Letting go

[marshall_man]

I've been playing 5 years and could never really get as fast as i wanted to...I know everybody will tell you its not how fast you are its what you play, but i always wanted to be blazing fast when i wanted to. And then last night it hit me like a brick to the chest...just let go. I dropped all tension out of both hands and just let my fingers fly. I always played with a certain amount of tension in my picking hand and now I barely hold onto my pick ( a dunlop 2 mm) and now i'm able to play what i hear in my head. I read in an article with Satch and he said "beginners tend to push down alot harder than someone who's been playing for 10 years". I finally broke my own speed barrier and now feel i can play anything. Hopefully this will help people like me who could never get above their "peak". Anybody else got any insight into this or personal stories?

[Big Job]

Actually yeah I do have a little story.

When I am very stressed with university work. Such as being up for several days reading for sustained periods of time. I find that I can't play guitar too well at all. However if I leave it a few days and do alot of exercise I'm fluid and perfect again...

Also sometimes if something is on my mind I have to stand there with the guitar and (as you put it) 'let go' of everything to get over it. Its mind (and body) over matter.

I also find that smiling helps.

BigJob

[marshall_man]

Originally Posted by Big Job

Actually yeah I do have a little story.

When I am very stressed with university work. Such as being up for several days reading for sustained periods of time. I find that I can't play guitar too well at all. However if I leave it a few days and do alot of exercise I'm fluid and perfect again...

Also sometimes if something is on my mind I have to stand there with the guitar and (as you put it) 'let go' of everything to get over it. Its mind (and body) over matter.

I also find that smiling helps.

BigJob

It very much reminds me of the matrix when it comes to speed..."Dont think you can, KNOW you can". As you said it's mind over matter and i believe the guitar is "90% Mental and 10% Physical".

[mi2tom]

Yes it's very true sometimes when you're too obsess of getting one thing done you can't do it at all. This applies to everything. Sometimes we must let go

[marshall_man]

lol now it seems as though my picking hand is too fast and i must constantly think of which notes i want to hit. I find if i play clean i only use the speed when i really want to instead of all the time.

BTW...I am still looking for the following tabs. Vertigo, Needles CA, and Dead Mans Dream by John5 and Paul Gilberts guitar solo live in Tokyo(complete version please, not the crappy one i keep finding.)

thx

Brandon

[Big Job]

Its not just speed. ALL of my playing goes down the tubes when I'm like that. By bending is all over the shop and I wont even go into what my sweep-picking becomes....

Still its nice to know how to get out of ruts like that....

BigJob