Fingerstyle speed

[newbass1000]

I've been practising 16th notes at about 100bpm for about 2 months now, yet I Can't go any faster,
It's sluggishly boring and I really don't know how I'm going to get up to my target of 16ths at 160bpm,
Just wondering if there's anything to make the process a little less tedious,
Thanks.

[steve-soar]

Relax and try not to think about it.

[ChTBoner]

160 bpm? wow... I mean... That playing 4th notes at 640 pm...

What kind music do you play that require such a speed!

How did you arrive at 100bpm? and how fast do you try to say you can't do it?

[deepbass5]

Turn your bass up, then use a lighter touch and play closer to the bridge.
Some of the above may work.
Are you grouping these 4 x 4 in a bar. I tend to say Mississippe to myself to keep track = Mis-sis-sip-pee, Mis-sis-sip-pee, Mis-sis-sip-pee, Mis-sis-sip-pee,

Ya I'm Mad, but an old MD gave me that and it stuck

[Doddy]

Just take it steady and practice the semiquavers accurately.Speed will develop naturally.

[skej21]

[quote name='Doddy' post='1249731' date='May 29 2011, 10:26 PM']Just take it steady and practice the semiquavers accurately.Speed will develop naturally.[/quote]

+ 1 to this

Also (when practicing to build speed), try to alternate your playing and resting, rather than playing solid all the time... just to help your accuracy (and stop you from doing any strain/damage). Then gradually build up to playing solid at speed.

For example, instead of playing a full bar of 16ths (bold [1] being the first beat of the crochet), like this;

[b]1[/b]-2-3-4-[b]1[/b]-2-3-4-[b]1[/b]-2-3-4-[b]1[/b]-2-3-4

Try playing like this;

[b]1[/b]-2-3-4-[b]R-E-S-T[/b]-[b]1[/b]-2-3-4-[b]R-E-S-T[/b]

Edited May 29, 2011 by skej21

[Delberthot]

have a drink. Where you see R E S T see a big bottle of whisky. Its all good and just go as fast as you f***ing cab

[newbass1000]

Thanks a lot for the advice everyone, the rest technique seems to be making things a bit less painful, great idea

[dc2009]

[quote name='ChTBoner' post='1249718' date='May 29 2011, 10:13 PM']160 bpm? wow... I mean... That playing 4th notes at 640 pm...

What kind music do you play that require such a speed!

How did you arrive at 100bpm? and how fast do you try to say you can't do it?[/quote]

Lol I wish I thought of that as fast. Listening to awful music as I do, means I like to play Dragonforce, Nile and Necrophagist among other things, and they go above the semiquavers at 200bpm mark at times! Can't keep that up for long mind.

[Count Bassy]

I sometimes hit a sort of phychological barrier where the fingers just don't want to go any quicker during a particular exercise, but if I find a tune that actually uses that pattern at that speed (preferably in small bursts) I find I can do it. ie the fingers can actually do it, but the brain doesn't want to during an exercise.

It may be something to do the relaxing and not thinking about it thing that someone mentioned.

Edited May 29, 2011 by Count Bassy

[dc2009]

Oh, and make sure you are warmed up. From as simple to playing in a warm environment, flick the blood into your hands NFL receiver style if it's cold, or your circulation is crap!
Then, before going for any speed exercises, have at least 10-15 minutes of playing under your belt, even if it's just noodling, try and cover various speeds, strings and styles, so every muscle and tendon is ready to give it the beans when you want them to!

[Dread Bass]

Yup as others say its about practice practice practice. Its taken me a long time to get up to crazy speeds. I play in tech metal band and a death metal band so i need to play fast. have you tried using three fingers instead of two?

[newbass1000]

I'm usually always using three fingers when doing the faster maiden/metallica stuff... the speed can't really compare to the metal around these days tbh

[AttitudeCastle]

Never force speed, it comes naturally and will be there when you need that little bit more if you play scales etc at various tempos!

ChTBoner, try playing semi quavers at 440 on trombone!

I feel too many people "jump" to three fingers, but thats my personal opinion! I can play Semi quavers at 185 Bpm (Not for a huge about of time though!) or 200 something with 3 fingers (not much over 220 on a good day with a solid warm up) but getting the 3 fingers up to that fludidity took some time

just practise and have a solid foundation for your technique and it will all come to you!

Edited May 29, 2011 by AttitudeCastle

[dc2009]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1249820' date='May 30 2011, 12:22 AM']Never force speed, it comes naturally and will be there when you need that little bit more if you play scales etc at various tempos!

ChTBoner, try playing semi quavers at 440 on trombone!

