Hi! As I said – last week was the week of legato. And yea, I’m starting to feel it and even more – I’m starting to like it! I know I have a lot of weaknesses like finger strength, stretch, accuracy, stamina, speed but I don’t want to pretend it doesn’t exist. I want to slowly work on those areas and improve it. I’m also working on my 2nd solo.
Hi! Last week I raise my tempo in Alternate Picking and Economy&Sweep Picking. I feel quite comfortable playing it at 58 and 54 bpm (6 npb). Legato still needs a lot of work, but I can see a little progress. For now I’m sitting at 25-46 bpm (6 npb), so it’s not very impressive ;D I’ll record my legato exercises next week, there will be 12 different figures.
Hi! Last week again I was establishing my tempo, so I didn’t raise it. I still struggle with legato, it’s killing me ;D I added new exercise, which reveals all my faults. As you can see, strength, stretch and accuracy of my left hand fingers are really bad. So what I want to do is to:
– play slow and as clean as I can
– produce as much volume as I can
– use as little gain as possible (more gain is easier, I dont want any shortcuts)
Hi! Last week I watched some videos and read some articles about legato technique and I realized I was doing it WRONG ;D
To play legato you must put your thumb over the middle of the neck, to make it support your fingers in the work that they will do on the fretboard. The most important thing in playing legato is not to use much force, which can lead to tendonitis. Legato is hard for left hand, so develop slowly and practice without forcing yourself. – (www.ultimate-guitar.com)
I played legato with thumb on top of the neck so I changed it. And again I have to admit it’s haaaard and I don’t feel it at all ;D This will need a lot of work to improve. Anyway here is my try:
Hi! This week again I didn’t raise tempo. I’m still working on pick angle, palm muting, fretting hand position and I want to have full control on what I’m doing. But I feel it’s coming ;D That’s why tempo is the same. I added new legato exercise. I hope I shouldn’t have thumb behind the neck while doing those exercises ;D
Hi! 10 weeks have passed and I’m still sitting in this project so it’s my little success ;D Another success is that during that time I have only few days when I didn’t/couldn’t practise. My progress is:
Alternate Picking: 60 bpm -> 81 bpm (35%)
Economy & Sweep Picking: 60 bpm -> 75 bpm (25%)
Legato: 60 bpm -> 66 bpm (10%)
Tapping: still to come
Hybrid Picking: still to come
I’m satisfied with my results, but from now it’s only gonna be harder and harder yeeeeey ;D
Hi! Last week I didn’t raise tempo on none of my exercises. I don’t want to rush, I want to play accurate clean notes. Even I’m able to play faster – it’s pushing 90%, not 100%, that gives you control. So for now I just added more legato exercises. More coming next week ;D
Hi! It’s time to play some solos! I’m starting with nice and cosy Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The hardest thing in this solo is to “lock with the groove” as Steve Vai would say. Here is my attempt:
Hi! As I said in previous post – next few weeks I’ll try to improve my legato skills. I’m really bad in this technique right now, but I’m doing my best. I’m wondering how to position my left hand playing those exercises. I don’t want to hide my thumb behind the neck (impractical with bends/vibrato) but it makes things harder when it comes to produce more sound with pull-offs. Anyway maybe it’s just a matter of strength.
Hi! This week I practised a new technique – legato.
Legato (which in music means long, smooth) is acknowledged as the effect created by using hammer-ons and pull-offs and is responsible for the fluid sound produced by players.
First time when I played guitar I made a huge mistake. I just underestimated legato as a technique. I thought if I can play fast alternate picking – legato should come naturally. So i didn’t practise it at all. Yup.. I was an idiot ;D Later on when I tried to play solos where there were some legato licks – I was so baaaad. My amazing plan with legato skills coming naturally didn’t worked out ;D But I learned something: Legato is a powerful technique and should be practised a lot. So next few weeks there will be some legato exercises.
Guitar Progress 