Playing lead guitar fast and accurate is the goal of many aspiring guitarists. Unfortunately, only about 5% achieve their objective, the other 95% manage to play fast and sloppy.
Speed comes as a by-product of accuracy, unless a guitarist develops clean, accurate guitar technique that has both left and right hands working in prefect co-ordination true will never be achieved.
The first thing to learn is to slow down... that's right, in order to play fast we need to slow down!
We need to keep in mind that we are always listening to the final product when we hear music on the radio, CD's etc., we never get to hear a the guitarist or band rehearsing.
Here's ten tips that are guaranteed to overcome that musical brick wall that all guitarist's run into when trying to play fast on the guitar.
1. Use a thick pick: Make sure to use a medium to thick guitar pick, standard shape guitar picks work best. Avoid thin picks, they are the first hazard in developing a solid technique.
2. Use medium - heavy set of strings: I recommend .012 as the first string through to.052 for the sixth. Narrow gauge strings do not create enough resistance to develop left hand strength (assuming the player is right handed).
As the majority of guitars come equipped with .009 to .042 or .010 to .046 gauge strings you may need to have a guitar set-up especially for technical practice.
3. Medium to High action: Set up your action high enough to eliminate buzzes.
4. Warm up slowly: Just like any sporting event, your fingers need to warm up slowly. Play notes all over the fingerboard slowly. This is to get your fingers used to the differences in action travel between high and low notes on the fretboard as well as the variation in fret size.
5. Use a metronome: Your first objective should be to be able to play a steady stream of eight notes at a metronome marking of 60. we need to be patient with ourselves and remember that "music comes when it's ready... not when we're ready".
6. Add eight note triplets: As you build confidence with your eight note practice I recommend starting a separate practice session playing a steady stream of eight note triplets.
Begin the eight note triplet practice once you have achieved a metronome tempo of 120 with your eight notes.
7. Combine eight notes and eight note triplets: As you build your eight note triplet practice tempo up to a metronome setting of 108 try a combination of eight notes and eight note triplets.
Each time you start a type of practice session, eight note triplets or combination of eight note and eight note triplets remember to start back at a slower tempo 60 or 72 and then build up speed again.
8. Add hammer-on: When you are ready add the hammer-on technique to your eight note and eight note triplet practice sessions.
9. Pull-off technique: The next technique to add is the "pull off" as you combine the hammer on and pull off technique you will notice your speed developing.
10. Slides: Another important technique to practice with your metronome is the "slide" technique. Slides, hammer on's and pull off's will add a new level of interest to your playing, remember to keep in time with the metronome.
Guitarists are obsessed with playing fast, keep in mind (a) the pursuit of technique is endless (b) let the music take you to the technique you need ... translated, you only need enough technique to be able to play what you are hearing.
Just because someone can type fast, does not automatically what they are typing is communicating anything!
Practice these techniques and you will notice a new confidence in your playing.
Mike Hayes develops systems and products to help you succeed in your guitar playing. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular free ecourse, available at: => http://www.guitarcoaching.com
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