Techniques that resulted in instant improvement for you?

[The Raven]

I've recently began to try a bunch of exercises to improve my technique, rhythm, and speed.

Once thing I've noticed is a LOT of players I look up to, when playing fast solo's, anchor their pinky on the bottom left corner of the bridge pickup. So I began doing my daily exercises trying this. Once I decided to try a solo I've been struggling with anchoring my pinky I was amazed to note that I went from maybe hitting 50-60% of the notes to nearly nailing it first take!

Anyone else notice or try techniques like this that resulted in instant (or near instant) improvement of their playing?

 

[Rad Synner]

Not as much a technique as just choosing the right tool. I have been struggling to gain some speed when playing lead guitar. Didn't quite know why. I talked about it with PG and through the conversation, we figured out that my problem was my choice of picks. Those I was using were way too thin for what I wanted to do.

Fixed that and my playing has only been improving ever since!

 

[William B.]

I liked learning about inside, outside and cross picking. Is it cross picking? I need to check again later cause I was going over one of the lessons from before and think I heard that.

 

[hades]

I've recently began to try a bunch of exercises to improve my technique, rhythm, and speed.

Once thing I've noticed is a LOT of players I look up to, when playing fast solo's, anchor their pinky on the bottom left corner of the bridge pickup. So I began doing my daily exercises trying this. Once I decided to try a solo I've been struggling with anchoring my pinky I was amazed to note that I went from maybe hitting 50-60% of the notes to nearly nailing it first take!

Anyone else notice or try techniques like this that resulted in instant (or near instant) improvement of their playing?

I'm not good by any means so take this with a grain of salt, but I used to do that for awhile and felt like it really helped me get an understanding of where strings are because of memory, however, it really limited my movement. Anchoring the pinky made some playing feel odd, so I've tried to stop doing it. I think as long as it works for you, then keep doing what helps you. It helped me remember string location for sure though.


I think how I hold the pick is something I consistently struggle with and I know where I like it but it's hard for me to get it there when I first pick it up... lol

Let me tell you though, when I am holding the pick properly it makes a HUGE difference in how I play because it's easier to move quicker, I can do pinch harmonics no problem, chugging is easier because the string does bounce around as much. It's just something that I feel makes a significant difference when you find that sweet spot that works for you.

 

[William B.]

Maybe it's also good for when using the Whammy bar, was thinking about trying to practice with it more the other day. Also the switches and pots

 

[Ian _Invader]

Practice with heavy strings. No argument. They force your fingers to get stronger and pick more accurately. They are easier to sweep and do legato on as there is very little slinkyness. 10-52 is a great place to start.

 

[Jamie London]

I think what noticeably improved my playing more than anything was when I started learning other instruments along side guitar. Harmonica, flute, ocarina, and even a bit of bass. It wasn’t anything in particular that I was doing with these other instruments that caused a massive shift, I think just expanding the musicians palette a bit can really be a beneficial thing to do, no matter what your main instrument is

 

[The Raven]

I think what noticeably improved my playing more than anything was when I started learning other instruments along side guitar. Harmonica, flute, ocarina, and even a bit of bass. It wasn’t anything in particular that I was doing with these other instruments that caused a massive shift, I think just expanding the musicians palette a bit can really be a beneficial thing to do, no matter what your main instrument is

I can fully agree with this. I picked up piano roughly a month ago and despite having very little in common I'm amazed how much it actually connects.

 

[William B.]

For me too trying another instrument,

 

[Chris Johnston]

Great topic!

This is less of a technique improving skill, but more so just a skill to improve your traversal of the Guitar - so it will lock in nicely with whichever technique you have

The thing that has been the most beneficial to my feeling of freedom on the Guitar has been learning and understanding how Triads work: Learning all the Major, Minor and Diminished triads (and their Root notes, Inversions etc) on all string sets. In my opinion, they are the absolute Dark Horse of expanding your playing

They are an invaluable tool in getting from one place to another and really soloing over a chord progression authentically - I'd highly reccomend looking up Tomo Fujita - Triads on YouTube. The guy has sort of broken english but his explanations are to the point (He also taught John Mayer at Berklee so really knows his stuff)

They are also super easy to play, nothing advanced, just small pockets of sound on your Guitar

Hope this helps!

 

[Syxguns]

How about techniques that I developed being a self-taught learner that I'm trying to correct?

I've been playing for a long time and certain things I taught myself are wrong and I am trying to correct them, slowly but surely.

1. Speed picking (what I do) is not double picking. I am sloppy with my double picking, and I want the notes to sound out instead of blur together. This has caused me to start a daily exercise with a metronome walking up and down with a spider crawl to ensure every note sounds clear and not just moving the pick quickly up and down. I believe it is referred to as right-hand left-hand synchronization.

2. Finger distance from the fretboard. For speed on the guitar, you need to reduce movement as much as possible. I tend to have my fingers off the fretboard too far. This is a combination of thumb on the back of the neck position as well as training your fingers to not move away from the fretboard too far. This is especially a pain for the pinky and ring finger. I spend at least 15 minutes working on this every time I pick up the guitar.

3. Pressing too hard on the note. I do not fret about this much but it does reduce my speed. I know most of it is from playing acoustic guitar so much. Whenever I play one of my electric guitars I know I press each note more than I need to. I am not trying to play like Micheal Angelo Batio but it would be nice to be that fast and clear with my picking!

I'm sure I could think of many more, but these are not mistakes, just bad practices that I got myself into and was never taught differently.

 

[Rymydy]

I've recently began to try a bunch of exercises to improve my technique, rhythm, and speed.

Once thing I've noticed is a LOT of players I look up to, when playing fast solo's, anchor their pinky on the bottom left corner of the bridge pickup. So I began doing my daily exercises trying this. Once I decided to try a solo I've been struggling with anchoring my pinky I was amazed to note that I went from maybe hitting 50-60% of the notes to nearly nailing it first take!

Anyone else notice or try techniques like this that resulted in instant (or near instant) improvement of their playing?

I had the same experience with that technique.
Another time was when I discovered Hybrid picking. For those who don’t know, Hybrid Picking is when you’re playing with your pick AND fingers. I used to noodle around with this technique for fun without realizing it had a name. Then when I found out, I started to mess with it more in songs and realized how much easier a lot of songs became. It also broadened my horizons of music ideas immensely.

 

[Ed Seith]

I had the same experience with that technique.
Another time was when I discovered Hybrid picking. For those who don’t know, Hybrid Picking is when you’re playing with your pick AND fingers. I used to noodle around with this technique for fun without realizing it had a name. Then when I found out, I started to mess with it more in songs and realized how much easier a lot of songs became. It also broadened my horizons of music ideas immensely.

I noticed several months ago that I did this from time to time without even realizing it.