Trouble moving up and down the neck.

mboogman

mboogman

Active member
Hey guys. I don't normally come in this section and post. But I'm feeling like I'm at the end of one of my spurts of ability. Over the past couple of years, I've been working on my speed moving across the fretboard, but I'm still missing being able to move up and down with any real proficiency. Sure, I can walk scales up and down, and move, but making jumps from one section of the neck to another, or really doing ascending or descending licks on a single (or two) string is proving to be more of a challenge. Anyone have any good exercises to share that help with this proficiency? Maybe look at some older Yngwie Em licks? :confused: Any ideas would be appreciated.

BTW, I've been playing for 20+ years, so I'm a little past the "basics." I would consider myself very capable, but I'm always looking to add more to my bag of tricks. :thumbsup:
 
another good thing to do is study a different style. Country for example will open up your eyes to so many different positions, scale shapes, chromatic passing tones, etc. that really work well for getting from point A to point B or C,D,E, etc. etc. :) I incorporate so much of my country playing into my rock or blues playing and all the sudden note choices, runs, open strings, etc. are all at my disposal and I feel like I'm playing fresh ideas and opening new doors. Here's a clip of some noodling but using quite a bit of "Country" ideas in a rock format.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIiVnw_s ... re=related
 
I find moving up and down the neck far easier than moving across the board. I've been practicing and getting better but having played for almost 20 years (damn) I should have no issues.
 
I found that sometimes throwing a wrench into your technique is a good way to break an old habit as well as learn something new. Try doing this with one of you most familiar scales. Instead of working in standard tuning try a screwed tuning just for this excercise. Start with C-G-D-G-B-E, basically drop tuning the 5th and double dropping the E. Now you will be forced to move your hand to get your ear to hear the familiar sound of your own playing. I know it may sound stupid but after you get the hang of it go back to your regular tuning and see how much more agile your fretboard thinking will be. Get a fretboard map of your favorite scale and try ascending or decending on different strings.

Now if all that seems like a pain in the but, or many will see it as to dumb to try I don't blame you if you do it does seem stupid, try another approach like learning to play the begining of Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Bach. There are many awesomely fun runs to tackle in that piece.

Whatever you try though best of luck.
 
Look.. I am assuming the problem you have is with position shifting. IF you Really really want to get rid of it

Just practice this DEAD DEAD DEAD simple modified Paul Gilbert exercise at a slow to medium tempo and you'll be ripping I promise you.

Play the Am Pentatonic scale or a 3 note per string Diatonic scale.

Play the ENTIRE scale just using your first finger up and down the scale.

Do the same with the other 3 fingers.

Tadaaaa :D !! Position shifting problems are gone :D !
 
raddy":3dyeygis said:
Look.. I am assuming the problem you have is with position shifting. IF you Really really want to get rid of it

Just practice this DEAD DEAD DEAD simple modified Paul Gilbert exercise at a slow to medium tempo and you'll be ripping I promise you.

Play the Am Pentatonic scale or a 3 note per string Diatonic scale.

Play the ENTIRE scale just using your first finger up and down the scale.

Do the same with the other 3 fingers.

Tadaaaa :D !! Position shifting problems are gone :D !
Click to expand...

I'm curious to know why you think this works so well? I'm certainly not disagreeing (I haven't tried it), just hoping you might expound a bit more.
 
Another important lesson I learned when talking to my guitar teacher is minding your thumb placement...which is definitely something that I vastly overlooked for years of practicing.
 
Ya, I think Paul Gilbert was a GREAT teacher for this problem. Get his instructional videos it will change the way you think, and create good habits. It did me a world of good.
 
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