Speed Buster. Part 1 - More Practice

Speed is something which comes to a guitarist with constant practice! Determination and consistency are two things that will get you to your goal. Vinnie Moore in his instructional CD said, he had a daily 1 hour routine where all he did was just shred, and play chromatics, and also play patterns, at blazing speeds. One of his biggest secrets is no secret to a developing guitarist, you have to go up gradaually. No one can expect to get upto speeds reached by Michael Angelo at once.

To someone eager to reach high speeds, the metronome should be your best friend. Now there are alternatives to the metronome, but this is the best way. As I have said before consistency and determination is what you need. You should try to create a practice schedule pf your own, let it be 30 mins, or an hour. Its very important. Now what do you do, in this 30-60 mins, this is supposed to be really boring. Repeat chromatics, play them in different patterns and so on. Here are some exercises that you can do in your routine. I found them very useful. You'll say the same thing after doing them. For those of you who dont know! A D refers to a downstroke and U to an upstroke!

Exercise 1

This is for beginners. Dont avoid alternate picking, its a key weapon when it comes to playing fast. The exercise lets you get used to alternate picking.

D U D U 
|-0--0--0--0--1--1--1--1--2--2--2--2--3--3--3--3-|Repeat till 12 
|------------------------------------------------| 
|------------------------------------------------| 
|------------------------------------------------| 
|------------------------------------------------| 
|------------------------------------------------|

Its really helpful especially if you havent done alternate picking before. After that reverse the pattern, that is Up Down Up Down.

Exercise 2 
D U D U 
|------------------------------------------1-2-3-4--5-4-3-2---------------- 
|----------------------------------1-2-3-4------------------5-4-3-2-------- 
|--------------------------1-2-3-4----------------------------------5-4-3-2 
|------------------1-2-3-4-------------------------------------------------etc 
|----------1-2-3-4--------------------------------------------------------- 
|--1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------------------------------

This is the 4 note chromatic pattern. Its really boring, yet very useful. Play it till the 12th fret. To make this a bit more interesting you can use legato (Hammerons and Pull offs), and string skipping. When you use string skipping use your imagination, you can play the 4 note pattern in E String then skip to D, then A to G and so on.

Exercise 3 
D U D 
|-------------------------------1-2-3--4-3-2------------------------------- 
|-------------------------1-2-3--------------4-3-2-etc--------------------- 
|-------------------1-2-3-------------------------------------------------- 
|-------------1-2-3-------------------------------------------------------- 
|-------1-2-3-------------------------------------------------------------- 
|-1-2-3--------------------------------------------------------------------

Now this may seem simple enough. But trust me, its not. Its pretty deifficult to keep the D U D U pattern going. Thats the key to this exercise. Try to play D U D U, until you become absolutely 100% accurate. Use string skipping.

Exercise 4 
D U D U 
|-----------------------------------------1-3-2-4---------| 
|---------------------------------1-3-2-4---------2-4-3-5-| 
|-------------------------1-3-2-4-------------------------| 
|-----------------1-3-2-4---------------------------------| 
|---------1-3-2-4-----------------------------------------| 
|-1-3-2-4-------------------------------------------------| 

|-----------------------------------------| 
|-----------------------------------------| 
|-2-4-3-5---------------------------------| 
|---------2-4-3-5-------------------------| 
|-----------------2-4-3-5---------3-5-4-6-| 
|-------------------------2-4-3-5---------|

Now this is very very useful! Now instead of using playing 1324, you may also play 1423 or 1324 or anything. Use your imagination. Use string skipping.

