# How To Play Faster



## GuitarSkater (Nov 17, 2008)

Does anyone know any good techniques to learn how to play faster, (improve my picking, and fret hand's speeds). I basicly want to learn how to play as fast as Slash.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

And please don't say practice, cuz i practice like 5 hr's a day. i just want to learn some techniques that'll help me get faster, quiker.

Thanks,

GuitarSkater.

:rockon2:


----------



## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Play scales and arpeggios to a metronome. Gradually increase the tempo. Make sure you play cleanly. Over time you will master the music theory and the speed. 2 for 1.

Either that or move your fingers fasterhwopv

Good luck,

matt


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

mrmatt gives good advice. Its much more important to be clean and accurate. Play slow first fast will come later.


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

if you're practising 5 hours a day and you're not improving, then you need to re-evaluate what and how you're practising.


----------



## wayne (Apr 8, 2009)

Budda said:


> if you're practising 5 hours a day and you're not improving, then you need to re-evaluate what and how you're practising.


+1. It took me a long, long time when I started playing before I realized the difference between practicing and just playing stuff you know. It takes discipline to step outside of your comfort zone and 30-some years on, I still don't do it as much as I should.

As to playing faster, scales with a metronome is the ticket. You might be surprised at first - you may not be able to play a major scale up & back as fast as you can play some short lick that you're very familiar with. Concentrate on keeping it clean and keeping locked on the metronome, and before long you will able to play not only faster, but more cleanly/accurately.

Also - don't do this for hours at a time. You'll very quickly get frustrated and lose interest. Continue to spend time playing stuff you know - after all, we do this for fun, right?

Good luck,

W


----------



## seadonkey (Feb 9, 2008)

Playing fast will come with time but when practicing your scales try and make it musical-find the tension notes and what notes to resolve on, be percussive, bend etc.

A lot of speed picking exercises focus on 3 note per string (alternate picking) scales and sweeping arpeggios and chromatic exercises but For slash i recommend working on Pentatonic (major and minor) but don't practice the scale (as in run up and down the notes) but rather play the scale. Put on your favorite GnR tune or find a backing track and just riff over it. :rockon2:

Hope this helps.


----------



## Samsquantch (Mar 5, 2009)

Don't work on scales too much...unless you want your playing to sound like you're playing scales (LAME!). If you want to play like Slash, you should be transcribing his licks by ear without the crutch of tab. Find out who his influences were and transcribe their licks by ear. I'm not going to preach to you about chasing others playing styles, but I will say that the more interesting guitarists out there are those who tried to develop their own style rather than trying to completely copy the styles of others. There's no shortcut to be able to play like that. If you are practicing more than you are playing actual music on your instrument, your playing will sound like a bunch of connected exercises (LAME!). Speed will come with many hours of practice and playing. Metronome's are good, but they don't take human error (drummers) into account, and can make your playing very sterile if used exclusively in your practice sessions.


----------



## figjam (Feb 19, 2009)

Another vote for using a metronome. I've been noodling around on the guitar for over 40 years (took 3 years of lessons when I was 12) but have recently decided to get a little more serious with it. I bought a small metronome and I am suprised at the improvement in my speed and technique in just a few short weeks - no virtuoso, but happy with my progress. Try one, it can't hurt!


----------



## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

I've always had a hard time with metronomes. They do what they do well, but it might not be for everyone. I always played along to records, lesson tapes and pre-recorded beats on a keyboard. That awful click of the metronome drives me nuts. This isn't meant to discourage people from using them, just my experience. My experience with beginning and intermediate players building speed, is that they focus too much on the fretting hand and not enough on the picking hand. A player can let his/her fingers fly all over the neck as fast as they want, but if your not picking, plucking or thumbing the right string at the right time, you'll only sound half as good as you could.

Shawn :smile:


----------



## Guest (Apr 11, 2009)

there are no shortcuts. Keep pounding and start counting the years. American idols are made overnight not real guitar players ! Good luck.


----------



## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Rugburn said:


> I've always had a hard time with metronomes. They do what they do well, but it might not be for everyone. I always played along to records, lesson tapes and pre-recorded beats on a keyboard. That awful click of the metronome drives me nuts. This isn't meant to discourage people from using them, just my experience. My experience with beginning and intermediate players building speed, is that they focus too much on the fretting hand and not enough on the picking hand. A player can let his/her fingers fly all over the neck as fast as they want, but if your not picking, plucking or thumbing the right string at the right time, you'll only sound half as good as you could.
> 
> Shawn :smile:


I confess that the metronome click drives me nuts too. I have a pretty good sense of time though, so when I practice scales I usually just tap my foot.

+1 on working the picking hand.

learning how to hammer on and pull off helps a lot too.

