80's but did it nevertheless. All you need is a blank sheet, the basic scales major/minor, melodic/harmonic minor and pentatonic. With a little imagination, this should keep you busy for the next thirty years.
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