I feel too many people "jump" to three fingers, but thats my personal opinion! I can play Semi quavers at 185 Bpm (Not for a huge about of time though!) or 200 something with 3 fingers (not much over 220 on a good day with a solid warm up) but getting the 3 fingers up to that fludidity took some time

just practise and have a solid foundation for your technique and it will all come to you![/quote]

I can't play without three fingers.

Good tip for learning to play with three fingers well - break your middle finger.
I did, and had to hold it at length from the string as I played with my index and ring fingers for a while, when my middle was all healed up, I couldn't stop using my third finger!

[el borracho]

It will come with time. It's taken me getting on 20 years but I can now play with either all four fingers or thumb and three fingers. I usually practice slowed down until I'm playing it right then build
the speed gradually.

[stingrayPete1977]

Out of curiousity I have just had a go and got to about 175 before it begun to lose the groove against the Alesis but thats from cold. What I did find that may be worth trying is the method I was first shown for working at heights, Go beyond where you want to be and then come back down, it works very well as the lower height feels more comfortable in the OP's case try to hit 10 bpm more for a minute the go back to your 100 it will feel easier possibly which will relax you and as the others have posted its that relaxing that will speed you up. Once your grooving at 100 easier than you are right now try 120 for a minute then drop to 110 etc until Billy Sheehan needs you to fill in a few bum notes on his next album!

Edited May 30, 2011 by stingrayPete1977

[dmccombe7]

[quote name='dc2009' post='1249859' date='May 30 2011, 02:15 AM']I can't play without three fingers.[/quote]

I struggle playing without fingers too

Sorry - couldn't resist that.

Dave

[Mog]

Use four fingers. The motion I use is: Index, Middle, Ring, Pinky, Ring, Middle> Start over. Its kind of like rolling a coin along your fingers which is a warm up/practice routine i use sometimes. Youtube some of John Myung's stamina techniques too. Theres some good stuff in there.

[el borracho]

[quote name='Mog' post='1250349' date='May 30 2011, 02:49 PM']Use four fingers. The motion I use is: Index, Middle, Ring, Pinky, Ring, Middle> Start over. Its kind of like rolling a coin along your fingers which is a warm up/practice routine i use sometimes. Youtube some of John Myung's stamina techniques too. Theres some good stuff in there.[/quote]
Never tried that one. Going to give it a go!

[Dread Bass]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1249820' date='May 30 2011, 12:22 AM']Never force speed, it comes naturally and will be there when you need that little bit more if you play scales etc at various tempos!

ChTBoner, try playing semi quavers at 440 on trombone!

I feel too many people "jump" to three fingers, but thats my personal opinion! I can play Semi quavers at 185 Bpm (Not for a huge about of time though!) or 200 something with 3 fingers (not much over 220 on a good day with a solid warm up) but getting the 3 fingers up to that fludidity took some time

just practise and have a solid foundation for your technique and it will all come to you![/quote]

I tend to agree with you on that one. I can play almost as fast with two as i can with three but use them for different feels.

[dc2009]

3 fingers is good for galloping also, which is more useful or not depending on what you play.
For learning to get it down I would recommend learning hallowed be thy name by iron maiden (lots of repetition so doesn't take long), once you get the speed up, I would recommend children of the damned also by maiden, as the song I can think of with the quickest 3 finger gallops (off the top of my head).
Personally I find using the ring then middle fingers for the 16th notes, followed by the index for the 8th the easiest way to get the rhythm down.

[risingson]

I have heard very few players be able to play 16ths at 160bpm convincingly for any length of time so I wouldn't set your bar too high. The best thing you can do is try playing as fast as you can, and then drop down to 80bpm and climb 5 or 10 at a time when you're grooving comfortably. This will a.) warm your hands up which is essential for performing at speed and b.) make you work at getting your timing up to scratch because there's no point playing that fast if you're not getting the feel right! Play across the strings as well, as there isn't much point playing for too long on one string because it's not teaching you to think about how your left and right hands work together playing at this speed.

There is no point in being able to play ultra fast unless your playing is musical and makes sense! Just my 2p.

[dmccombe7]

[quote name='risingson' post='1250803' date='May 30 2011, 09:14 PM'][b]There is no point in being able to play ultra fast unless your playing is musical and makes sense! Just my 2p.[/b][/quote]


+1
Very valid point.

Dave

[urb]

+1 to those saying play lighter - lower your action (not too low mind) and turn the volume of the bass up - I use 4 fingers for playing fast 16ths (there's a fairly ancient vid on how to do that I made [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PigAe4VIMI"]here[/url] - I have to admit playing it with two fingers is a hell of a lot of effort and very hard to do accurately. The 4 fniger style is tough too but it's about economy of motion - either way let your technique develop over time - it takes a long time to build up the muscle memory and stamina to do this stuff effortlessly - and that's the goal, not to have to force it - and like other have said - make it musical!

Good luck, practice regularly and be patient

Mike