Speed Building

[bkap]

Curious about speed building. Recently worked with a metronome to build speed. Did 1/16 note chromatic and major scales across the neck. I got to 104 on the metronome.

Can a 68 year old keep building speed? Any experience with seniors doing this? What is a rational target? My teacher 50 years ago set 144 as a key goal.

Bill

 

[blueshawk]

bkap,
I'm bumping 67 myself. I take the coward's way and stick to music I can keep up to with my walking cane in hand. I leave the speed picking to the younguns.  ;D ;D ;D

 

[brent]

bkap- I would recommend that you start out really slow. Like painfully slow 50-60 beats per minute and one note equals two clicks. Instead of trying to go fast. Work on super efficiency. In other words, try to focus on moving the pick as little as possible to strike the string. Also, practice hovering your fingers above the string at all times. When you can play your scale with very minimal movement of your picking hand and can maintain all of your fingers hovering over the appropriate string, then speed up gradually. It doesn't take speed to make muscle memory. That is why Tai Chi is practiced slowly. Remember practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.

 

[Rockybottom]

When you say 104 on the metronome and 1/16th notes, do you mean you set the metronome at 104 bpm for quarter notes and then play 1/16th notes to that i.e. playing 416 notes a minute or are you playing 104 1/16th notes a minute ?

 

[Dr. Ron]

When you say 104 on the metronome and 1/16th notes, do you mean you set the metronome at 104 bpm for quarter notes and then play 1/16th notes to that i.e. playing 416 notes a minute or are you playing 104 1/16th notes a minute ?

Bkap...I just finished doing my metronome speed building exercise for today.  I can hit  a 100 bpm with horrible technique and no control. I have to back off to 88-92, and that's on a good day.  If you can play at 104 for 16th's with control and they sound good, IMHO you are doing just fine.  By the way, I just turned 66.

 

[falconer]

Bkap, I just turned 61 and I'm pragmatic enough to realize that I'll never attain the speed I'd like to see.

That said, I've still seen improvement with time.  I think the increase just happens at a far slower pace than if you were 15 or 20.  At the very least, keeping a regimen of speed exercises as part of your practice time keeps you from losing what you've got already.

And in the grand scheme of life, how many things can you count in that category? 

 

[bkap]

When you say 104 on the metronome and 1/16th notes, do you mean you set the metronome at 104 bpm for quarter notes and then play 1/16th notes to that i.e. playing 416 notes a minute or are you playing 104 1/16th notes a minute ?

416 notes a minute.  4 notes per beat of the metronome.

 

[bkap]

bkap- I would recommend that you start out really slow. Like painfully slow 50-60 beats per minute and one note equals two clicks. Instead of trying to go fast. Work on super efficiency. In other words, try to focus on moving the pick as little as possible to strike the string. Also, practice hovering your fingers above the string at all times. When you can play your scale with very minimal movement of your picking hand and can maintain all of your fingers hovering over the appropriate string, then speed up gradually. It doesn't take speed to make muscle memory. That is why Tai Chi is practiced slowly. Remember practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.

This sounds useful.  Takes some discipline since there is that pressure to "go fast".

 

[Rockybottom]

That's fast enough for anything Griff teaches.

 

[JoeK0519]

I find playing 8th notes to a metronome fairly easy, but switching to 16ths, i lose time quickly.  I start without the metronome and count aloud until i get comfortable, then start keeping time at 50 bpm.  After at least 3 times up and down the scale cleanly, I'll invrease 5bpm. Right now, i can usually get 16ths up to 65 bpm
Since I have limited practice time during the week, ill alternate days between vhords and speed drills

 

[jmorrell88]

This may sound completely insane and the exact opposite of what you have been told by every music instructor you have ever studied with.  If you are looking to improve your speed.  Rather than starting off really slow and gradually increasing your speed, there is another approach.

Most people will tell you to start of very slow and make sure that you are able to articulate every note.  Then--and only then--increase the speed on your metronome.  This is true to a point, especially if you are just getting started.  However, this will only yield incremental results.

I once took a speed reading course.  The first exercise of the course was to take a baseline reading; read as fast as you can for a period of time.  After the bell I recorded the number of lines I read.  Next, they had us set the metronome at a very high speed.  The drill was to scan a line of text with each beat of the metronome.  They didn't want you to read each word, only to scan the words at this impossible pace.  A funny thing happened: I started to understand and comprehend the words that flew by.  At first it was in fits and starts, but my mind began adjusting to this new speed.  After 10 minutes of conditioning they had me reread the passage I read earlier to find that I doubled my reading speed.

The same works for guitar (once you have the fundamental skills down of course).  If you set the metronome to something that you have to really struggle to keep up with and try to keep pace--even if it is sloppy--you are training your brain and hands to work a little differently. You quickly adapt to the new conditions.  After attempting to keep pace at a higher speed you should notice that it is easier to play at the speeds you were just struggling with. 

With the old approach, you are trying to do the same things you are doing currently, only a little faster.  The problem with this approach is that you most likely have some bad habits, issues with economy of motion and efficiency.  By barely bumping up the dial and repeating these same motions, you are only perfecting these habits. There are physical limits to this as well. 

By speeding this up significantly your training wheels will fall off, your crutches will be painfully obvious and you will abandon them in order to keep pace.

This might not work for everyone.  But if you have hit a wall, it is well worth a try.  I don't always play fast, but when I do I prefer to play it cleanly and with feeling. 

 

[blueshawk]

Scratch,
I had sworn off fast picking (old cars are not meant to be driven fast) , but this has me intrigued. I'm gonna try it. If my brain blows up and I start jabbering like an idiot it is your fault ;D

 

[Jon3b]

  Scratch has restated the same concept that Griff teaches for building speed. Push for a pace that's faster than you can manage for a set period of time each time you sit for your technique and repetition practice. It's not all you should do, because accuracy and articulation are also important for playing in a musical manner. Counting each subdivided beat should also be a part of your speed building regimen. It doesn't have to be one-ee-and-ah, etc, it can be and gibberish vocalization your mouth can manage.
  At some point though, the physical limitations of age will manifest themselves and you'll hit a wall. Keep at it though. You can if you think you can.

 

[giayank]

It's not your  hand  that limits your speed  It's your brain ! Sit at a table and tap the beat . You'll soon find 100 bpm is not even a challenge . Hold a single note and pick it back and forth . Again not much of a challenge .Like jon3b suggests find a way to count that does not require full wording . It's like trying to speed read by saying each word you are reading faster . -one e and ah -  is a lot to say quickly . I make clicking noises in my throat rather than saying words . Once I get the groove I try to stay in it by feel . That's another post on it's own staying in the groove . lol 

 

[JKopala1954]

Spider drills..  They help increase dexterity and accuracy in your fret work. This will help you maiximize the speed your are capable of reachung AND they help old arthrititis plagued fingers like mine.  See the attachment

 

[Rockybottom]

Griffs pentatonic scales and technique mastery has all you need in there to both warm up and build speed.  As said above you need the slow stuff for muscle memory on accurate positions and then pushing beyond comfortable even if you mess up to build speed.  I was amazed by the latter when I started doing it as when I went back to the music I found I was actually getting ahead of the beat.  proof if any were needed !