Need some guitar playing advice...

[DMAC]

I'm right there with you man. Can you at least wail through scales?

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by DMAC

I'm right there with you man. Can you at least wail through scales?

Yeah, I know quite a few scales. But they all end up sounding like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" because I can't just rip through them like I want.

[Dayze]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Yeah, I know quite a few scales. But they all end up sounding like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" because I can't just rip through them like I want.

speed will come. slow equals smooth. smooth equals fast.
and, tryr the legatto technique too.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Dayze

speed will come. slow equals smooth. smooth equals fast.
and, tryr the legatto technique too.

Yeah, the problem is that I've been playing for 30 years. I've developed a lot of muscle memory, most of it bad.

I think I need professional 1-on-1 lessons.

[Dayze]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Yeah, the problem is that I've been playing for 30 years. I've developed a lot of muscle memory, most of it bad.

I think I need professional 1-on-1 lessons.

they'll probbaly tell you some similar. Speed, truly comes with a shit ton of repetition. Even the non-Malmsteen/Lynch/Petrucci requires a lot of time committment. like probably 3 hours a day if you truly want to rip.

The professional could you get you some great theory that could probably help a bit with the speed, but it still comes down to repetition.

when I was in the navy, it was in the middle of nowhere, so all I did was practice since I didn't have a TV and was poor. I got to where I was getting really fast. could play alot of Satriani, EVH, Metallica, Zakk Wylde solos etc. and that was playing about 3-4 hours a night on the weekdays and probably 5 or more on a weekend.

my speed has dropped off significanly; at least in terms of being able to rip through that stuff like I used to .

My $.02

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Dayze

they'll probbaly tell you some similar. Speed, truly comes with a shit ton of repetition. Even the non-Malmsteen/Lynch/Petrucci requires a lot of time committment. like probably 3 hours a day if you truly want to rip.

The professional could you get you some great theory that could probably help a bit with the speed, but it still comes down to repetition.

when I was in the navy, it was in the middle of nowhere, so all I did was practice since I didn't have a TV and was poor. I got to where I was getting really fast. could play alot of Satriani, EVH, Metallica, Zakk Wylde solos etc. and that was playing about 3-4 hours a night on the weekdays and probably 5 or more on a weekend.

my speed has dropped off significanly; at least in terms of being able to rip through that stuff like I used to .

My $.02

My problem is that I don't know what to REPEAT. I don't have the right connections between the right hand and left hand to know which patterns to work on and which ones will lead to a dead end. Does that make sense?

[Dayze]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

My problem is that I don't know what to REPEAT. I don't have the right connections between the right hand and left hand to know which patterns to work on and which ones will lead to a dead end. Does that make sense?

sounds stupid.....but sometimes when I'm looking at tab, I see the solos / non chords as 'pictures'....

...probalby stupid, but maybe it 'll help.


time baby....you'll get it.

[headsnap]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Yeah, the problem is that I've been playing for 30 years. I've developed a lot of muscle memory, most of it bad.

I think I need professional 1-on-1 lessons.

before you seek professional help, start practicing permutations... have the guitar with you when you are watching tv, run the permutations up and down the neck, changing the patterns but stick with the alternate picking. Do this 20 minutes to half an hour 4 to 5 nights a week and within a month you will notice a drastic difference in your playing. Like you said it's muscle memory, you have your little lick library, ways your fingers move time after time... permutations will open up your library.

It's not learning scales, you have already learned those at some point in time. It's weird, after starting the permutations about a year ago, the scales are coming to me naturally, the fingers want to travel around the neck more(instead of hanging out in A Pentatonic at the 5th fret!).


pick up that unplugged electric and annoy the wife for a few minutes...

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by headsnap

before you seek professional help, start practicing permutations... have the guitar with you when you are watching tv, run the permutations up and down the neck, changing the patterns but stick with the alternate picking. Do this 20 minutes to half an hour 4 to 5 nights a week and within a month you will notice a drastic difference in your playing. Like you said it's muscle memory, you have your little lick library, ways your fingers move time after time... permutations will open up your library.

It's not learning scales, you have already learned those at some point in time. It's weird, after starting the permutations about a year ago, the scales are coming to me naturally, the fingers want to travel around the neck more(instead of hanging out in A Pentatonic at the 5th fret!).


pick up that unplugged electric and annoy the wife for a few minutes...

That's good advice. I used to do this back in the days when I was in gigging bands.