The 5 Secrets to Becoming Insanely Fast on the Guitar

[Frederick Thomas]

The biggest question that new guitarists are asking right now is "how
do I play guitar fast". In fact, they aren't just asking about how to
play fast, more specifically - they want to know how to play so fast
that it will not only make others heads spin, but make their own mind
twist into a pretzel. Now, the way that I defined that sounded
incredibly and overtly dramatic, but hey, when you are talking about
something so over the top as guitar shredding, you've got to be in the
right mindset, so I figured that I would talk about this in an
extremely action packed fashion.
Now, I personally have studied many types of music, but I have
certainly listened to my fair share of musical genres, that feature
guitarists who can burn a riff. These types of musicians that have
come to be known affectionately in the guitar world as "Axe Gods" are
nothing new to me, but the likes of guitarists such as Herman Li and
Michael Romeo have sparked a new wave for those who crave the shred.
At first my reaction wasn't pleasant. I was almost cynical about the
fact that guitarists everywhere are acting as if this is something
new, but then I had to remind myself that what ever inspires people is
still an awesome thing.
Why The Need For Speed?
I want to make sure that I clarify something for those who cannot
stand fast playing. If you are this person, then you need to seriously
ask yourself something right now. Actually - don't bother. Instead,
allow me to do the talking.
Why is it so important to learn how to play fast? Well, allow me to
explain to you that their is ignorance both in speed and the lacking
of. If you think that speed will make you a guitar great, then look to
your right and you will notice a door kindly marked "exit". If you
think that not learning to play fast is the better approach to things,
then you will equally notice that same door.  
Follow Your Heart
Being amazing at anything simply comes down to following your
intuition. Don't  fight it! If you are satisfied with your
playing and your speed on the guitar, then stay where you are at with
it. If you aren't - then don't make excuses. If you are the opposite
and you truly want to learn how to play amazingly fast passages, then
you should do some serious soul searching before you begin this
journey. The likes of the Internet are riddled with obnoxiously fast
guitarists who have nothing musical to offer, other than progressions
that simply don't matter. I refuse to write an article such as this
and be the creator of this type of monster.
Do I need To Learn A Bunch Of Scales And Modes While I Am Training For
Speed, So That I Will Be Musically Creative In The Long Run?
No, you don't. As I would tell any "untouched" guitarist - train your
ear. Scales and modes account for a very small percentage of this.
Learn them, but put more
emphasis on learning from the very Cd's that you have at home, and
most importantly, learn from your own exercises and creations. There
is no need to have someone tell you what and what not to play.
Discover it for yourself, and this is an ambiguous secret of learning
to play fast. What's the point in playing fast if you can't put your
own touch on it? The whole idea is to try and come up with unique
leads that no one else will be able to play, and its not that they
won't be able to play them,
because its so fast, but that they won't be able to play it because
its yours. It should have your own touch. Now that I got that out of
the way, we'll get to the juicy stuff.
Determining Your Speed
The first thing that you should do is get a good idea of what your
current speed on the guitar is. This shouldn't be hard, because
chances are that you've been playing at this speed for a while and
want to move on. However, determine the speed that you would like to
reach first. It doesn't even have to be insanely fast. A small
increase is always nice. Think about what fast is. Fast isn't just
playing at 300bpm (beats per minute), fast is technically any speed
that is even slightly faster than what you can play right now. I can
play very fast, but most  of the times I choose to only play
moderately fast riffs - so that my listeners will feel relaxed when
listening to my more complicated songs. Cleanliness in your playing is
also very key for this.
Now, I am about to tell you the first 5 secrets that you should know
about learning to make your strings catch fire. These secrets you have
probably heard else where, over and over again. The difference is that
other teachers who tell you the same things that I am about to tell
you, only paint about 20% of the whole picture for you. For some
reason, they always leave out what is truly difficult to explain, but
I have been explaining these things for a quite a long time, so I know
that you will thoroughly get a lot out of this. Here we go..
Guitar Speed Secret #1 - Picking
There are so many different techniques that you can master for maximum
speed, but we are going to start with the most used technique, and
that is straight-up alternate picking. Most first run guitarists pick
a string with only down strokes or upstrokes, but alternate picking is
when you combine both. You would do this by picking a string with a
downward motion first, and then come back up with an upstroke. If you
aren't doing this then you are wasting 50% of your energy.
It doesn't stop their. After you start applying this tactic you need
to learn to pick very lightly, with only the very, very tip of your
pick. If you use too much of the tip (plectrum) of your pick then you
are really losing out. It is important to make playing fast as easy on
your picking hand as possible. Applying these two principles
will make a huge difference in your playing.
You should also experiment with different picks of varying
thicknesses. Even if you are set on a specific type of pick, and we
all are, you should still switch it up from time to time. I will
occasionally practice with the corner of a playing card or match pack.
It sounds goofy, but its a great way to give your picking hand a
comfortable workout.
Guitar Speed Secret #2 - How Speed Really Works
Learning to play fast is only 50% of the game. Understanding how to
play fast and how speed really works is the other 50%, and it is very
important that you develop
the correct mindset for this.
I had mentioned the term bpm (beats per minute) earlier. 300bpm is the
maximum speed, at least on a metronome. It is imperative that you
practice with a metronome. I have excellent timing without a
metronome, but even to this day I will sit down with one and match my
timing back up to the device. The reason for this is because your
timing starts to drift away from true timing. You need to re sync it
here and there, and when first starting out, you should practice only
with a metronome. So, if 300bpm is the fastest that can be recorded
then this means that 150bpm is a moderate speed, and this makes an
excellent first goal to reach.
How do we do this? Its simple. Sit down with a simple exercise and a
metronome and set the metronome for 60bpm. Try playing the exercise at
60bpm. If it is too fast for you then slow down the metronome. If it
is too slow for you then up the beats. What we're trying to accomplish
here is the ability to be able to determine our
comfort speed. If you can play an exercise at 80bpm, and you can play
it consistently for 1-3 minutes without making any mistakes, with no
stress on either hand, then this is your comfort speed. Once you find
that speed, you will want to work up from their.