Exercise 5 
D U D U 
|-1234----------------------------------------------6789--| 
|------2345------------------------------------6789-------| 
|-----------3456--------------------------6789------------| 
|----------------4567----------------6789-----------------| 
|---------------------5678------6789----------------------| 
|--------------------------6789---------------------------| 


|---------------------------------------------------4321--| 
|-8765-----------------------------------------4321-------| 
|------7654-------------------------------4321------------| 
|-----------6543---------------------4321-----------------| 
|----------------5432-----------4321----------------------| 
|---------------------4321-4321---------------------------| 

Exercise 6 and 7 
D D D D 
|-----------------------4-------------------------| 
|---------------4-----3---------5---------------6-| 
|-------4-----3-----2---------4---------5-----5---| 
|-----3-----2-----1---------3---------4-----4-----| 
|---2-----1---------------2---------3-----3-------| 
|-1-------------------------------2---------------| 
UUUU 
|-1-------------------------------2---------------| 
|---2-----1---------------2---------3-----3-------| 
|-----3-----2-----1---------3---------4-----4-----| 
|-------4-----3-----2---------4---------5-----5---| 
|---------------4-----3---------5---------------6-| 
|-----------------------4-------------------------|

These 2 exercises will later help you with sweep picking, treat them with respect, and you will be rewarded. Now before I finish I will provide one more exercise, in fact its a pattern. That is you can use it with scales and stuff. Its probably the most common off em all. And as you get faster you'll realise how often they are used by your favourite speed demons.

D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U 

|---------------------------------|--------------------------------| 
|---------------------------------|--------------------------------| 
|---------------------------------|--------------------------------| 
|---------------------------------|---------5-------5-6----5-6-7---| 
|---------5-------5-6-----5-6-7---|-5-6-7-8---6-7-8----7-8-------8-| 
|-5-6-7-8---6-7-8-----7-8-------8-|--------------------------------| 

|---------------------------------|----------------------------------| 
|---------------------------------|---------5-------5-6-----5-6-7----| 
|---------5-------5-6-----5-6-7---|-5-6-7-8---6-7-8-----7-8-------8--| 
|-5-6-7-8---6-7-8-----7-8-------8-|----------------------------------| 
|---------------------------------|----------------------------------| 
|---------------------------------|----------------------------------|

Now this is really basic, spend some time with and try using it in your solos- very useful. You should play all the exercises above regularly even though its got the same effect as watching Oprah. But unlike Oprah this helps (no hard feelings n e 1, its just that the show is boring). Try to make them more interesting by using effects, using variations I. e strike each notes in a different way, vary your speed, use other legato and all.

Now that ends part I, (I don't know whether there will be a Part 2). If you are a beginner, what I would suggest is play each exercise in such a way, that you can play em with your eyes closed. Then use the metronome, and gradually increase your speed that is from 110 to 120. Dont kill yourself by starting of with 150. Thats about it! Take care and remember that the metronome is your best friend.

Note: In my 3 years of learning these are some exercises which have improves my playing a lot, I have studied articles, videos and lots of other stuff. If the article looks or is similar to any other in the internet, its accidental. There is no plagiarism involved.

- Jeeshan Mirza ([e-mail])

Comments

[rhysy_boi]

this was really useful. what do you think i should do to practice palm muting down strokes like in punk music?

[metallikat4eva]

dude! This lesson is awesome. I'm gonna start using this!!!

[Epi_47]

dude, this lesson is great, i now have the speed to play lots of rock solos. Thanx a blot

[EthanBrand]

These exercises are absolutely great...if you practice this a lot, it could really improve your skills...

[SERGIO..1]

VERY WELL THA AUTHOR OF THIS SHOULD GAIN A PRIZE...JA JA JA

[gunMETALxx]

nice lesson, helps a s*** load

[Xenophus]

awesome as less, thanks a lot!

[Eyeswman2008]

sweet laeeson dude, it helped alot

[Simon1982]

Excellent post for beginners, cheers

[ACoven]

great lesson improved my speed a lot

[blobbyknott666]

kick ass lesson dude, helped me alot

[ajhmou812]

great warm-ups... rhysy_boi - try doing it slow at first, then as fast as you can. be sure to keep your arms, shoulder, back and neck completely relaxed.. use only your wrist in the movements. if you start hurting, stop and shake it out to prevent long term damage... if you want good fast consecutive plam muted downstrokes, screw that punk rock crap.. try heavy metal.

