Improving my dexterity

[Wooks]

Has anybody got any good tips/exercises on how to improve my finger dexterity and speed. I've only been learning for 8 months or so but I still find my dexterity lacking some what. Also any tips on how to improve my ear when it comes to try and pick out notes, basslines etc. Any help gratefully received!!

[Bilbo]

Scales:

Major
Minor
Melodic Minor
Diminished
Augmented
Chromatic

in all 12 keys for two octaves.

Then in thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths and sevenths

Chordal arpeggios

Major, major sevenths, major 9th, major 11th and major 13ths

Minor " " " " " " "

Dominant sevenths " " " " "

dlloyd has a thread with all of this in somewhere. Work with the notes and a lot of your technique will develop simultaneously. [b]Study music not technique.[/b]

And buy 'The Jazz Theory Book' by Mark Levine - its ALL in there.

[Wooks]

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='213684' date='Jun 6 2008, 10:10 AM']Scales:

Major
Minor
Melodic Minor
Diminished
Augmented
Chromatic

in all 12 keys for two octaves.

Then in thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths and sevenths

Chordal arpeggios

Major, major sevenths, major 9th, major 11th and major 13ths

Minor " " " " " " "

Dominant sevenths " " " " "

dlloyd has a thread with all of this in somewhere. Work with the notes and a lot of your technique will develop simultaneously. [b]Study music not technique.[/b]

And buy 'The Jazz Theory Book' by Mark Levine - its ALL in there.[/quote]
Thanks mate I'll give it a go.

[Dood]

Yes, good advice. I would also add that studying music and just 'playing it' is probably doing more for your mind than your dexterity. Though I would place more importance on knowing where to put your fingers!

There are specific exercises for improving muscle memory, dexterity and finger strength. I tend to shy away from machines or gadgets, but did find exercises that i could translate onto my hands in the gym did actually help!!!! (I must stress this was with the help of someone who knew what they were talking about, who helped patients rebuild hand strength after accidents etc)

Anyway, I digress. There are 2 video / DVDs that gave me some great ideas about exercises to improve stamina to a metronome. One was a John Patitucci video, that unfortunately I can't remember the name of. Also Billy Sheehan, 'Bass Secrets' and 'On Bass' both have some good exercises in them.

I love trying to work out guitarist 'warm ups' on bass too... as they can obviously play really quickly with those skinny-winny strings! Check out two of my favourites, John Petrucci and Paul Gilbert!

[Wooks]

[quote name='dood' post='214002' date='Jun 6 2008, 06:02 PM']Yes, good advice. I would also add that studying music and just 'playing it' is probably doing more for your mind than your dexterity. Though I would place more importance on knowing where to put your fingers!

There are specific exercises for improving muscle memory, dexterity and finger strength. I tend to shy away from machines or gadgets, but did find exercises that i could translate onto my hands in the gym did actually help!!!! (I must stress this was with the help of someone who knew what they were talking about, who helped patients rebuild hand strength after accidents etc)

Anyway, I digress. There are 2 video / DVDs that gave me some great ideas about exercises to improve stamina to a metronome. One was a John Patitucci video, that unfortunately I can't remember the name of. Also Billy Sheehan, 'Bass Secrets' and 'On Bass' both have some good exercises in them.

I love trying to work out guitarist 'warm ups' on bass too... as they can obviously play really quickly with those skinny-winny strings! Check out two of my favourites, John Petrucci and Paul Gilbert![/quote]
Thanks Dood, ahh the master that is Petrucci one of my fav guitarists too, just love Dream Theater!!

[Dood]

[quote name='Wooks' post='214004' date='Jun 6 2008, 06:09 PM']Thanks Dood, ahh the master that is Petrucci one of my fav guitarists too, just love Dream Theater!![/quote]


This is my favourite lesson so far:-

[urb]

[quote name='dood' post='214012' date='Jun 6 2008, 06:27 PM']This is my favourite lesson so far:-

[/quote]


Damn that was good - ROTFL- um, it's actually a great example of how unmusical scales sound played at ridiculously fast tempos - timing, feel and phrasing are the keys to actually being a great player as much as finger dexterity is part of an overall skill set - regular practice will help you achieve a all your goals in terms of getting more flexibility into you hands.

Cheers for posting that Dood

m

[Guest]

[quote name='dood' post='214012' date='Jun 6 2008, 06:27 PM']This is my favourite lesson so far:-

[/quote]


Do you have the tab for that?

[Dood]

[quote name='steve-norris' post='214097' date='Jun 6 2008, 09:04 PM']Do you have the tab for that? [/quote]


The pen tip is toooo large to get the 5 millionth note on the stave! I'm putting my guitar on ebay!!!

[Wooks]

[quote name='dood' post='214112' date='Jun 6 2008, 10:11 PM']I'm putting my guitar on ebay!!![/quote]

+1 to putting my bass on EBay!! That's a classic and to be honest not to far from the truth!!
A mate of mine is good friends with the guy that designed Jordan's keyboard stand. The scaffold swivelly looking thing that he's been using for the past few years. They delivered it just before a show in Rotterdam. When the arrived at the venue they took it to the stage and JP's tech was out on stage setting up his gear. He was going around with a spirit level out making sure that all of his backline and monitors were precisely level!!! apparently he get's quite pissy about it!! How anal is that???
Any thoughts about ear training too??