How Fast should I be able to play 16th notes after 1 Year

[logdrum]

Unfunk UFO is not even 100 BPM I think. Play it slow and açurately. Then speed up. I'd rather be able to do harder things like string crossing, fret shifts and interspersed with rests and ties and dynamic changes at 75 BPM rather than just one pulsing note at 120

Speed will come and sadly as you grow older you will loose it as well and then you need to learn to simplify and still make it work

 

[smtp4me]

I've been playing for ~45 years and I still practice 16th notes with a metronome. In fact, I use a metronome app on my smart phone, called MetroTimer. MetroTimer has an additional stopwatch or count down timer in addition to the metronome. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you get a similar app and make it part of your practice routine.

As others have suggested, don't worry about the BPM other than for tracking your progress. Consistency is key and speed will come. Start slow.

My routine is as follows (adjust the BPM to your comfort level):

• Set and start the timer at one minute and split the time into equal intervals based on your number of strings (I play four strings - 15 seconds each).
• Begin with a BPM about 30-40 below your max - if your max is 110 then start at 80 or 90. Play 16th notes on each string until the timer stops.
• Increase the BPM by five and start over with one minute and an equal number of seconds per string.
• Continue to increase the BPM by five until you reach your max (one minute at 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110).

You should see results. And when you can do the above comfortably, you can either increase the starting and ending BPM or increase the total time (2 minutes per string, etc.). Or both. I do this not only for practice, but also as part of my warm-up.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I’m in a similar boat, but dealing with some hand arthritis, more or less re-learning to play after a long hiatus. I can’t play 16th notes accurately much faster than 100 bpm, but that’s better than 90 about a month ago, so just keep at it. Try to relax, I have a tendency to tense up at speed, which actually slows me down. As others said, if it hurts, STOP. Your hands are fragile and repetitive motion injuries are hard to fix.

 

[Keas]

Unfunk UFO is not even 100 BPM I think. Play it slow and açurately. Then speed up. I'd rather be able to do harder things like string crossing, fret shifts and interspersed with rests and ties and dynamic changes at 75 BPM rather than just one pulsing note at 120

Speed will come and sadly as you grow older you will loose it as well and then you need to learn to simplify and still make it work

Unfunky UFO is 98bpm but I have played that line with a metronome at 100bpm

 

[MuseChaser]

Kid comes home from his drum lesson, all excited. Dad asks him what he learned at the lesson. Kid says with breathless glee, "I learned how to play 32nd notes on the snare drum! Want to hear one?"

I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I have been playing bass for slightly under a year and I starting to learn more 16th note lines I am having issues with playing at speed with accuracy but I feel like I should be able to play faster and if I am slow what is the best way to increase my playing speed, here is some bechmarks of my speed and how much i practice to help give a sense of where i am at when it come to playing the bass gutiar (I understand the bass line effects your speed), I can play the chorus of Unfunky UFO by Parliament (photo below) at 100 and a short burst of ~4 16th at 110 bpm (It varies from day to day a bit), I regulary practice for an hour(sometime more) a day.

View attachment 7014272

Thank you in Advance

Can't help you. We are all different. That said for all of us, it takes work and dedication and you seem to have that basses on your post. Certainly you aren't short on ambition. Yikes, when I was a year in by comparison, I might have been able to play Proud Mary LOL!!! Just keep at it, you will get there.
.

 

[mambo4]

after one year you should be able to play 16 per bar

but seriously , the formula has already been explained:
Slow and relaxed leads to accurate, accurate leads to fast

beginners tend to overestimate how fast they can accurately play
experienced players seem to not worry about speed in isolation

 

[Keas]

after one year you should be able to play 16 per bar

but seriously , the formula has already been explained:
Slow and relaxed leads to accurate, accurate leads to fast

beginners tend to overestimate how fast they can accurately play
experienced played tend to not worry about speed in isolation

do you have any recommended BPM to start practicing with to start practicing to be more accurate when I play 16ths

 

[mambo4]

a BPM close to a walking pace is a good start
80-90 bpm

but really you need to individually 'train to fail'
find the BPM at which you feel less in control and dial it back a bit

also: pluck and fret lightly and turn up,
don't waste energy digging into the strings
don't fall into the trap of responding to speed
by playing harder ( aggressive plucking, left hand death grip )

 

[Queue]

Tom Petty's Running Down a Dream is a great song to work on 16th notes. Start at a tempo you can handle, and work your way up to normal speed.

 

[Thumpin6string]

I've been playing bass for over 50 years and the only way I can play 16th notes is by double plucking with a pick. The problem is that I play finger style. So, no 16th notes for me.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Depends on the BPM

Edit: one thing I like to do is instead of targeting every single note, I dertmine less target notes (which could be the quarter down-beat notes), and try to hit them right on time. All the other notes fall into their places easier this way.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Start at a tempo that you can handle, like 100BPM iOpen strings, a scale, a single bar riff, etc. Play only that for at least five minutes without making a mistake or slowing down. If you can't do that, notch the metronome down a bit and try to play for five minutes without making a mistake.
do this for 15-20 minutes nd give it a break until the next day.

This,,,, also, not everybody can play everything Like some people can hear a song once and play it perfect. But they can’t play 1/16th notes consistently. Or that perfect 1/16th note player can’t get a simple song right. Here comes more negative replies, sometimes you have to fake it thru parts you can’t get right and shine on the parts you play correct.

 

[brianrost]

I was at a jazz rehearsal last week and the metronome marking on one chart was 266 BPM. Luckily it was all quarter notes

 

[SteveCS]

do you have any recommended BPM to start practicing with to start practicing to be more accurate when I play 16ths

Whatever tempo allows you to play with perfect, flawless technique. As a relative beginner, right now it be as low as 55/60, depending on the technical demand - single notes on one string is a lot less demanding than melodic lines with string crossing or shifting. Try these progressive exercises/rudiments. Play them in different positions to understand the 'feel' of the strings in different regions of the fingerboard...

A: Starts with whole measures of the same note to focus entirely on the right hand. The objectives are even tempo, controlled attack and consistent tone between right-hand fingers. Try to include a slight accent the first note in each beat;
B: With the right hand working well, move between adjacent notes per beat. Try to keep the accent on the first note of each group and make sure every note gets full value - this will start to synchronise the left and right hands;
C and D: Can be played with a shift or by crossing strings (which raises the question of raking or alternate plucking). Focus on consistent tone and attack as you cross or shift, still with the accents and giving every note full value;
E: More string crossing (or shifting) with wider intervals of thirds. In E-2, be sure to 'play' the rests and see how they might affect the right hand picking 'sequence';
F: A bit more tricky with 2 different notes in each beat - watch out for the barre at beat 4;
G: Brings is all together with string crossing, rhythm variation and chromatic notes - watch the accidentals, especially at the end.

Hope this helps

 

[pepj]

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
16th note difficulty is defined by bpm.

If playing traditional finger style then 1yr would not typically amount to much in terms of progression, but I suggest pick a reasonable tempo and aim for consistent strikes and attack with alternating fingers. Don't rush too soon because you need a rock solid even attack to click. Easy to do with a pick, but far more finger players can't do it well enough. And you'll get found out in the studio REAL quick.

Practice single finger 16th to establish tempo..thats fast enough, then do same tempo with 2 fingers. When you can do that, you'll find increasing speed easy but on a very solid technical foundation.