Guitar Exercises

[Chromaticity]

Originally Posted by chokeslam

that was very nice! I like your soloing!
and now release that first fragment EP!

Well, thanks, but its actually old stuff now, as mentionned above. My style has changed a bit since then. Too bad im too lazy to tab by own solos.

[modern death]

Originally Posted by Abrogar

Learn No Boundaries by Michael Angelo..

This is what I'm looking for, kind of. Stuff that YOU guys have personally done to be able to play leads / solos.

Originally Posted by Abrogar

Instead, learn solos from songs and play along. If you learn a solo, learn a harder one next. Never stay learning more solos of the same level.

That's what I've done since I picked up the guitar, just with riffs. That's all I've ever practiced, other people's songs, and when I got good enough I just started writing my own. Now, common sense would tell me that the same would work for leads / solos, but since I'm not a huge fan of them in general, I'm not really sure where to start, since I know I have the speed, I just don't have the technique.

For example, for sweep picking, I heard from one dude that you should NOT start slow and speed up, like you would normally do, and then I hear the exact opposite from another person. Which is correct? What exactly (song / lead / section) did you (if you can remember) start with? What are some pretty intermediate solos or leads in Death Metal that I should get into? My ears honestly stop functioning when solo's come in on songs, so I'm not familiar with a lot of them. I know Necrophagist has a TON, I'm assuming that's a bad place to start?

Originally Posted by ChAAPY

forgot to mention Guthrie Govan's "Creative Guitar" volumes 1 & 2 are probably the best books out there for what you or anybody else here is looking for. those are two books every intermediate guitarist should have, especially volume 2.

volume 2 (complete with audio tracks) - http://www.sendspace.com/file/m95xo5

Sick, dude. I was definitely looking forward to what you had to say, since you've got a work / practice ethic that is unrivaled. I need to get into that mindset.

Originally Posted by ChAAPY

Well, what area of your technique do you want to develop?

Lead playing / my right hand. I seem to have an issue doing fast 16th note runs, syncing my right & left hands together. If that makes sense.


Basically, I have never been interested in lead playing 'till a couple of days ago. It seems like only players who are well-rounded are respected and it feels stupid to have neglected a huge part of guitar-playing for so long.


Tougas, Colton, Corpesifier, Oleg, Guillaume, Serocs... any specific songs w/ good lead sections I should start praciticing?

[Corpseifier]

As you probably see in this thread, there are a lot of conflicting approaches. You just have to try stuff out and see what you prefer yourself. I have never been much of a lead player myself. I simply do not have the patience to reach a level I am satisfied with. I try to pick up some ideas here and there though.

All these instructional videos can be quite boring and demand a lot of discipline. I still think that videos like these gives you an insight of how to perform a certain technique.

Some people say that you should learn songs. That is also a great way to improve your playing. To me, this is just another way of doing exercises. Especially un-improvised solos is usually a set of licks (exercises) pieced together that utilizes different techniques. I think this is easier if you have a good grasp of how to execute the stuff.

Perhaps you could include riffs that uses certain techniques and licks in your own songs. That is what I usually did, and it did not feel like I was actually practicing then.

[Eternal Recurrence]

This was fun back in the day, when I was all about being technical.
The arpeggio run at 1.17 is a great exercise if you want to improve alternate sweeping/tapping.

and this too:



I agree on Petrucci's Rock Discipline, even if it's pretty dull, it definitely helps.

Man I totally lost any interest in playing leads over the last 2 years, I'm not even sure why.

[Oleg]

Check out the powertab I sent in my original post, here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?jjb8mv1xqj09f1y

Sweeps, chording, alternate picking, economy picking, tapping, etc. It's got a lot of sections that offer a variety of techniques, and is written as an exercise in neoclassical shred. Some sections are pretty dark and evil, too.

Necrophagist solos are a fine place. There's plenty of alt. picking runs that can help you sync up, especially with the switching between triplets and straight 16ths.

The Holdsworth pdf that I linked has tabs for songs. Learn the song "Home", it's all chord style stuff, but it'll do wonders to your finger independence.

