Gawd im having trouble with this song, I have the intro/verse alright, but after a few times around (since it repeats it self a few times) my hands are dying, How do i build up my strength to i can last longer playing fast without getting sore. and what are sum good exercises/ techniques to do before conquering the solos! thanx

All I can say is keep playing it until your hand can take it.

Practice, practice and more practicing and you should nail it.
You just need to build up your stamina and the only way you can do that is keep doing it, eventually the muscles will strengthen and soon you'll be playing Marduk riffs!
Try stetching and warm up excercises before you play, cod liver oil tablets help with joints(body joints not the joints you fill with mary jane and smoke!)

Before you get flamed, I think there was a previous thread on similar subject a while back, someone was getting cramps and pain from playing. Hunt that down.

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sorry, this really isnt supposed to be a thread about cramping more on help with MOP.but yea thanx for the heads up!

is there a riff thats giving you trouble

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Wow, I hope I get to that stage someday too.

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good ole metallica,

despite what anyone says, they still rule \m/ (they definatly need to become alchohalics again though)


And justice for all, fuck yeah

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Just practice the shit out of the intro riff. It's a pretty good riff to practice not only your speed and endurace, but works on your string skipping too. Just keep at it and you'll get better.

Your post actually asks how to last longer and play faster without getting sore!
If you're having trouble nailing a riff best thing to do is listen to that riff on the CD so it's stuck in your head and then try to play it through slowly at first and build up the speed as you gradually get used to it.
I presume you have the tab and are not trying to work it out by ear?

As for the solo try warming up those fingers by playing any old scales you fancy, play bends and vibrato, just give your fingers a work out. Work on the solo a section at a time that way ya brain won't fry trying to log everything at once and it'll stick in your mind more. Start out slowly again and build up speed.

Other pointers: James plays the Puppets main riff as down strokes only, try using up strokes as well you may find this is less knackering on your hands and arm.
Also try to be relaxed when you play, if your arms are all taught/tense sinew it's gonna start aching sooner. Plus if your not relaxed it shows in the sound of your playing.

And last of all.........practice, practice..etc there's no other way!

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warm up before you play... also, PM k13m about the massage technique he showed me thanks again k13m...

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all i can say is watch T.v and play some scales at the same time.
do the chromatic and what not

keep playing it. if u need a rest take like a 15-30 second break. u just need to build up ur endurance. if u stop when ur arm gets tired it wont help much.

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Look past the pain god dammit....don't be a pussy

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alright thanx guys, time to go practice, w00t!

Also, if your having trouble playing a riff of MOP at the correct speed, slow it down till you can play it thoroughly and efficiently, then start slowly speeding it up.

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This is a great song to warm up with. Master it with all down strokes and not much of anything else will be able to slow you down in the future. Eventually you will be playing this song all the way through without braking a sweat. Just try to relax your fingers, hands, and arms as best you can.

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That beginning is played at 223 bpm. I don't want to meet someone who doesn't struggle with it at first. Try to play it 3/4 speed, and just play it for a few minutes. Or do legato on each string for 20 seconds each. Do that for a while, and start building up your time, and then you should have no trouble with it.

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just like philkiller says - you got to go through the pain.

its a lot like a long distance running - after a while your legs tell you to stop but if you keep going, the next day you will run longer.
As long as it is just aching and not proper pain i suggest you go longer.

Warm up properly before giving it a go and sit and play it for as long as you can until it gets unbearable. The chromatic scale is good one for stamina. I normally get a stopwatch and play non stop for at least 30 minutes doing chromatics just to build my stamina up.

Practise and practise and practise ad nausea.........

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Give your fingers a little massage before you start, they will feel so much more supple and 'free', a few seconds on each finger does the trick

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One thing no one has mentioned and is crutial to playing fast without getting tired is to relax. Your hand cant tense up or you'll play it like shit, or youll slow the tempo down. Play the riff and notice if you tense up, and pay attention when you do. Catch yourself, then remember to relax and try it again relaxed.

Make sure to play it slow first and then keep increasing the tempo. And like others have said you have to play it relaxed. Find a speed at which you can play it without tensing up and then just increace the tempo 3 bpm every time you play it or something like that.

One thing that I found helpful when I practiced that song and anything with fast repetitive downpicking is to alternate pick the riff adding extra notes in between. For example, many of the power chord followed by open E palm mute riffs are eighth notes in 4/4. But make the open E notes sixteenth notes (alternate pick) until you get up to tempo. Then try to make them eighth notes again (just do the down strokes) at tempo. The reason this worked for me is because alternate picking NEVER makes me sore, it is only when I down pick quickly. So by instilling the tempo in your hands even with alternate picking (remember alternate picking AND twice as many notes), when you switch back to the eighth notes and all downpicking, you get the general feeling of relaxed picking. Hope this works for ya.