MA-042 • Martin Goulding - Legato Primer

[justinguitar]

Questions...

[Rile]

I have a question.

At level 1, Ex1 and the rest, should i play all three figures (a, b, c) for 5 minutes, or each one separate?

Also, how long should i be practicing at level 1 before moving on to level 2?

[de7con]

i think you should play each exercise for 5 minutes. a for 5 minutes, b for 5 minutes, and so on. Of course, when you feel tired, you get that stretch.

You should wait until you feel capable to give level 2 a try. If you feel it's too hard, go back to level 1. Also, if you're on, let's say, level 3, you should also keep practicing the first and the second level

[jimmynitcher]

Hi

I'm just starting this but need some clarification - is one meant to pick only once before each group of 6 repetitions?

 Otherwise I can't see the point of the technique he describes thus:

 "make sure the first finger stays pinned down and that when the fourth finger goes down, the second finger snaps up out of the way so the pull-off can take you back to the first finger and repetition can be achieved".

thanks

[Rile]

You're playing triplets at level 1, so the second finger must be moved with pinky when doing pull off.
For this exercise it goes like this..

Beats:   1      2      3      4      5      6
          Pick    H      H      P      H      H

then you repeat the same sequence.

H- hammer on
P- pull off

So yes, you pick only once, and when switching strings you always pick the note first. Watch the tab examples, there's a sign which tells you when the note should be picked..
Note: For the low e and B strings it's the third finger which moves out of the way.

[Fuzzel]

The answer for when you move on to section 2 is when you meet your target speeds for section one. He reccomends 160+ bpm for advanced players, though i suspect not everyone wants blindingly fast legato and therefore a lower speed is appropriate for some. Though at the same time, some players will be determinded to break the sound barrier and therefore a higher speed is appropriate.

You might have to spend a very long time on section one, but don't rush it and your hands will develop the strenth and accuracy to manage the more difficult runs shown later.

[Rile]

I practiced for three weeks exercises from level 1, and got to 100 bpm. Then i got a bit bored, so i had a go with level 2. It was good actually, i only had trouble with timing on the first example when you play 5 notes under one beat. But i sorted that out during next two weeks. I still practiced exercises from level 1, but i spent less time with it than before. My total practice time just on this was around 90 minutes.
To make it harder i played everything on my acoustic, and progress was evident, but after one month of practice i really got bored...  It did not happened all of a sudden...
I wanted to go on but i lacked in will and discipline. Those two things are the most important here!
I still practice this though, but not as serious as before, i might get back to it when i "get in a mood" again.

[Fuzzel]

I plan to take on a good chunk of the series over the summer. I'd like to get the first couple of sections done as next year i've got big nasty exams coming and won't have much time for developing those muh desired legato chops i dream of XD

[jimmynitcher]

Isn't a bit misleading to say feel the 5 when he plays 10's at 80 BPM instead of 5's at 160?

it confused me anyway!