bayoubill
I do everything wrong 

Absolutely not. Those exercises you posted are exactly what I do in one segment of my regimen and should definitely be done by anyone looking to become a better guitarist. I would add a couple more patterns to that to cover all patterns that appear within the common diatonic scales but they take some further discussion on how to shape one's hand which is hard to put in text and would require elaborate tab. Maybe later.
 
I agree but disagree in regards to counterpressure. Basically very little to no pressure should be coming from the back of the neck via the pad of the thumb (it should be the "toothpaste grip" principal... if you could squeeze toothpaste out of a tube with the amount of pressure being applied you are squeezing too hard). Squeezing too hard will slow you down and lead to cramping HOWEVER while first getting the hang of proper left hand technique it can be very difficult to fret notes at first until the other muscle strengthen and adapt. Therefore, and this is by no means traditional instruction at all, I believe it is more beneficial to allow a bit more pressure at first. The player is going to be playing a little slower anyway at first as they build mental and muscle memory and the pain of cramping itself will teach them to back off the squeezing as they speed up.
 
There does need to be a bit of counter pressure when it is warranted, IMO. There can be a lot of nuances and technique variations though that achieving different results or are simply necessary because not all our hands are built the same. When I show people stuff I stick to what I know from experience works BUT if that isn't working for someone for whatever reason (except the student simply refusing to practice) I try to offer up alternate approaches. Most of all I just want people to enjoy playing their instruments.
 
Anyway, everyone paying attention... try Bill's exercises. I just didn't comment on them because they didn't need any extra commentary. Cheers.
 

Agentcalm
Hey Beepster and Leadfoot, nice info on the fingetip tip (if you know what I mean).
A few of the things you mentioned there Beep about accidently muting other strings, poor vibrato etc are things i am constantly suffering from.  and when i do a recording it really shows.  I'll practice that "finger tip position" so to speak.   Thanks again guys.  :) 

I'm happy to help and yes... recording oneself will certainly bring every tiny bit of ugly to the surface. After years of playing live once I started getting into recording it was very disheartening. It was like "when the hell did I start SUCKING SO BAD!!!". lulz... I personally think live playing and studio playing should be considered two completely different techniques. Live you are trying force everything to cut and blend amongst sheer chaos and requires more attack and aggression. In the studio you need to pull back a bit because the mix engineering is who is going to be making things cut and blend and your job as the musician is to play as clean and tight as possible without sucking the life out of the music... very tricky. It's funny... I'm currently listening to some old Nirvana (now Danny's gonna kick my ass... lol) and Kurt is considered to be sloppy as hell but you know what? He did exactly what was needed to get his parts on tape and make it sound like it should. So he either practiced like hell or they did a million takes and spliced together the best stuff.
 
Now that I am writing exclusively into the DAW as opposed to hammering out parts on my own, bringing them to band practice, playing them live for a few years THEN maybe going into the studio I realized I am missing out on all that pre-production work. There just isn't that constant practice. Instead of having played a part hundreds, if not thousands, of times before hitting record I may have only played it a couple times. So I end up doing takes over and over because they have no life. Then I'll think I've got them, move on to another part and realize I could play the first part way better and sure enough I can and the first takes get scrapped. This annoyed me at first because it seemed like I was wasting time but then I think back to all those years of rehearsal and live gigs and realize FAR less time is being put in.
 
So now I take my time and actually jam along with an idea for weeks before really getting serious about final tracks. The song usually gets altered and made better this way too just like a song would evolve over time in band practices or on an extended tour.
 
That's a long way just to say... practice makes "perfect"... especially when it comes to recording.
 
Cheers.
 
 

I never got into the 80s sweep picking craze. I'm more of a raker... which is similar but somehow raunchier. Knowing the mechanics and theory behind sweep picking is great though and can help with solos. It's just chords in arpeggio format sped up to hyperspeed.
 
Now tapping... yeah... I do a lot of tapping.

I'm no guitar player although I enjoy playing it but something I always encourage my piano students to do is to eliminate tension. It's a real speed and fluidity killer. It is my belief that tension is caused by fear of making a mistake . Therefore we try and control everything we do which results in tension, stiffness and lack of movement. By allowing yourself to play with complete and relaxed freedom and not worrying if you mess up or not is a quick route to playing faster with more accuracy. If your hands don't feel like liquid then you need to relax more.
Potential = performance minus interference.
This may or may not apply to you but thought I'd throw it out there :)

LOL you guys are too much....thanks sincerely. :) I commented last with a smiley never thinking anything of it. Sorry if I threw you guys for a loop.
 
