I've watched you become a better guitar player, Claus. It's fun to watch someone that was already an excellent guitar player become even better. It's a reminder that practice makes perfect.
Once I saw an interview by Phil X and they asked him what he practiced, and his reply was getting his left hand to talk to his right hand. At the end of the day that's all there is. These videos are a great help in trying to achieve that.
There are many great tutorials on youtube on alternate picking but this explanation is next level which reminds us on how our brain works! Cool stuff! 👍
This might be the single biggest issue I've had in the nearly 40 years of playing guitar. Going to practice this today. This video opened my eyes to why I have such an issue with my picking accuracy. Brilliant.
@@andrewkratz226 Exactly. I keep playing that ascending triplet/sextet run from "Spanish Fly" and my hand starts cramping up and my picking hand just goes wild. Not just on that lick, but now I understand it's all about synchronizing.
So cool, first time im seeing a guitar that has a truss rod adjustment in the middle of a fret and they kept extending the frets beyond it. Small things like that are exciting for a guitar nerd like me.
Aaaaaaaaarg! …… I’m doing the first levels of ‘Ingenium’ and I WILL get this picking thing sorted but I am now thinking that I need to go to the gym and do martial arts as well! (6 or so years has made a massive difference since your early videos!!) Thanks for your inspiring motivation! 🤘🤘
Your videos are the best in the biz man. Been struggling with fast alternate picking and trying all sorts of tweaks to my pick hand trying to get faster but turns out it’s sync/control
Nicely put, thank you. "You can fire off” … Exactly. One may consider burst mode, as with a firearm 3-rounds with each trigger pull; to the fretboard, you can choose any number of notes to fire off, 3-note triplets, sextuplets or odd number groupings.
Great video. Can't wait to get at it later. This job is getting in the way of my guitar playing. Any comment or video on how to deal with 3rd and 4th finger control? My fingers wander, especially the 4th.
Seeing the first minute of this video, I thought that this would be nothing new, because I've seen videos and courses about this before. I haven't really thought about the difference between tremolo picking and alternate picking, and the little reminder of accenting notes did it for me. It will make things easier!
This is a psychological concept called chaining. That is where muscles trigger other muscles while by passing the brain processing. It is the base of what we call muscle memory. The brain can interfere if you think about a chain of events in the middle. In martial arts it is called too many minds. To be honest though shredding is boring. Clapton and Hendrix never really shredded. It is like the difference between Neil Pert and Ringo Starr. Pert is an instrumentalist and Ringo is an artist.
its cool to see that Claus trick , i feel my hands upgraded in quality recently and i'm pretty sure thats the kind of stuff i need now. synchronization seems complicated to me.
Wow! When I started playing I wish I RUclips was around. I learned this after about 15 years of playing of trial and error. I guess I never really “learned” it I just figured out how to do it. But geeze this guy summed up in 10 minutes what it took me years to figure out
Yes I would say synchronization of pick and fret hands are necessary for control and fluidity. I believe legato traing of the frethand is just as important as picking technique. I also believe that you can only play as fast as your brain can create melodic sequence and phrases so your soloing sounds intelligent and not just a blister of notes. I have learned to pay more attention to hand synchronization and creating melodic phrases rather than see how fast my hands can move!!
Have to try this. I think I already kinda do this and I've been able to learn really fast licks and can fly through scales but I think of the licks as 1 piece and connect them together
Clause I know this is an old video…I can play sweep picking and alternate picking etudes, but can’t implement them into something that sounds cool to impress anyone. Do you have any videos that can teach me to not play like a robot?