Here, I put together a folder with several powertab and guitarpro files of songs with cool leads/exercises/solos.

http://www.mediafire.com/?rhkgdbrr7e9psk5

Tensleep - Glubdubdrib (shred piece for Berkeley I mentioned earlier)
Symphony X - Sea of Lies (all 3 solos)
Spastic Ink - The Mad Data Race
Spastic Ink - Read Me
Nevermore - The River Dragon Has Come
Nevermore - Born (chorus in this song is great for mid-upper tempo alternate picking)
Necrophagist - Only Ash Remains
Joe Satriani - Crushing Day (solo is crushing)
Greg Howe - Bad Racket (whole song is crazy)
Annihilator - Word Salad
Animals As Leaders - Tempting Time

[serocs]

For example, for sweep picking, I heard from one dude that you should NOT start slow and speed up, like you would normally do, and then I hear the exact opposite from another person.

I've never been sure about this because I like tapping my arpeggios instead of sweeping (like Michael Romeo), but I can tell you that my sweeping becomes super sloppy and bad the slower it is, because I always learned it as fast as the song played. So maybe yes on starting slow with those. I don't know, I tap them instead.

Which is correct? What exactly (song / lead / section) did you (if you can remember) start with?

I learned the solos on "Sea Of Lies" by Symphony X and basically all Symphony X solos in no particular order. Fermented Offal Discharge from Necrophagist is a good place to start in IMO, but don't stick to Necrophagist solos because they are all the same. Also, Cryptopy - Cold Hate, Warm Blood.

What are some pretty intermediate solos or leads in Death Metal that I should get into? My ears honestly stop functioning when solo's come in on songs, so I'm not familiar with a lot of them.

I think Cryptopsy have great leads which are short, good, easy and won't take your mind off the song. Try Cold Hate, Warm Blood and Loathe.

[Acatalepsy]

Here's a few I enjoyed learning:

Megadeth: Symphony of Destruction, Tornado of Souls
Severed Savior: Question (very fun!)
Necrophagist: Ignominious and Pale
Nevermore: Engines of Hate, This Sacrement, Inside Four Walls (easy, maybe start with this one) This Godless Endeavor

If you want to learn Necrophagist stuff I can post you the official tab book since I can't be arsed learning any more of their stuff- it's kind of all the same, so once you've mastered one, you can play the rest easily enough!

Riffs>>>>leads though. Especially in dm!

I barely ever play lead these days, but it can definitely be fun!

edit: One more thing: look up some Paul Gilbert videos on youtube, he's an excellent teacher and probably the best alternate picker there is!

[Chromaticity]

Marlon, what kind of soloing style do you want to explore/develop?

I doubt you're into that stuff, but If you want to learn to play how to play fast, shreddy and melodic solos, here's my recommendations :

Racer X - Scarified - GREAT if you want to practice shredding in general, as well as sweeping and string-skipping arpeggios, not to mention it's one of the catchiest songs ever.
Yngwie Malmsteen - Black Star
Tony MacAlpine - Either Hundreds of Thousands if you're looking for a challenging song or Tears of Sahara. It's a slower song, it's so 80's it hurts but you have to learn slower songs to be able to play with more feeling, clarity and fluidity.
Vinnie Moore - In Control

Learning Necrophagist and Cryptopsy solos will definitely help you too if you want to learn sweeping / shredding stuff. Symphony X and Holdsworth are definitely excellent recommendations too.

Note that playing solos correctly isn't about shredding and going fast. I know a shitload of guitar players who have only been playing for a short amount of time and can play fast, impressive stuff, but they sound like utter SHIT when you ask them to play slower stuff (awful intonation, shit vibrato, unexpressive playing, no feeling whatsover, etc). Personally, my playing wouldn't be the same if I wouldn't have started playing slower stuff at a young age (From Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple to Iron Maiden, Pantera, Judas Priest, etc. If you want any specific recommendations amongst these bands let me know) Learn some basic bluesy stuff while you're at it, if you're into that stuff too. Trying to create licks over basic rock / blues backing tracks is also a good way to learn how to learn the basics of improvisation and creating solos. You need to learn how to make your guitar "weep", basically.

But then again, I doubt you're into all that stuff and those bands, so I don't know If I'm being useful here...

Edit : I agree with Acatalepsy. Riffs >>> Leads metal-wise, unless you're playing neoclassical metal or something.

[ChAAPY]

Originally Posted by modern death

This is what I'm looking for, kind of. Stuff that YOU guys have personally done to be able to play leads / solos.

