Guitar Technique evaluation.

[Sickz]

Hi!

So, i am a new user on this site. So first of all i want to say hi to everyone and thank you for taking the time to help me with my problem. Also, if i do anything wrong in regards to posting, let me know. You will be seeing a lot of me, so i want to make sure i am not a hassle to anyone.

Anyhow, i wanted you guys to have a quick look at my playing to see if there is anything specific that sticks out. I have been playing for 6 years now, seriously the last two (since i got into jazz basically) and i don't know if my technique is bad or it simply haven't had enough time to develop yet since i started practicing seriously. It is mostly the picking hand i am focused on, but as of late i'm thinking the fretting hand needs a rework too.

If the video is shot in a bad angle, let me know and i will make a new video first thing in the morning. I really want to get my technique sorted so it can develop in a good fashion.

Thanks in advance!

Best Regards,
Sickz

[nick1994]

your left hand seems good, fingers are arched tips against the frets and thumb behind the neck. I can't say much about the right hand though, I'm no expert on picking. What is the main problem you are having with your right hand?

[Pocket Player]

Everything is looking good id say ! just keep playing. if your really looking to clean things up,or build speed there are good exercises, you can incorporate into you daily practice. building slowly with a metronome. but over all i say just keep playing unless your having a big problem.

[Cunamara]

Your left hand looked pretty efficient and economical. It was a bit difficult to get a good look at your right hand. I guess the question is what problems, if any, are you noticing?

[Sickz]

I'd say that the problem i am having (and reason i am asking) is because of inconsistency. Some days i can pull off lines at 120 bpm in sixteenth notes, other days i can barely do it at 80. It is just really weird that sometimes i feel pretty good about my playing, and other times it feels like i have been playing for less than a year.

The inconsistency carries over between guitars as well. I can play better on my hollowbody (the one in the video) than i can on my stratocaster. And even though jazz is my main focus, i'd like not to be limited to that. Hence why i am somewhat bothered by not being able to play as good on my strat.

Thanks for the feedback so far though, i really appreciate you guys taking the time and helping me out.

[boatheelmusic]

Looks fine - assume you've mastered your major scales and arpeggios in 5 positions on the fretboard?

[Sickz]

Looks fine - assume you've mastered your major scales and arpeggios in 5 positions on the fretboard?

Define "mastered". I still have major scales and arpeggios as part of my warm-up/technique practice everyday. Taking a new key everyday, running through the scales up, down, up & down, in sequences of three/four/five/six notes, intervallic jumps by thirds/fourths/fifths/sixths etc. And then working on phrases that i want to get into my ear and playing, learning to play these phrases/ways of comping in all twelve keys, altering them (pitch, articulation, rhythm, feel) to make them my own. That is probably as far as my technique practice goes, rest of the time i focus on tunes, transcribing and sight reading.

[boatheelmusic]

Sounds wonderful - great practice regimen.

[yaclaus]

I'd also say that it looks pretty good, although members like ecj or Reg are far more knowledgeable than I am. As far as "inconsistency" I'd say I think it's about being warmed up and being physically ready for playing fast lines. Maybe trained players have a smaller distance between not-warm and warm (you mention 80 and 120 bpm), but I remember a Kurt Rosenwinkel masterclass where he mentions sometimes it takes him 10 minutes to warm up and at other times even a few hours.

[Pocket Player]

agreed ! its all about warm up now ! and more time on the fret board ! my routine is very similar ,except i start with 1/2 hour of chromatic practice, across the strings. 1 note a beat 2,3,4,5,6, another 30 mins of ladders and trills. soon as my hand recovers i move on to my scales... the same way you do... but if i do just my chromatic s, i find hand hands, and picking are good to go !! some days are always better than others lol

[pushkar000]

Nice playing man!
Your right hand seems to be wrist-controlled. I know a lot of players do this but I think it is better to pick using your forearm. That's how I was taught at least.

[GuyBoden]

Your right hand seems to be wrist-controlled. I know a lot of players do this but I think it is better to pick using your forearm. That's how I was taught at least.

