Metal, Heavy Rock

As with anything, you have to start slow.

Gradually build up your speed, but make sure you don't push yourself too far and get sloppy. You'd be surprised how quickly you can increase your speed this way.

Play what yer happy with. If you don't like metal/you don't like metal. No big deal. Don't make it one!

Cat

I'm not totally sure I like what Metal's turned into over the last couple of years; all doom and gloom and incessantly repeated 16th note runs with vocals that sound like the singer's constantly coughing up goop.

Alan, ya got me laughin' here.

I play what my kids call "nice metal"...can ya believe it?

But they are into some god-awful "Is that the devil throwing up?" genré. One kid has been selling his first CD well enough to worry about taxes. :shock:

My father must have had some sort of head scratch over me, I guess...but, then, he started this multi-generation thing in the first place...he bought me the first guitar in the family.

But my boys (22/20/18) know the scene. My rules:

1> At 60 I can finally freakin' live in my underwear...
2> *&^* off and leave the beers right there in my bar fridge...
3> that red light means either I'm recording or I don't want anyone in here that ain't already in here.

I win.

Cat

I think I can help, as I am a long-time blues guitarist who relatively recently decided to focus on mechanics and speed (with great and continuing success).

First, mechanics. It's important to realize that, as a blue player, you probably have adopted certain mechanical "shortcuts" that allow you to play SRV-style heavy string-skipping licks, but which perhaps are not ideal for scale runs. Long story short, learn to alternate pick with your wrist and string skip from the elbow. (Your wrist movements will be very small, and your forearm will seem to be moving, but the movement is coming from the wrist. See Tiago Della Vega for good mechanics.)

Your left hand probably is used to sitting in the angled "rock" position so that you can bend, but this is not ideal for fast scale runs. Try using a straight-on approach with three-note-per-string scales. I routinely and automatically switch between the two left-hand positions depending upon what I am playing at the moment. Be sure that your wrist is straight when you do bends/vibrato, which will make transitions much easier.

Now, as for hearing. I've discovered that hearing fast is mostly a matter of "recognizing" complex patterns that you know how to play. When I hear a SRV lick, it's like seeing the color green--I just recognize it because I've heard it so much. Metal has a different sort of vocabulary, but the same basic concept applies. (One thing to watch out for is grouping in 4s versus grouping in 6s. For example, a soloist might play six notes per beat, but articulate it in groups of fours, for 1234 1234 1234 instead of 123456 123456--this is a very odd grouping to get the hang of if you are new to it--an example is the initial little guitar noodling in Don't Stop Believing.)

I highly recommend using VLC or something else to listen to slowed-down music.

You may be helped by listening to metal-style players who often use blues vocabulary. Eric Johnson and Jimmy Herring are perfect examples.

Good luck!

Hi, welcome to the forum, and thanks for a very useful first post, definitely something I'm hoping to get round to.

this being the guitar part of the forum, im a bit out of place here. as a bassist, ive always liked fingerstyle. its a technique you have to nurture for speed to come out of it, for instance, my workout right now is lamb of god's redneck. i was also a guitar player once upon a time. most of the trick to metal is getting both hands to agree with each other. for me i found that by themselves, each hand was pretty good at what it did. i can sit all day and make the pic go as fast as i can till it catches fire, and i can make my left hand go crazy till i break a string, but the secret is getting them both to do it at the same time..that being said, dont catch picks on fire and most guitar players agree that songs are easier with all of the strings intact.. :) it takes time, dont rush it or you'll just get mad at yourself and be less motivated to play if you slop it along.

Derek.

I can not for the life of me wrap my head around metal. I can not get my brain to process as fast at the backing tracks, I can not get my fingers to move with the timing of the music.

I write and play pretty much everything...but...at 61...the only thing that still gets me actually jumming up and down as I play...is metal...I love it. Here it is 2012. Instead of a finely tuned Italian marque...it's like getting into a '67 Z28.

Until you come to feel it, you'll never get your head around it.

Cat