"Take a big marker, and write 'control' across your wall." xD xD Damn I am loving your vibe. I am a young woman who used to have major control issues that manifested in the form of an eating disorder. It was quite harmful to my body, so of course the primary goal was to heal that. But in healing and developing a healthier relationship with my body and mental health, I sort of disowned the parts of myself that really enjoyed being so in control. I embraced a much more flexible and soft way of being, that is more stereotypically feminine I guess. I silenced the "fighter" in me in a lot of ways, and when you started throwing punches in a guitar lesson, at first I laughed but then I got super into it. I have a massive capacity for control (barely eating and working out for hours is pretty difficult), but I was never encouraged to harness that ability and direct it towards something healthy and beautiful. I think the people around me a) viewed it as just an aspect of my mental health problems and b) felt insecure that I had stronger will power than they did. I am really excited about this. I am excited about someone describing intense control as something positive. It helps me appreciate that part of my personality and not see it as something inherently "disordered". I am in a much better place with my physical and mental health now, and I feel ready to reintegrate this lost part of myself. I just started learning guitar a couple months ago for the sheer purpose of making music. I never expected all of the other benefits it would bring to my life. Thank you :)
I primarily wanted, as an old fart beginner, to just be able to play some slow but nice notes and some chords (just for me, no audience). And as I like a slow blues a lot and having stiff short ol‘ fingers, this mindset as a musically "untalented" person helped me to even start learning playing guitar on my own and to not easily give up. But later I imposed myself to learn to play fast and even very fast. Even though I don't want to use it constantly, despite the horrible sound when I attempt it….🤪😅 Why? There are two benefits for me: If the coordination of both hands have learned to work fast and therefore also more precise , I get a lot of "time" to build in some refinement and feeling in my slow played notes and sequences! And second benefit: I'll get more precise with my timing for each slow note. (I have BIG problems with timing! ) Those subtile things make a HUGE difference, if I sound just ok'ish or pretty much spot on and can communicate feel ! But to achieve that goal I need to practice more…😊 Just my 2 (Euro)cents…. Thank you Claus, for your lessons and motivation!!👍🏼👌🏼👏🏼 Greetings from south Germany, Rudy
I did a million iterations of the 3 note per string over a month and now it is indeed way easier. Now I'm insanely skilled compared to what I was. I found I am disproportionately good at one position and string compared to other players though and I lack the ability to move my left hand from one place on the fretboard to another freely and now I'm putting work into normalizing position shifting and string shifting and then I hope I will have more time to think what I want to play.
Claus: Great video. I do see and have realized the benefits of using accents when practicing fast alternate picking. I also know you have talked about how important it is to control picking depth. When going fast, it's necessary to pick shallow. I try to feel like I am only barely grazing the string, picking only the thickness of the string itself, though I'm not sure that's even possible. But in any case, it needs to be consistent depth. Every pick stroke, whether up or down, needs to be the same shallow depth. How does one learn this??? Try to pick shallow and hope the brain figures it out? It doesn't seem to be working for me. When practicing, I can see the relationship between shallow picking depth and speed. But I can't get consistent depth. I miss some notes completely (I actually miss the string). Other times, I accidentally pick too deep and the pick gets caught. My playing almost sounds worse when I pick this way than when I pick deeper (though I realize this is slowing me down). What is the practice formula to get consistent shallow picking depth? Does practicing at slower tempos and only focus on depth help? In general, it doesn't seem that practicing slowly ever helps one develop speed. Perhaps this is an exception to that principle?
"Does practicing at slower tempos and only focus on depth help?" It doesn't help, it is the only way! Practice this with total focus and a metronome 30 minutes a day and then spend hours in front of the TV or RUclips picking accurately with small movements.
I figured just plan out alt pix and sweeps to minimize jumping over strings before you even start practicing. Cuz even then you might decide to change the pattern (same note, different fret/string) to accommodate a more comfortable pick sequence. If it sounds good and is easier than other ways, practice it that way. But only that way. I found that trying other patterns after youve already practiced it one way totally sets you back. It throws the picking all off. Establish how youre going to play the lick 1st, and only practice it that way. Practicing 2 ways without getting good at it 1 way only doubles your waste of time. At least thats how I do it, now..
