What is the most efficient way to improve your guitar technique and build speed? Don’t just spend more time practicing... Practice the right things, at the appropriate time in the most efficient order. Doing this makes it extremely easy. Use any other approach and you will get fewer and slower results... plus your practice sessions will be more frustrating.
This video demonstrates how to find the things that prevent you from making progress with your guitar technique:
Focus on developing these guitar playing elements and it will be easier for you to master technique and speed in your guitar playing:
Guitar Playing Element #1: Fretting Hand Finger Independence – Reduce the motions of fingers not being used to play notes. For instance: when using the index finger to play a note, your ring finger should not be flailing up away from the strings. This is critical for playing guitar fast without making errors.
Guitar Playing Element #2: Excellent Fretting Hand Efficiency- You need to focus on playing notes with the tips of your fingers, while also keeping your fingers close to the frets. This reduces the effort you must use to play a note and helps you keep your fingers right next to the strings.
Guitar Playing Element #3: Playing Efficiently With Your Picking Hand - Your pick needs to stop between strings after playing each note, and shouldn’t use additional motions causing it to leave the string trench (the space between the strings). This makes faster playing easier and forces you to play more efficiently.
This video shows you how to improve the efficiency of motion used in your picking technique:
Guitar Playing Element #4: Strong Picking Hand Articulation – Whenever you pick the strings, do it with strong force. Make sure your upstrokes and downstrokes are played with the same amount of power and articulation.
Crucial: Pay attention to the amount of tension you feel in your body as you play.
Guitar Playing Element #5: Two-hand Synchronization – Make sure both hands are playing in perfect sync whenever you play a note.
Whether you are playing fast or slow, your hands should be moving fast (in sync) to play the notes. It’s important that your hands move quickly regardless of whether you are playing a short burst of notes or a long held out note. This is very important for becoming better at two-hand synchronization.
This guitar speed building guide shows you how to master two-hand synchronization and build your guitar speed.
Guitar Playing Element #6: Being Able To Play Cleanly – You must eliminate unwanted string noise and keep unused strings from blending together with the strings you are playing. Unwanted string noise refers to:
*Noise generated by strings below the one(s) you are playing. Get rid of this using thumb muting with your picking hand.
*Noise created by the strings below the one(s) you are playing. Eliminate this noise by muting with the third and fourth fingers of your picking hand.
*Strings (notes) blending together unintentionally. This noise is caused by the sloppy release of a string after you’ve played a note. Eliminate this by using distortion or high gain settings and focusing on the moment when you release a note after playing it.
Tip You can also use a higher action on your guitar to help eliminate unwanted string noise caused by unplayed strings ringing together with the notes you are playing.
Guitar Playing Element #7: Being Consistent – It’s important to be able to play at your very best in any situation, anytime you play guitar. This is not the same as simply being able to nail a solo or riff once or twice. Once you are a consistent player, you will have the power to play in front of other people with no mistakes. This article shows you how to practice guitar better results.
Guitar Playing Element #8: Solid Metronome Practicing Strategies - The metronome is a tool used to apply fundamental technique and muscle memory into everything you play. It shows you how well you have mastered a particular guitar technique and helps you understand the weak areas that hold back your overall progress.
Guitar Playing Element #9: Tension Control - To minimize tension in your guitar playing, you need to:
These two actions make your guitar playing feel effortless even while playing fast.
Guitar Playing Element #10: Using Your Brain At High Speeds - Your brain needs to process notes just as fast as your fingers are playing those notes. This helps you:
Question: “How does one practice the correct things “at the right time”? Should I work on every element on its own before moving onto something else?”
Answer: No. “The right time” does not describe progressing in a step by step process. The order you should learn new things will depend on:
*Your personal guitar playing level
*Your specific guitar playing goals
*Your personality and how you learn most effectively
A great guitar instructor understands how to analyze your guitar technique so you can learn which element to practice next in order to achieve mastery.
This guitar speed building guide helps you to master all the guitar playing elements needed for building speed.
Why Most Musicians Are Unable To Get A Record Deal
You build your music career much faster with a record company behind you. Record companies have access to resources and capital you cannot match as an independent...
Fun Guitar Practice Strategy That Makes You More Creative
You improve as a guitarist by learning how to integrate musical skills together smoothly.
Why A Lot Of Guitar Teachers Struggle To Help Their Students Fix Their Musical Problems
Solving your guitar students problems, you help them boost confidence and motivation to get better. This inspires them...