[big_daddy5434]

great lesson man this is the same chromatics and techniques that almost all the greats used...like zakk wylde >....ROCK ON!!!

[angusrox]

I'm a beginner, and haven't tried it yet, but it looks like a good thing, thanx!

[guitar-matt2004]

Wow, i think this is the first article without any negative comments! And quite rightly too! Kick ass lesson man!

[M@rshy]

^^^ U SUCK

[captain cake]

this is cool ill try this

[Mental.Hell.War]

Your tequniques are looking smialer to my teachers work f""" her i pay 20 bucks an hour for fkin nuthin Fk HER!

[Mental.Hell.War]

and by the way good gob really a fine way to boost the speed up alot

[Mental.Hell.War]

M@rshy ur a fkin fag fk noone likes you and you try giving courses online its hard so sht the fk up

[maxvcore]

I believe he was joking in response to guitar-matt2004's post...

[Akira.UT]

Nice one mate, seem's to have helped a helluva lot of new players.

[Cubo]

Looks like useful lesson

[buitarmadness]

this exercise is very useful, i can play much faster now then before, but one main problem is i have to keep looking at the frets while my fingers tap them, i may be fast but it doesn't look good, coz i keep on looking at the neck of my guitar. any tips so that i gain confidence tapping, plucking and strumming the right strings even with my eyes closed?

[EatsP1es]

thanks so much man, this lesson kicks ass

[kirk_rules!]

this article explains everything i was looking for. I couldn't find a good speed training lesson.
THANX!

[ChordProgressiv]

Good lesson. Reminds me that alternate picking is something I need to practice.

[powelr]

This is extremely helpful! Thank you.

[Super_Slash]

What does upstroke and downstroke means?

[greensand]

downstroke-when you strike the guitar with your pick in a downard motion.
upstroke- when you strike the strings with an upward motion.

Great article. thanks!

[DecembersFading]

very helpful thanks!

[Sanitarium24]

AWESOME everyone could use this

[gooch]

good article dude
ive been looking for somethin like this

[Mupp]

This is great practise exercises

Thanks alot

[Mattsz111]

Good article theres only one problem when I play scales and things like this for more than 15 minutes I get this terrible pain in my pinky ,can anyone help me get over this ?

[Mattsz111]

Great aricle
The only problem is that when I try to play scales and things like this for more than 15 minutes I get this terrible pain in my pinky, has anyone got some good advice ?

[noneoftheabove]

You have a bent pinky don't you!! I know I do...if that's the case, practice using your pinky instead of curling it up...not that you have to play with it, but if you practice fretting with your pinky it's easier to relax it while you play other things. building pinky strength, at least some should help, at least, it helped me.

[123 Extol]

Thanks for the awesome lesson. I no longer have problems with alternate picking, and I have added this to my daily practice to work on speed and get alternate picking perfect.

Thanks again.

[SOV]

This lesson was VERY usefull thanx

[Greenday1989]

this is great man help loads thanx

[Camdon]

buitarmadness... they aren't watching you to see that you look at the guitar neck... theyre watching to hear you play

[[mr_mister]]

this is great for improving speed if you're new to guitar

[badmilk]

i have a question...im new to guitar and i was wondering if it matters for excercise two if i used one finger or four or what?

[The Novice]

Thanks, this was REALLY helpfull

[thunderhawk-76]

nice,helps

[ibanez916]

this was f***in awesome. it really helped. thanx alot. wen u creat a new lesson make sure to tell me. i went through alot of these lessons and urs was one of the ones that helped BIG TIME

[ICANSEEYOU7687]

Im still doing exercise 2 mainly because my pinky needs a lot of work and so does my altenate picking. But I was practising my scales earlier today and I was naturally alternating my picking..I literally stopped myself an said "WTF?" LoL! Great article! helping me a lot!

[redibanezplayer]

This is very similar to how i learn speed metal good job!