Rimshot, I can give you lots of help here but it depends what YOU consider "faster lead licks" as well as what style you may be looking to borrow from. I'll take it you are most likely looking for rock stuff.
 
For example, I've always admired Terry Kath (R.I.P.) from Chicago. He was MY first dose of guitar lightning years ago. The Chicago Transit Authority version of 25 or 6 to 4 is absolutely frightening for the times.
 
Then there are guys like Joe Satriani that sound faster than they really are due to legato techniques where they pick one note and roll 3-4 notes in one shot. This is really cool sounding but takes a properly set up guitar as well as some finger strength because you need to play notes without picking all of them. When you glue some cool scales together and put some feel/bends and a style behind them, you can really come up with some awesome lead solo's. Another guy (most will laugh at me for this) who actually helped me to nail legato was Warren DeMartinni from the band Ratt in the 80's. This was one cool thing about the early 80's...there were some monster players that were getting good tones as well as some killer lead playing. The problem was there were too many of them and not enough good songs.
 
As Ben noted about the pentatonic scale, most of those guys used stuff like that but they really took it to another level because when then got done, for some you couldn't tell they were "as pentatonic" as they really were. A lot of my style is based on that too. But the key is to paint and tell a story while in that mode...and this is where it gets hard. The key is to try and not make your solos become too scalular. It's really hard and sometimes there is no way around it. However, if you add a little something to it so it doesn't sound like a verbatim scale you learn from a book (though some have used that and it's worked...the solo to Tom Petty's Refuge is all pentatonic to where it's almost right from a book) it at least masks the scale a little showing you have some style. :)
 
Anybody can show you scales and techniques as well as tabs. All that to me is like having a guy teach you how to use a compressor that you don't own on a song while using a console that you don't own. LOL! It's all moot until someone shows you HOW to apply this stuff in your realm. When you learn a scale, it's nice to know 2-3 different ways to use it and WHEN you would use something like that or it just remains a "practice scale".
 
There are guys like Yngwie Malmsteen that do the stuff Jeff talks about with the sweep picking...and he also picks EVERY note. This is super clean sounding but takes a decent amount of time to nail because in order to be fast and precise, you have to be slow and productive first. Unfortunately, playing guitar fast is sort of like being an Olympic athlete until you get the mechanics down. It's all repetition and memory. Most of all it's knowing something so good slow, that you speed it up because you're bored and know it well enough. The worst thing is going too fast too soon because then you can pick up habits that are really hard to break. So whatever you do, go into this taking your time and be selective with what you learn. Challenge yourself but don't talk yourself right out of learning this stuff. Some of it can really be disheartening. LOL! But again, it depends on what YOU are particularly looking for in the world of faster guitar passages.
 
If you like the bluesy side of the speed spectrum, a few of my favorites would be Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa and Eric Gales. Really killer players (I'm sure you've heard of Gary...some of his older stuff was really killer) that use speed in a good way. Eric's first two albums were his best in my opinion and Joe is just a mutant. But until we can sort of gauge what you're looking to do, it's hard really to set you in the right direction. What players come to mind for you as far as "fast" goes? If you could play like any guitar player...or even a few, who would you name? Stuff like this helps us to see what direction you should be going in. No sense sending you to listen to Tommy Emmanuel or Michael Romeo from Symphony X if you're not into that style. Then again, go listen to Tommy anyway. He's absolutely one of the best players of our time. :) Good luck man.
 
-Danny

I loved DeMartini's solos. And Gary Moore was awesome, especially his rock stuff in the 80's. Victims Of The Future was a great album. I got to see him in '83. He opened for Krokus, who was on the Headhunter tour, who was opening for Def Leppard on the Pyromania tour. Rick Allen had both arms back then.

I have so much info here guys.  Thanks again.  Danny, I have much to listen to based on your comments.  I am going to try to find some YouTube on this stuff.  I am such a beginner with lead technique.  I first have to learn all the technical terms.  Remember that I was a drummer for decades!  Ha, life is good.
 
Oh, Danny, my group Sue Saad & The Next opened for Ratt in Orange County in early 1980 at some bar in Orange County (south of L.A.). They were just getting started.  I remember their big silky RATT sign they hung in back of the drums on a fairly small stage.  You are right that there were many good players and not enough good songs.
 