Nice transcription work, no problems with playing from the wrist, the majority of Jazz Guitar players do. Keep up the good work.

[pushkar000]

There seems to be a lot more wrist than forearm picking Jazz Guitar players. Keep up the good work transcription work.

Hence I noted it in my earlier post.
Just goes to show that technique =/= music.

[GuyBoden]

Hence I noted it in my earlier post.
Just goes to show that technique =/= music.

Changed my post to make it clear, IMHO the majority of Jazz players pick from the wrist, but then there's Bruno who is a great forearm economy picking player........

[christianm77]

To my eye it looks fine, but are you encountering specific issues? If not 'if it ain't broke don't fix it.'

There are so many schools of picking. My advice would be if you want to develop your chops, pick a school (Bruno style economy, gypsy picking, Benson picking, strict alternate or whatever) and focus on it. Different schools offer different advantages and disadvantages.

[christianm77]

Left hand too, two main approaches, both again with advantages and disadvantages

- Three fingers, lots of movement along the fretboard, thumb over neck
- all four fingers, positions, classical style, thumb behind neck

The first one is my favourite from a tone point of view, the second is what I do most of the time.

I use to worry about how much my silly old fingers flap around. Then I watched some videos of my favourite players. Some of them have very uneconomical left hands, so I thought, it's probably not that big a deal.

[Jonah]

'd say that the problem i am having (and reason i am asking) is because of inconsistency. Some days i can pull off lines at 120 bpm in sixteenth notes, other days i can barely do it at 80. It is just really weird that sometimes i feel pretty good about my playing, and other times it feels like i have been playing for less than a year.

from my experience it mostly comes from the head... if you can play it once you can play iut twice... so it is about musical organization of what your playing ... what do you play at that speed? Just a scale? Or musical phrases in the context? Learned or improvised? Play what you want or what the fingers play? .. just questions to check youself

not every top player can play every scale up and down in 16s at 120 bmps just out of musical context... just because he does not need it. But he can play music that he wants to play when he he wants to play... musical playing - even solo and even non-improvised - is mostly a process of reacting to impulse... and real live jazz playing is like this too but just hundred times more inmtensive

I am far from being in position of a teacher.. but at certain stages I had that issue and just share it.

it could be just the lack of systematic playing - not excercise or warm-ups - but creative music playing where musical tools are integrated with technique tools...

[Jonah]

Left hand too, two main approaches, both again with advantages and disadvantages

- Three fingers, lots of movement along the fretboard, thumb over neck
- all four fingers, positions, classical style, thumb behind neck

The first one is my favourite from a tone point of view, the second is what I do most of the time.

I use to worry about how much my silly old fingers flap around. Then I watched some videos of my favourite players. Some of them have very uneconomical left hands, so I thought, it's probably not that big a deal.

I would add 'three fingers' approach can teach a lot of authentic phrasing.. it's worth trying at least a bit to get the feel of blues-rooted jazz playing... all these shifts/slides/jumps etc effect phrasing
Also three -fingers players often play in what I call 'big notes' - even fast lines sound big... every notes sound more outlined separated...

[christianm77]

I would add 'three fingers' approach can teach a lot of authentic phrasing.. it's worth trying at least a bit to get the feel of blues-rooted jazz playing... all these shifts/slides/jumps etc effect phrasing
Also three -fingers players often play in what I call 'big notes' - even fast lines sound big... every notes sound more outlined separated...

Yeah I really love that - Wes, Charlie Christian, Jim Mullen, Pete Bernstein etc. People - even musicians - say things like 'Wes doesn't play fast' - sure he does, he just plays every note fat & juicy.

You make me want to chuck out my stupid 4 finger classical technique and play like that! Hard to unpick stitches though....

[christianm77]

I'd say that the problem i am having (and reason i am asking) is because of inconsistency. Some days i can pull off lines at 120 bpm in sixteenth notes, other days i can barely do it at 80. It is just really weird that sometimes i feel pretty good about my playing, and other times it feels like i have been playing for less than a year.

