Gradually moving up the BPM

[JD01]

I've seen loads of videos where people say that to learn something tricky you should work it out, play it to a metronome, then gradually work up the BPM to get it to tempo.

I don't do many covers, certainly not covers that have complex solos, so I've never really needed to do it. Most of the solos I learn fit quite well into my existing guitar style so its more of a case of remembering the individual bits and then sticking them together.

However, I'm working on a cover of my favourite Manic Street Preachers song. I didn't realise a) how good a guitarist James Dean Bradfield is and b) how difficult it can be to learn something fast when the movements are totally unfamiliar to your fingers. Its a really atonal piece, which doesn't easily fit into a scale, so doesn't contain any finger movements that I've had to do before.

Anyway, has anyone else tried this technique? Dunno if its just the technique itself of gradually increasing speed that helps, or if the way you learn it slowly at first then gradually speed it up "gamifies" the learning process. I can't see it ultimately making my playing any faster in general.

[Armistice]

I do it all the time for my own solos - typically I think, "I should play this" and find I can't do it well enough, in time enough, at speed. So I slow the track down significantly and learn it at a lower speed, then slowly speed up until I'm at the required BPM.

For covers, you can also pick up interesting nuances if you listen at a slower speed.

I've also tried recording a lower BPMs and speeding up, out of interest - which sort of works for lead guitar with a bit of distortion, but it sounds really unnatural because all your little tremolos and vibratos just sound weird....

[JD01]

I do it all the time for my own solos - typically I think, "I should play this" and find I can't do it well enough, in time enough, at speed. So I slow the track down significantly and learn it at a lower speed, then slowly speed up until I'm at the required BPM.

For covers, you can also pick up interesting nuances if you listen at a slower speed.

I've also tried recording a lower BPMs and speeding up, out of interest - which sort of works for lead guitar with a bit of distortion, but it sounds really unnatural because all your little tremolos and vibratos just sound weird....

Ah, I've never done it before. I probably keep all my own playing just comfortably within my capabilities. I had to slow the solo down (surprisingly easy on YouTube I found) to 50% to work it out, and now I'm speeding it up. I set the BPM of my project to 155, which I think is actually marginally faster than the original recording which doesn't appear to have been recorded to a metronome. I'm up to 135bpm so it would appear I have a long way to go.

[Farview]

One of the things about learning it slow and gradually speeding it up is it has you playing it correctly over and over until you are comfortable with the movement. It also makes sure you understand how it fits with the rest of the song.

[WhiskeyJack]

I've tried this a couple times but it was for bass stuff it seemed to work ok. I don't know that it really helped me play it any better but it kind of helped me figure it out a little better by ear.