Technical Difficulties

Paul Murray

Hi all,

I have a couple of questions:

Firstly, I've seemed to hit a bit of a plateau over the last while working with a certain exercise. On and off over the last year or so, I've been working on the triplet line cliché lick which is featured in Michael's Gypsy Picking book (Example 10.1) and also featured in Stephane Wrembel's book and Stochelo's DVD. But over the last two weeks I have been working on it almost everyday. I seem to be able to do it at around 130 bpm but it's hard to keep it consistent and to keep the momentum going. Then bizarrely, sometimes I can do it much faster but only for a fleeting moment! Anyway, just wondering does anyone have any tips on playing this line at speed. Stochelo makes it look so easy on his DVD (as he does!).

Secondly I have a question about 'I'll See You In My Dreams'. In bar 48, the ascending Bm arpeggio into the Fmaj descending arpeggio, I find it hard to play it consistently. 180 bpm is a comfortable tempo for that piece for me, but any faster I seemed to have hit a plateau. Anyone any tips on playing that? What picking directions do people use?

Thanks in advance,
Paul

Jazzaferri

Slow it wY way down, like 20 bpm, close your eyes and become aware of where you are feeling tension, or hesitation. When you find a bad spot, focus on fixing that one thing til you can do it completely relaxed and unconsciously. Work through the who phrase a step at a time, becoming aware of where you are messing up and fix those places til they are completely fluid and relaxed.

You have been practicing your mistakes for a while so it may take a bit.

To recap Step 1 Awareness....attach a number to the problem

Eg ......a bit tense in RH here, maybe a 6 out of 10. Try playing it really tense, grip pick hard. Then try playing so loose pick nearly falls out and wrist is floppy.

Step 2 Take a deep breath ...get completely relaxed and play ....really slowly....so you stay completely relaxed......flawlessly, without thought...

Step 3 work through phrases finding any errors one at a time...when a phrase is mastered on to the next.

Finally lay through entire piece really slowly, then try moving it up to tempo in steps. If you have done this right you should be able to play it at tempo.

PS picking direction could follow GJ rules or not....just master it one way before trying another.

Paul Murray

Slow it wY way down, like 20 bpm,

I was afraid you were going to say that! Ha, only joking. Yeah I have played that piece (triplet line) very slowly for a long time, trying different wrist/hand positions. Maybe I just need to go back to the drawing board. I do practice things quite slowly (maybe not slow enough!). I'll try you're suggestion about different pick grip tensions. Thanks for the great suggestions Jazzaferri.

Kevin Furniss

Paul Murray wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a couple of questions:

Firstly, I've seemed to hit a bit of a plateau over the last while working with a certain exercise. On and off over the last year or so, I've been working on the triplet line cliché lick which is featured in Michael's Gypsy Picking book (Example 10.1) and also featured in Stephane Wrembel's book and Stochelo's DVD. But over the last two weeks I have been working on it almost everyday. I seem to be able to do it at around 130 bpm but it's hard to keep it consistent and to keep the momentum going. Then bizarrely, sometimes I can do it much faster but only for a fleeting moment! Anyway, just wondering does anyone have any tips on playing this line at speed. Stochelo makes it look so easy on his DVD (as he does!).

Secondly I have a question about 'I'll See You In My Dreams'. In bar 48, the ascending Bm arpeggio into the Fmaj descending arpeggio, I find it hard to play it consistently. 180 bpm is a comfortable tempo for that piece for me, but any faster I seemed to have hit a plateau. Anyone any tips on playing that? What picking directions do people use?

Thanks in advance,
Paul

You are not alone - I'm just keeping at it

Paul Murray

That's the spirit terassier!

Jazzaferri

If you are practicing slowly already, then something is getting in the way. An extraneous motion, or a tension, or possibly lack of strength. Do you practice something like Stochelo's speed building exercise for strength? If you hold the pick fairly firmly there is more resistance to the pick going over the string could that be slowing you up as the muscle strength isn't there to overcome that. Not talking weight lifting type muscle development. When I was first learning Tae Kwon Do I did not have the right muscle conditioning to punch or kick quickly. I could throw a haymaker with lots of force but by then the teacher had moved and whacked me a few times for good measure. It does seem odd to think of relaxed and strength but it takes a certain amount and type of strength to play fast.

But it's the mind that generally gets in the way. In a test of people doing a glass up the piano, people who could't play at all were pretty much the same speed as great concert pianists it's those of us in the middle who are significantly slower. I bet you can tremolo pick one note on 1 string way faster than you can pick the piece you are working on. I bet you can do the same glossing up a string if you don't care what it sounds like. So what is it that is getting in the way. If you can't tremelo pick that fast, then muscle development is required. If you can....well guys....its brain development that is required.

There is nothing inherently better in practicing slowly if one can play it the same at speed..however..it gives time to ensure that there are no mental hiccups in understanding what has to be done and time to recognize and deal with the physical impediments.

Once you are aware of the problem, the big advantage of having a real teacher, then awareness skills can be utilized to overcome them.

Paul Murray

Yeah I'm not sure what it is. With the triplet line, the movement feels quite natural when done slowly i.e. 100->110 bpm. I don't feel much tension. When I increase the tempo, I find it's a lack of control when playing the consecutive down strokes. I find that the plec tends to slip off the strings or the range of movement in the wrist becomes too big. I have started practicing slowly again, around 100 bpm and exaggerating the right hand movements. Also I hold the plec quite loose. I've tried tightening the grip and that just makes it worse!

Paul Murray

Sorry that should read 80 bpm instead of 100

Paul Murray

Thanks for the advice Jazzaferri. I definitely think it's the brain alright! I don't think I'm lacking strength in the right hand. I do agree with you, it probably would be useful to have a teacher to judge what I am doing.

Jazzaferri

Paul...can you tremelo pick faster than you can play the phrase?

Using proper downstroke technique. Are double downsteokes fast or do they slow you down? Breaking it down into tiny bits and evaluating each one, is very hard on your own...but not impossible. Some of the guys who do online one on one might be able to quickly assess what is holding you back.

Paul Murray

Yes, I can definitely tremelo pick faster using either alternate picking or using a DUD DUD pattern. I find I have trouble with licks that feature consecutive downstrokes i.e. a sweep, that then changes direction to a descending arpeggio, like the phrase in 'I'll See You in My Dreams' that I mentioned.