One of the best weapons a guitarist has in the the battle to improve their playing speed is the Metronome. This small machine keeps perfect time with a series of beeps that can be configured for several purposes.
In this article I will explain the 2 most crucial settings to use on the metronome and their relationship to developing lethal shredding speed!
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Posted in Exercises on Jul 11th, 2007
This is a great finger exercise for guitar you can use to build speed and strength. The best part of this exercise is that you really don’t need to focus that much. It can be done with ease while watching TV or reading or even chatting with a friend.
So here is what you do. You are going to “trill” (rapidly hammer on and pull off) on the high E string (you can start at any fret, I normally start around the 5th) as fast as you can using various finger positions. Sound easy? Well guess what, it’s not. You are going to trill for 15 seconds straight in each position pictured below. And you are going to do it was fast as you can. And you can’t rest until you go through all 8 positions below. That’s two minutes of straight of trilling. And this is just to start off. The goal is to work up to a minute straight with each position.
The different positions to use are pictured below. Be sure that you can hear all of the notes clearly when you play, especially for exercises 4,5, and 8. If you need to slow down a bit for those ones, you should. Also, if your hand starts hurting at any point, stop and take a break. You don’t want to hurt yourself.
The numbers after each picture represtent the fingers you are using (1= pointer and 4=pinkey, you can figure out the other two)
(1, 2, 1, ect...)
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Posted in Exercises, General Tips on Jun 17th, 2007
There are a lot of simple things you can do to spice up your guitar soloing. One great technique many guitar players use is string skipping. There are many different ways to use string skipping to beef up your chops. But for this post I just wanted to focus on one simple method you can use.
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When you solo your lines should be an extension of what you here in your head. The better you get at guitar, the less you will have to think about what to play and the more you play what you feel. Getting to that level of guitar playing takes some time and practice. But one of the ways you can speed up the process is by training your inner ear to recognize the sounds in your head, and training your fingers to execute those sounds on guitar.
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Posted in Exercises, Technique on Jun 9th, 2007
Guitar solos can get boring when they only use one rhythm. One way to spice up your solos is to play different rhythms while in your guitar solo and improvisation. This is a great exercise to help you learn to switch rhythms while playing lead guitar.
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Posted in Exercises, General Tips on Jun 7th, 2007
When you talk to someone you communicate different messages based on the volume of your voice, you should also be communicating on guitar by varying your dynamics when you play. When you are communicating your musical ideas you have to keep in mind all aspects of that communication. That includes notes, rhythm and dynamics. Just about all guitar players use the first in that list, many use the second, but too few pay real attention to their dynamics.
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Posted in Exercises, Technique on Jun 3rd, 2007
Many guitarists know how to bend strings. But not all guitar players put a lot of thought into their string bending. This guitar lesson will show you how to add a bluesy, soulful sound to your string bends. Try incorporating this banding technique into your playing. It will add another dynamic to your string bending. Watch this quick video lesson on how to bend like a blues player. (If you need an intro to basic guitar techniques please see my post on Essential Lead Guitar Techniques before watching this video):
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