If you’ve been playing the guitar for awhile and can’t seem to get any more speed on your licks, don’t worry because this happens to almost every guitarist. Some guitarists just have more time than others to hash out these skills while you’re left there wishing you could play faster.
You might like playing the guitar as much as the next person, but getting to a professional level of speed sometimes sounds intimidating. Take it one step at a time with these effective tips to start playing fast guitar better.
1. Give your forearms some exercise. If you have weak forearms, you might be looking at the reason you can’t seem to speed up your progress. Take yourself out to the gym and start pumping up those forearms to get that speed increase you need.
2. Do other finger-intensive exercises. Playing fast guitar might be in your mind when the instrument is in your hand, but there are plenty of other things that can improve your finger movement throughout the day. Take up some other skills that involve intensive finger movement like typing or playing the piano in order to keep your fingers working hard.
3. Typing tests are very helpful. If you like to type, then you’re on the right track to improving your guitar-playing speed. Check out some typing test on the internet and actually measure how fast that you’re typing. You’re actually working out your fingers in the process.
4. Cracking your knuckles won’t help you. If you’re the type of person that cracks their knuckles often, you might be paying for it later in life. You could be developing problems in the movement of your fingers and wrists. Try to keep away from this if you want to be playing faster guitar later.
5. Practice electric parts on the acoustic guitar. Maybe you have a couple riffs that you’re playing somewhat fast on the guitar. Transfer them over to the acoustic and try your hand. Your muscles will learn to adapt to the harsher conditions of the acoustic while the speed of playing on the electric guitar will slowly begin to increase.
6. Set reasonable speed goals. You can’t expect to reach goals that sound absolutely crazy and that’s most of the reason guitarists give up on themselves. Set goals that are challenging, but possible to ensure you stay on track with your skills.
It’s a hard business to start playing faster guitar riffs, but it can be accomplished by dedicating yourself to every practice and being consistent with your strategies. Put these 6 tips to the test and see if you can start increasing your guitar speed.
Kyle Hoffman has been a guitarist in a number of accomplished hardcore and rock bands for years. Get your hands on his important tips to playing fast electric guitar absolutely FREE at his well-known guitar blog, How To Guitar Tune now!