Matt


----------



## GuitarSkater (Nov 17, 2008)

thanks for all the help guys!

my parents bought me a metronome a while ago, but i never used it, but i'll start using it now

i'm also gonna try to play stuff over slash's music.

GuitarSkater

:rockon2:


----------



## aloysius (Feb 15, 2009)

> American idols are made overnight not real guitar players !


So true. The best guitarists have been playing for a long time. So much that guys in their 30's are considered the young ones.

michael


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

the secret to playing fast is practising slow with a metronome. so says the guys ripping up and down ibanez 8's lol


----------



## Guest (Apr 15, 2009)

Here's some different advice:

1. Watch your picking hand. Make sure the wrist is kept straight when picking. Bending your wrist downward will impair you in the long run. Just ask Leona Boyd.

2. Some folks use their fingers and thumb (with thumbpick if you like) and are much faster than a single pick player. Watch Albert Lee play and tell me he's slower than Slash. Three fingers and a thumb win every time.

Slash is not so much about speed as he is about feel. The metronome thing is all right but its just a piece of your practicing. Work on Slashes slow melodic expressive stuff and slowly get into a fast riff or two. "Sweet child" has both. Get the official tab. There are plenty of wrong ways of playing it.


----------



## Samsquantch (Mar 5, 2009)

konasexone said:


> Here's some different advice:
> 
> 1. Watch your picking hand. Make sure the wrist is kept straight when picking. Bending your wrist downward will impair you in the long run. Just ask Leona Boyd.


So are you saying he should pick with his forearm and wrist locked straight? If so, that may work fine for tremolo picking on one string, but playing through things such as arpeggios and 2 note per string pentatonic runs would be better facilitated by picking with the up and down wrist movement.



konasexone said:


> 2. Some folks use their fingers and thumb (with thumbpick if you like) and are much faster than a single pick player. Watch Albert Lee play and tell me he's slower than Slash. Three fingers and a thumb win every time.


That's fine if you're going for more of a legato feel, or are trying to play in a certain style such as hot country or folk etc, but for the hard rock lead style such as the OP is enquiring about, a pick is the better choice. "Three fingers and a thumb win every time" Tell that to Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin, John Petrucci, Guthrie Govan, John Jorgensson (etc etc....) 



konasexone said:


> Slash is not so much about speed as he is about feel. The metronome thing is all right but its just a piece of your practicing. Work on Slashes slow melodic expressive stuff and slowly get into a fast riff or two. "Sweet child" has both. Get the official tab. There are plenty of wrong ways of playing it.


I have to respectfully disagree about using tabs. Transcribing by ear may take longer and will take more effort, but it will pay off much bigger dividends in the long run in terms of interval recognition (ear training), improvisational skills, fretboard familiarity, and overall musicianship IMHO...:smile:


----------



## jeremiahlafollette (Apr 20, 2009)

*Alternate Picking*

When you play your scales pay close attention to your right hand technique. Many guitar players I come across know how to play scales very well, however, they only pick using what I call a downstroke or upstroke. What I would encourage you to practice is simply combining upstrokes and downstrokes together...i.e your first note will be a downstroke, your second note will be an upstroke...up down up down up down up down. Do this super simple exercise SLOW!!! making sure your wrist is rotating in a circular motion with a metranome at 60 beats per minute. After a week gradually increase your speed and in no time you'll be as fast as Slash.

I hope that helps.
Let me know how it goes.


----------



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

jeremiahlafollette said:


> When you play your scales pay close attention to your right hand technique. Many guitar players I come across know how to play scales very well, however, they only pick using what I call a downstroke or upstroke. What I would encourage you to practice is simply combining upstrokes and downstrokes together...i.e your first note will be a downstroke, your second note will be an upstroke...up down up down up down up down. Do this super simple exercise SLOW!!! making sure your wrist is rotating in a circular motion with a metranome at 60 beats per minute. After a week gradually increase your speed and in no time you'll be as fast as Slash.
> 
> I hope that helps.
> Let me know how it goes.


This is the best advice so far. I'll add that if you subject yourself to muscle tension (like squeezing the pick too hard, "locking" your wrist, hunching your shoulders, slouching whether you sit or stand, slinging your guitar too low, etc) you'll never get your tempo up. It's a bit like trying to sprint with a charlie-horse, it can't be done. The fastest players are quite relaxed, Joscho Stephan for example. 

Slow down in order to speed up. Correct all the various technique issues at a slow tempo, then gradually increase tempo over several weeks while maintaining good technique. Use a metronome for your warm-ups, and warm-up for at least 10 minutes, especially if you're addressing technique issues. After the metronome, switch to backing tracks, then to pieces you are trying to learn. 