The inconsistency carries over between guitars as well. I can play better on my hollowbody (the one in the video) than i can on my stratocaster. And even though jazz is my main focus, i'd like not to be limited to that. Hence why i am somewhat bothered by not being able to play as good on my strat.

Thanks for the feedback so far though, i really appreciate you guys taking the time and helping me out.

Just saw, this, sorry.

If you are finding inconsistency in your picking it could be that you are setting too many external goals and putting psychological pressure on yourself.

So: it may be that your technique is fine. I found transcribing and playing lines (as you clearly are) I was surprised easier it was to play. My body wanted to do what my ears heard - how have you found this? When I *try* to play *fast*, it usually doesn't work. Yoda was onto something, you know :-)

That said, around 4 years ago I started to rebuild my technique around Gypsy picking after years of anchored wrist alternate picking. While my level of technique before was pretty good and while it's taken a while to get all of the speed, flexibility and ease I had before, I found the exactness and clarity of the dos/don'ts of the technique was very good for me, and I feel now with a bit of warming up I achieve a very consistent level of technical performance. It also is a gift to the teacher!

But this technique is most appropriate for acoustic guitars.

I would advocate any approach which is based around biomechanics - so tells you how to hold your wrist and pick etc, rather than just picking patterns etc. Pick technique is poorly understood, actually, compared to fingerstyle. I think Troy Grady's videos are worth watching. Since being aware of pick slanting, I would say I achieved a greater level of consistency in my picking. Benson picking is another popular school.

[Sickz]

Just saw, this, sorry.

If you are finding inconsistency in your picking it could be that you are setting too many external goals and putting psychological pressure on yourself.

So: it may be that your technique is fine. I found transcribing and playing lines (as you clearly are) I was surprised easier it was to play. My body wanted to do what my ears heard - how have you found this? When I *try* to play *fast*, it usually doesn't work. Yoda was onto something, you know :-)

Since i made this original post i have actually been doing a lot better with my technique overall, it feels like i have made more improvement in the past month than the past year.

I definitively agree with the assessment that playing lines i have transcribed to be easier than playing something else (for example, playing something i have learned from notation). So from doing a lot of transcribing this past month i have been getting better and better, both musically and technically.

The thing i have also found since then is that i have tried a new method of practicing. I don't know if this is a controversial opinion or not, so feel free to agree/disagree with me as you will. But i have been trying a method i stumbled upon by accident on Ultimate-Guitar, refered to as the 21 day method, i made a post about it here in the technique forum but it doesn't seem to have gotten a lot of attention. Either way, the gist of it is that i have been practicing new material at a ridiculously slow tempo for 7 days now (7 out of 21), without raising the tempo at all. When i started i could probably play these things at 90bpm (sixteenth notes) relaxed and comfortably, and by practicing playing these thing in quarter notes at 60bpm for 7 days, i can now play it comfortably at 120. The basis of this method was building a habit of playing something relaxed and perfectly (and it takes roughly 21 days to form a habit) so that it will stick in your muscle memory and allow you to speed up much easier.

As said, i am only 7 days in using this method of practice. But using extreme slow practice for a longer time seems to be working wonders for me, so i will stick with it until i find something better. My technique is better than ever, still have a ton of work to do on the musical side though.

Thanks for all the responses and advice in this thread so far, it is appreciated.

Best Regards,
S

[christianm77]

Since i made this original post i have actually been doing a lot better with my technique overall, it feels like i have made more improvement in the past month than the past year.

I definitively agree with the assessment that playing lines i have transcribed to be easier than playing something else (for example, playing something i have learned from notation). So from doing a lot of transcribing this past month i have been getting better and better, both musically and technically.

