The Top 5 Excuses For Why You Can’t Get Faster On Guitar & Why They Are Wrong

No matter where you are at with your current guitar speed, it’s not true that you can’t get faster on guitar. It’s easy to fall into this negative mindset when you are struggling, but remember this: Even your favorite guitar players were once at or below your current level.

Allowing oneself to become overwhelmed with negative thoughts about why getting faster isn’t possible is demotivating and frustrating. These negative thoughts often come hand-in-hand with one or more excuses that simply aren’t true.

Here are some of the most common excuses for why people think they can’t get faster on guitar, and why these excuses are wrong:

“I don’t have natural talent like [Insert Famous/Good Guitarist].”

Natural talent is mostly a myth when it comes to guitar playing skill.

Good news: No matter how fast you play guitar now, your favorite guitar players have been at or below your level. Everyone has the same potential to achieve greatness in guitar playing. All great players start from zero, struggle at times and practice intensely to get where they are at.

Stop worrying about whether you were born with natural talent or not, because it doesn’t matter anyway. All that matters is that you are willing to do whatever it takes to improve your guitar playing.

Additionally, when you forget about talent, you have the confidence to set bigger musical goals for yourself. Want to play guitar faster? Set the world speed record. Want to play killer, virtuoso-level guitar solos? Create an effective practice schedule and work your ass off until people must stop to take notice whenever you play.

“I’m too old to get better at guitar.”

Age is just a number.

Many guitarists feel that they’ve “started too late” because their favorite bands were already selling music at age 18 (for example). However, there is no rule that says you can’t become a faster, better guitar player after a certain age.

Unlike various sports, where players retire after a certain age, guitar players do not see the same decline in skills. This is why you see incredible players like Yngwie Malmsteen or Steve Vai still playing well beyond their youth.

The best time to get faster at guitar is NOW regardless of what your age is.

“My hands are too small/too big to play fast.”

This is much less of a factor than you would think. There are tons of fast guitar players who don’t have perfect hands/fingers for guitar, yet play killer solos and music.

Take for example, Michael Romeo of Symphony X: He’s clearly not a skinny guy and has big fingers. Despite this, he is arguably one of the best metal guitarists of the past two decades (maybe all time).

The point here is that you are able to adjust if your hands are big or small. Everyone has little challenges that are personal to them, but when you want it bad enough, you achieve great things!

“I only play rhythm guitar, playing fast leads isn’t for me.”

Many guitarists struggled initially with scales, licks or patterns related to fast/lead guitar playing. This caused them to only pursue rhythm guitar because it felt easier. Don’t fall into this same trap!

You have massive potential to become an amazing guitar player in all areas of your playing. Get rid of labels like “rhythm guitarist” or “lead guitarist”. Then when something is difficult, ask yourself, “Why am I making mistakes?” and look for ways to correct them.

This article shows you how to learn from guitar mistakes to increase your speed.

This simple approach leads you to becoming a fast guitarist like you want, rather than getting stuck on some negative or self-defeating idea that you can only play guitar a certain way.

“I don’t have enough time to practice guitar in order to achieve fast speed.”

Fortunately, getting faster on guitar and becoming a better player is NOT reliant on practicing many hours every day!

You get better at guitar by practicing as efficiently and effectively as possible with the time you have.