I was playing bass recently and ran over some riffs I used to have difficulty playing (just a few months ago, even) and had no problem at all. I knew exactly why, too.

Which made me wonder, has anyone else noticed some hurdles they've overcome in technique in recent months/years?

Mine were in regards to finger-picking with 3 fingers. At first I couldn't play the notes dynamically even, then after that was no longer a problem I couldn't play in time, and then I had problems with skipping/crossing strings. But I have no issues with any of these now.

My ear is getting much better. I'm learning songs by ear after only a few listens nearly note for note perfect. In the last week I've had Endgame, I've learned over half of it on bass.
And I managed to play Frantic Disembowlment after deciding to ignore the tab as most of it was wrong to instead learn it by ear. Turned out it wasn't really as hard to play as the tab made out, though it still is quite challenging, just not near impossible as is made out.

3 finger picking is getting better, though I have to take a good while to warm up before I can play properly with fingers. My alternating picking is getting faster steadily.

I still need to work on building strength in my fretting hand, though that will proably just come with practise. Just wish I could stretch that little bit more.

Since doing audio engineering for three years, I have an increased ability to hear high frequencies. This opens up music a lt for me.

Another hurdle- I almst cut my right hand in half a few years ago (drunken rage- stabbed a table and my hand ran down the blade)- I'm right handed, and have only just been able to play classical guitar again; my fingers lost a lot of dexterity, so I practised a lot on keyboards and piano to get it working; for a long time, it (my right hand) would only mirror my left; now it works independantly. Which is GREAT because I drum, play guitar and piano. Blastbeats have finally sped up majorly too

Chromatic exercises work very well for that.

Congrats, Acid!

This may not sound like much, but I'm pretty new to bass, so whatever. I finally managed to get the strength to use my pinky on my fretting hand, which I couldn't do before.

Thank you for not posting a thread asking if it is necessary to use your pinky.

I'm still working on getting my pinky stronger. Also, sweeping is giving me a hell of a time, but I'm overcoming it currently.

Why? Do people do it a lot or something?

There were two or three such threads within my first two months of joining this forum.

FUCKING INTENSE! you should post up pics if you have any!

back to the topic, i love going through and learning songs or riffs that i thought were impossible, it gives me a lot of confidence in my playing

I'm finally starting to get some actual independence with my hands on piano. It's starting to get a lot easier to just sit down and learn pieces, even if said pieces are still on the beginner side of things.

On vocals I'm starting to really find my voice when it comes to harsh vocals. I know what I'm capable of, and I know what I need to work on. Most importantly I know how to avoid blowing my voice out, which used to be a pretty big problem.

On drums I can't I've been breaking any serious barriers in a while, but I did notice something nice. Back when I first started playing, the song Black Dog used to be my arch enemy. I would never be able to find where the downbeat was, or how to get from section to section. Recently I've had to learn the song for a band I'm in, and I got through it no sweat. Nice to know that I've gotten better.

Well there's a looot of riffs that i couldn't play beafore and now they a re sooo easy.It's really amazing thing XD

Going from knowing about nothing of Music theory or chord progression just 2 years ago, to now playing my own tunes on Guitar and using programs such as FL Studio 7, WavPad for sound editing/distortion and making my own mixtapes.

I create more Breakcore music than Heavy Metal (although like Aaron Funk of Venetian Snares, I do have the image and use the same progressive power chords occasionally in the songs.)
Its been quite a hurdle to encourage those who degrade the music as a Dance/Techno label and to try and make them see it how it is from my eyes. Although I'm more Ambient/Avante-Garde than a lot of the Breakcore artists out there today.

When I first started playing the bass, I wasn't fast or versatile in any way. I'd have hard times transitioning between strings (mind you, my early days). Now, I've learned to play a lot faster with more accuracy. I am comfortable moving around the neck.

I'm still teaching myself to use my pinky more and strum with more than two fingers. I've gotten to the point where I don't get tired very fast with my two finger strum, but I'd like to still get better.

A bit OT, but I know what you mean. Its always a challenge when making music that draws from many influences. Over the years Ive been into metal, punk, drum and bass, dub and electro, and when I make music drawing from those disparate genres people are often not sure where Im coming from.

Its either 'this sounds like techno', or 'why is this so noisey?' and 'whats with all the growling?', haha.

You want pics of my mangled hand??

of course we do

Agreed. Bring forth the pics.

^I think it would be a bit of a letdown; it looks like a normal hand with big fucken scars all over it Its also pretty numb too- not sure a pic can convery that....

i have a very hard time playing with my pinky finger lol, any suggestions on how to (quickly) improve the usefulness of my pinky?

I suppose you mean on guitar witch makes this a guitar thread post, but wth.

The simple exercise 1-2-3-4 , 2-3-4-5 etc. will give you results in... hours.

thanks, i remember somewhere printing off a sheet that has a bunch of patterns to do that in, ie 1-2-3-4 1-2-4-3 1-3-2-4 4-3-2-1 3-4-2-1, and so on, like every possible pattern lol. hmm i shall try and find it, had it since i started but never found its usefulness til now xD