[heavy_metal747]

this is a evry nice lesson for beginners, it would sure have helped if i ahd something like this when i was learning lol

haha i lvoe the part about oprah...actually i think those excersises are more entertaining than oprah....except that time that tom cruise guy went crazy lol

[Orca_Wave_]

so in the 3-note-a-string practice, is it d-u-d-u-d-u-d-u or d-u-d-d-u-d

[Nosf3ratu]

Orca:

It's always d-u-d-u

[Slayer23222]

Thanks this helped me get faster. I mostly had fun with exercise 3.

[tuluks]

after reading this lesson, something inside my head is tellin me to go and get a guitar....
i must obey...

[bustin_beats288]

^^good idea.

great lesson,

[hairyboy]

really a great lesson!! very useful..

[OldSchoolBlues]

obviously i play mostly blues, therefore my chops=shitty i havent even started using this but i printed it out :P, i dont know how i wouldnt help so thanks a lot man.

[yorkmann]

great lesson dude thanks!! oh another thing!! try plain the intro to metallicas crash course in brain surgery song, that will increase your speed as it is easy but played at a fast tempo!1

[yorkmann]

iv benn readin the comments and what keeps comin up is the issuse of a begginers worst nightmare.....THE PINKY!!! ahhhhh *run*.....STOP!....dont run cos iv found a song that will help you build pinky strenght!! play wonderwall by oasis..i started doin that an now i cant get enough of playin with my pinky!!

[Empo]

OH HELL YEAH!!!!! This is very very nice lesson.

[caine1029]

learned the simpler bits years ago but i struggled with thinkin up variations on that theme, thanx alot dude, u helped me loads

[rock!ng gtar!st]

nc lesson dude

[Mikekmk420]

nice

[WhiteLightning]

ill give it a try

[ChipofosheezyYo]

So I'm wondering...is the fact that they're chromatic just busy work or does it actually help you build the speed faster?

I was just wondering if like...I just started at the first fret and did a major or blues scale and went all the way down to the 12th fret and back would it have the same affect?

[simmons100]

that really helped

[triviumjunkie]

u should tottally get a metal for this. it has improved my speed alot.

[Auals]

It's medal* Trivium

Great lesson man, really well done, you helped me realise i automatically play dudududududu when i'm going down strings, even during that 3 fret one i did it without thinking

Oh and the guy who said to build pinky strength play wonderwall?

Play any song which makes you hold the D on the B string and G on the E string for the chords examples are

Wonderwall - Oasis (obviously)
Collide - Howie Day
Slide - Goo Goo Dolls (i play it held down like that because it gives the song more atmosphere when played acoustically

that's 3 for you and they help heaps, i NEVER have trouble with my pinky now, after a gig my pinky never hurts and half my songs that i play use the B-D, E-G, setup

Or you can just do these exercises over and over again if you don't want to play "soft" acoustic songs :p:

up to you

Back on topic, nice lesson man, very well done

[SayDie123]

im not having a hard time at the dududu, but at the
1324 and 2435!! >_

[mathieupM13]

Fantastic

[Donkey Fly]

Yer this is good but it's it should be general knowledge anyway. It's giving me some stuff to do atleast.

Cheers

[ac/dc=awsomenes]

very good lessson =) 10/10 my son is pleased

[br4vw]

Dude excellent lesson!

I really think this will help my playing ALOT

[B00bs]

What i did to really strenthen my pinky is when i started playing i was into punk alot more and i played all the power chords with my first, ring, and pinky for the EAD, or ADG strings, and it really helped alot for the chords and solos in the metallica and megadeth songs i learnt later, now im alot more into metal and these patterns help alot with my speed.

[dragonball]

can i do this lesson on an acoustic guitar ?????

[tamotots]

great lesson! it sure helped me alot!

[Metallisti_]

This helps alot Thank you!

[valley boy]

badmilk wrote:

i have a question...im new to guitar and i was wondering if it matters for excercise two if i used one finger or four or what?

use all four. it will help with your overall speed alot more than using one finger


this was really helpful, thanx alot

[fret_catalyst]

Great lesson man.
know any lessons on palm sliding though?

