Building speed and endurance + metronome...

[moomooemu]

What kind of excercies should I do to do this? Basically Im just doing varations of chromatics. Are there any other must-need excercises to do, anyone have some string-skipping paul gilbert licks?

I was thinking about buying this metronome http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/214022/
Also Im kinda confused where I should start when using a metronome. Should I be doing 50 bpm at quarter notes, 8th or 16th notes? What speed do you think I should start out with?

Thanks!

Also would a shecter omen 6 fit inside this guitar case?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/s=accessories/search/detail/base_pid/544781/

[Forlorn Hope]

Metronomes are great practice tools. The tempo to start with is up to you, just make sure its not too fast. Make sure you start at a tempo that is very easy for you to play the exercise. Once you get it good, raise the tempo. Make sure you dont raise the tempo until you get the exercise or riff perfect, and not the least bit sloppy. Just keep raising the tempo after you play it good until it is at the right speed the riff is meant to be played at. This will help you in playing it at the right tempo everytime, and not speeding up or slowing down certain parts of the song, riff, or exercise. Hope that helps :thumb:

The Schecter should fit in the case, but i would use the live chat thing and ask someone on musiciansfriend just to be sure.

[MRDuCran]

String Skipping:
http://www.pentatonic-guitar-lessons.com/images/skipping2_ex1.jpg
http://www.pentatonic-guitar-lessons.com/shred-guitar-exercises.html
http://www.theshredzone.com/content/article.asp?pageid=207
http://www.davidernspiker.com/Lessons/Guitar%20Lesson6.htm
http://www.stetina.com/lessons/warmup.html
http://www.insaneguitar.com/col/bill/BillHudson-3.html
http://www.guitarists.net/lessons/view.php?id=118
www.chopsfromhell.com/guest_cooley_7ds1.html
www.milanpolak.com/licks.htm
www.chopsfromhell.com/guest_achi1.html

They might not all be licks Gilbert used but they'll sure as hell keep you busy.

[Trigger_003]

No idea about the case.

With the metronome, you want to start as simple as you can and get the basics right. Once that's achieved, you can speed up quite quickly.

If you have the time to do this, this is a very effective way of drilling in rhythm:
Using a metronome

I have started with this as it is probably the most important tool you can have to help you as a drummer.

The most basic thing any drummer has to be able to do is hold a beat at a tempo that is correct and even.

The metronome will help you not to get into bad habits such as rushing your fills and will enable you to lay down a solid groove that the rest of the band can key into.

OK.. So I have a metronome why can't I keep in time with it?

Unlike playing to C.D's and playing with other musicians the metronome (I shall call it "click" from here on) is totally unforgiving. It will show up your every mistake and once you lose your timing you will be forever chasing the click, speeding up and slowing down but never quite getting it.

The click is also of a very short duration and untill you relax with it there will always be some anticipation. This small amount of tension is enough for you to loose the click.

So how do you beat it?

1st Start slowly, I know this has been said so often it's become a cliché but it is probably the best bit of advice you will ever be given.

The counts we will be using are 1/4s, 1/8ths and 16ths.

1/4s - 1 2 3 4 |1 2 3 4|......

1/8ths- 1&2&3&4&|1&2&3&4&|.......

16ths- 1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a|1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a|.........

Start at 60bmp (or less if you want) in 4/4 and just play 1/4 notes in time with the click (you can use a pad or kit for this), count out loud.

Once you can do this and hit the click perfectly for 5 minutes or so leave the metronome set at 60bmp and double up your stroke to 1/8ths.

Now you are hitting on and splitting the clicks, keep practicing this again until you can do this perfectly for 5 mins continuous play.

Before going any further consolidate on what you have done so far. Leave the click at 60bpm and alternate 8 beats in 1/4 and 8 beats in 1/8ths. Again do this untill you can play perfectly for 5 mins.

Now you can try 1/16ths again leave the click at 60bpm and count the 1/16ths out loud. You will now have 4 counts to every click practice playing this as before until you can play it spot on for 5mins continuously.

Now consolidate again this time playin 1/4s, 1/8th and 1/16ths each for 8 beats. Again practice until you can play this perfectly for 5 minutes consistantly.

If you have got this far you are well on your way to mastering the click. Your ears will be working and your internal clock will be starting to improve.

Once you have mastered ALL of this at 60bmp move up to 80bpm and start from 1/4 again. You should find this easier to master and you can then move to 100bpm.

If you find at any point you are loosing the click STOP play 1/4s get back into the rythm and start to build up again.

Always count out loud!!

You should by now have started to relax and begun to make that click your friend not the enemy it once was.

