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Speed MechaniX practice thread!

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  • Speed MechaniX practice thread!

    ok, now that a number of people have this book (and some are waiting for it), lets begin.. though we should wait that the ones that have it ordered get their copy, so we can start this together.


    though, i've been playing the first couple of exercises (getting #7 up to speed) and my left hand hurts (just starting to feel pain). they're fun to play though


    so to start, who's where, how are you coping with the exercises.

    so far they're nothing that i havent been practicing already, just slightly modified. getting them up to speed, so my fingers get used to the abuse is a bit tough though

  • #2
    Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

    I'm hoping my copies arrive this weekend. USPS can be pretty fast, so I may have them as soon as Friday.

    Who else are we waiting for? Who's in the group?

    - Keith
    Originally posted by ImmortalSix
    I am just jug the merlot

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

      Originally posted by KGMESSIER View Post
      I'm hoping my copies arrive this weekend. USPS can be pretty fast, so I may have them as soon as Friday.

      Who else are we waiting for? Who's in the group?

      - Keith
      so far we're waiting on you .. and in the group... anyone that posted in the other thread that wants to join in.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

        If you've got access to a scanner and a fax, you could send me one or two exercises right away.

        - Keith
        Originally posted by ImmortalSix
        I am just jug the merlot

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

          nope, sorry..

          but the first 5 are just the standard 1234 chromatic exercises, with finger alterations.

          the 6th 7th and 8th are hammer on/ pull off exercises in the a minor pentatonic, so nothing groundbreaking either.. it's just for speed and precision basicaly

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

            I have it, but I aint gonna try it yet. Its like 10 times over my level but I will post when I will do it.

            OT: Mate, I added you Yahoo Messenger, Davey

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

              that's wrong thinking right there...

              nobody says you got to fly through it imediately. i stopped on #14, cos i want to get that down as good as i can, and build the precision and lick library first.. and i see myself being on that for a couple of weeks, alternating between this and the right hand exercises.

              it starts very newbie friendly, when you master the initial exercises, you move on.




              i dont use yahoo anymore =/ msn only

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

                Originally posted by Davey View Post
                nope, sorry..

                but the first 5 are just the standard 1234 chromatic exercises, with finger alterations.

                the 6th 7th and 8th are hammer on/ pull off exercises in the a minor pentatonic, so nothing groundbreaking either.. it's just for speed and precision basicaly
                pffft who need a book for that! make up your own i say!

                look what i made up:

                g-------4-3-2-1-----------------------1-2-3-4
                d-----3---------2--------------------2---------3
                a---2-------------3----------------3-------------2
                e-1-----------------4-3-2-1-2-3-4------------------1

                then move that patern up, starting on the second fret, then third, ect, ect, go all the way up the the 12th fret. this one really works the left-right hand coordination, as well as right handed dexterity caus it feels weird at first playing it.
                KISS AINT METAL!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

                  it's not that one, but that's good too.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

                    I'm bogged down with school, but here in about 3 weeks I'll be back at it with y'all!
                    Guitars- Melancon, Paul Reed Smith
                    Effects- Line 6, EMMA, Xotic, EB, Dunlop, Fulltone, Voodoo Labs, Analog Man, Boss
                    Amp- Fender
                    Originally posted by Skullkrusher
                    After comparing the 17inch and 15inch models side by side........I decided to go with the 15inch. The 17inch was nice, but I think it was a bit too big. Anyway........

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

                      Hey, this is school!
                      Originally posted by ImmortalSix
                      I am just jug the merlot

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

                        Here's the shizzizzle up in my hizzizzle.

                        I've broken down my practice into two "sections" which I alternate each night.

                        Section 1 seems to concentrate on Left hand HOs/POs, and Section 2 seems to concentrate on alternate picking.

                        Section 1 for me consists of Exercises 6 through 17 (though I skip 8 because I don't like it - and if I don't like it I don't play it - that's my rule) Of that selection I actually find exercise 6 to be the hardest. Trills are a definite weak area, and by the time I hit the low E string things are getting a little messy. The 7-5-7-5 slide to 5-3-5-3 always sound sloppy to me also - so I keep at it. Exercises 9 through 13 are pretty neat and I think very useful, and I am working at making each one sound fluid as well as moving up the neck. Exercise 14 can be tough on smaller hands. I play it but won't let this one hold me back if I can't nail it - for smaller hands the D-string stuff can be painful. Exercise 15 is just a plain killer sounding lick - one you could pull out in any situation, and I love that one and it falls pretty easy under the fingers after the 100th time or so (not joking). Exercises 16 and 17 are cool also. I do these exercises in "free time" meaning no set tempo. I go as fast as clarity allows - slowing down when I hit rough spots.

