Perfecting technique

[Chris Johnston]

Hey guys!

I was wondering what everyone's strategy's are in terms of breaking in either a new technique or continuing the clean up on an existing technique in your playing?

I've been working on my sweeping tonight and noticed that if I stick on a metronome at 100bpm, set a 20 minute timer and hammer back and forth one sweep for that length of time without stopping, it really gets into my hands and feels familiar

Anyone else got any tips for this sort of thing?

Yours,
Chris J

 

[idssdi]

I always take little breaks after like 5 reps because I notice I get really sloppy after I do exactly the same thing for longer than that. It's basically 5 reps, little noodling and continue. I also like a small degree of sloppiness in my playing because it sound like a human instead of a robot.

 

[Jesse Salmons]

I usually do as many reps as it takes, but very slowly focusing on the fine details and fundamentals. Do this for a undocumented amount of time until it becomes effortless then begin speeding it up. Usually doesnt take long to speed it up for me

 

[Ezequiel Romanko]

I always take little breaks after like 5 reps because I notice I get really sloppy after I do exactly the same thing for longer than that. It's basically 5 reps, little noodling and continue. I also like a small degree of sloppiness in my playing because it sound like a human instead of a robot.

great tip Ids im gonna do as well cuz the same happens to me

 

[Lucas Weiman]

I've been working on my sweeping tonight and noticed that if I stick on a metronome at 100bpm, set a 20 minute timer and hammer back and forth one sweep for that length of time without stopping, it really gets into my hands and feels familiar

Yes, the more reps you can stomach at one time, for as long as you can (and still play it right) will build a strong connection and make you much better faster.

To answer your questions-

1. When I am breaking in a new technique or phrase/song etc, I pay extra attention to getting each note perfectly played, even if it is not in time with the rest... Even if that means taking an entire extra second to land your finger(s) in the perfect placement. (Right behind the fretwire, using my finger tips, not using too much tension, etc) It's all about creating correct motions so you don't have to go back later and unlearn mistakes.

2. When mastering, or getting in reps on something I'm familiar with, there are many specialized exercises you can use, depending on what you are trying to do. (is it building endurance, trying to play a phrase faster? etc). My favorite thing to do in the scenario what I call shortening your window of focus. Hard to explain over a forum, check out my video explaining it. It's about 2 minutes long, and the example I use is sweep picking, so it should be relevant to you Timestamp 2:24