When you are happy you can do this start to add some variation if you are on a kit play a stardard rock beat with the base on 1 an 3 and snare on 2 and 4.

If you are using a pad accent notes on 2 and 4.

(I know this is a very basic lesson on using a click but everyone has to start somewhere and this will help a lot of the NooBs out there and, if the truth be known, probably some of the older hands as well)

And.. for those of you who think 60bpm is to slow remember 60bpm playing 16ths is 240 seperate hits a minute which all must be exactly spot on.
----
You can apply chromatics and so forth to this exercise eventually, but start with an open string.

If you need some help with mastering various rhythms and knowing about time signatures etc, look at http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=318711

As for exercises, http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=308621 is great :).

Good luck with it :thumb:.

[moomooemu]

Thank you all very much. You guys are so helpful, but I can't seem to find the livechat thing you are talking about.

Just a question though. Once I get a speed down just say doing some excercies at 50bpm quarter notes, how often should I increase the speed by? Should I increase speed by a click each time I can play it clean or should I wait tommorow to change it or even perhaps next week? I plan to play through these excercises everyday. Should an hour be sufficient? or how long?

[gillygan]

Heres what ya do. Take a metronome at 60 bpm, and play the low e on each beat for half an hour every day, for a week,then go up one or two clicks. Use a towel or somthing to mute the strings. (trust me you want to) Be very Clean and precise. Keep doin that until you can play at 240 bpm for half an hour straight. Thats for your right hand.

Left hand: Do a hammer on all the way up the fretboard and back down on each string, every day.


The left hand one isnt the best but it does help alot.

[Darkwing Duck]

Heres what ya do. Take a metronome at 60 bpm, and play the low e on each beat for half an hour every day, for a week,then go up one or two clicks. Use a towel or somthing to mute the strings. (trust me you want to) Be very Clean and precise. Keep doin that until you can play at 240 bpm for half an hour straight. Thats for your right hand.

Left hand: Do a hammer on all the way up the fretboard and back down on each string, every day.


The left hand one isnt the best but it does help alot.

That is flawed in so many areas! Of course he should start slow and with a target speed, but the idea of using the metronome with alternate picking is so you get the muscle memory between your picking and fretting hand simultaneously. I mean if he were to start at something comfortable such as 60 bpm and say my goal is 120 bpm it would help so much more. For instance start at 60 bpm and push yourself 4 clicks each day or whatever you may find comfortable and near the end of each practice session set it to your target speed, which would be 120 and try to play it cleanly and in time. Of course you most likely won't be able to make the jump from 60 to 120, but as you come back down to 60, 64, 68, 72, and so on it should be a little easier to play those at those speeds. Doing this you can see amazing results in a month, I know I have and its all thanks to metaljonus.

[gillygan]

Ya i wasnt totally sure about it but i read a lesson here or somewhere before like that. Plus its more for rythym players.

[Axem Black]

I like your avatar custom>standard

[Lightning_Rider]

Ya i wasnt totally sure about it but i read a lesson here or somewhere before like that. Plus its more for rythym players.
How do you expect to play lead if you can't be comfortable with rhythm?

[bannedlawl]

Trigger needs some serious rep++

[Trigger_003]

Thanks Targa :)

Thank you all very much. You guys are so helpful, but I can't seem to find the livechat thing you are talking about.

Just a question though. Once I get a speed down just say doing some excercies at 50bpm quarter notes, how often should I increase the speed by? Should I increase speed by a click each time I can play it clean or should I wait tommorow to change it or even perhaps next week? I plan to play through these excercises everyday. Should an hour be sufficient? or how long?
It depends on how much time you have for guitar all together per day. I wouldn't spend my entire practise time focused on this aspect alone, but if this is the major flaw in your playing, you might spend a large percentage of your practise on it.

If you're using the process explained in my post above (but, of course, replacing beats on the drum with plucking the string), start it fairly slowly. Complete the full process and if you feel like some more, bump the metronome up 5 or 10 bpm. Take a short break before starting again if you need - so that you don't overwork your fingers/wrist.
Start again with the metronome at this new increased speed. If you can cope with that speed easily enough, complete the process at that speed, then bump it up some more if you feel like it.

When you find that putting it up 10 is too big a jump, go back and only put it up 5. When that's also too big a jump, go to 1 or 2 and gradually work up your speed like that.

When you come back to it the next day, put the metronome down 10/20 bpm from where you left off and work up in 5s (or less if required) from there. This allows you to get back into the feel of it and warm up. Lower the tempo even further if you find yourself falling behind.

And that's basically the process you've got to use :).