Sick, dude. I was definitely looking forward to what you had to say, since you've got a work / practice ethic that is unrivaled. I need to get into that mindset.

Lead playing / my right hand. I seem to have an issue doing fast 16th note runs, syncing my right & left hands together. If that makes sense.

Tougas, Colton, Corpesifier, Oleg, Guillaume, Serocs... any specific songs w/ good lead sections I should start praciticing?

That Govan book has a chapter about sweep picking you might find useful.

What helped me the most was learning classical guitar. That did wonders for my left hand technique, chord knowledge, fretboard visualization, ear training and all around musicality, which have all contributed substantial growth in my ability to play leads. I've only begun to dabble in jazz guitar, but I've noticed my fingers can just run across the fretboard in a very relaxed and controlled manner when playing bebop lines. So that would be my advice, lol, but I know how unrealistic that might be. There's a psychological aspect to all of it that is a huge hurdle to overcome, not just it terms of technique, but emotionally as well. I think this is true for anything you want to devote your life too, but once you overcome it will become habitual.

Another thing I would recommend is that you start listening to solos from now on. Dan Mongrain, Fredrik Thordendal, Robert Vigna, Dallas Toller-Wade, and Erik Rutan are among my favorite in metal. I would think you'd enjoy their style of playing. You know what you like though. Personally, I couldn't really get into much of the neo-classical shredder stuff, so I would usually practice a Bach Partita instead. You can search for them - "Partita No. 1, BWV 1002" transposed to A minor was my favorite. The first metal solo(s) I learned were the two in "Twisted Truth" by Pestilence. I would give those a shot because they were the first two I learned after playing rhythm for so long. Or what about the ones in "Waste of Mortality"? Those aren't too bad and it's Gorguts, so you'll actually enjoy it!

But honestly the dry exercises, the "gymnastics" of music if you will, when done correctly and consistently are incredibly beneficial to your left and right hand technique. You just have to have the discipline to stick with it. I have a 30-45 minute warm-up routine where I focus on all different kinds of exercises and studies before I even begin to practice. You mentioned that mindset earlier and I just wanted to add that you have to find out what is a waste of your time and remove it from your life. Whether it's drugs, video games, parties, etc. whatever is taking time away from your practicing. I always bring the guitar into the bathroom with me when I take a shit since I figure, "well, I'm not doing anything but sitting here so I might as well be practicing". I often wait until the last hour or so to give myself "me" time on my instrument and just let go. But you really can't do that if you don't have anything to hold on to. If you get into a routine, keep in mind that it's okay to take a break every once in awhile because you will get burned out from time to time, but getting the intuitive and intellectual sides of your brain to work together is essential to accomplishing your goals. So if one side wants to get down on WoW for 8 hours but the other side is telling you to practice, find a way for them to get along.

[Beacons]

Originally Posted by ChAAPY

You just have to have the discipline to stick with it.

This is something i really need to acquire when it comes to my playing. Just hearing your thoughts on this is a big motivation for me. This thread has been extremely helpful and will keep me busy for awhile and really make me push myself to learn all these different techniques.

Originally Posted by Chromaticity

From Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple to Iron Maiden, Pantera, Judas Priest, etc. If you want any specific recommendations amongst these bands let me know

Send em my way buddy. Ive never been good at leads/soloing and feel like this would be beneficial for starting.

Originally Posted by Acatalepsy

If you want to learn Necrophagist stuff I can post you the official tab book

Thatd be killer! I enjoy learning some of their riffs because they are just challenging enough to be a workout for my hands but aren't too over the top that it feels impossible.

[Naitz]

Originally Posted by Johnny-Skinless

I'd rather try to play music. Find songs that are in the style you'd like to develop yourself, and try to play along. Also try to go from the more simpler ones to the intricate stuff. Exercises can be useful but only in moderation. It should always be a little warm up and exercise and then lots of playing. Thats my take (i dont play guitar myself but i guess this works for every instrument)

Uhh wait. Didn't you post a video of yourself playing "The Aftermath some years ago?

On topic: Not so good for speed, but incredibly good for flexibility is Bach. You could play the right hand of BWV 851

Much fun, and the lowest note is E, just perfect for guitar.

Edit: Fixed

[Oleg]

^^ link is being weird. It's not opening in Chrome and it doesn't allow me to save it onto my drive.

