Learn How To Play A Guitar Lick With More Speed & Less Mistakes In A Single Practice Session

Looking for fast ways to play a guitar lick with more speed without making so many frustrating mistakes?


Here’s what not to do:


Slow way down and gradually increase the tempo at which you play the lick over many weeks until you start to approach the original speed.


This common practice approach is mostly only effective for mastering the basic movements of a given technique or mapping out the positioning on the fretboard needed to play the lick.


It doesn’t help you quickly play fast and clean though.


So what does?


Practicing the guitar lick with strong focus, paying attention to your mistakes and while playing at fast speeds.


But how do you play at fast speeds where you haven’t yet mastered the lick?


You’re about to find out.


Use these ideas to quickly play any guitar lick faster and cleaner than ever:

Idea #1: Break The Lick Down Into 3-4 Note Sections


The less notes you play at once, the easier it is for your brain to process every action that is going on… This makes it easier to perfect
your guitar lick a few notes at a time.


Here are some ideas for how to break down your lick:

1.  
Divide the lick into sections based on the techniques being used.

2.  
Break the lick into sections based on the easiest and hardest parts of the lick. Then prioritize more practice time for
the hardest parts.

Find the most difficult area of the lick and practice each note within it 3-4 notes at a time (or less). Use the speed bursts method from the next idea.

Idea #2: Practice In Bursts Of Speed While Looking For Specific Mistakes


Now that you have several sections of just a few notes each, pick one to practice.


Play through the notes at your fastest speed, while inserting a brief rest at the end as shown in this video:

While doing this, look for the following common mistakes so you can correct them upon each repetition:


String noise – This most commonly comes from unplayed open strings. Use your fretting hand index finger to lightly lay it on strings above the one you are playing on and your picking hand thumb to mute the strings below the one you are playing on.


Sync issues – This means you are missing notes or partially playing them (in a muffled manner) due to not fretting the string at the precise moment you pick it. Use this double picking guitar practice method to improve your sync between hands.

Idea #3: Play Each Section For Consistency Using High Repetition Practice


Don’t allow yourself to be satisfied by only getting the notes perfect once or twice.


Practice each section 25, 50, 100 or 500 times until it is completely perfect and you can consistently make it sound great.


This video explains the massive value of high repetition practice:

Since this only takes 5-10 minutes, you are able to make massive progress in just a single session.

 

Idea #4: Combine Adjacent Sections Together Before Playing The Entire Lick


Once you’ve mastered a section of the lick, don’t allow yourself to get too anxious and play the entire lick.


Continue taking the process step by step.


Work on the next section of the lick in isolation just as you did in the previous steps.


Then, combine these two adjacent sections together.


Repeat this process until you are able to piece together every section and finally play the entire guitar lick with total mastery.


(This whole process may take more than one practice session, but you will still make a lot of progress in one session by using it.)

 

Idea #5: Track Your Progress To Make Sure You Are Improving And Find What Works Best


The best way to keep your guitar practice effective is to track the effectiveness of your methods. One way to do this is to observe how many mistakes you make with a simple test at the end of your session.


This is easy to do and only takes a bit.


It’s also especially stream-lined in the context of this article because you’ve already divided up your guitar lick into sections.

Here’s what to do:


Test yourself by using metrics such as:


·         How many times you can repeat a section within it without making mistakes

·         How fast you can play without making mistakes (consistently)

·         How many times you can double pick without mistakes


Note: There are many other ways to measure your progress. This is just a few ideas.


Go through each section and write down number of mistakes and type of mistakes based on the metrics you used.


Next week, try to make less mistakes.


This simple approach does wonders for making your practice more efficient and helping you stay motivated to improve each week.


Still want to learn more ways to get faster on guitar?


Don’t worry, you’re covered!


Check out this free shredder resource about how to double your guitar speed.