#144 - Timing: The Single MOST Important EXERCISE Concept!

Robert

Actually my downloaded pdf and gp file opened in tux don't have the pick strokes, but the vid here does. I'd vote for the play along vid with tabs showing strokes. Great exercise btw!

Plyrdd245 MCOC

Thanks for laying this out ...added a twist at the end of each measure add an extra measure and play the pattern in reverse(5678)

Bernd Brodträger

Great question Gabor, yes - I do try to focus on the actual note values so that they are played in time with correct note spacing :) For accents, it can also be cool to focus on the groups of 4, but it can be tricky because you might get stuck in an 8th/16th note mindset and then you lose the rhythm of the sequence. So feeling/counting the triplets here is the challenge and I think it's a great exercise! It's definitely easier to count "ta ki ta" than it is to say "one two three" very fast :)

Gabor Toth

Hei Bernth! If I understand this correctly you are always counting the rythm (3 or 6) instead of thinking about the 4 group notes. In this excercise it is always one - two - three, one-two-three, or as you wrote "ta - ki - ta, ta - ki-ta" etc.?

Bernd Brodträger

You are playing triplets in groups of 4 - so definitely think in triplets and don't get confused with counting 4 notes during each repetition :) I like the Konnakol system for counting, you would use a phrase like 'ta - ki - ta' to count groups of 3 or 6. You will get it with a couple more practice sessions :)

Hey Bernth, I'm struggling hard to play it along with the metronome. Would you mind saying how should I count the notes? I see the metronome clicks happen after 6 notes have been played but it's been really hard to not play before or after the next click. Thanks!

Pulasthi Amarasinghe

Sure, And Thanks a lot for your valuable advice Bernth.. ❤️🙏

Bernd Brodträger

Thanks for sharing this! Acoustic guitar is definitely harder, for me as well :) Practicing this on acoustic is a good idea, I'd suggest keeping trying! Maybe looking into fretting hand/finger technique will help you with this: https://www.patreon.com/posts/194-this-one-can-57031400

Pulasthi Amarasinghe

Bernth, when I practice this exercise in acoustic guitar I found that my notes are not sounding clean. And note to note transition also not clean and accurate. So, I keep practicing this exercise everyday to improve those. Any advice for that..?

Bernd Brodträger

Thanks for asking about that! It takes a while to find the perfect placement, picking angle, and motion - I think I summarized the exercises and discoveries that helped me most right here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/171-5-picking-to-51717777 Hope this helps :)

Pulasthi Amarasinghe

Bernth, when I do alternate picking for this and most of the other speed picking exercises, I feel my right hand (picking hand) is somewhat hopping, rather than smooth up/down motion like yours.. Is it ok? or otherwise any method /exercise to fix this?? ... And thanks a lot for this very valuable lesson 🙏

Robert Bjärmyr

I just joined, so sorry for the late reply, hehe. I really enjoy (and prefer) the playalongs since it's keeping me motivated in the same way a IRL-guitar tutorer does. Even if it's somewhat "the same" a GP-file is more static and not as personal, if that makes sense? :)

Matt Womack

Bernth, brother, your exercises are flat out awesome. This one is probalby my favorite alt picking so far. I have always been stuck playing 2 or 3 NPS for triplet runs...this one really kicks my ass!

NullFragment

If you're using Guitar Pro for this lesson, I found it pretty helpful timing wise if you set the time signature to 8/8 (alternatively you could change the note lengths to 8th notes), especially for lower tempos. It helped me with feeling the contrast of the triplets to the actual beat.

John H

This is an outstanding exercise - it's really twisting my brain and hands

Bernd Brodträger

The guitar pro file has the exact picking pattern in there :) You can also use the free program 'Tuxguitar' to open these files. But with this one, it's quite simple: down, up, down, up,... for the entire workout, as described in the video! Hope that helps

I am still practicing the alternate picking and was wondering if it would be possible for all the notation/tabs etc. could have the pick direction on the files? I often struggle with not knowing if I am doing the alternate picking correctly without seeing the indication of the pick direction.

Goat Surgeon

I’m new... Not really sure where to begin but this looks cool

Adobe Acrobat reader.

Evan Angelos

I practice harmonic scale variations every day but these sequencies are just brilliant. A great addition to my practice routine. Great Lesson.

Manuel Garcia

I prefer video-playalongs for future lessons. However, an alternation between the two would be fine too.

Hi Bernth, wish you all the very best for this new year. really excited to join the team. thanks for this new promising exercise

Jeffery Gowenlock

What app do you guys use to open the Pdf files?

Amadeusz Gieraga

Bernth, thank you for another lessons. It Is possible to add play along video's? We can look at your technique always when we want to practice. It's very helpful. Greetings

Bjørn Visser

Awesome exercise and again great job Bernth

Anett Pozsar

I'm so happy to be here Bernth, your exercises and the whole production quality is AMAZING! I incorporated what I learned from your videos into my daily workout routine and after only3 weeks my alternate picking is much faster and clearer and my sweep picking technique is also improving (from zero). I'm so thankful! Please keep it up.

Arvid Richter

I definitely prefer video playalongs. Easy enough to extract the audio from a video, but it's nice to see how you play it.

Elvis Pereira

First off great lesson Bernth!! Love the production and presentation on this video, you keep raising the bar. Love it!! Although backing tracks are probably easier for you to make i think maybe the video are the best because we can see your picking/fretting hand technique which definitely helps for those struggling with that. Perhaps a mix is good. I think for this lesson a backing track is better but for other lessons involving licks/scale runs, and/or arpeggios a video play-along would be more suitable. Thanks again my dude!!

Wolfgang

I prefer backing tracks, because I can change the tempo with Transcribe and I hear my own playing. But the video playalongs are also great, we can follow (watch) your fingers. This is very helpful for tricky difficult stuff. So my answer is yet not positive for your question 🙈 I like both 😁

Christophe

Backing tracks are just perfect for practicing. I use it with Transcribe to adjust the tempo. Also as a practice tool, in my DAW, I put your BT on a track and I record myself playing the exercice on another track to check if I am perfectly locked with the rythm. Again awesome lesson, definitely justify my subscription to your Patreon. even if I am surprisingly not a metal guy (blues/funk/jazz/fusion guy) your quest for perfect technique is so open minded that I can use it in my own style.

Steve Shaw

I like both the backing track and the playalong, as the play along also gives you the bonus of seeing the picking and the fretting action. Congratulations on breaking the 2000+ patreon members.