Hey there, it's me, Boondar. Instead of just writing aimlessly about things that pop into my head, I'm actually going to contribute to Guitar.com by writing a series of instructional blogs. This one mainly concentrates on building your speed at guitar. I wish I had a camera, but I don't, so everything that I use as an example will be tabbed out. (Sort of)
What is one word that you think of when you hear of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Angelo Batio, or John Petrucci, just to name a few famous guitarists? That word is FAST. All the guys I just mentioned play guitar fast, and to the normal guitarist, this ability may seem like one that will never come to them. To the average guitarist, speed is just something that you're born with: you either have it or you don't. I'm here to say to all you guitarists out there that can't get to the speed you desire, "Don't worry!" You honestly don't have to worry about a thing, because with practice, you can achieve anything after a long enough time.
Getting down to business, there is one thing that must be done before learning this. The first part to succeeding is to work on the little things that seem insignificant but may be your downfall in the long run. Take this for an example: Let's say that I am not left handed (which I am), and in turn, have less dexterity in my left hand, or fretting hand. (I play right-handed, too) Since I have more agility in my right hand, what do you think will be faster? My picking, that's what. Most guitarists can claim to a fast picking motion, but have they ever considered that maybe their left hand plays an equal role in the speed of their playing? Picking at 240 BPM is not the only thing that makes speed. If you can pick at 240 BPM, and want to play a piece at 240 BPM, then you better pray to God that your fingers can move at 240 BPM. This is the main thing that people overlook. To give your left hand a bit of a workout, try this out.
Use your pinky, ring, middle, and index fingers on the 15th, 14th, 13th, and 12th fret respectively on the high E string. Pull the fingers off, one by one, until you get to the index finger, making a descending chromatic-type lick. You don't have to pick for this, just use the legato. Repeat this motion over and over again as fast as you can. Do you feel the burn? If you can, that's a sign that you're working the muscles you use in your left hand to move them about the fretboard. If they're in good shape, your fingers will move faster. There is an improvement factor, but only if you keep at this for a while. Just put it into your normal practice routine.
Sorry about the huge side-track, but I really don't feel like getting messages like "I can do the picking right, but I just can't go fast!" all the time. The real exercises for speed in this lesson involve a series of chromatic patterns ascending and descending on each string. Start out with 0, 1, 2, 3 on the low E in an ascending order to a metronome going about 60 BPM. After that ascending pattern, go to 1, 2, 3, 4, and then 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on and so on until your pinky hits the 12th fret. After you get to 9, 10, 11, 12, descend by going 12, 11, 10, 9....11, 10, 9, 8....10, 9, 8, 7, on and on until you reach 0 again. These are all done in 16th notes, so each group of four I've described should all be done in one beat. Okay, hotshot, you've done it on that string, but now you need to do this on all of them.
It was pretty easy on 60 BPM, right? Yeah, I thought so. It was, wasn't it? I was just using it as an example so you would understand that this really should be done to a metronome. Now, some guitarists just want to go for it, and try this at 240 BPM. Don't be that person. There are some guitarists that will methodically start at 60 BPM, and slowly but surely work their way up to 240 BPM. That's fine, but if you have a life, I would not suggest this, as it is extremely time consuming. Start at a comfortable tempo, like 100 BPM, and work your way up from there. Another trick you can use is by taking your target tempo, like 240 BPM, and going a bit beyond it, like to 250 BPM, and completely kill yourself at that pace. Then, back it down to 240 BPM, and then it won't seem so hard anymore. It's a trick I learned from watching John Petrucci's Rock Discipline. (I recommend it for anyone wishing to play faster)
Don't just use the workout I described for you, invent some more using this template. Here are some ideas I've tried myself:
1. Taking the chromatic pattern, and moving it up a string each time you play it, like 0, 1, 2, 3 on the low E, then the same thing on the A, then D, and so on until you reach the top. Then, go 3, 2, 1, 0 on the high E, then the same thing on B, and G, and keep going until you reach the bottom. Move it up one fret, and repeat. It's a good challenge for alternate picking, and will get you used to picking and fretting fast on the high strings, which seem to be a challenge for some people.
2. Take the chromatic pattern, but instead of picking the note once, pick it twice in a row, in an eighth note pattern, like 0 0, 1 1, 2 2, 3 3, and so on until you reach the 12th fret with your pinky, then go back down descending... 12 12, 11 11, 10 10, 9 9, and all that jazz. Who said you could stop at two? Try three picks per note, or eighth note triplets. Try four picks, or sixteenth notes. Try six picks per note, or sixteenth note triplets. If you can live through those, try for eight picks per note, or thirty-second notes.
3. If you want a mind-screwing challenge, try picking a chromatic that contains five notes in the 5/8 time signature. Instead of the regular 0, 1, 2, 3... try going 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and then up to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, then 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and so on until you reach 12. You know what to do after that. The hardest part is keeping track of where you just were thanks to the odd numbered pickstrokes. This can help you in counting, staying in time, and speed all at the same time!
Well, I hope I was as in-depth as I could be seeing as I lack the proper means to shoot a video for this. If anything at all, I hope someone gets something out of this. See you soon.