Playing faster advice

lincolnblue

I have been playing for years - pretty much self taught all the time - mainly learnt just by playing with other guitarists in that time. In my electric playing I'd say I'm more of a "feel" sort of player - my theory is rubbish but I do ok and get by fine. My playing is probably best described as slow/sensitive blues. I've never been interested in shredding but I would like to be able to play faster.

In trying to play faster (aside from just lots of practice) is it best to focus on the left hand and hammer-ons etc or to focus on my right picking hand? Or is it just a case of doing both and just trying to play a lick and gradually get faster until it clicks? 

bwets

All about good form, efficiency and staying relaxed (for both the left and right hands). Make sure to keep the tempo comfortable enough to maintain your technique.

There's plenty of excerices for finger independence out there that might help too.

lincolnblue

bwets said:

All about good form, efficiency and staying relaxed (for both the left and right hands). Make sure to keep the tempo comfortable enough to maintain your technique.

There's plenty of excerices for finger independence out there that might help too.

Thanks. Part of the problem (I think) is that my fingers don't bend smoothly - they tend to click more, which they've always done, so I wonder if that effects somehow the smooth movement. I probably do need to find some good exercises. So many are just aimed at shredders though

Lewy

You'll get lots of different opinions on this but as someone who has been playing around 30 years and only just found an approach to add reliable speed to my playing, the thing that has worked for me is this - abandon the received wisdom that says the way you do it is to start slow and incrementally increase speed over time, only allowing yourself to speed up when you don't make any mistakes. That has never worked for me. What has worked is the approach which basically says learn it slow so you definitely know what "right" is, and then go for it, not worrying about whether you crash and burn or not. Practice it at half speed, over articulate everything so you're moving more than you need to, then just take a swing at it at full speed. You crash, then go back to your half speed version for a bit, then take another swing at it. Each time, you'll get a little bit closer. And your muscles are learning how to move at that speed which they just can't do at a slower speed. You'll naturally reduce your range of motion without thinking about it. You keep going back to half speed in between attempts to "check in" on what the right thing is. That removes the old fear of "practicing the mistakes". All you need to be thinking about really is tension...feel when it's creeping in, and just acknowledge it. Stop and shake it off if you want to. Then go again. I'm talking about doing this with a bar or two of music, not entire pieces, so you have to break it down into small bits - "chunking" as the advocates of this approach call it.

People will disagree. I won't argue, other than to say that I'm flatpicking fiddle tunes at 140 - 150 BPM (or 280 - 300 BPM depending on how you think of them...people have differing views) when less than a month ago I was struggling at 110 BPM.

CaseOfAce

There are also various "tricks" that shredders use to play faster such as economy picking - Malmsteem is an absolute master at this as well as sweeps and his choice of fingerings, positions for ascending and descending runs...this all greatly adds to the ease of playing at speed.

digitalkettle

Good advice so far, especially @Lewy.

We can zoom in and start talking about pick angles and escapes but, with respect, I don't think that's where you're at.

Do you have an example of something you're trying to play?
Do you have an example of where you're up to with it? (remote help is a lot more productive with decent video)

lincolnblue

digitalkettle said:

Good advice so far, especially @Lewy.

We can zoom in and start talking about pick angles and escapes but, with respect, I don't think that's where you're at.

Do you have an example of something you're trying to play?
Do you have an example of where you're up to with it? (remote help is a lot more productive with decent video)

I'll try and film where I'm at and find some examples of where I'd like to be.

Dan_Halen

I can't play shreddy stuff whatsoever but I have a few fast licks/runs under the fingers which I can throw in variations of when I fancy. I'm more competent on sax and same principles apply.

Lewy's advice is great. Don't try and learn a lick at full speed - learn the lick first then add the speed after. Once you've got it absolutely nailed at a slower speed then you'd be surprised how quick you can play it at a push.

I'd definitely use a metronome or a slowed down backing track when learning it first though. If you've got something you want to learn and you've practiced it to get it under the fingers a bit slower, stick a metronome on at or whatever the tempo is you think you have it down at and it's surprising how revealing it is. It will absolutely show up which bits aren't quite as there as you thought and what to practice.

