***The Official Guitar Thread***

[Nitefly]

Hendrix, SRV, GnR etc. Not even touching tapping yet.

It’s more than likely just a case of time and actual practice.

In some ways, playing guitar is like weight training. You can’t just go from benching 60kg to 150kg in a few months. It will take not only dedication but very importantly also time and correct technique.

Time simply to allow your strength to build.

By technique, I mean not just playing the same licks badly and out of time on an ad hoc basis. You’ll need to get out a metronome and slow it right down. RIGHT DOWN. Every week, raise the BPM by, say, 2 BPM.

It will get there eventually.

One thing I have to add is that over enthusiasm can actually be harmful. I’m a rather... determined individual, and all of my serious guitar escapades always end in injury because I play for 6+ hours a day as an enthusiastic amateur and end up hurting myself. If you start to feel discomfort, I’d suggest resting for a few days before going near it again, it’s just not worth it. It’s bitterly disappointing to have to rest for weeks.

I would suggest though that some exercises will improve your skills very quickly indeed. Like this one.

I guarantee that will make you a better player

Edit - I will say though that, for example, I thought the main riff to Disposable Heroes by Metallica was impossible to play crisp at speed but I did actually get it down and sounding really mean at one point... after months of practice, mind. You need adamantium wrists to survive that one!

Edit 2 - also, be aware that making guitar a gym routine can make it become a chore and sap the fun out of it. I’d say practice for an hour a day absolute tops. Then just mess around.

Edit 3 - For the avoidance of doubt, SVR and Hendrix etc are known as super elite guitar gods for a reason

 

[Raymond Lin]

I read that the old wiring sounds pretty bad, not heard any examples yet so shall take it with a pinch of salt. Definitely a nice guitar and I like the attention to detail, tempting!

I think it comes with modern wiring as default, thank god.

 

[builder22]

Not even touching tapping yet.

funnily enough although tapping can sound complicated it’s one of the easier techniques cos you’re making the note when you hammer on (tap)or pull off, so you don’t get the same picking/fretting hand sync issues

 

[ik9000]

I would suggest though that some exercises will improve your skills very quickly indeed. Like this one.

I guarantee that will make you a better player

oh my that is showing up some deficiencies. My little finger is aching and I only did it for 5 minutes or so.

moving positino on the neck and or string also changes the difficulty greatly. The lower strings are definitely harder due to the hand position.

Anyone got any good tips for a metronome? I'm guessing phone apps are probably not the most accurate? What sort of bpm are people hitting with these things?

 

[Nitefly]

oh my that is showing up some deficiencies. My little finger is aching and I only did it for 5 minutes or so.

moving positino on the neck and or string also changes the difficulty greatly. The lower strings are definitely harder due to the hand position.

Anyone got any good tips for a metronome? I'm guessing phone apps are probably not the most accurate? What sort of bpm are people hitting with these things?

You should find whatever you are trying to play on youtube and slow it down to say, half. Listen to it a few times then sync your metronome playing to the half speed or even slower and focus on playing it accurately.

The riff to Layla by Clapton is a classic example of a riff every ambitious beginner thinks they can play unaccompanied but slowing it down or playing along with the track often reveals the player is out of time, the bends are flat/sharp and a whole bunch of string noise from sloppy technique.

That’s certainly an excellent riff to practice though... doing those bends on the high E string with your pinky will really build up your strength.

funnily enough although tapping can sound complicated it’s one of the easier techniques cos you’re making the note when you hammer on (tap)or pull off, so you don’t get the same picking/fretting hand sync issues

I would say one of the ‘easier advanced techniques’, but yes I know exactly what you mean.

Alternative picking (aka picking all notes - so that it sounds very aggressive) is, IMO, the most menacingly difficult of all techniques and I can’t really think of any household name guitarist that does it. Slash, Hendrix etc obviously use a lot of hammer on and pull offs, giving a more fluid, natural and overall more human sound (compared to robot-like alternative picking).

I actually found practicing alternative picking everyday a bit demoralising. I think it takes years of varied guitar practice to get you even ‘prepped’ to attempt alternate picking... but I do try

 

[ik9000]

I once read bending just with the pinky is not a good idea and risks wearing out the cartilege. I've always tried to do two finger bends for that reason. Is that not correct?

I remember trying to play Old Love from the unplugged EC album. And that was on acoustic!! The number of notes per bar blew me away and I've never gone back to it.

I can do the odd bit of quick picking but can;t sustain it for long and it doesn't sound as good as i think when I play it back. I'll record something later and you can see where I'm at. It's definitely more slow blues than fast rock. I've been there for several years and it would be nice to move up a gear or two.

@Nitefly are you a guitar teacher?

 

[Nitefly]

I once read bending just with the pinky is not a good idea and risks wearing out the cartilege. I've always tried to do two finger bends for that reason. Is that not correct?

I remember trying to play Old Love from the unplugged EC album. And that was on acoustic!! The number of notes per bar blew me away and I've never gone back to it.

I’ve never heard of such a thing. For the avoidance of doubt when bending with your pinky, you are most often using all of your fingers on the same string to bend it up.... not just your pinky! The same applies to any other bend.

Also, just to add, you are actually typically bending the strings using the rotation of your wrist... not ‘pushing the string’ with your fingers.

edit - I would also add as it’s not clear, that I would not exclusively bend with my pinky... it was just a potential exercise for you to try.

 

[Nitefly]

@ik9000 - no, definitely NOT a teacher. I’m merely a fellow bedroom warrior but with ~18 years of playing terribly under my belt, so just sharing from my own experiences.

