So, Which Would You Do?

[TSJMajesty]

Part of today I was working on a sextuplet riff in Scarred by none other than DT, and it's not "terribly" fast, (relatively speaking), but it's all picked, so it needs to stay clean and in-time, or it won't sound right.

I notice, that in order to keep up, I will get sloppy with my timing. So I decided to just focus on my pick strokes, and get them nice and even.

I found that at certain tempos, I struggle more to keep them even, than at faster speeds. But as I play it at those higher tempos, my left hand then gets sloppy.

So overall, I could get through the riff at tempo, but that's not what I want. Plus, I'm trying to build accuracy with both hands.

So would you:

Practice it as slow as it's possible to play it accurately, and gradually build speed, or
Practice it at the faster tempo, and also practice exercises that would target my fretting fingers, and basically skip over that "in-between tempo" that's giving me trouble?

Even if you're not into this sort of playing, I'd be interested in your take on things like this.

And a related question, do you have riffs that are actually easier to play, faster? Do you bother with covering all tempos, in order to be more well-rounded?

 

[norminal]

What’s the riff?

 

[DrewJD82]

Both. I practice it slower at first to ensure I have the fingering then go for it over and over until it's clean.

And yeah, I find 'easier' to be contextual. IE- It's a bitch for me to nail the "Under The Bridge" intro perfectly every time, it's that hammer-on-pull-off part without muting the strings you want to play due to the shape your hand has to make. It's not fast by any means, just a tricky bitch.

 

[TSJMajesty]

What’s the riff?

If that's too small, I can screenshot it in 2 parts.
Or better yet, here's the link: https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/dream-theater-scarred-tab-s6269

 

[norminal]

View attachment 13021
If that's too small, I can screenshot it in 2 parts.
Or better yet, here's the link: https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/dream-theater-scarred-tab-s6269

Bar 170?

 

[TSJMajesty]

Bar 170?

Starts at 165 in the link/screenshot.

 

[Frodebro]

My high school band director taught us how to nail difficult passages. With a metronome, start at a speed that you can play the passage cleanly and accurately three times in a row with zero mistakes. Make a mistake, start over. Once you nail three perfect passes, up the speed by 5BPM and continue until you can do it perfectly three times in a row. Keep bumping the speed until you can execute it faster than your target speed.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Anyone notice the similarities (in other parts of the solo) to the intro riff in Innocence Faded?
Specifically, measure 205.

 

[TSJMajesty]

My high school band director taught us how to nail difficult passages. With a metronome, start at a speed that you can play the passage cleanly and accurately three times in a row with zero mistakes. Make a mistake, start over. Once you nail three perfect passes, up the speed by 5BPM and continue until you can do it perfectly three times in a row. Keep bumping the speed until you can execute it faster than your target speed.

I sometimes do that exact thing. I picked up the idea from Nita Strauss- she says 5x's though.
Maybe if I did it more often, I'd be further along!

 

[Frodebro]

I sometimes do that exact thing. I picked up the idea from Nita Strauss- she says 5x's though.
Maybe if I did it more often, I'd be further along!

She can do it five times if she wants, but three is sufficient.

 

[norminal]

 

[DrewJD82]

Anyone notice the similarities (in other parts of the solo) to the intro riff in Innocence Faded?
Specifically, measure 205.

"Erotomania" is fulllll of that.