What aspect of playing the guitar do you have most trouble with?

Sweep picking?

Pinch harmonics?

Hybrid picking?

10 finger tapping?

Sweeping...

String skipping stuff. Many guitarists I know can sweep, but do little else

Sweeping. That or tapping without the other strings buzzing.

10 finger tapping =O I'd sure imagine, Ive messed around with a bit of sweeping then doing 6 finger taps, its hard but sounds cool

Sweeping takes almost no effort once you get the timing down.

I can't fingerpick for shit.

Anybody have any pointers for getting better at sweeping? I've tried some lower level Yngwie stuff but I still have trouble with that because he uses 5 strings. What should I start with?

Start with three strings here

http://www.guitar-dreams.com/guitarless ... wex-1.html

Finger picking is easy for me. Sweeping is tough, so are pinch harmonics.

Fingerpicking is the most difficult for me because I rarely practice it.

I actually find it easier to practice 5 string sweeps, and then reduce to 3 strings.

Practice the basic minor/major shapes up and down, as slow as fuck but with perfect timing and technique, and after about 6 months you'll nail it no problem.

Atonal Legato String-skipping sweep taps.....

i love trying to work out shit like that.

Flamenco is hard shit too, so is classical.

Sweep and Tap at the same time. Now that is talent.

From my personal observation, the problem that most guitarists face is not really sweeping or tapping or all those other techniques, but playing in time.

People can sweep like motherfuckers, but ask them to record to a click-track and they're all over the place.

i completely agree with this, learning the techniques isn't the hard part but actually being able to structure them in with rhythm and make them fit to the composition of the rest of the song takes the talent.

That's why I think the best way to learn guitar is in a jamming environment, it gets you used to playing in time with a bunch of other guys.

that's it.

Writing good riffs. I've heard 99% of guitarists are actually allergic to it which explains why so few of them do it well.

This. People need to listen to Iommi more!

I actually did just that for major, minor and diminished arpeggios. Once I could nail five I realized I couldn't play three string arpeggio's back to back with smooth transition from one to another so I kind of started over trying to get a steady speed up with three strings. It felt like I jumped ahead because I completely skipped four string. But really as long as your practicing arpeggio's you'll get it in time. I still have problems getting the finger rolls perfectly clean, any advice?

sweep tapping and string skipping

My biggest problem is my picking technique in general, I never did go through any rudimentary stuff for picking so it's always been a little fucked up. My right-hand posture isn't what it's supposed to be.

Oddly enough, I find things like sweeping and string skipping to be relatively easy... But the normal mid-tempo double-picking in steady time is REALLY hard for me. I can't keep my right thumb "locked".

My guitarist has just recently started learning 10 figure tapping, and I know he was having some trouble with it, and he's been playing for nearly 17 years. For me personally, its shredding. I would consider myself a solid rhythm guitarist(I'm a bassist though) because I have no problem with most things, even some quick little sweeps, but playing at high speeds doing a long run on the higher notes always gives me difficulty. I'm not really much of a soloist.

I'd agree, most of the thing mentioned here can be done within a year of hard practice, but playing flamenco will takes years even for the most dedicated people. Talking about real flamenco of course, not just music that uses the notes and sound of it.

The ultra-wild shred tapping is tough, I always have trouble keeping the rest of my strings silent while I do 5-8 finger tap licks. However, I have the most trouble with ultra-fast alternate picking. Even if I sit at drill with a metronome for hours a day and go at it for weeks, I can never seem to get my speed and accuracy to come through, whereas I can do convincing sweeps and a few other little tricks.

Asking which technique is the hardest is like asking which food is the best. VERY VERY individual.

I assumed it would be obvious I was asking for people's opinions on what is hardest. Of course it's subjective.

Pinch harmonics are difficult for me because of how I hold the pick (against the side of my fingers rather than with the ends).

Any technique can be learned with time.

Make sure to use a metronome.
So many Guitarists have shit timing with the techniques they have.

Yeah, pretty much any guitar technique that involves moving to spain for a decade and living with gypsies I'd consider difficult. But maybe I'm biased and subjective

Writing good riffs.

+1

lots of guitarists can play their instrument really well but not many can write good original riffs

For me I'd say sweep picking. I've been working on it for over 5 years and I still can barely do it at all.

Hmm, I would classify playing ability and writing in separate categories, not both under technique.

And the only chord they can sweep in is C Major or D Minor.... or Dechristianize.


I have trouble doing legatos. I have trouble getting all the notes in such a short amount of time.

the hardest thing techniquewise for me is playing 64th note runs in between slow solos with lots of bends.

Seriously the hardest part of playing a guitar is not any of those advanced techniques it is the little things... I know lots of kids who can shred.... terribly, sure it is fast but it is sloppy and with bad technique. The same goes for a great deal of players out there no matter what the technique is. Now before people start reading this thinking that I am some jackass know it all, I am really not that good. However I have had to pleasure of learning and playing with some incredibly talented people. So the hardest part of playing guitar is taking the time to practice the small things like hand balancing, posture, muscle memory for fretting notes, and accuracy above the tempting 8 finger tapping, sweeping and shredding. also by the way unless if you are playing at like 40-60 beats a minute 64th notes don't happen (on a guitar) unless if you are a god.

I've never owned a metronome in my life and I can keep perfect time, do people really have trouble with staying in time?

That's true. I don't have any problems in sweeping. I have not much practice in string skipping, but I don't find it hard at all.

I think the most difficult thing is fitting into the right time when playing. That's why I began playing with metronome when it's possible and I think that my playing is gradually improving.

How would you know you're not playing out of time without something to measure against?

Have you ever recorded or played live?