[metalman89]

Are you guys using alternate picking for this? I'm practicing at 50 BPM right now with all downstrokes.

[metalman89]

^^^I meant to post this in another lesson, sorry. Haha.

[dethmetalord]

this lessons is sooo good.

[aaron00lee]

Awesome dude, very helpful

[guitarist10]

rhysy_boi :
this was really useful. what do you think i should do to practice palm muting down strokes like in punk music?

Personally I despise punk rock...No offence intended.

BUT! I do have an exercise for you, repeat the movement! Seriously! This isn't really that hard of a movement to get down...or, at least not for me.
Just stop your palm on the strings... Probably not the best explaination but, the best I could think of this late at night...

AWSOME LESSON!!!!!

[guitarist10]

dragonball wrote:

can i do this lesson on an acoustic guitar ?????

Why not! It might be a little more difficult because of the string size but, nobody says you can't! Plus! The thicker strings mean you can build pinky strength much faster!

[diegomdth]

very good lesson... but i have problems with the solos.....when i play them... other cords souns too!!.... if u know what to do to make the others cords soud..... please contact me.....

[diegomdth]

very good lesson... but i have problems with the solos.....when i play them... other cords sounds too..... if u know what to do ro make the other cords stop playing..... please cntact me....

[Ex'sAndOh's]

I'm going to start trying this out.

Thanks.

[wewso]

THIS ROCKS \m/

[Sandon8]

Hats off dude.....awesome.....sure hope this will help my pinky stregth

[|Guitarhead|]

Great lesson! I'm sure it helps beginers a lot. And many more advanced players too! It helped me revise my alternate picking. Something I had never got round to finishing.

[orattar]

this lesson is amazing, after 40 min of doing it i could hear the diffrent..

[BabySnatcher]

I guess the whole concept is strenghtening your fingers

[revo crazy]

wow i have been doing this for 10 minuites (i was kind of getting sloppy at speed) and i have got loads faster

[rg_slut]

my hands is smarter now!

[zazazabuza]

This is an excellent article! well presented and easy to do exercises. Nice job mate, this is just what i was looking for.

[Unded_Metalhead]

wen sweep pikkin is it ok 2 hold da pattern lyk a chrd??or shud u hold each note seperately???

gud lesson btw

[notoriousnumber]

Hmm, I disagree with the dududud, in other words, strict alternate picking, with regards to playing 3 notes per string.

Economy picking, where your hand "glides" to the next string, instead of going over it then back down, is much more effecient, comfurtable and smoother.

There will be a whole other lesson for that, probably saying its not that good, but I will say that personally I find it hugely more useful.

[gilles_frehley]

I think econmy picking feels better to :p
but I guess not everyone prefers the same picking technique
maybe others find the dududud more comfortable when playing 3-notes-per-string-licks

[estranged12]

does he mean 8 notes or 16 notes per beat?

[Deathscaller]

AWESOME lesson thanks a ton.

[ABR21]

thanks!

[superfuzzybunny]

beautiful lesson dude it helped alot. try using different symbols for your downstroke.

[ABR21]

playing on acoustic and doing it then going to my strat helps so much
great lesson thx

[ello pirate m8]

Thanks man, these are really good!!!!

[Kevhah]

totally great, these are really good exercises!
keep it up!

[vanilla_bear798]

wow this really works been doing this for 3 weeks now and i dnt even realize im alternate picking anymore my hand jus does it now.....best lesson i have seen so far thanks!!

[Youth Gone Wild]

vanilla_bear798 wrote:

wow this really works been doing this for 3 weeks now and i dnt even realize im alternate picking anymore my hand jus does it now.....best lesson i have seen so far thanks!!

ALternate picking bacomes second nature after a while and you can't beleive some people can't do it ... i'd liken it to breathing

[Roughneck-1]

That was a really great leasson....my speed went up drastically!