some technique questions

Byron

Hi there

I feel like Ive been stuck in a skill plateau for a long time now with regards to speed and cleanliness of playing. I picked these 2 issues because they affect each other directly

Metallica - Master of Puppets
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--- 2----3----4---3----22
0-1 -0-1--0-1--01--0-1--

^ I have been stuck at the same speed for a couple months, I still cant get this fast enough. How long does one generally take to develop a sufficient level of speed?Ive kinda had this idea that the speed can be learned quickly-ish but then the long remainder is on effective clean playing technique Now I'm not a shredder kind of guy but I do like those heavy kind of thrash riffs and so on , and they can become pretty fast

My other query is on clean un-sloppy playing. Is it harder to play "clean" on heavy distortion. Do low strings also affect this? Lately Ive been picking up on my mistakes and I find that when moving to different string the previous strings still rings and ive got that noise left ( don't know you'd call this case ). And a side note, those noise gate things : Are they used to take away that noise from the slightest finger contact or do they make a very distorted tone less noisy so you can play cleaner?

Thanks

needleshy

well i find that practicing to a metronome is very important to me, i start of very slowly and work on the little mistakes and work on the technique at slow speeds the gradually speed it up until you are at the speed you want to play it at, the trick is not to rush it and always play it at the speed that you vcan manage then once you have that tempo down perfectly the u take it a notch faster this is how i practice pieces, it may only be sloppy because you have started practicing the piece way to fast for yourself to handle. practicing pieces at a comfortable tempo is much more valuable than rushing as it gets sloppy when its rushed. this i have found happened with me in the past.

AlanRatcliffe

+1 to needleshy's post. All of it. You have to get something perfect at a lower speed before you speed up.

Noise gates clear up hiss and hum between notes and phrases, but can do little for sloppy playing.

Bob-Dubery

My experience suggests that the way to go is to learn to play whatever it is accurately and cleanly - where "accurately and cleanly" includes correct timing. The speed will come with repetition. When practicing sacrifice speed for the others. Concentrate on the accuracy and good timing and the speed will come.

needleshy

practicing to me is supposed to be boring and done very slow it only gets fun to play once you speed it up and the reward of playing it at original speed is well worth the boredom. Your fingers have their own memory and therefore will eventually automatically know where to be placed without thinking about it, i wish i had learned all this stuff when i started guitar but only started the "concentrated" practicing about 2 yrs ago. i find that also with slow practice one can get the finger placement correct and can figure out fingering patterns in which would be easiest to play. One other important thing i try and work on alot is the distance that my fingers are away from the string. i try not to keep them more than 1cm away frm the string at all time, the distance you finger has to travel to the note being played can effect your speed or even break the tempo pattern and throw you out of time, i try getting this right and its only through slow practice that i can.

deanBailey

needleshy wrote well i find that practicing to a metronome is very important to me, i start of very slowly and work on the little mistakes and work on the technique at slow speeds the gradually speed it up until you are at the speed you want to play it at, the trick is not to rush it and always play it at the speed that you vcan manage then once you have that tempo down perfectly the u take it a notch faster this is how i practice pieces, it may only be sloppy because you have started practicing the piece way to fast for yourself to handle. practicing pieces at a comfortable tempo is much more valuable than rushing as it gets sloppy when its rushed. this i have found happened with me in the past.

this.

My other query is on clean un-sloppy playing. Is it harder to play "clean" on heavy distortion. Do low strings also affect this? Lately Ive been picking up on my mistakes and I find that when moving to different string the previous strings still rings and ive got that noise left ( don't know you'd call this case ).

The overdriven signal is like a compressor in which it boosts the lower/softer part of the signal. So most often your loose fingers on your right hand and your heavy fretting hand will make the not fretted strings ring out.

What I've realized is that playing guitar is not only playing notes, but muting the ones you don't want played, and that's a techniques all in itself. You'll often notice the professionals really getting clean tone because their muting/dampening technique is good.
I've made it really hard on myself by playing with extremely low gain for metal, just so that I can hear every note being played (I'm beyond fussy). So most often I'm battling with getting a nice heavy/chunky OD by picking harder and tighter, but you really need to play cleaner because any loose strings become very annoying.

Your left hand should be the main contributor to dampening the strings. When you fret with a finger or fiver make use of the other fingers or the parts in between the palm and the finger tip and lightly touch the higher strings preventing them from ringing out.
If you hear natural Harmonics, then look for a different spot on the fret board or different finger to mute.