How To Play Fast Guitar Licks That Sound Smooth & Effortless While Soloing
Problem: You are able to play guitar fast, but while soloing your speed doesn’t translate into expressive and engaging phrases.
Why exactly is this?
It’s simple:
You have focused more on the technical aspects of your speed than you have the phrasing aspects that transform your technique to make your playing sound musically expressive.
This is a massive topic that cannot be covered in full in just one article – but applying the advice below helps you quickly turn raw speed into usable and “musical” speed making your soloing phrases flow effortlessly.
Start making fast licks flow with ease during your guitar solos by applying these pieces of advice:
Use Speed As A Tool To Connect Two Phrases
You don’t need to play every single note in your guitar licks as fast as possible to add intensity to them.
Shred guitarists often use speed strategically by putting it in between shorter, slower phrases.
This balances the tension of building speed with the release of slow, melodic phrases.
Result: Musical-sounding, expressive, fast guitar licks that are memorable for anyone listening to you play.
Practice Getting As Much Expression As Possible From A Few Notes
Once you can make a single note sound truly amazing, you can make two notes sound amazing. Then three… then four… and all the way up to an entire guitar solo.
How do you do this?
By learning how to make every note as expressive as possible and focusing on NOT wasting notes (as many guitarists do while playing fast).
This skill can easily be practiced in just 5-10 minutes a day and has an incredibly positive impact on your overall guitar phrasing and ability to play fast guitar licks that sound great.
Connect Scales And Arpeggios Together For Smoother Phrasing
Your ability to combine different aspects of guitar playing together makes playing with speed effortless so your soloing flows like a river.
Most guitarists neglect practicing different areas of their playing together and end up in trouble when the time comes to improvise. Don’t end up like this!
Here is a great way to start integrating your skills:
Combine scales and arpeggios together.
Why is this great?
For one, it helps you move effortlessly from one
pattern/position of the guitar to another.
Two, it helps you play scales and arpeggios more musically, so they don’t sound like a bunch of robotic exercises when you improvise or solo.
You now understand powerful ways to make your fast guitar solos smoother and more expressive. The best way to quickly apply them into your guitar playing is to learn how to practice them effectively and efficiently.
How do you do this?
Answer: circuit training practice.