I'm confused, where is the a course,"The Ultimate Alternate Picking Training system? I don't see it on your list of training videos on your website. If It is a program, where is it outlined on the website? I am an intermediate player, but I feel I need to focus on alternate picking, and building speed before I learn anything else, but I'm not sure, you are the teacher. I guess what I am trying to say is, where do I start?
I got the link through email, being subscribed to his mailing list. Honestly for what it costs, I would say the course is a really good deal. And not for the exercises and licks. I mean they’re probably good, don’t get me wrong, but everyone has licks and exercises in their course. Claus specialty is explaining the psychology and methodology behind whatever it is he’s focusing on. I have a couple of his other courses, and they’re awesome. I’ve yet to find another teacher, online anyways, with the same approach. It’s been very effective for me personally. The only other course I would recommend for picking speed is Roy Ziv’s speed course. It is very well done, and helped me increase my speed tremendously.
Hi Danny. The link is in the description right below the video on this page! www.guitarmastery.net/p/the-all-new-ultimate-alternate-picking-training-system567
@emanuel botelho I don’t think you could go wrong with either personally, so here’s my advice: Buy this one, since Claus’ courses get locked for long periods of time, you won’t be able to buy it shortly. Roy’s course is always available and I often see it discounted throughout the year. They’re both excellent teachers with different views, which is a good thing for us players so we can get different perspectives from amazing players.
I've watched you become a better guitar player, Claus. It's fun to watch someone that was already an excellent guitar player become even better. It's a reminder that practice makes perfect.
One thing I’ve learned in 35 years of playing. Perfect practice makes perfect,
Practice makes permanent
I think that will be extremely helpful in overcoming years of bad playing habits. Thanks a lot.
Once I saw an interview by Phil X and they asked him what he practiced, and his reply was getting his left hand to talk to his right hand. At the end of the day that's all there is. These videos are a great help in trying to achieve that.
wow! mind blowing. I wish i would have learned this technique years ago when i first started playing. this is a game-changer for me!
My picking has improved ten fold in the last couple of months thanks to you !!
I'm happy to hear that!
Thank you ☺️
I just spent 3 hrs on nothing but accenting, I improved my picking today from 170 bpms to 185 doing 8th notes, thanks that really helped..
There are many great tutorials on youtube on alternate picking but this explanation is next level which reminds us on how our brain works! Cool stuff! 👍
This might be the single biggest issue I've had in the nearly 40 years of playing guitar. Going to practice this today. This video opened my eyes to why I have such an issue with my picking accuracy. Brilliant.
Agreed Joe- 30 years of playing and i still struggle with synchronizing. Frustrating
@@andrewkratz226 Exactly. I keep playing that ascending triplet/sextet run from "Spanish Fly" and my hand starts cramping up and my picking hand just goes wild. Not just on that lick, but now I understand it's all about synchronizing.
So cool, first time im seeing a guitar that has a truss rod adjustment in the middle of a fret and they kept extending the frets beyond it. Small things like that are exciting for a guitar nerd like me.
Good eye! 👊😎. Never seen that one before.
This and breaking solos into tiny sections= game changer. Claus makes it stupid simple so even I can understand. Thanks, subscribed!
Aaaaaaaaarg! …… I’m doing the first levels of ‘Ingenium’ and I WILL get this picking thing sorted but I am now thinking that I need to go to the gym and do martial arts as well! (6 or so years has made a massive difference since your early videos!!) Thanks for your inspiring motivation! 🤘🤘
Your way of explaining the concept is awesome.
Thank you!
💪👍 *Improved both my PICKING & **_PUNCHING_** technique.* 😉
Your videos are the best in the biz man. Been struggling with fast alternate picking and trying all sorts of tweaks to my pick hand trying to get faster but turns out it’s sync/control
Claus is the coolest. Thanks for the insight! Explained very well.
A crucial piece of the puzzle, and you teach it so well! Thanks for a great tutorial, I will share with my students!
