Dan Wilson Courses

[CliffR]

have you tried practicing the exercise to a metronome without picking? Mute the strings with your right hand and just fret the notes. Don’t hammer - it’s not legato - but if you are fretting accurately you should hear the notes faintly. Then it’s a matter of getting it in time.

Your left hand needs to be as rhythmic as your right hand.

I haven't - good idea, although I'm a little reluctant to go back down this rabbit hole, but maybe it's necessary for Donna Lee .

Here's the tremolo picking exercise that Stetina recommends

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[Christian Miller]

I haven't - good idea, although I'm a little reluctant to go back down this rabbit hole, but maybe it's necessary for Donna Lee .

Here's the tremolo picking exercise that Stetina recommends

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I think it’s a great idea to do it with Donna Le

[James W]

Oh, I can definitely tremolo pick considerably faster than this (Stetina has an earlier 'gating' exercise of tremolo picking at 160bpm+). So I do think in this case it's a synchronisation issue for me, particularly since I can manage faster small bursts. But what the hell do I know!?

Something that helped me with my picking was working on my funky strumming and funk licks in general. It really helps to loosen up one's wrist and forearm in general.

As this guy explains in this good video (I recommend his youtube channel) -

[bediles]

Well I know the more I think about playing fast the less I am able to do it. The more I hear the phrase, the more my body supports me in doing what it needs to.

Somtimes I wonder if concerns about speed is a psychological trap - which is one reason to not do the speeding up the metronome thing. I did that once and never again and I can play pretty fast. You can’t put technique on a linear scale - instead either you’ll have a sudden break through by doing something new, or more likely you’ll hit an insurmountable wall by doing things the same and expecting different results. So I’ve never been a fan of that type of practice. Playing with a metronome, sure, but inching forward 5bpm at a time? No.

What we are looking for is freedom, relaxation, naturalness, repeatability, evenness and a high degree of ‘bombproofing’ in our technique. Jazz lines aren’t that fast on the Paul Gilbert scale, but the level of technique required to play consistent bebop 8th notes even and in the pocket at 240+ is actually quite alien to a lot of first gen rock shredders (less so to the new guys who all seem to come from a more linear or fusioney approach probably influenced by Guthrie.)

Find the flow! Easier when you know what some of the common frameworks are if you previously didn't find it naturally.