Rimshot

Speed is great, and I wish my fingers on both hands could move faster. I personally would never trade speed for soul, however. If I could play with the soulful feel of Gilmour, I would be totally content.

Yes, an incredible amount of wisdom in that statement. It's taken me decades to correct bad habits.

Feel is the most important part of playing guitar otherwise you might as well just be using MIDI. That's the one thing us guit wranglers have over many other instruments that can now be easily duplicated by technological wizardry (like bass, drums, piano and if done well even orchestral instruments to an extent) and I do not see going away anytime soon (if ever). Even if the tech does make it possible (and I've seen some very convincing MIDI guitar tracks on youtube recently) it would actually be a hell of a lot easier to just learn how to play a guitar than to program all the nuances that constitute "feel".
 
Again I'm going to bring up Kurt Cobain (because I seem to be on a Nirvana kick these past few days). Love him or hate him how the heck would you create a program that could make all that racket? The same goes for many of the dirtier styles out there. Most of the really nice sounding MIDI guitar material you hear is either ultra clean/tight metal stuff or ultra clean/tight acoustic stuff. You try to program an Albert King solo and it's gonna sound like computerized garbage no matter how good the program and programming is.
 
My point? Yeah, speed is cool. I'm fast. I can be real fast when I'm practiced up but I'm also dirty by design. I used to emulate Vai, Satriani and Friedman. After a while though I started leaning toward raunchier stuff like punk, nasty thrash, old timey rock and blues. The former was fast and clean but kind of boring to listen to after a while. The latter had character and life and was ever changing. Combine the two and kabingi... now you've got some control and more importantly something that is more likely to be interesting to listen to than "noodle noodle noodle noodle noodle noodle ad infinitum".
 
When discussing speed I think the order of importance for being a good guitar player goes something like this...
 
Knowledge > Strength/Technique >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Speed

MakeShift
There's something about imperfection that is more interesting than perfect. Some of the string benders like Albert will actually, purposely bend a little flat or sharp, because it creates a little more interesting tension. How about Keith Richards who has mastered the art of playing in a controlled sloppy manner. Cobain is another example of that style. As you say Beep, guitar is feel.

I can certainly agree with that … my profile has this little phrase I made up a long time ago   .
 
perfection is not the absence of flaws ... it is the blending of the flaws where a unique expression has been expressed perfectly
 
Kenny 

listen to this , then lets talk right hand  
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=8063706 
   
 
Kenny

Hello Gino ,
 
Yes , I'm using a pick for everything …on the octaves , I'm grabbing the higher string w my right hand middle finger .
 
thanks for giving this a listen 
 
Kenny
 
PS , If anybody is interested ... I would be happy to discus what 50 + years of playing the guitar has taught me .

IMO Jimmy FWIW and off the top of me head-
 
"Reaction" is speed.
When one is playing, the speed (reaction to what their mind "hears") happens.
The technique and results of the "speed" is based on how much the player practiced and how.
 
The theory, learning licks, picking/playing techniques, scales and everything else one may practice are only means to help one gain the ability to "talk" or play what they hear (without much thinking) which also results in their own unique style. ( "second nature" comes to mind.)
To me that is the coolest thing about being a musician. Others may try to sound like you but nobody can.
That is why Carlos could use my equipment and all listening would know it was Carlos playing.
 
Not unlike training for sports. The quick "natural" reaction of moves they may make are possible
when their training and natural ability take place without the loss of time taken by "over thinking" it.
 
Not sure that makes sense to others but that's how I see it...or probably the best I can do putting it into words.
 
 

spacey
IMO Jimmy FWIW and off the top of me head-
 
"Reaction" is speed.
When one is playing, the speed (reaction to what their mind "hears") happens.
The technique and results of the "speed" is based on how much the player practiced and how.
 
The theory, learning licks, picking/playing techniques, scales and everything else one may practice are only means to help one gain the ability to "talk" or play what they hear (without much thinking) which also results in their own unique style. ( "second nature" comes to mind.)
To me that is the coolest thing about being a musician. Others may try to sound like you but nobody can.
That is why Carlos could use my equipment and all listening would know it was Carlos playing.
 
Not unlike training for sports. The quick "natural" reaction of moves they may make are possible
when their training and natural ability take place without the loss of time taken by "over thinking" it.
 
Not sure that makes sense to others but that's how I see it...or probably the best I can do putting it into words.
 
 

great post  
 
Kenny
 
 

hate to say it, man, but you need some scale practice. there's a reason every professional guitarist does it...it works.