I play for 34 years now and searched for many youtube videos. But man i Learn a lot from you. I love your channel
Nicely put, thank you. "You can fire off” … Exactly. One may consider burst mode, as with a firearm 3-rounds with each trigger pull; to the fretboard, you can choose any number of notes to fire off, 3-note triplets, sextuplets or odd number groupings.
EXCELLENT LESSON!! 😎🎸
Buena exelente saludos de Venezuela hermano 👍🤝
loooooove your approach....so clear, no excuses.
Tq.malaysia loves your simple clarity on how to alternate pick.control!
Great tip! Keep em coming please.
not only a great guitar master but a marshal artist as well...
Excellent video!! Can't wait for the next in this series.
Great video. Can't wait to get at it later. This job is getting in the way of my guitar playing.
Any comment or video on how to deal with 3rd and 4th finger control? My fingers wander, especially the 4th.
Thank you! I will experiment with this concept of throwing out clusters of notes starting with an accent.
Very clear and smart, congratulations
Wow I needed this! Thank you that was a great explanation 😊
I'm really grateful o found your channel sir! 💯🔥❤️
Tankyou so much for teaching me well
Seeing the first minute of this video, I thought that this would be nothing new, because I've seen videos and courses about this before. I haven't really thought about the difference between tremolo picking and alternate picking, and the little reminder of accenting notes did it for me. It will make things easier!
You are an amazing instructor. 👍
Thanks!
8:50 most important part..!! Thank you so much!! :)
This is another awesome guitar lesson right here man I love it.😃👍
Thats why the metronome is good to sincronization because it use that higher beep.
most powerful guitar tutorial!
Excellent lesson! Excellent teacher! Bravo!
Good stuff Claus, thanks for sharing
This is a psychological concept called chaining. That is where muscles trigger other muscles while by passing the brain processing. It is the base of what we call muscle memory. The brain can interfere if you think about a chain of events in the middle. In martial arts it is called too many minds. To be honest though shredding is boring. Clapton and Hendrix never really shredded. It is like the difference between Neil Pert and Ringo Starr. Pert is an instrumentalist and Ringo is an artist.
Im gonna try this ,i've never been really fast and accurate at the same time.i think this will be really helpful.
its cool to see that Claus trick , i feel my hands upgraded in quality recently and i'm pretty sure thats the kind of stuff i need now. synchronization seems complicated to me.
Very cool stuff this also has been one of my big problems
Very good explaination
Finally I found what I was looking for so long!
Wow! When I started playing I wish I RUclips was around. I learned this after about 15 years of playing of trial and error. I guess I never really “learned” it I just figured out how to do it. But geeze this guy summed up in 10 minutes what it took me years to figure out
Just Wow..Made me wanna do some wicked speed runs. 🤘
Yes I would say synchronization of pick and fret hands are necessary for control and fluidity. I believe legato traing of the frethand is just as important as picking technique. I also believe that you can only play as fast as your brain can create melodic sequence and phrases so your soloing sounds intelligent and not just a blister of notes. I have learned to pay more attention to hand synchronization and creating melodic phrases rather than see how fast my hands can move!!
3:51 I want this guy as guitar teacher and gym coach
This is life changing
love the energy
Thankyou Sir for this awesome video!!
Most welcome!
wowww....mind blowing explanationn....thank youu sir...its reallyy2 help me alot
This made good sense to me thank you.
Great lesson! Thank you
Have to try this. I think I already kinda do this and I've been able to learn really fast licks and can fly through scales but I think of the licks as 1 piece and connect them together
You're crazy ..i love you ..keep going ..thanks again...ill check for that as well.
Intelligent: theory that's works : U R the best Sir thx
Hi…What kind of performer guitar stand is this??is it available for others to find in stores ?
Thanks this really answers my question
RUclips surely have some kind of psychic abilities, i've been thinking about how to improve my articulation. And this pops up.