Guitar Speed Training Secret #3 - Progressing
Take it slow. Give your hands time to acclimate so that they will
produce clean notes. Its all about the game plan. Whatever your
comfort speed is, train in 5's. Your mission for the first day is to
determine your starting speed. If its 60bpm, then on the second day
your goal should be to reach 65bpm. If you need to set an even smaller
goal than a 5bpm daily gain, then please do this, and don't feel
pressured to "catch up". Just be consistent.
On the second day, when you have reached 65bpm, instead of starting at
that speed, start at 60bpm. Work your way back up to 65bpm, and then
start working towards 70bpm. You're done for the day.
On the third day start at 65 bpm, work up to 70 bpm, and then go for
the 75. Do you see the pattern? you should always start your training
with a very comfortable speed. Your hands need to develop minute
adjustments to muscle memory, so be kind to them. If you jump in to
whatever your last top speed was, you will be setting yourself back
days of training. It is simply to stress full for the hands to do
this, even if you were playing that speed before. Remember that this
is new to both you and your hands.
A good guitarist recognizes his or her hands as individuals. It sounds
wacky, but you learn to love your hands as though they can speak to
you. This is also very important, because they ARE speaking to you.
They aren't speaking to you in that "rabbit under your bed that tells
you to burn things" fashion, they are telling you when they want more
and can handle it, or when they are spent and hurting. Don't ignore
them. You absolutely must learn to listen to the subtlest things that
your hands tell you.
Guitar Speed Training Secret #4 - Keeping Track
It is very important that you keep a detailed journal of your
progress. This accomplishes two things. One, it shows you the progress
that you're making, so that you may bring your dream out of your
imagination and put it into real time. Two, it keeps you on track so
that you know what your speed training goals are for the day.
Keeping a journal like this is very simple. You will need to make a 5
separate lists under these five categories. They are time practiced,
starting speed, top speed, finishing speed and gain.
Time practiced is self explanatory. It is simply the time that you put
in for the day.  You don't need to practice hours on end to
accomplish your goals. Even if its for a
half hour a day, you will still get their.
Starting speed is the speed that you started at for the day. For the
sake of example, let's say that this is 70bpm.
Top speed would be 80bpm.
Finishing speed would be 75bpm.
Gain would be 5bpm or beats per minute. This will determine the
increase in speed that you have made for that day.
This brings us to the final and most important secret.
Guitar Speed Training Secret #5 - Training Like A Weight Lifter
Yes, that's right - I said "training like a weight lifter", and that's
exactly what we need to do. Body builders don't enter the gym early in
the morning, walk over and start lifting the maximum weight that they
lifted the day before. Instead, they start with a comfortable amount
of weight and work up to the maximum amount that they can lift. Now,
in body building they tend to repeat this process for a few days,
before going on and increasing their overall weight load, but in
guitar training we can do this daily.
Start at an easy speed and record it in your journal. Then work on the
speed that you had reached the day before. After that, work your way
up to a 5bpm gain, and then record that in your journal as well. Now
here's the real trick. After you have reached your maximum speed,
start working down to the medium speed. If you start at 60bpm, work
your way up to 65bpm (the previous day's maximum speed), and then work
your way up to 70bpm, that 70 will be your new maximum speed. However,
don't just stop their. Instead of leaving like that, work your way
back down to 65bpm. The next day should look like this:
start speed: 65bpm
top speed: 75bpm
finish speed: 70bpm
Remember, the 70bpm, which is not listed here, was yesterday's top
speed. Instead of finishing on today's top speed, work back to
yesterday's top speed. If you apply this simple tactic, I swear that
it will help you to realize your dream much faster.
Conclusion
Its true that there is a bit of a science to this. At first this may
seem a bit confusing, but if necessary, read through this article
several times until this process becomes embedded in your brain. The
last secret that I mentioned is really key, and unfortunately it is
something that gets left out a lot. Take my word for it. I trained
without that little correction for years, and I didn't get very far.
Once I understood the concept and started applying it (consistently),
it made all the difference in the world. Also, remember to give
yourself pep talks in moments of doubt, and don't forget that journal.
It is your subconscious beckoning you to move ahead, and move ahead
you will! Best of luck, best of wishes, and here's to a happy life of
guitar shredding!!

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