speed training

[thehangingmist]

can you recommend me some exercises to improve my speed? i play finger style and i think its my plucking hand (right) which lags behind or its the coordination during the really fast runs.

am running the dave la rue exercise all over the fretboard diagonally but its the other spider exercise which starts to cramp my hand after i play it up or down the neck even once at say 70bpm while playing 16th notes. am going to try and tab it

----------
----------
---3----4-
-1---2----

or you could play that one one single string or across two strings. anyway i have never had my hand cramp up and get painful ever before i tried playing this exercise and the moment it starts to hurt i stop playing. any clue whats with this?
and do you know any exercises to improve your speed generally?

 

[Marton]

Try the exercise higher on the neck. I have smaller hand and I generally use 1-2-4 fingering on the first frets, to avoid any pain.

 

[jschwalls]

.......................5..6..7..8
....................6...............7
.................7.....................6
...5..6..7..8............................ repeat



...8..7..6..5............................ repeat
.................6.....................7
....................7...............6
.......................8..7..6..5


one of my favorite ones to do...

 

[thehangingmist]

.......................5..6..7..8
....................6...............7
.................7.....................6
...5..6..7..8............................ repeat



...8..7..6..5............................ repeat
.................6.....................7
....................7...............6
.......................8..7..6..5


one of my favorite ones to do...

do you rake with your picking hand when going up the diagonal part?

 

[thehangingmist]

bump

 

[jschwalls]

I alternate accending and rake decending..

 

[faulknersj]

Some of the best advice I ever got was to ALWAYS alternate your index (i) and middle (m) finger when doing these exersises. Don't use the same finger two times in a row until u develop complete control over altering your index and middle fingers. This one change in my technique allowed me to play lines that I was never able to before like the chorus run by Nate Watts in 'Do I Do' by Stevie Wonder. If you really want to play fast, u cannot take shortcuts around this technique! Learn to alternate imimimimim. Another important part of increasing your speed is decreasing finger movement on both hands. The less space your fingers have to cover to get to the strings the better. I hope this ends up helping u as much as it has helped me!

 

[christoph h.]

i think the most important factor isn't getting ONE of the hands up to speed but to synchronize their movements.

also, working on something musical (such as the transcription of a fast solo or melody) will help much more than exercises.

 

[jpTron]

.......................5..6..7..8
....................6...............7
.................7.....................6
...5..6..7..8............................ repeat



...8..7..6..5............................ repeat
.................6.....................7
....................7...............6
.......................8..7..6..5


one of my favorite ones to do...

That looks cool. I'll have to try that

 

[Saen Naen]

A former teacher of mine showed me this one:

--------1-5-1-------------2-5-2-----------
------3-------3----------3------3---------
--1-4----------4-1---1-5---------5-1-----
2-----------------2-3----------------3----

It's a major/minor alternating arpeggio. You would move it up the neck a step at a time. I used to run it up and down cold, it really helps with increasing your fingering reach, skipping strings and general speed. Plus it sounds more interesting than straight scales.

On a side note, it would be awesome if this forum had a plug-in or tool that allowed you to write out and post bass tabs in a more organized fashion.

 

[A440Hz]

I've noticed that my RH/LH coordination is better when I concentrate on the notes I'm playing as if I were singing them or as if they were actually music.

If I treat it just like a muscle exercise, I find that I'm sloppier.

Of course, this means that I have to be able to "sing" the line in my head.

 

[m_bisson]

Nobody said this yet??? METRONOME! Get those fingers steady and make sure they are playing the string with the same amount of force.

 

[fearceol]

Nobody said this yet either :

No matter what technique you are using, it is important to practice at a comfortable tempo, then increase it gradually.