The thing i have also found since then is that i have tried a new method of practicing. I don't know if this is a controversial opinion or not, so feel free to agree/disagree with me as you will. But i have been trying a method i stumbled upon by accident on Ultimate-Guitar, refered to as the 21 day method, i made a post about it here in the technique forum but it doesn't seem to have gotten a lot of attention. Either way, the gist of it is that i have been practicing new material at a ridiculously slow tempo for 7 days now (7 out of 21), without raising the tempo at all. When i started i could probably play these things at 90bpm (sixteenth notes) relaxed and comfortably, and by practicing playing these thing in quarter notes at 60bpm for 7 days, i can now play it comfortably at 120. The basis of this method was building a habit of playing something relaxed and perfectly (and it takes roughly 21 days to form a habit) so that it will stick in your muscle memory and allow you to speed up much easier.

As said, i am only 7 days in using this method of practice. But using extreme slow practice for a longer time seems to be working wonders for me, so i will stick with it until i find something better. My technique is better than ever, still have a ton of work to do on the musical side though.

Thanks for all the responses and advice in this thread so far, it is appreciated.

Best Regards,
S

That sounds like a very interesting method. I can really see how it would work.

For my experience, I've always found if I've mastered something slowly with economy of motion and relaxation, playing at tempo is not a problem. The idea of linearly 'speeding up the metronome' is really pretty daft - the important aspect of the exercise is doing the slow practice, the slower, the better.

That said, doing the slow practice right is not as easy as it sounds. 7 days sounds about right for the uber slow stuff. You do need to make it absolutely natural.

Have you tried slow improvisation yet? I find that a great exercise.

[Sickz]

That said, doing the slow practice right is not as easy as it sounds. 7 days sounds about right for the uber slow stuff. You do need to make it absolutely natural.

Indeed. It is quite a practice in discipline, since i instinctivly want to speed up when i can play something. Staying slow and reinforcing the muscle memory and really building the habit of perfect and effortless playing is great though.

Have you tried slow improvisation yet? I find that a great exercise.

I started that yesterday, since i noticed that the really slow practice had made wonders for my technique i thought it might as well work with my improvisation. I'm going to go through a few tunes practicing connecting scales, arpeggios and transcribed language at a very slow tempo the coming week(s), in theory i should be able to improve my improvisation quite a lot by doing this, need to work on outlining the changes.

[Reg]

Do you want the soft comments, or real shit...

[ecj]

The thing i have also found since then is that i have tried a new method of practicing. I don't know if this is a controversial opinion or not, so feel free to agree/disagree with me as you will. But i have been trying a method i stumbled upon by accident on Ultimate-Guitar, refered to as the 21 day method, i made a post about it here in the technique forum but it doesn't seem to have gotten a lot of attention. Either way, the gist of it is that i have been practicing new material at a ridiculously slow tempo for 7 days now (7 out of 21), without raising the tempo at all. When i started i could probably play these things at 90bpm (sixteenth notes) relaxed and comfortably, and by practicing playing these thing in quarter notes at 60bpm for 7 days, i can now play it comfortably at 120. The basis of this method was building a habit of playing something relaxed and perfectly (and it takes roughly 21 days to form a habit) so that it will stick in your muscle memory and allow you to speed up much easier.

As said, i am only 7 days in using this method of practice. But using extreme slow practice for a longer time seems to be working wonders for me, so i will stick with it until i find something better. My technique is better than ever, still have a ton of work to do on the musical side though.

This is good practice, but one important thing to keep in mind is that you can't do everything fast that you can do slowly. Just because you get something dependable slow, doesn't mean it will scale up and work at fast tempos. You can waste a LOT of time practicing mechanics that don't work well at high speeds super really slowly. I know. I've been there.

My advice is to pick a player that can do what you want to be able to do and very carefully study their physical approach to the instrument. Could be the gypsy guys, or Benson, or Joe Pass, or Frank Gambale, or whomever. But the right hand especially is very tricky, and the motions are very fine and difficult to master. It's best to pick one and go for it until you've really nailed it. There's a technical support group of sorts on the Benson-picking thread, and JC Stylles, who participates from time to time, has phenomenal chops.

Also, tell Reg you want the "real shit" and listen to what he says.