I thought the same thing
mind control
Clause I know this is an old video…I can play sweep picking and alternate picking etudes, but can’t implement them into something that sounds cool to impress anyone. Do you have any videos that can teach me to not play like a robot?
Hi Claus You are my favorite guitar teacher all the best Marek Zgrych
Thanks!
"Take a big marker, and write 'control' across your wall." xD xD
Damn I am loving your vibe. I am a young woman who used to have major control issues that manifested in the form of an eating disorder. It was quite harmful to my body, so of course the primary goal was to heal that. But in healing and developing a healthier relationship with my body and mental health, I sort of disowned the parts of myself that really enjoyed being so in control. I embraced a much more flexible and soft way of being, that is more stereotypically feminine I guess. I silenced the "fighter" in me in a lot of ways, and when you started throwing punches in a guitar lesson, at first I laughed but then I got super into it. I have a massive capacity for control (barely eating and working out for hours is pretty difficult), but I was never encouraged to harness that ability and direct it towards something healthy and beautiful. I think the people around me a) viewed it as just an aspect of my mental health problems and b) felt insecure that I had stronger will power than they did. I am really excited about this. I am excited about someone describing intense control as something positive. It helps me appreciate that part of my personality and not see it as something inherently "disordered". I am in a much better place with my physical and mental health now, and I feel ready to reintegrate this lost part of myself. I just started learning guitar a couple months ago for the sheer purpose of making music. I never expected all of the other benefits it would bring to my life. Thank you :)
I primarily wanted, as an old fart beginner, to just be able to play some slow but nice notes and some chords (just for me, no audience). And as I like a slow blues a lot and having stiff short ol‘ fingers, this mindset as a musically "untalented" person helped me to even start learning playing guitar on my own and to not easily give up.
But later I imposed myself to learn to play fast and even very fast. Even though I don't want to use it constantly, despite the horrible sound when I attempt it….🤪😅
Why?
There are two benefits for me:
If the coordination of both hands have learned to work fast and therefore also more precise , I get a lot of "time" to build in some refinement and feeling in my slow played notes and sequences!
And second benefit: I'll get more precise with my timing for each slow note. (I have BIG problems with timing! )
Those subtile things make a HUGE difference, if I sound just ok'ish or pretty much spot on and can communicate feel !
But to achieve that goal I need to practice more…😊
Just my 2 (Euro)cents….
Thank you Claus, for your lessons and motivation!!👍🏼👌🏼👏🏼
Greetings from south Germany, Rudy
Nice video, makes sense in theory and is definitely part of the puzzle, will try it
I’m learning how to play guitar and throw a punch. 🤘👊🏻 Niiicceee
I did a million iterations of the 3 note per string over a month and now it is indeed way easier. Now I'm insanely skilled compared to what I was. I found I am disproportionately good at one position and string compared to other players though and I lack the ability to move my left hand from one place on the fretboard to another freely and now I'm putting work into normalizing position shifting and string shifting and then I hope I will have more time to think what I want to play.
Did help train Rocky?
LOL this was a great video. the karate analogy was hilarious
Guitar lessons Plus a little bit of martial arts is awesome 👍😀❤️
Just found your channel and now I'm improving my alternate picking and martial art skills in one lesson! 😂🎸🤜🏻
Guy just scienced the $#!t out of alternating picking😁😁.
if she accepts to watch netflix at home 5:38
Shut upp 😂😂😂
😂
Thank you 😊
I Love the way you Love this 😂❤
I like the guitar can you tell me the guitar model....?
I bought a guitar neck with a square heel only to find out my guitar has a rounded pocket I really want to use the neck what should I do
time out. is the truss rod adjustment at the 22nd fret on that guitar or am i seeing things?
You're not seeing things!