 

[ik9000]

on some of the hendrix tab I've got he's unison bending full tone on say 2nd string fret 15 while fretting 12 on 1st with no bend, then releasing the bend and pulling off down 15-14-12 before bending on the 3rd string and hammering back on the 2nd string. I just don't see how to do it without string bending by finger pressure. I definitely don't bend with my wrist, it changes my fretting pressure and all sorts when I just tried (and I'm not sure I even get how to do it anyway).

 

[Yadda]

I had a quick play on the strat last night - the first for a little while - just through the little Night Train Amplug with headphones. By 'eck, I always forget how good it sounds.

 

[uncle_rufus]

@ik9000 - no, definitely NOT a teacher. I’m merely a fellow bedroom warrior but with ~18 years of playing terribly under my belt, so just sharing from my own experiences.

Snap - that's about how long I've been playing too..

A great example of an alternate picking passage that is quite hard to get down is the beginning of the fast solo from Master of Puppets (and a lot of the rest of that solo too) - a lot of people play it legato but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be all picked

 

[Nitefly]

Snap - that's about how long I've been playing too..

A great example of an alternate picking passage that is quite hard to get down is the beginning of the fast solo from Master of Puppets (and a lot of the rest of that solo too) - a lot of people play it legato but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be all picked

It’s really hard to tell with that - I that may be one of the licks where it’s harder to play cleanly with legatos because of the super awkward hand placement. It does sound like alternate picking towards the end where it gets ‘aggressive’.

I’m really struggling to think of something that is raw alternate picking which isn’t a complete showboating exercise - first thing that comes to mind is the section on The Curse of Castle Dragon by Paul Gilbert from about 1:55, which makes both of my hands want to want to sever themselves and find a new home.

I tend to find I don’t like ultra-long passages of alternate picking like John Petrucci does as it seems a bit soulless. But if we are going for balls to the wall ‘terror licks’, the lick beginning 0:39 in the below vid is extremely frightening - I see your alternate picking and raise you additional string skipping

I particularly enjoy how he slows it down before he goes warp speed just so your brain can fathom what is going on.

Edit - oh and at 1:32 as well. Yikes.

 

[ik9000]

I'll just quit now. Anyone want to buy some gear?

 

[Nitefly]

I'll just quit now. Anyone want to buy some gear?

I wouldn’t bother with any of that hyper guitar stuff - there is so much more fun to be had than that.

I am a particular fan of the riffs on Rage Against the Machine’s debut... particularly the main riff to Township Rebellion. Sling that axe low and rock out!!

I always find it amazing that something so offensively simple can rock so damn hard

 

[potatolord]

I'll just quit now. Anyone want to buy some gear?

My tip is find a comfortable sitting position, put the guitar on your left thigh (if you're a righty), and get your left foot up on a shoe box. Take regular breaks, too.

Incorrect posture will cause poor technique and, eventually, injury.

I know it's boring, but it's important.

 

[ik9000]

left thigh? Wtf? it;s definitely on my right, that's what the contour is for!

 

[uncle_rufus]

I wouldn’t bother with any of that hyper guitar stuff - there is so much more fun to be had than that.

I am a particular fan of the riffs on Rage Against the Machine’s debut... particularly the main riff to Township Rebellion. Sling that axe low and rock out!!

I always find it amazing that something so offensively simple can rock so damn hard

I've never been a fan of all the virtuoso type playing... it's technically impressive but I don't find it expressive at all... My favourite things to play or what I will usually play on my 3 guitars if I just have a spare moment to play something:

Strat - usually RHCP, Hendrix, Pink Floyd or jam on some slow-funk backing tracks like maggot brain

LP - Whatever heavier stuff like Zep, RATM, Metallica etc. but also really love playing through Tool songs due to the interesting time signatures and riffs

Jackson Dinky - It's usually in drop C, B or A and play stuff like SOAD, Slipknot, Mastodon and other stuff that's a lot more percussive

 

[potatolord]

left thigh? Wtf? it;s definitely on my right, that's what the contour is for!

200 years of classical guitarists say it goes on left thigh. I've noticed lots of electric players go with the right. Dunno why that is.

Give it a try- and get your left foot raised on a box or similar.

 

[ik9000]

200 years of classical guitarists say it goes on left thigh. I've noticed lots of electric players go with the right. Dunno why that is.

Give it a try- and get your left foot raised on a box or similar.

nope. I'm comfortable with it how it is. Pushing the neck further left just makes it harder to get up the neck. There's enough youtube out there to give me confidence I'm not alone on this.

 

[uncle_rufus]

200 years of classical guitarists say it goes on left thigh. I've noticed lots of electric players go with the right. Dunno why that is.

Give it a try- and get your left foot raised on a box or similar.

Classical position is indeed the left thigh and it is pretty comfortable, though it is a bit dependent on the shape of the guitar (e.g. you wouldn't want to do it with an Explorer)... Likewise raising the foot - it brings the neck slightly more vertical and that allows your wrist and fingers to be under less of an angle which for Classical playing (or any playing where your hand is in the very regimented "standard" position) is more efficient and comfortable

But on the flipside it can feel a little weird if you are playing more like Hendrix-y stuff with what would classically be considered bad/terrible technique - i.e. baseball bat grip, thumb over the top of the neck at times etc. I find when I am doing that it feels more comfortable with the neck more horizontal and therefore over the right thigh is a little better

As so many things it's just what works for you