Speed!

[T-Bay]

Learning a few songs for our new improved set and on one have just hit a brick wall speed wise. I did my usual system of starting slow and building up but have just got to a point where my it’s speed or accuracy but not both, three sessions (about an hour in total) has failed to get any improvement on where I was after ten minutes. Hell, I even tried a pick!

Does anyone have any tips? Should I just keep at it? Try the pick more? 

[TheGreek]

Practice each part at speed rather than the whole song?

When you come back to it tomorrow the muscle memory will have kicked in and you'll wonder why you thought you were having problems.

[TheGreek]

Oh and remember...

Speed kills, dope chills...

[bubinga5]

Practice slow for longer. 

[stingrayPete1977]

What I do is come up with a spurious reason why the song should be dropped.

[T-Bay]

I do keep dropping hints, the rest of the band know I am always prepared so if the worst happens I will just say it’s not a goer. It will be the first time I have binned one off.  My fingers just seem to have reached a limit, I have been messing about and I think it’s probably 20bpm faster than anything else we have played and I am wondering if I have found the limit of my arthritis fingers. I hope not though.

[Dazm1966]

Agree with the try again tomorrow idea. Does sometimes work. Otherwise can you change it to something easier/more comfortable?

[T-Bay]

I have wondered about that but it’s pretty simple in structure but distinctive. It’s just the damn speed. I will keep at it and play with the pick as well, not something I have spent any time but it can’t be wasted time either way.

[Skybone]

Agree with The Greek, practice parts of the song individually and try to get them up to tempo, rather than the whole song. When you've either sussed a section (or got it a bit quicker than it was), move on to another section and so on. Then when you're comfortable with it play a couple of sections together and build up to the whole song. Don't rush it, and more importantly, don't overdo it either. Take say 5-15 minutes or so on one part, have a wee break, move on to the next part for another 5-15 minutes or so. Put the parts together and go over them for another 5-15 minutes. Build slowly.

[Kevsy71]

Try this: practice it 3 times slowly, then 1 time fast. And repeat...

[Conan]

Is it a cover or an original? If it's a cover, would the general audience member really notice of you simplified it slightly?

[ambient]

An hour isn’t actually that long, especially if it’s a piece that’s technically challenging.

Just stick at it, one bar/section at a time. Gradually build up the tempo and use a metronome.

[la bam]

I trick i eas told years ago was turn everything up so you only have to tickle the strings rather than dig in and have perfect technique etc. That will speed you up a bit and stop you cramping up etc.

Someone told me thats what Steve Harris of Iron Maiden did.

Edited March 2, 2018 by la bam

[Guest]

Can you play the part slowly, perfectly with no mistakes at all? If you’re gradually speeding up, at what tempo does it start to fall apart? Is it the  whole part or just one or two sections? If a cover it might be helpful to know which song as people on here may suggest different fingerings or tips etc.

 

I have found that when I can’t play something because of speed it’s usually one (or more) of these reasons:

1) I don’t yet know the part well enough so am stumbling over the notes  don’t ignore this as this is often the case!

2) The part contains a particular picking hand challenge that my technique isn’t yet good enough to mask - for example crossing from E-A-D-G strings with one note on each quickly is quite tricky to do cleanly.

3) The part has awkward fretting hand bits, making it hard for me to fret the notes cleanly and co-ordinate fretting/picking hand

4) The part is faster than my current technical ability can cope with. It’s normally the co-ordination between the hands that goes first. Remember any part can be sped up to the point where it is unplayable! 

Options 1-3 can be worked on in isolation and probably overcome in a few practice sessions; option 4 will take a more sustained period of practice to overcome, perhaps even a slight change of technique. As others have said, break it down into its constituent parts and you may find it’s one or two bits that are causing the problem.

Hope this helps!

[lurksalot]

Only play half the notes !! 

We are are learning 'fool for your loving' at the minute , I can make a basic stab at it, but then the drummer insists the album version is too slow !! 

So I now play a heavily redacted version of the original 

[Conan]

5 minutes ago, lurksalot said:

We are are learning 'fool for your loving' at the minute , I can make a basic stab at it, but then the drummer insists the album version is too slow !! 

So I now play a heavily redacted version of the original 

That's a lovely bass part, but you're right, there's a lot more to it than it seems... Played that one a few years ago and really enjoyed the challenge of learning it properly. Then I listened to a few live versions and realised that even the great Neil Murray seemed to play it differently every time! 

[SteveK]

If it makes you feel any better, and not knowing the actual track, it's quite possible that the person credited with playing the bass part didn't actually play what you're hearing.

[chris_b]

What is the song?

[MrDaveTheBass]

Always try and be as efficient as possible, so that your fingers do the minimum amount of work for the maximum effect. Try to relax - the more tense that your hand is, the slower you'll go, and the more likely you'll hurt yourself.

I used to find that my speed was limited because I 'dug in' too much. Turn up the volume, play lightly and let the amp do the work. I can also play more quickly with a pick, especially when using alternate up/down picking. Try a variety of different gauge picks. I've settled on a medium gauge, but you might find a heavy or lighter pick works best for you.

For fingerstyle, try using different numbers of fingers. I've found that using three fingers on my picking hand can be more efficient, especially when playing triplets. Surprisingly, I've also found that using one finger can sometimes be quicker than two, especially if you use an alternate up/down picking action with the very end of your finger. Finally, don't be afraid to vary the amount of fingers you use during the song - one phrase might be easier with three fingers, another with two, and another section with one.

[dmccombe7]

Suggest the revised version in A. Its a little faster but bass line is simpler IMO.

I learned the Neil Murray version first and guitarist struggled with it and preferred this version. Lot easier and i can still ad-lib the tricky little bass runs that Neil used. Neil has admitted on BC that many of the runs were ad-libbed at the time and they were not always the same if that helps.

 

[dmccombe7]

And here's the bass tab too

Whitesnake - Fool For Your Loving Bass.pdf

[T-Bay]

The annoying thing is the song is DEAD simple but we are playing it faster than the original as part of a medley, it’s Queen - tie your mother down but played around 145-150bpm. Working the speed up I can get it spot on to around 125bpm and then it just falls apart, the original is 132bpm I believe. So it’s A string 0-030 G2, I just get half a note behind from the off and can’t get it back. I will keep trying but at the moment it feels like my crappy arthritic fingers just won’t go any faster. What’s more annoying is that other stuff we play is just as fast and faster but the patterns seem to work fine for me. 

[chris_b]

If you're playing the number this fast then change the bass line. At this speed you've moved away from the Queen song and you're into Quo/rock territory.

It's a shuffle so pumping root notes will sound fine.

That's what I'd play.

[Conan]

The only people who will notice the difference will be other bass players who are also Queen fans. Being honest, how many of them are likely to be in your audience? 

[KevB]

2 hours ago, lurksalot said:

Only play half the notes !! 

We are are learning 'fool for your loving' at the minute , I can make a basic stab at it, but then the drummer insists the album version is too slow !! 

So I now play a heavily redacted version of the original 

Then tell him he's wrong and being a silly billy rather than trying to accomodate his inability to play it at the right speed. This is exactly the sort of song that sounds a mess when played too fast. The band I've just joined also have it in their set list and I'll be quickly pulling the drummer up if he sets off like a train. He seems a decent sort though.