Playing fast, Smoothly

[Plisken]

hey guys!

Iv been trying to practice my technique to be able to play fast long runs as smooth as possible but I am not sure if what I am doing is the best way to practice it.

For example I have been practicing scales. 4 octaves. Starting from the bottom to the top then back down. Up until like 160 BPM im fine. After that my playing starts sounding sort of hoppy. Not smooth and equal. I have been practicing it for a while and still can get it smooth. Let alone able to get all my playing general to be smooth at speeds higher then 160 BPM.

Should I continue practicing scales? How long should I spend on one scale before going to the next? how slow to fast should I play each scale?

thanks in advance for any help!

[jhoncraigwinter]

Well Brother i think it should take 1 month to 2 months therefore, You know if their a increasing.

[SoulFire]

In a serious reply, basically what you're doing is fine. If you want to push the tempo faster, start at somewhere slower where you can do (say 150bpm) and play that until you can play it solidly, without mistakes, around 3 times in a row. Then move up the speeds in small increments (2-5 bpm). Repeat the process.

A technique JP used to do, which I have used as well, is to increase the tempo at one point to WAAY past where you're trying to play at (say, put it at 180). Try play it at that speed and fail epically. Then go back to where you were up to, and everything should seem much easier :)

[Plisken]

In a serious reply, basically what you're doing is fine. If you want to push the tempo faster, start at somewhere slower where you can do (say 150bpm) and play that until you can play it solidly, without mistakes, around 3 times in a row. Then move up the speeds in small increments (2-5 bpm). Repeat the process.

A technique JP used to do, which I have used as well, is to increase the tempo at one point to WAAY past where you're trying to play at (say, put it at 180). Try play it at that speed and fail epically. Then go back to where you were up to, and everything should seem much easier :)

Sweet! thanks for the reply man!

Another question. I have been practicing with 1/16 notes. When practicing with the metronome I come across the problem in that in the 2nd bar it doesn't end on the root but 3 notes back into the scale (not sure if this is a good explanation >.>) So for example is I play C Minor Scale for 2 octaves. The 2nd bar doesn't end at the root and when I get back down to the bottom root that isnt the end of the a 4/4 bar. There are still 3 1/16 notes left to complete the bar.

Im just sure I should approach this problem.

[SoulFire]

Nothing wrong with that. Just don't start the next scale straight away; wait until the start of the next bar to start the next scale :D

[Plisken]

Nothing wrong with that. Just don't start the next scale straight away; wait until the start of the next bar to start the next scale :D

oh....LOL I dont know why I didnt think of that >.>

Thanks for the help man! I guess will just do this for a while and we will see what happens =) My band mates tell me they already see an improvement! So it seems to be working :D