In search of speed

[Doadman]

I've been playing guitar for longer than I care to remember and I guess I'm OK but I wouldn't go further than that. I can learn solos OK (Rock Bottom, Burn, Ace of Spades etc.) but when it comes to improvising it all seems to fall apart for me and I can just play slow, basic stuff. It strikes me that if I had a good stock of licks to fall back on it would help a lot. I came across this guy in the video below when I was researching pickups and he sounds really impressive to me but the more I look at it, the more it seems to me that it is just a series of licks strung together that make it look and sound impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKkMxJiCjTU

Actually, I think a lot of guitarists do that but the point is they sound very effectrive to me. I can't help thinking that if I had a good stock of licks to call on I'd be in far better shape but having trawled through You Tube it's largely either the same few I already know or they're massively difficult. Speed picking is not a strength of mine as I more naturally fall into legatto or economy picking. Lazy I guess, and lack of co-ordination! I'm also largely a Pentatonic player with some notes from the minor scale thrown in to mix things up a bit. I admit that soloing this way may not make me Satriani or Pettrucci but frankly I don't care at my age. If anyone can give me any suggestions on how to move forward and be closer to what you see above, I'd be very grateful, whether it's examples of licks to learn, DVD's to buy or whatever.

Thanks for your help as I really need it. This is really getting me down.

[Afghan Dave]

Any of the "runs" blues/rock/metal series of DVDs by Danny Gill from licklibrary are brilliant & he is a wonderful teacher.  

"Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar" by Troy Stetina is about the only book+CD you could need.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Guitar-Killer-Rock-Metal/dp/B000IFRZZK/ref=pd_bxgy_d_h__img_b

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speed-Mechanics-Lead-Guitar-Stetina/dp/0793509629/ref=pd_sim_d_h__3

[Afghan Dave]

Try this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Danny-Gill-Ultimate-Techniques-Fretburning/dp/B000IFRZWS/ref=pd_sim_d_h__1

[Sifu Ben]

If you want to sharpen up your picking then Danny Gill's Essential Practice Routines: Alternate Picking is really good. Has 3 etude type pieces starting from a simple neoclassical piece and going through to a Paganini-esque piece to a deranged fusion of Petrucci, Gilbert and Malmsteen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHnk07MVJ50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxKcjiaVTuc
Of course if you just want to build your repetoire of licks their "in the style of" Quick Licks series is pretty good.
Alternatively maybe you should check out Truefire.com . They've got an offer on subscription this week. They offer all their packages as streaming content to subscribers, and all in bite sized chunks. They've got a series of 50 (insert genre) licks you must know, as well as numerous courses on the theory of soloing.

[Doadman]

Actually, after I signed out last night, the Quick Licks series crossed my mind too. It would make sense to look at the licks used by a Rock/Metal guitarist who is primarily a Pentatonic based player. Slash is a possibility I guess. Who else might be a good choice?

My priority is to build a bank of licks but I suppose I should also do some work on my alternate picking because at the moment, as soon as the speed picks up I have to move to a more legatto style and fast parts of solos are kept short. I'll probably get that alternate picking DVD but any suggestions on good artists to look at in the Quick Lick series would be great.

Thanks

[Sifu Ben]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVHpNZhUhIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWXl_EpFGjc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpdl-tLHtGY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZR8apUZQMc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBiVVrDSuzY

[JacksonRR]

Steve Vai's 10 hour guitar workout is amazing for dexterity and hand position, which are really important with speed. A few weeks of that and you'll have new fingers. The first time I did it, it was really confusing mechanically. It's simple in tab form, but playing it is another story. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/s/steve_vai/10-hour_guitar_workout_tab.htm

[ShredHeadJHJ]

Get the "Kill Em All" tab book and play that shite like crazy. That's a great place to start. I kind of wound up with a bit of a right hand technique deficiency because of that book though, hahaha. It should get you in a groove though, and the stuff isn't really all that hard.

[Doadman]

That all looks great, thanks for all your help. The Quick Licks DVD series look like a good choice and the three guitarists I can think of who seem predominantly Pentatonic based are Slash, Zakk Wylde and Angus Young. I also found a good clip on You Tube with some Angus Young licks to learn. I'll also take a look at that Steve Vai's guitar workout as that seems like it couild be very useful.

[JacksonRR]

Don't blame us when your new skills mean you have to beat off all the smokin hot babes with a stick. :)

[Afghan Dave]

Because of this thread I've posted this which I think you might find it useful...

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=23027.0

[add4]

whatever you choose to work on, start (very) slowly, and use a damn metronome :)
you want to get as clean and precise as possible, and really aim for the best sound you can have at low speed.
Work that way on whatever material you want to learn (i did the major scales, all over the neck, with a modulation (c- f-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-...) every time finished one position for example) this for a few hours, and you'll notice your technique increase

[gordiji]

interesting post doadman, i share this problem.i reckon some people for want of a better word are just talented.they learn quickly, recall easily and integrate this into their playing easily.
i think of it like talking and bet it's a similar part of the brain for music.i have a good vocabulary, grammar ,but can speak incoherently, stutter(when exited!) all of which indicate a poor abililty to concentrate with some confidence
issues thrown in.
i stopped trying to remember licks because i can never err remember them.in fact i stopped trying to get better
but ironically play and practice a lot lately.this is an end in itself.as for speed sometimes my fingers feel like someone else's and it takes me hours to warm up .
jumping between styles keeps me interested as i pretty much like all 'good music'.playing country has helped my
rock playing as i wouldn't have looked at the major/minor pentatonic and mixing them without looking at country.
doug seven does some great dvd's in this department.
after 30 yrs i feel i'm just starting to get the hang of it but thats about all.the latest 18 yr old hotshots blow me away.
but wasn't it joe pass who said 'play for the love of it'..... sounds about right.