Other tips are:

• Learn tiny licks first rather than pick out some 4 bar shreddy Gary Moore run. Don't run before you can walk. Get some 3/4 note repeating patterns under the fingers to get used to the feel/rhythm of the fingers moving quickly and in sync with the right hand.
• Try the upping the metronome technique - get it learnt at, say, 100bpm then add 2 or 3 bpm until you get to the speed, dropping back if you mess up. I know Lewy (and many others) don't find it works for them but I find a mix of the Lewy method and this is what works for me. It also means that by the time you're getting up to speed you've played it a ridiculous number of times correctly.
• Build up from small phrases. Get e.g. a little 6 (or even 4) note fast run that you can play under the fingers then add a couple of notes to the start/finish. Then once that works add a bit more to it.
• Economy of movement. Watch @JohnCordy play on YouTube as his technique is amazing.

CoffeeAndTV

There’s a load of great bits of advice, but I really want to add you’ll likely need to work on your time too.  Nothing sounds as sloppy if you’re not in time with either the track or yourself.  The best players have an unbelievable time-feel.

Lewy

CoffeeAndTV said:

There’s a load of great bits of advice, but I really want to add you’ll likely need to work on your time too.  Nothing sounds as sloppy if you’re not in time with either the track or yourself.  The best players have an unbelievable time-feel.

Very good point. I’d also add that when you're playing it slow, really focus on tone and musicality. If it has a pulse or swing, really emphasise those in your slow version because you have to sacrifice some of that stuff at speed, so the more you’ve got to start with the better.

Hootsmon

Every single good dude wot plays guitar can play all 'em great riffs at SLOW speed........good clue

You have got tae be able tae play that riff at a slooooow speed before you can even think of speeding up....plus, play some scales and start with 4x notes only and get that bitch up tae speed then add another note or two.....

hollywoodrox

What worked for me last year was finding a solo or parts of a solo I want to play . Putting it in to a slow down program . Learning each bit to get it under my fingers at a ridiculously slow speed , then starting at whatever speed I could play it correctly , however slow  and practicing it for 20 minutes each day . 

Bumping the speed up say 2% when it can be done with relative ease . Also incorporating  a few minutes of speed that is just too fast for you but trying it anyway. This gets the brain used to the idea of having to cope outside its comfort zone . Then before you finish practising it again at a speed where you can play it with ease  so you finish the session on a high . I did this all year to attain a lick that was really fast for me in the November rain outro solo , 

ive played truant for about 25 days now though and am dreading starting again in case I’ve lost it 
    Doing this regular though each day builds up the habit and you get to really like it and feel the need to do it . It’s most rewarding to see the results however long it takes ,and once you achieve something you could not do before you begin to think you can tackle anything within reason at similar or a bit higher levels . It is a great confidence booster ,even at first when you are just playing it at 60 70% fluently and can hear the solo burbling along 

Siejen

One other thing to try is when breaking the piece into chunks to learn them, you don’t have to learn them in the order they appear. Of a 4 bar section, I might learn bar 3 first then 4 then 1&2. The reason behind this seems to be when I put them together in order I get over bars 1&2, then my brain says. ‘Ah, bar 3, I know this one…’ and you’re on the home straight 

fastonebaz

Playing faster is a bit like the karate kid training programme.   You need to masturbate furiously 3 times a day for 6 weeks to develop your forearm muscles.   Then focus on holding Yr pick right and it all comes together in a glorious shredfest. 

roberty

I started learning and practicing properly in my 30s and pretty much changed my whole technique, which took a few years. I am reasonably fast these days but by no means a virtuoso. However my playing more accurate and articulate, and I can write faster and more interesting music. This has come as an unexpected surprise

The things that helped me most were:

This minimum movement exercise: https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/minimum-movement-exercise-te-102

This Guthrie Govan video on picking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51OMFYGG-fs

Troy Grady's slanting theory, good to be aware of this but you don't have to go in too deep

I found learning this song incredibly helpful in getting the picking technique right, even though it's not my thing: Bark at the Moon

Those were the penny-drop moments for me. They might be useless to the next person, everyone is different

I also got lessons from a player who's playing I admire (I think this is important in a tutor). He pushed me to learn things I would never have thought of trying. He didn't focus on my technique, but watching him play these things made me want to figure out how to do it myself, which meant developing a technique that was up to the task

DLM

lincolnblue said:

In trying to play faster (aside from just lots of practice) is it best to focus on the left hand and hammer-ons etc or to focus on my right picking hand?

