Playing faster with fingers

[fuzzyhair]

I want to be able to play moderately faster with my fingers. I play guitar, but I played bass for about a year before I played guitar. I pretty much mount my thumb on the pickup and use my two fingers to play the string. I would like to know what I can practice/do to get up to speed. Umm... think Pull Harder on the strings of your martyr by trivium. If I can get up to that speed I think i can build from there.
Any tips?

[Ting]

Major Scales up the neck. When i was first learning, i built a lot of speed by playing every note of a scale in triplets

G---------------------------------------------------
D--------------------------------2-2-2-4-4-4-5-5-5
A-------------2-2-2-3-3-3-5-5-5-------------------
E-3-3-3-5-5-5-------------------------------------

Then decend, then move one fret up, then another ect.

[Akira]

Hysteria by Muse is a pretty good right hand excercise.
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
||----------------------------------|---------------------------------|
||o-----5---5-7---5---2---3-3-2-0-2-|---------------5-------5-5---5-7-|
||o-0-0---0-----0---0---0-----------|-----5---5-7-------7-------7-----|
||----------------------------------|-0-0---7-----0---0---0-----------|


S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S 4x
|-----5---5-7---5---5-4---4-3---3-|----------------------------------||
|-0-0---0-----0---0-----0-----0---|-----5---5-7---5---2---3-3-2-0-2-o||
|---------------------------------|-0-0---0-----0---0---0-----------o||
|---------------------------------|----------------------------------||


Verse
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
||----------------------------------|--------------------------------|
||o-----5---5-7---5---2---3-3-2-0-2-|---------------5-------5-5---5-7|
||o-0-0---0-----0---0---0-----------|-----5---5-7-------7-------7----|
||----------------------------------|-0-0---7-----0---0---0----------|


S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
|-----5---5-7---5---5-4---4-3---3-|----------------------------------||
|-0-0---0-----0---0-----0-----0---|-----5---5-7---5---2---3-3-2-0-2-o||
|---------------------------------|-0-0---0-----0---0---0-----------o||
|---------------------------------|----------------------------------||

[fuzzyhair]

Thanks guys. Would you suggest using 3 fingers?

[Ting]

The problem with 3 fingers is that you tend to always want to play in triplets since it 3 fingers of course. You can try it, but it takes awhile to master

[Akira]

I really wouldn't suggest using three fingers. You can if you want, but it takes a lot of time to get decent with it, and any speed increase will probably be negligable. I would just practice with two.

[fuzzyhair]

I also saw a John Myung video where he was playing scales uber fast but he was using his index and ring finger.
I will just stick with my index and middle and work on those scales and songs.
Thanks for your help.

[Saitoku]

Three or four fingers may be something to look into in the future, but I prefer two. Trust me, once you get the hang of it you can play as fast as you'll ever need to with just two.

[lais817]

Hysteria by Muse is a pretty good right hand excercise.
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
||----------------------------------|---------------------------------|
||o-----5---5-7---5---2---3-3-2-0-2-|---------------5-------5-5---5-7-|
||o-0-0---0-----0---0---0-----------|-----5---5-7-------7-------7-----|
||----------------------------------|-0-0---7-----0---0---0-----------|


S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S 4x
|-----5---5-7---5---5-4---4-3---3-|----------------------------------||
|-0-0---0-----0---0-----0-----0---|-----5---5-7---5---2---3-3-2-0-2-o||
|---------------------------------|-0-0---0-----0---0---0-----------o||
|---------------------------------|----------------------------------||


Verse
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
||----------------------------------|--------------------------------|
||o-----5---5-7---5---2---3-3-2-0-2-|---------------5-------5-5---5-7|
||o-0-0---0-----0---0---0-----------|-----5---5-7-------7-------7----|
||----------------------------------|-0-0---7-----0---0---0----------|


S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
|-----5---5-7---5---5-4---4-3---3-|----------------------------------||
|-0-0---0-----0---0-----0-----0---|-----5---5-7---5---2---3-3-2-0-2-o||
|---------------------------------|-0-0---0-----0---0---0-----------o||
|---------------------------------|----------------------------------||
I find that playing hysteria straight up the neck is better for building speed, in IMO:


G|---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|
A|-0-0-10-0-10-12-0-10-7-8-8-7-5-7-|
E|---------------------------------|

etc...

