The basics of speed guitar playing

Learn how pro guitarists riff at lightning speeds and how you can develop the same techniques.

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Everyone has seen incredible guitar players that seemed to defy the laws of physics and play at the speed of sound. While it may seem a bit hard to attain, with a little work and understanding you can improve your technique and increase your speed on the guitar. After all, playing fast on the guitar can sometimes be as fun as putting the pedal to the metal in a race car. The problems arise when your fingers just don’t seem to be moving or coordinating fast enough, or you may play fast, but it sounds more like unintelligible mumbles rather than a coherent musical phrase.

When you are admiring your favorite guitarist playing fast you will probably notice that there is a clarity of execution and a rhythmic stability that makes whatever they are playing very easy to comprehend. So it’s not just about playing fast, but playing fast and having a clean execution of your musical idea on the instrument.

In musical lingo, speed is expressed as tempo. Here’s a little tip that’ll get you on your way to playing fast: start slower. Crystal clear playing is perceived as faster and better than up-tempo unclean mumbling on the guitar. You will always give your audience the impression of playing faster by being clean in your execution. So how do you do it? Where do you start? The secret to playing fast on the guitar is to start slow. If you’re sitting there dumbfounded, you are not alone. How can slow be the secret to fast? Any guitar teacher worth anything will understand the value of starting slow.

When you are playing fast, it’s your reflexes that are taking over and doing the job. It’s more like being on cruise control. You can think of it like this: a computer program can do millions of computations and get you the result in a split second. However, you first have to write the program, which is always a slow process. In much the same way, you must slowly put in the information needed so that your brain can create the right reflexes. The slower you do it, the clearer and stronger you will build your reflexes. This in turn leads to greater speed on the guitar while at the same time retaining clarity. Start by playing slow and with great care for clarity. Keep in mind that you are learning material that will ultimately be played at much higher speeds. As such it is very important to think ahead. For example, use alternate strokes instead of down strokes only if you’re picking, or alternate the fingers if you are fingerpicking.

The reason why most beginners seem to get stuck in their quest for speed is their lack of understanding the game plan. In most cases you will be using alternate strokes when playing fast material. The up-down-up-down pattern must be constant. Any little stutter or hiccup in this pattern is akin to a runner tripping and falling face down during a race. Playing slow will allow you to see where you unconsciously put in two down strokes for example and correct it.

When you play the material at very slow speeds make sure your movements are smooth, even and don’t present any jerkiness or stuttering in them. As you play the material you’ll start to feel where tension points exist. In most cases this is because the alternate stroke principle was not respected. Correct this at slow speeds and make sure things become smooth before moving on to higher speeds. Make sure your fretboard hand is playing and making the position changes as smooth as possible. Increase the speed gradually and don’t move on to the next tempo until playing at the tempo you are at feels natural.

In most cases the guitar players you admire perform on stage below their speed limit. This means that they work on the material past the speed you see them play onstage. By not playing at their terminal velocity on stage, they allow themselves a little headroom. This is why they seem so relaxed when performing. You can also use this little trick to your advantage. Rehearse the material at higher speeds than you will be performing on stage. Once you’ve “raised the roof,” you will feel much more comfortable playing at the normal tempo.

If you put all this information into practice it won’t be long before you’ll see that speed barrier crumble as you push through on your way to becoming a monster guitarist.

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