How To Get Faster On Guitar Speed By Practicing Smarter

It’s not true that you have to practice many hours every single day in order to get a lot faster on guitar.


Why?


Simple: Quantity does not equal quality.


Getting faster on guitar in less time requires practicing smarter, not more. The sooner you “smarten-up” your guitar practice, the sooner you:

·        

Get faster on guitar

·         Improve your skills overall

·         Start really enjoying your practice


So, what are some ways to practice smarter? Let me show you!


Implement these ideas into your guitar practice to play faster than ever in no time:

 


Use Speed Picking To Isolate Challenging Notes


Tremolo picking particular notes of any particular lick helps you notice mistakes and correct them quickly.


For example:


Using speed picking during sweep picking arpeggios helps you isolate problem notes and make them sound cleaner, and more articulate.


See exactly how this is done by checking out the demonstration in this video:

Takeaway point:


Speed picking helps you more clearly pinpoint notes. Then implement them back into the arpeggio and watch the difference it makes.

 


Use Speed Picking On The Whole Pattern


Instead of playing an arpeggio or scale pattern like you normally would (the picking technique you’d typically use), use speed picking on every note.


This helps you improve your speed picking, plus develops your synchronization between hands so you play faster with less effort.


Here is another arpeggio example – this arpeggio might seem difficult, but read below to see how it becomes easy:

this process:


1. Practice only playing two strings at a time.

2. Speed pick the notes of these strings.

3. Move back and forth between normal sweeping and speed picking.

4. Add more notes over time.


By performing arpeggios in brief rushes of speed, it becomes easier to learn how playing fast and clean needs to feel. It is much less frustrating to do this in short bursts of notes like explained above. This video explains more about how to practice in short bursts:

Daily Tip For Playing Fast And Expressive Lead Guitar Ideas


1. Pay attention to the pickup you are using while soloing. Use the neck pickup for higher-pitched notes above the 12th fret or so, and the bridge pickup for lower notes.


2. Make sure your rhythmic timing is on point.


Pay close attention to your timing when you play. Divide up your awareness between playing the notes and being ready for when the next beat of the metronome occurs. Use recording software to easily track this and stay in time.


3. Practice efficient muting technique with your fretting hand.


Muting strings with your fretting hand is just as important as muting with your picking hand.


Effectively mute with your fretting hand by using the side of your index finger to mute the strings higher than the one you are playing. For example, the high E string if you are playing on the B string next to it.


Apply the tips in this article consistently when you practice to play both fast and clean lead guitar on command.