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How Fast Can You Play?

#126
Implosion said:
No, that's not what he meant. I truly think that he meant 32th notes @ 120 bpm which is 16th notes @ 240 bpm. Some people just can do it. I don't know if it's the case with IconBasser, but I give him the benefit of doubt. It's plausible. To give some proof here is a video of another TBer named Erlend Caspersen playing 16th notes @ 250 bpm.
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wow, forgot about this thread. Lol, I didn't know I'd actually be making a stir.

yes, I did indeed mean 32nd notes @ 120. That means that for every quarter note, I play 8 notes.

it's actually fairly simple to do, though it takes a few months of practice to get it up to speed cleanly.

1st excercise: descending. Basically, I'm doing trippletts on each string and then hopping to the string above.

for this notation:plucking hand index finger = i, middle = m, ring = r, pinky = p, and frets are represented by their #

-Gstring: play 12 with r, 10 w/ m, 9 w/ i, then ON THE D STRING play 10 w/ i. Your index finger will slide off the G string to the D string. Continue this excercise all the way to the E string


Ascending: same notation as before.

E string: 9 w/ ring, 10 w/ middle, 12 w/ i. then play 10 on A STRING with your middle finger. Repeat pattern on A string starting back on 9th fret, and start over w/ ring finger. This is obviously more difficult then descending, as your middle finger basically does twice as much work. the sequence of your plucking fingers should be [r, m, i, m, r, m, i, m, r, m, i, m] and so on.
 
#127
Craigmartini said:
Here is an explaination I gave in a recent interview.

"One of the things I do work on every day is linking my hands together. I will take something that is difficult for me to play and slow it waaayy down. I will take it apart and figure out which right hand fingers need to play the notes that my left hand is fretting through the whole piece. I usually figure out what the problem is right away when I do this. Then play it over and over as slowly as I can. This actually helps me be able to play things more quickly and cleanly over time.

I know it sounds strange “play slow, to play fast” but it works for me. I feel like it is strengthening my fingers because my finger muscles are flexed for longer periods of time, holding the notes down. Kind of like doing slow reps during exercise."

I will also add that I played in a lot of different metal bands growing up, that really helped me develop my right hand speed and endurance.

Here is me doing some fast playing in video form with Paul Gilbert.



I hope this helps. Have paitence with yourself, start slow, work on it when you can.
Craig
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Scarrified, Racer X. Awesome song. Good job on it, btw, and it must have been really cool playing with Paul Gilbert.
 
#128
Beginner Bass said:
Who gives a crap?!

So what if you can play 4096th notes with 1 finger. No gig you'll ever do would have even the slightest use for that. When gigtime comes around, if you can't keep the beat, the only record you'll be setting is quickest booing off the stage due to one person.

There's a reason guitarists suck at bass. They can be Kirk Hammett or Miley Cyrus, they'll do the same at bass, i.e. sucking. Rythym is more important then speed in bass.
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Sheesh. And people think that we are narrow minded individuals.

You do realize that there are lots of music styles that require you to play some what faster than your standard rock 'n roll tune? I'm not talking about playing at the speed of light, but faster in general.
 
#132
IconBasser said:
here's a recording of my jazz band and I, you can hear the 16 note patterns during the solo section

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

please excuse the out-of-tune-ness of the tenor sax :D
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I hear maybe two or three times you used 16th notes.


Playing fast should also not be at the expense of making the changes.
 
#133
I'd like to add, that in that video I showed, I do play very fast.

But as these guys above say, it means nothing if I can't equally play something with substance, slow.

I have a song where I just play an open E string. Slowly. Maintaining the low, and letting the music breathe. All that is needed.

That vid I'm playing in is just a bit of youtube fun. I don't think i'd ever do that in the band enviroment. Neither would I get the opportunity.

Youtube jamming is fun, but it's important we know roles when we are part of the whole. Very important.

Just wanted to mention that.:)
 
#138
maybe the title to this thread should have been:

"How fast can you play with accuracy, post your vids and clips"

too many in here saying stuff that they can "out-do" anyone in speed? ...perhaps so, perhaps not?


I say: shut up or put up something we can see or hear, and I'll bet that will eliminate about 3/4 of the posters claiming they are bass-speed-gods.
 
#139
amimbari said:
maybe the title to this thread should have been:

"How fast can you play with accuracy, post your vids and clips"

too many in here saying stuff that they can "out-do" anyone in speed? ...perhaps so, perhaps not?


I say: shut up or put up something we can see or hear, and I'll bet that will eliminate about 3/4 of the posters claiming they are bass-speed-gods.
Click to expand...

I did, but only in the spirit of fun.

Don't want it to become a competition or anything. That's not what I'm about.

:)
 

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