[Naitz]

Fixed

This is a nice exercise with combined alt. picking and sweeps.
Starting with downstroke, there are essentially two possibilities to play it; with four/two-attack sweeps (d,u,d,u,u,u,u,d,u,d,d,u,d,u,u,u,u... and reverse) or with three/two-attack sweeps (d,u,d,u,u,u,d,u,d,u,d,d,u,d,u,u,u...). Do both. Also, before playing it with sweeps, play it alt. picking only, your sweeps will be more precise after that.


4-3-2-1-----------------------------------------------------------------
--------2-------------3-2-1--------------------------------------------------4-
----------3---------2-------2-----------3-2-1--------------4-3-2-1---------3---
------------4-3-2-1----------3--------2------2-----------3---------2------2-------
-------------------------------4-3-2-1---------3--------2------------3-2-1----------
-------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1---------------------------

etc. until back at the start again. Repeat in all positions.

What I like about it is that, in contrast to typical arpeggio exercises, it forces you to play in a controlled fashion, not just washing across the strings trying to hit as many notes as possible.

Also a nice one, kinda like the one Chaapy posted, is "the spider":

Play a regular

1234
----1234
---------1234
----------------- etc, and up again exercise, but always only move the finger which fingers the next note, and let the others rest on the strings, and upon jumping to the next string, let the previous one ring. Sounds easy, but I think it's pretty hard to execute fast.

[ziel]

This thread makes me want to learn guitar...not sure if I'd have the patience.

[ChAAPY]

so, how was the first month?

[modern death]

Bump for dude

[DrippingInsanity]

My hands seem so useless after reading this thread. hahaha Hopefully I will commit to a lot of the stuff mentioned in this thread soon.

Thanks for this thread

[ChAAPY]

Here's a cool string skipping lick I just started to incorporate into my practice routine.



http://dl.dropbox.com/u/55705193/Augmented%20Ideas.mid

All you are doing melodically is arpeggiating augmented triad shapes, which are descending in minor thirds. Very cool sound imo.

Also, use alternate picking, each bar begins with a downstroke. Work it out in as many positions as you can. If anyone has any problems with fingering it let me know.

[thaumo1]

^ That's really useful for beginners/intermediates. Yeah, that speed won't put them off at all. Dumb shit.

[Chromaticity]

Marlon (OP) is far from being a beginner/intermediate guitar player, and neither are most of the people who posted in this thread. I think it's a great guitar exercise.

[thaumo1]

Sure, buddy. If so, I'd like to hear samples of people playing that from this thread. Owned.

[ratsapprentice]

You do the same troll every time.

[Chromaticity]

Originally Posted by thaumo1

Sure, buddy. If so, I'd like to hear samples of people playing that from this thread. Owned.

"Owned"? What are you, 12? And is this all really happening? Are you seriously crying over a fucking guitar exercise? What the fuck .

Use your fucking brain for once and pay attention to the word EXERCISE. It's not meant to be played super perfectly at 240 bpm or whatever. An exercise like this is meant to help you improve your dexterity and your picking technique by incorporating it in your warm-up / practice routine.

No wonder everyone here thinks you're a dumb fuck. Now I just have a good excuse to make fun of you everytime you post stupid shit like that.

[thaumo1]

It's a back-patting post. "Hey guys, looks at this neat exercise that nobody here will use. Damn, I'm so helpful". Lap that shit up son.

[serocs]

Learn a new kind of trolling style, Marlon and Phillippe are the best guitarrists on SMN.

[thaumo1]

Slurp it up son.

[serocs]

I learned all of these solos, but not the exercises from the DVD.

[Chromaticity]

Originally Posted by thaumo1

If so, I'd like to hear samples of people playing that from this thread

Judging from your utterly pathetic reaction [not to mention that even a 13 year old kid would have better arguing skills than you - "Slurp it up" - really?], It looks like this mere guitar exercise [It's already obvious that you don't understand the concept behind guitar exercises] made you seriously insecure. Big deal if some people can actually play that, why do you care?

Originally Posted by thaumo1

son.

. Confirmed, this dude is an abysmal faggot.

[thaumo1]

^ is your throat sore from sucking so much cock, son?

[Oleg]

Originally Posted by thaumo1

^ That's really useful for beginners/intermediates. Yeah, that speed won't put them off at all. Dumb shit.

u so smart, gimme an xersize