[Thonk]

I find that playing hysteria straight up the neck is better for building speed, in IMO:


G|---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|
A|-0-0-10-0-10-12-0-10-7-8-8-7-5-7-|
E|---------------------------------|

etc...
But the way he posted is sort of a way to help with accuracy while string skipping.

[MyFriendOfMisery]

The second intro of Master of Puppets will get your string skipping ablities up to par.

[gaslight]

Don't bother with three of four fingers, you can get all the speed you need with two.

For accuracy, play slow to a metronome - not comfortable, but slow so you are really having to subdivide the beat in your head to get it accurate. You need an accurate sense of time and most importantly a good feeling of the subdivisions to play accurately when you play fast, because if fast playing isn't accurate, it's absolutely painful to hear. Gradually turn the metronome up and play the same thing through to your comfort zone and then put the speed up further and further till you reach the point you can't do.

Good exercises are playing scales in two octaves, straight up and down is a good way to start. Also break the scale up in different ways for more advanced exercises. I'm just heading out to a gig now but when I come back I'll tab out some things and post them for you.

EDIT 1: I just got home but I'm way tired and I have uni tomorrow, so I'll post them up tomorrow night when I'm back at home.

[fishingforbasses]

You should try to learn three, the "oddball" third will help you with odd time sigantures, if you teach yourself to apply "numba 3".

lol I can play with three normally too, but it did and does take a while to get it to become part of your (and I use this term lightly) "normal" playing.

Devlano

[gaslight]

Hey here are some brief things.
(Copy and paste into notepad, the forum presentation will butcher it).
Some exercises to practice with the eventual aim of building speed and dexterity.
All examples presented using the G major scale.

G Major Scale over 2 octaves (play ascending and descending).
G|--------------------4-5-7-9-11-12-|
D|------------2-4-5-7---------------|
A|------2-3-5-----------------------|
E|--3-5-----------------------------|

Other things to do with the G Major Scale are to play up in groups of notes.
For example, play; G A B, A B C, B C D, C D E, D E F#, E F# G, etc. That would in groups of three, but you can mix it up and
try groups of four, five or six or whatever you like.

Ascending in thirds.
G|--------------------------------4---5-4-7-5-9-7-11-9-12-11-14-12-|
D|----------------2---4-2-5-4-7-5---7------------------------------|
A|----2---3-2-5-3---5----------------------------------------------|
E|--3---5----------------------------------------------------------|

G|--12-9-11-7-9-5-7-4-5---4----------------------------------------||
D|----------------------7---5-7-4-5-2-4---2------------------------||
A|--------------------------------------5---3-5-2-3---2------------||
E|--------------------------------------------------5---3-5-2-3----||

In diatonic triads.
G|-------------------------------2-----4---2-5---4-7-|
D|------------2-----4----2-5---4---2-5---4-----5-----|
A|----2-5---3---2-5----3-----5-----------------------|
E|--3-----5------------------------------------------|

In diatonic seventh chords.
G|------------------------2-------4-----2-5-------7--------9---------11-|
D|--------4-----2-5-----4-----2-5-----4-------5-9-----7-10------9-12----|
A|----2-5-----3-----2-5-----3-------5-------7-------9--------10---------|
E|--3-------5-----------------------------------------------------------|

Practising scales and sequences with new fingerings is also a good approach to practise.

Playing exercises like that slowly and then fast will build fretboard familiarity, left hand dexterity, right hand speed, accuracy for both, and if you make sure to think about the notes and switch things up to keep it fresh, it will help your theory as well.