Claus: Great video. I do see and have realized the benefits of using accents when practicing fast alternate picking. I also know you have talked about how important it is to control picking depth. When going fast, it's necessary to pick shallow. I try to feel like I am only barely grazing the string, picking only the thickness of the string itself, though I'm not sure that's even possible. But in any case, it needs to be consistent depth. Every pick stroke, whether up or down, needs to be the same shallow depth. How does one learn this??? Try to pick shallow and hope the brain figures it out? It doesn't seem to be working for me. When practicing, I can see the relationship between shallow picking depth and speed. But I can't get consistent depth. I miss some notes completely (I actually miss the string). Other times, I accidentally pick too deep and the pick gets caught. My playing almost sounds worse when I pick this way than when I pick deeper (though I realize this is slowing me down). What is the practice formula to get consistent shallow picking depth? Does practicing at slower tempos and only focus on depth help? In general, it doesn't seem that practicing slowly ever helps one develop speed. Perhaps this is an exception to that principle?
"Does practicing at slower tempos and only focus on depth help?" It doesn't help, it is the only way! Practice this with total focus and a metronome 30 minutes a day and then spend hours in front of the TV or RUclips picking accurately with small movements.
Wow! Just found you! New sub here. Your logic is exactly what I needed in my playing! Thank you!
great talk!
What's his guitar stand called?
1 bpm for day👍🤝
That's great ! The principles .I appreciate this very much!
You're very welcome!
Please Where i can take support lake you have that play without hang guitare
Dang it I already do this. I guess there’s nothing that will save me 😢
Thank you
Now I know box.Economy and alternate be ready !!!
I figured just plan out alt pix and sweeps to minimize jumping over strings before you even start practicing. Cuz even then you might decide to change the pattern (same note, different fret/string) to accommodate a more comfortable pick sequence. If it sounds good and is easier than other ways, practice it that way. But only that way.
I found that trying other patterns after youve already practiced it one way totally sets you back. It throws the picking all off.
Establish how youre going to play the lick 1st, and only practice it that way. Practicing 2 ways without getting good at it 1 way only doubles your waste of time.
At least thats how I do it, now..
I'm confused, where is the a course,"The Ultimate Alternate Picking Training system?
I don't see it on your list of training videos on your website. If It is a program, where is it
outlined on the website? I am an intermediate player, but I feel I need to focus on alternate picking, and building speed before I learn anything else, but I'm not sure, you are the teacher. I guess what I am trying to say is, where do I start?
I got the link through email, being subscribed to his mailing list.
Honestly for what it costs, I would say the course is a really good deal.
And not for the exercises and licks. I mean they’re probably good, don’t get me wrong, but everyone has licks and exercises in their course.
Claus specialty is explaining the psychology and methodology behind whatever it is he’s focusing on. I have a couple of his other courses, and they’re awesome.
I’ve yet to find another teacher, online anyways, with the same approach.
It’s been very effective for me personally.
The only other course I would recommend for picking speed is Roy Ziv’s speed course. It is very well done, and helped me increase my speed tremendously.
Hi Danny. The link is in the description right below the video on this page! www.guitarmastery.net/p/the-all-new-ultimate-alternate-picking-training-system567
@emanuel botelho I don’t think you could go wrong with either personally, so here’s my advice:
Buy this one, since Claus’ courses get locked for long periods of time, you won’t be able to buy it shortly.
Roy’s course is always available and I often see it discounted throughout the year.
They’re both excellent teachers with different views, which is a good thing for us players so we can get different perspectives from amazing players.
Very true sir
What is the name of your guitar please ?
Very good - not only have I got faster, I also was able to punch our singer far harder than normal.
Where can I get a guitar stand like that?
Right here: www.thomann.de/intl/km_14760.htm
More details, like lesson from Claus Levin guitarmastery
I am having problem playing with my left hand my picking is good. I can't move the fingers i want to having hard time playing with pinky
nice
I've problem at right hand
best video ever!
I' m from Brazil
Damn, im so motivated. I will write CONTROL on every wall in my neighborhood