Ultimately good technique is something that becomes natural, second nature, not something you have to force yourself to do. Even if you're just noodling during Hockey Night In Canada, good technique is your default.

Alternate your pick stroke, and the pick stroke needs to be a flattened oval so that muscles and joints don't come to an abrupt halt at the end of every stroke.

Use all four fingers of the left hand...it seems logical, but many players avoid the pinky.

Do not mash the strings with your left hand, ie, use only as much pressure as is required to sound the note clearly.

Do not miss a day of practice, and practice at least twice a day.

Check the angle of the pick to the string. It should roll off the string smoothly. The pick point needs to be smooth, dress it if necessary. Do not use any more pick point than necessary to propel the string, ie, do not "dig in", it only delays the note.

Finally, get a good instructor who can coach you through these things over a period of time.

Peace, Mooh.


----------



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Scales and arpeggios are your friends. Ascending, descending, all over the fingerboard, with and without skipping intervals (eg, 13243546... & 123234345456... etc). To quote Segovia:

"The study of scales will solve a greater number of technical problems in a shorter amount of time than the study of any other technical exercise." Andre Segovia

...and who am I to argue? The problem for instruction of scales is the unimaginative ways they are presented to students.

I've never, honestly, lost a student due to scales. I insist on them as a part of the warm-up regime. Every lesson starts with at least a couple (chromatic, majors, minors, pentatonics, and whatever) which takes but a minute or two, and very often I will instruct a student to play the scale in the key of the piece they are to play next, in order to acclimate themselves to the sound and feel of the key. Making ascending and descending exercises, rising and falling by intervals within a scale, makes them good fingering and ear training (and head understanding). They are the foundation of improvisation (jamming sounds better to some students), composition, and playing by ear. They are also good for finger discipline, interval recognition by sound, sight, and feel, fretboard memorization, and they are a good vehicle for practicing articulation devices like hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, etc.

Oh yeah, and they make you faster, assuming your technique is okay.

Naturally, your mileage may vary.

Peace, Mooh.


----------



## ericprsse (Apr 24, 2009)

Metronome on each quarter note, or for a more groovy realistic feel, on 2 and 4. Play All the way up the neck in all the major modes and minor modes. Play straight (12345...), in intervals (132435 or 142536 or 152637 etc..), in broken triads (135 246 357 etc), and in broken 7th chords (1357 2468 3572 etc). Now do each in eigth notes, triplets, and 16ths. Then put the metronome on a 3 feel, and play 4 against 3.

Start very slow, and build your way up. This will definitely improve your chops, but it is tedious, so don't force yourself too much, and make sure you're always enjoying what you do.


----------



## GuitarSkater (Nov 17, 2008)

thanks for all of the help guys, is thre any other way to play faster becasue, i can already play scales and alternate pick and 250bpm. Also does anyone no a good metronome which goes above 250BMP cuz my db30 doesn't thanks


----------



## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

GuitarSkater said:


> s thre any other way to play faster becasue, i can already play scales and alternate pick and 250bpm.


I dont think its possible to pick any faster than that. You are the fastest! :rockon2:


----------



## Samsquantch (Mar 5, 2009)

GuitarSkater said:


> thanks for all of the help guys, is thre any other way to play faster becasue, i can already play scales and alternate pick and 250bpm. Also does anyone no a good metronome which goes above 250BMP cuz my db30 doesn't thanks


Can you do it cleanly at 250, or is it sloppy? My guess is the latter. One doesn't get that fast overnight...Is there any way you can make a video or a clip of you playing at that speed?


----------



## GuitarSkater (Nov 17, 2008)

Samsquantch said:


> Can you do it cleanly at 250, or is it sloppy? My guess is the latter. One doesn't get that fast overnight...Is there any way you can make a video or a clip of you playing at that speed?



try to make a vid clip. i have to get a new vid cam cuz ma house got robbed, and the robbers stole my video camera , when i play 250bpm i mean 1 note per beat. should i play 2 notes per beat?


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

250 at 1 note per BPM... isn't that fast.

clean 16th's at 220BPM is.


----------



## Samsquantch (Mar 5, 2009)

GuitarSkater said:


> try to make a vid clip. i have to get a new vid cam cuz ma house got robbed, and the robbers stole my video camera , when i play 250bpm i mean 1 note per beat. should i play 2 notes per beat?


I think you should find a good teacher in your area to help you get a practice plan together...You'll progress much faster. Trust me. sdsre


----------



## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Budda said:


> 250 at 1 note per BPM... isn't that fast.
> 
> clean 16th's at 220BPM is.


Well, 240 bpm is 4 beats per second, so yeah, it is pretty fast. Given that most music never exceeds 120 bpm.


----------

