Hey all, Im new around here.

First let me introduce myself to the community. I've been into metal for a long time now, and I've always enjoyed listening to it. I've never been able to play any instruments other than percussion instruments (drums, xylophone etc.). However, being at college now, I have a ton of spare time to practice whatever I like. So now I've been practicing and trying to teach myself to play. There are a few guitarists that are good in my fraternity, but none that like the style of music I do (sans one person). I've been using a gripmaster on my left hand to build up finger strength and I am getting good results. My question is, how do I build up my pick hand? I'd like to tackle some stuff that involves very fast, palm muted picking, but my hand is not up to speed. This is the main rythym I've been trying to pick out is basically the Iron Maiden trademark 'gallop' sound. Any suggestions for practicing?

Thanks.

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who can tell what I'm about to say. hehehehe...........





Masterbate. yo yo yo. and play some OldMan'sChild, IcedEarth.
frathouse eh, I'm in a dorm room..what university are you at?

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I love Iced Earth! I doubt I could play much of their stuff now though. I am at University of Missouri-Rolla. absolutely nothing to do here but party and play guitar

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no no no....don't start with Iced Earth. Schaffers triplets are really hard to get down if you don't know the basics. I'd try some good ole Dio, Death, Iron Maiden (especially) and some Metallica (old) if you like them.


And yeah, masturbation is the fastest way to get good picking results.

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try these songs...........

Iron maiden-hallowed be thy name
Deicide-Biblebasher
Slipknot-Sic

they aint the best songs ever but they help improve galloping and parm muting

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thanks for the advice; i really do like hallowed be thy name, and i like the cover that IE did of it.

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Well, the best technique I've found so far with the picking hand is the "Finger picking" one. No, I'm not talking about finger picking as in accoustic guitar or whatever. Finger picking is a technique where, as the name indicates, you move only the index and thumb finger for playing, and where you barely move the wrist. By simply doing this, even if you do not build strenght, your speed will upgrade noticeably. Think it as this: "Why move the pick more than it needs to be moved?". If you move the pick farther away from the string, which happens a lot if you use the wrist to pick, the more time it will take you to get back to the string and play it again. Now, this is a really annoying thing to achieve. When I found about this technique I was used to picking with my wrist mostly, and it took me some time to change it. And there are times where you go: "Oh, to hell with it!". But don't give up!
Of course you will move your wrist even when you've perfectioned this technique. I mean, we're humans, not robots.

And about bulding strenght to play faster, just play various scale you want with a metronome, or, if you're good enough, "count" the time with your rhythmic talent. Remember, always start from slow to fast. You don't wanna get tendonithis.

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Go to chops from hell.
muahahaha, and check out rusty cooley. he can shred.

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It took me a while to get a good gallop going and I still dont have the iced earth... 'speed gallop' (dont know what else to call it) down aswell as I'd like.

Like everything, I just play it really slow.. then slowly work it up to speed. If you're like me, you arn't satisfied until its perfect. So what I usually do is warm up with whatever I'm trying to learn. Sometimes I find it hard to stay on task, especially if its hard. If thats the case, I dont let myself play any other riffs until I felt ive made progress with the new one. Before you know it you'll be playin the riff pretty damn good, and more often than not, you develop your own style/way to play it

I haven't heard many triplets in Iced Earths music. Could you give me an example of an IE song that contains triplets?

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pure evil

As far as I can hear, there's not a single triplet in that song, except for the first solo, which is not played by Schaffer. Care to give me an indication of which specific parts you're talking about?

*hint hint* music theory for someone *hint*

(not meaning to be rude)

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those aren't triplets ... triplets are played evenly through the beat ... ie sound like eighth notes in something like a 6/8 time signature ... the gallop sound comes from eighth/sixteenth combinations in a 4/4 or other such signature ...

.,.. .,.. .,.. .,.. - where the , is a rest and is equal to .'s in duration

triplets are
| . . | . . | . . | . . where | and . are equal ...


sorry, I don't know any way to denote rythym through tablature...

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ok either i got the wrong shit from kazaa or i need a better undersrtanding of what exactly triplets are.

AEHHH!!


"|" shall stand for measures...and "." shall stand for notes
the grouping is showing you the duple or triple "ness" of the beat. Triplets are fast eighths, using layman's terms. In a beat of one quarter note, there are three eighths...equaling one triplet.

triplets:

4/4|... ... ... ...|... ... ... ...|... ... ... ...|
4 beats per measure, Quar. gets the beat

6/8|... ...|... ...|... ...|
6 beats per measure, Eighth gets the beat, this is in a compound time,
it feels duple, such as 2/4 with triplets

12/8|... ... ... ...|... ... ... ...|... ... ... ...|
Notice something(4/4?)...4 beats per measure, Eighth gets the beat,
this is also compound time, such as triplets in a 4/4 bar.

9/8|... ... ...|... ... ...|... ... ...|
3 beats per measure, Eighth gets the beat, this is also in compound time,
like the feel of a 3/4 bar with triplets




sixteenths(two notes inside one eighth):

4/4|.... .... .... ....|.... .... .... ....|.... .... .... ....|

6/8|...... ......|...... ......|...... ......|

12/8|...... ...... ...... ......|...... ...... ...... ......|...... ...... ...... ......|

9/8|...... ...... ......|...... ...... ......|...... ...... ......|


Summerizing this, depending on what time signature you're in, depends on whether you say "triplet" or "eighth." In a simple time like 4/4, they are triplets, by having a third note to each beat, giving you a triple feel. In compound time, like 6/8, they are eighth notes, but since it's compound, those eighth notes are in a triple feel, therefore calling them triplets is wrong.

To write a triplet in a simple time signature, you would draw three eighths with a tie. Above the tie, would be a 3.
To write a duple in a compound time sig., you would draw two eighths with a tie. Above that tie would be a 2.

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ok. i didn't even read all that but i know what a fuckin triplet is

Hmmm, this sounds like you don't know what a triplet is......
And maybe this was pointed to rickshaw and G_urr_A....don't be so bitchy.

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You wanted suggestions so I have one. Start off with something
slow and build on it. Try to play Angle of Death by Slayer. That will
really build speed. Or even Raining Blood. Different bands play with
different styles. Dont try to start off "galloping" fast. Get the rythm
down first until you are ready to play it faster. I would practice slayer
since you are looking for that sound. But remember this is just a
sugestion.


here try this its simple

E|---000--000--000--000--000--000--000--000--000--000---|
PM---->

once you get the hang of it its easy

your welcome

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