                        Section 2 for me consists of exercises 25 through 33. I use the metronome for this "set." Ex 25 was hard for me at first and really shed light on my lacking in rhythmic control. I started just droning an open note, and I found it tough to get just the 16th notes to sound good and even at even 60 bpm. What I found to help was to accent the first note of the series, giving it a pulsing feel. This helped alot. I've got this worked up to 120 bpm finally and it's coming along nicely. The other exercises are ranging between 60 and 80 bpm and coming along nicely. I play all of them clean - no distortion. I think exercises 29 through 33 sound really cool. Personally, I can't see myself getting much faster than say 100 to 120 bpm for this series of exercises - but that would still be a huge improvement if it comes out clean. I would be happy with that.

                        My typical "workout" is 1 to 2 hours depending on life. Just for reference, I've been doing "Set 1" for about a month and just started "Set 2" about 2 weeks ago. I alternate between the two so that my hands get to rest a day since Set 1 seems to stress my left hand and set 2 seems to stress my right.

                        I plan on staying with these exercises probably through the month of February and then moving on regardless of where I'm at. If I feel I'm ready I'll move on mid-February. But - honestly probably end of the month.

                        This probably sounds brutally insane and just plain boring to some folks - and I can understand why. I'm not "playing music" here, I'm trying to develop good technique and that requires plain old fashioned work - Rock Discipline if you will. I don't find it to be boring at all - more therapeutic if anything. I figure at this rate this book will take all year. But, my goal is "one year in the shed doing nothing but MechaniX and see what happens on the other side." What I've found in the past is the first few chapters are typically hardest as you start honing your skills, but then learning starts to become much easier once you're in the groove, and progress begins to speed up.
                        Originally posted by Scott_F
                        On that day, should I ever be so unlucky, I will expect an unholy assault of pure metal mayhem attacking all my senses with a little tiny voice in the background screaming Effing Hails!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

                          Matt,

                          Do you find it better to practice plugged in or unplugged? If the former, do you use a tone you'd typically use when playing real music, or do you practice with a clean tone?

                          - Keith
                          Originally posted by ImmortalSix
                          I am just jug the merlot

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

                            i practice with a clean tone myself. when i'm "done" with the exercises, i usualy jam along some songs, to relax my hands a bit

                            i spent about an hour and a half on the first 14 exercises (#6 is pretty damn easy for me. probably because i spent the first 5 years of my playing mimicking dave murray and the pull offs and stuff were never hard for me to do :P )
                            i plan on rotating left and right hand exercises by day (like you matt)

                            if i only didnt have so much stuff to do, i could easily put ~4 hours into this =/
                            i'll go read the book through now and see what it contains hehe

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Speed MechaniX practice thread!

                              Originally posted by KGMESSIER View Post
                              Matt,

                              Do you find it better to practice plugged in or unplugged? If the former, do you use a tone you'd typically use when playing real music, or do you practice with a clean tone?

                              - Keith

                              Keith, I practice plugged. I have to somehow justify just blowing a wad of cash on a new rig

                              For the Hammer-on Pull-off exercises I go with a high gain tone so I can listen for any unwanted noise when doing those techniques. For me anyway, I find that playing those things high gain is more difficult than clean since I'm a sloppy player and with the high gain all the sloppiness seems to show more (for me at least).

                              For the alternate picking exercises I use a clean tone since I want to be sure to hear any mistakes - kind of the opposite of the previous theory.

                              For the clean tone itself it's a sort of smooth jazz tone I use. Very clean w/ volume and toned rolled off - I just likes it that way.
                              Originally posted by Scott_F
                              On that day, should I ever be so unlucky, I will expect an unholy assault of pure metal mayhem attacking all my senses with a little tiny voice in the background screaming Effing Hails!

                              Comment

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