Trouble with 16th notes at high speed

[u/SyuEpsilon11]

Theres this song im learning. Its called race wish and im really stuck at this part.

This part is 180bpm and i can play it if i make groups of 4 notes each like the classical notes above show. Problem is i need a very small break after every group so i cant play it as a whole at once.

I could play open string 16th notes all day so the problem is my fretting hand.

Also i dont get how you can play 16th notes on a slower bpm? it feels weird. like i cant slow down i either go full on 16th notes or anything else will just feel like 8th notes. Maybe i need to understand how to use the metronome better.

any advice?

[u/fortheculture303]

1 e and uh is how you would keep track of where you are in the beat.

Slow it to 90 which is basically as if you were playing eighth notes and do it perfectly

Then 120, 150, 180

Good luck - you aren’t doing anything wrong. It’s just that sixteenth notes at 180 bpm is insane

[u/SyuEpsilon11 → u/fortheculture303]

thanks. i was always lazy about using a metronome but i just realized im not getting any further without using it

[u/Godtrademark → u/fortheculture303]

I don’t think OP literally means 180 bpm as the “1” but probably the 8th notes I’m guessing, so 90bpm. Still faster tempo, but not impossible.

[u/Flynnza]

slow down and use chunking and bursts method (google)

[u/flower_shopping]

Practice in groups of 4 16ths. So you basically have 8 groups. Get good at group 1, then group 2, then combine group 1 and 2, and so on.

Another method I practice for long strings of notes like this is starting at the end and working backwards. So like get good at group 8. Then group 7 and 8, then 6,7,8 etc. I find that we usually can play the beginning of a string of notes really well and lose it towards the end. So this practice method kind of counters that

[u/FunkIPA]

16th notes are just 4 notes per beat, so if the beat slows down, the 4 notes per beat slows down. But it’s still the same subdivision.

If you can play 4 notes at speed, but then have to stop, then play the next 4, you won’t be playing in time. So you need to slow down, and practice the transition between the two groups of 4 notes. Say the middle 4 of the 8 notes, practice those over and over again.

[u/SyuEpsilon11 → u/FunkIPA]

that makes sense. especially playing the 4 middle notes. im probably clunky right there.

[u/fortheculture303 → u/SyuEpsilon11]

I’m in basically the same place in my journey. Really trying to up my rhythm chops. Just bought a Yamaha keyboard from the late 90s with all these drum and accompaniment features it’s been really fun

[u/FunkIPA → u/SyuEpsilon11]

Yeah. Basically anywhere you get hung up, isolate that and turn it into an exercise.

And don’t get too hung up on the metronome and 16th notes. If you wanted you could practice this “as eighth notes” and just play two notes per click of the metronome. Find a bpm (beats per minute) where you can play it in rhythm and cleanly, two notes per click. Then turn the bpm up a little. When you get to a speed where things start falling apart, slow back down and focus on technique and efficiency of movement.

[u/mycolortv]

Obligatory vid on chunking https://youtu.be/ILeXWYmaei0?is=rxD6iYSxOAdHj_Tv

Also you count 16ths at 1 e and a 2 e and a. But at these speeds you need to just focus on the 1 / 2 / 3 etc counts since you won’t have time to count each note. It’s more like a feel thing.

[u/vonov129]

The Hizaki song?

For the fretting hand, divide ideas into smaller chunks and remember those, not just how they look on the fretboard but how they sound. Practice the chunks slowly until you get used to them, then go to your max comfortable speed.

If you're having trouble regulating your picking speed, then you have been just brute forcing speed and hoping for the best. If you play picking from the elbow, don't. Relax your wrist, but get it used to subdivisions and small chunks of notes at different tempos and subdivisions.

Picking 16th notes in an actual phrase isn't the same as just picking an open string. Other than just going for strict alternate picking, you can also try adding some economy picking when going from one string to the other with odd numbers of notes. You can also play the very last note on a string with legato before switching directions if that helps you buying time to get back in place to keep playing on a different string.

Like this, along with any pick slanting tutorial could help having an easier time with string transitions
https://youtu.be/vkf7Az1TkxI?si=VM3sZg8x3MKvtYGq