[Rick Lee]

Yes, you should keep it fun. But if you really want to advance, you will have to learn and master the rudiments. I have a friend who can play Yngwie Malmsteen like it's nothing. I begged him to show me how he developed that kind of speed. He showed me - just pick any position on the neck and play four half steps (i.e. on the sixth string, play 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th fret, using index, middle, ring and pinky fingers, respectively) in progression on up each string and then back down. That's 24 notes each way. Sounds silly simple. I've been playing for over 20 yrs. and doing this exercise for about 8 yrs. now and this one still trips me up. Watching my friend play it, it sounds faster than a machine gun. My old teacher also made me use my index, ring and pinky fingers when doing fast triplet climbs or descents. It always bothered me that it was kinda painful and all my friends used their middle instead of ring finger. But this served me well when I started learning harder stuff and it made my hands pretty strong. Lots of great exercises that never get old. I bet Neil Peart still does double-strokes and paradiddles on his couch cushions when he watches tv.