What technique is the bane of your existence?

Matt300ZXT

Matt300ZXT

Well-known member
Listen, not everyone can be Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, or Joe Satriani; everyone here is going to have trouble with one, or a handful of techniques or skills on guitar. If someone had your family held hostage and threatened their life unless you could successfully play "x" technique, what could they ask you to do that'd spell certain death for your family?

Mine is either string skipping, or fast descending runs.
 
I’m a big legato guy. Picking every note while soloing definitely doesn’t come natural to me, at least for doing fast runs while soloing.

Also I wouldn’t say it’s the bane of my existence but I’ve always liked that party trick thing where guys will do these elaborate runs with the full on three-notes-per-string technique with the left hand and tapping a final 4th note on each string with the right hand and smoothly running up or down multiple strings per run. That’s always seemed wild to me but I’ve never really found anything to grab hold of as a template for learning how to do that.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
I’m a big legato guy. Picking every note while soloing definitely doesn’t come natural to me, at least for doing fast runs while soloing.

Also I wouldn’t say it’s the bane of my existence but I’ve always liked that party trick thing where guys will do these elaborate runs with the full on three-notes-per-string technique with the left hand and tapping a final 4th note on each string with the right hand and smoothly running up or down multiple strings per run. That’s always seemed wild to me but I’ve never really found anything to grab hold of as a template for learning how to do that.
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This is my problem for most things. Idk the right exercises to get better at certain things.
 
DanTravis62 said:
im great at alternate picking but i suck at sweeping
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My biggest problem with sweeps is that the first technique that's usually taught uses triplets (5 string sweeps using the 135 arpeggio) and that isn't a problem in itself per se, but it was never explained to me that way. So when trying to set a metronome to get my bearings, I was struggling to find a good tempo to start with.

I've since shored this up with @Techdeth and he's given me some basic 5 and 6-string sweep patterns to work on and it's been instrumental in learning them.
 
I can’t sweep for shit, it just doesn’t click for me and I don’t think I have the time or patience to work on it anymore.
 
phillybhatesme said:
My biggest problem with sweeps is that the first technique that's usually taught uses triplets (5 string sweeps using the 135 arpeggio) and that isn't a problem in itself per se, but it was never explained to me that way. So when trying to set a metronome to get my bearings, I was struggling to find a good tempo to start with.

I've since shored this up with @Techdeth and he's given me some basic 5 and 6-string sweep patterns to work on and it's been instrumental in learning them.
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ive done basically every pattern in existence, and i can do some basic sweeping

I dont mean to make it sound like i cant do it at all, which isnt the case

But with my normal picking technique, its just really awkward
 
DanTravis62 said:
ive done basically every pattern in existence, and i can do some basic sweeping

I dont mean to make it sound like i cant do it at all, which isnt the case

But with my normal picking technique, its just really awkward
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Switch between my normal picking technique and sweeping? Yeah, impossible.
 
I would say playing with the name of the notes in mind. I don't do it and never will approach it that way. I know it, can tell what type of scale it is but that is the last thing on my mind.
 
My legato is hot dog shit. I’d love to integrate tapping into sweeping
 
phillybhatesme said:
Switch between my normal picking technique and sweeping? Yeah, impossible.
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i think what it is, is that natural downward pick slanters are automatically in the "correct" position to sweep up, so they find it way easier and don't understand how awkward it is for natural upward pickslanters to switch in the middle of a lick to start sweeping.

But its way too late to change my pick grip, you know what i mean?
 
Exo-metal said:
I would say playing with the name of the notes in mind. I don't do it and never will approach it that way. I know it, can tell what type of scale it is but that is the last thing on my mind.
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I think I do this too, but I don't think in terms of notes i think in terms of degrees

like "im targeting the minor third to end on" or "this three note pattern is the I II IX"
 
I never understood why I was taught strict alternate picking and then the next move was to shove me into economy picking. That seems like wasting my time so one day I threw away all my flat picks and just started using banjo picks. I've been better off ever since and blues should be all legato and slurs anyways lest I sound like some douche trying to be clever.
 
VonBonfire said:
I never understood why I was taught strict alternate picking and then the next move was to shove me into economy picking. That seems like wasting my time so one day I threw away all my flat picks and just started using banjo picks. I've been better off ever since and blues should be all legato and slurs anyways lest I sound like some douche trying to be clever.
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I think its generally good to be able to do both, but MOST people start out slurring and legato-ing and then take the time to woodshed strict alternate picking

I did this the backwards way too, same as you, and it definitely affected my style

I always build my solos (whether improvised or written out) with big strict alternate picking runs as the centerpiece and then build "down" from there
 
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