Depends on what sound you are going for.

We can only advise when you tell us where you want to be, man. Playing a bit faster could mean all sorts of things.

Lewy said:

 140 - 150 BPM (or 280 - 300 BPM depending on how you think of them...people have differing views

The OP isn't interested in shred, so maybe we won't start quoting Willjay's NPS clocking project at him, but one does have to be clear what note durations are being played at a given tempo if we're only talking about it (with no musical examples). Is that quavers (eighth notes) in 4/4 at 140bpm? Or semiquavers (sixteenths)?

Lewy

DLM said:

Lewy said:

 140 - 150 BPM (or 280 - 300 BPM depending on how you think of them...people have differing views

The OP isn't interested in shred, so maybe we won't start quoting Willjay's NPS clocking project at him, but one does have to be clear what note durations are being played at a given tempo if we're only talking about it (with no musical examples). Is that quavers (eighth notes) in 4/4 at 140bpm? Or semiquavers (sixteenths)?

I only included numbers solely to demonstrate the relative improvement (the relevant bit was where I said that I was struggling at significantly lower tempos a few weeks ago before I started doing this) but to specifically respond, it's fiddle tunes played in 4/4 and using streams of 16th notes at 140 bpm. It's just that people tend to transcribe tunes as 8th notes so technically that should be double that tempo. It's definitely not shred tempo, but it's moderately brisk for the flatpicking style which is all about getting strong acoustic projection.

Vibetronic

All good advice. Playing slow to a metronome and speeding it up gradually does work...it's dull but effective. Don't start too slow though - at a speed you're comfy with and can play it perfectly. The main thing imo is to get whatever it is you want to play (and find some examples/licks/exercises you'll stick to) and get them embedded in your finger muscle memory; then through repetitive practice the speed will come, as your fingers will know where they should be and that's one less thing to concentrate on. Boringly, most of it is practice - an hour each day and you'll notice the difference. 

Relaxation is also important - if you're tense, it won't happen. With people I teach, if they have an exercise down, I sometimes tell them to just look at something out of the window and then play it - stops them thinking they're in a lesson being watched for a minute, they relax a bit and it all flows a bit better. It's also worth trying to do it as quickly as you possibly can - yes, you'll make mistakes, but more often than not there'll be a blast of genuine speed in there, which can give you a bit of confidence that you'll get the entire thing right eventually. Don't do this all the time though

Dominic

My right hand tremolo picking technique is now very fast.
It sounds shit because my left hand technique is very poor compared so it's like having the best sports tyres in the world and nothing but a clapped out Fiat Uno to put them on!
  I need to work on left hand ......my pull offs are slow and blurred ,I have very little power in my little finger especially over big stretches and my hammer-ons are weak .
My question is how do you get the whole thing to come together.....in my case how to get left up to speed of the right ?

Roland

Dominic said:

...in my case how to get left up to speed of the right ?

Practice. Not repetition but the way athletes do, deconstructing your movements to understand what’s going on, and then rebuilding. So with pull-offs and hammer-ons it’s working out how much sideways pull and hammer you need to get consistent note volume. I actually raised my strings a little to give my fingers more purchase for the pulls, and more space to accelerate the strings for hammers. You may also have to change your left hand position, and the length of your strap so that your left hands fingers have an easier ride. It doesn’t take as much time as you might expect because your brain rapidly adopts the changes which work. Then you can go for repetition.

CarpeDiem

@Dominic I’d suggest legato exercises to develop your left hand, and I’ve used some of Tom Quayle’s and Guthrie Govan’s exercises. Use all four fingers and focus on consistency of timing and volume. It’s not easy, and takes lots of practice.