Need technique help - speed on simple short lick

[progrmr]

Working through the guitar solo for All Right Now by Free. There's not a lot of fast parts, but there's a couple licks that are pretty quick.

I've never been able to get speed under my fingers and I figure these examples are about as simple as can be found - a great opportunity to get some speed. Speed seems to be one of these things that once I get it, it'll be much easier going forward. But getting it for that first time is proving to be elusive.

Here's the lick:

E|----------------------------------------
B|--10------10------10------10------------
G|-----9H11----9H11----9H11--- 9H11-------
D|----------------------------------------
A|----------------------------------------
E|----------------------------------------

This is 4/4 time and these are 16th notes - bottom line is that it's simple but it's much faster than I can play. I can play it pretty quickly, but not that "fast" level where it's like "wow, that sounds cool".

I'm alternate picking, using my middle finger for the 10, keeping my index finger on 9 and using the ring finger for the hammer on. I start down on the 10, then come up for the hammer on, then down on the 10 - wash rinse repeat.

My piano teacher recommends not sticking to one thing for too long - if it's not coming, move on and eventually the skill will come. How long should I stick with something like this if i can't get it? I feel like the song isn't done if I can't play it right.

Any ideas? I do practice quite a bit - minimum 30 minutes daily, usually more like an hour and half.

[Katastrophe]

Try using your first finger on the B string, your middle finger on the G string, and use your pinky to hammer on the 11th fret. You don't have to move your index or middle fingers. The stretch with the ring finger can make you lose position on the fretboard.

For picking, start with your pick in between the G and B string, and pick an upstroke for the first notes, then pick a downstroke for the B string note. You won't have to move the pick that much. It just stays in between the G and B strings. You could also use your pick on the G string, and your middle or third finger on the B string and "chicken pick" it. That takes practice.

For practice, if you start making too many mistakes while playing this lick, I'd move on to something else. After a while, you'll start to tense up and won't be able to play smoothly.

Remember, fast is not fast, grasshopper. Smooth is fast, and smooth, relaxed economy is faster.

[Jimi75]

First of, you must practice such things at minimum 50% of the original speed. Break it down and give it max 5-10 minutes out of your 30 minutes practice routine. Your teacher is right. Focus is good, but you should also practice other things.

Second, your fingering is correct. Leave the middlefinger on 10.

Here's my tipp:
Why alternate pick and use a pick? Be creative. I would hybrif pick this.
Use the middle finger of your right hand to pull the 10 and use the pick to play the nine, do a hammer on from 9 to 11.

It is a very difficult lick. You can break your positiv attitude on such a lick or you can find your way to play it and come back later.

There are so many licks that I now play out of a routine that I would have never ever been able to play years ago.

Good luck.

[Katastrophe]

Jeez, I am such a dork.

Ignore my first paragraph in the previous post. I just replayed it and you were right. I wasn't looking at the tab properly. Jimi is right. Your fingering is correct.

Apologies for the incorrect information.

[oldguy]

Jimi's playing it the way I would........and your finger position is correct, as he says.
Try using the pick to hit the G string/9th fret........hammer on the 11th fret....then use your middle finger to pick up the B string/10th fret. Start out slowly and build speed later as your muscle memory "learns" where the fingers go. This is how I would play it, you may prefer alternate picking, but at least it's an option to try different things. What works for you may differ from what works for the next guy.

[player]

where I moderate we just had a question about Practicing and how to.
the following may not be what you are looking for but do consider mixing up both alternate and sweep picking.

I don't know about how others do it but for me I work on things as long as I need to. It is more important to practice for a few well-focused minutes than to play for an hour without much direction.

Whenever I sit down to work on technical stuff I have a few exercises that I do to get me good and warmed up. Just to run through each of them once takes me about 20 minutes.

I usually start out with a 3 octave sweep picking exercise, in triplets, at 125 BPM. I start with major arpeggios, starting out with the root at low E and work my way up the neck to where the root is at 10th fret (D Major). Then I work my way back dow to open, Low E. That uses up the entire fingerboard.

Next I start at the 12th fret and do the same exercise backwards, starting on the high E string, working my way up to D at the 22nd fret, and then back down.

Then I do the same exercise with minor arpeggios. Forwards and backwards.

Then I usually do a 2 octave sweep exercise starting with open low E and go all the way up to Bb at the 18th fret and then back down. In one position I will play a major, augmented, minor, and diminished arpeggio. I work my way all the way up the neck and then back down. Again, I invert this exercise and do it over again. I don't always do the patterns in the same order. I like to do them in a bit of a random order so my fingers get used to switching up fingerings for the different patterns. Doing the same pattern over and over again is not as effective as constantly changing the order I play them in.

Then I do some 3 note per string, 2 octave, alternate picking, major scales. When I return to the lowest note I move up one fret and do that until I get all the way up to the 22nd fret then work my way back down. What that does is invert the picking for the scale each time I move up one fret. Then, as above, I invert the exercise and do it over again.

If I have the time I will go through the fingerings for each of the modes and do the same exercises. Forwards and backwards.

At this point I am really warmed up and ready to play anything. There are usually places in the exercises I warmed up with that are not as smooth or consistent as I would like them to be so I'll pick one that was questionable and work with it to figure out why they didn't come off my fingers like they should have.

The most important part of this whole routine is to be as focused as I can and pay attention to every little detail of the techniques. That means;

* Having the correct posture.
any or all of this might have some bearing on what you are trying to accomplish.it is definitely something to think about trying or doing.
but make sure while learning/doing you DO have fun.and the same applications can be used for 16ths too just slower.picking like a shredder does not happen over night.it takes time and many times an effort on your part.let things happen,try to not force anything or you defeat your own purpose. jus my .02
Good Luck Champ

[Eric]

This is a solo I polished up not too long ago. I've been working on it for maybe 3 months, and I've finally got it more or less where I want it.

I know exactly the part you're talking about, and your fingering is exactly right. I don't know what kind of picking I use, but I think it's alternate picking.

I really think what helped me most was to find something like this that I could focus on and just keep doing it over and over. Focus on a different thing each time you play it so that it doesn't become stale to you. Listen to the recording and see if you can recreate his sound. Work on making it easier for you to play, and don't focus on speed -- just focus on knowing the part and getting your fingers comfortable with playing it.

That's definitely not what I wanted to hear, but it has been my experience with learning more/new solos. I think you're right about having the speed in your back pocket once you learn it, so it's a good thing to practice. For me, being able to focus on a particular part helps me really channel my efforts and not get overwhelmed.

I feel like we might be around the same level if you're learning this solo right now, so I hope those things helped. You'll get it.