how do you become a fast player?

ive bin playing guitar for quite a while now an ive listened to guitarists, an wonderin how it is possible to play so fast. i practice for about 1 to 2 hours a day (i dont force myself i just do). what can i do that could help me become a faster player?
# 1
Practice. Nobody else need respond to this thread. The answer is practice.
# 2
Metronome...
Jolly: I do what I want... :p
Jolly: I do what I want... :p
"My whole life is a dark room...ONE BIG DARK ROOM" - a.f.i.
# 3
Jolly have you been sitting next to Incidents Happen again ?
Yes to most questions the answer is practice !!!
Yes to most questions the answer is practice !!!
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my toons Brought to you by Dr BadGAS
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# 4
Originally Posted by: Dr_simonJolly have you been sitting next to Incidents Happen again ?
Yes to most questions the answer is practice !!!
Hahaha, no, not this time. I've just noticed that most questions that can be answered with "practice" get answered by about nine hundred people.
# 5
There was a good quote from this english dude called David Mead who is the editor of a guitar magazine, has written a bunch of books etc
... The Answer is practice, now what was the question ?
... The Answer is practice, now what was the question ?
My instructors page and www.studiotrax.net for all things recording.
my toons Brought to you by Dr BadGAS
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# 6

I don't really get the hype about being a fast player. I mean, you can play fast and not play something difficult. I've played slow riffs that are times harder than the faster ones. I guess its all in your taste.
You're an inspiration for birth control. - Duke Nukem.
# 7

Make EVERY note come from your heart and soul.I'd rather play one awesome note,squeezing every ounce of life from it,than 20 lickety split notes.Speed will come.I've seen more players,myself included,try to emphasize speed over quality.I usually end up tripping over the whole solo and it ends in a trainwreck,and I'm pretty darn fast.Start with clean,pure exact notes.
just mho :cool:
just mho :cool:
# 8
Definately Practice ;) (How dare you cut into my posts Jolly :mad: ) Through repitition you develop muscle memory that lets you play faster and faster. A metronome will definately help with your sense of timing.
billywhitewolf's post made me think of a question for you guys. How do you recover if you're playing something and make a mistake. Sometimes I can feel a mistake coming on a few moments before it actually happens. What do you guys tend to do to lessen the noticability of such a mistake. It's further complicated when I got a drum beat going and the mistake leaves me off the beat.
billywhitewolf's post made me think of a question for you guys. How do you recover if you're playing something and make a mistake. Sometimes I can feel a mistake coming on a few moments before it actually happens. What do you guys tend to do to lessen the noticability of such a mistake. It's further complicated when I got a drum beat going and the mistake leaves me off the beat.
Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel.
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# 9

i've heard some people say if you make a mistake, to do it again, and somehow make it flow back into what you are doing. makes it appear like you did it on purpose, and you were just doing something weird.
another one i've heard is if you happen to be flat, bend it to the note you are supposed to be on.
or, just practice :eek: :D
another one i've heard is if you happen to be flat, bend it to the note you are supposed to be on.
or, just practice :eek: :D
# 10

If I felt like being redundant I would remind you to practice more.
Work on your picking more than your left hand. Pick like you've got a pair, practice your scales like you're trying to get the baddest tone possible with your setup. You need a strong wrist to play fast.
Work on your picking more than your left hand. Pick like you've got a pair, practice your scales like you're trying to get the baddest tone possible with your setup. You need a strong wrist to play fast.
"If one has realized a truth, that truth is valueless so long as there is lacking the indomitable will to turn this realization into action!"
-A.H.
-A.H.
# 11

self dicipline is very important... you must differentiate what is practice and playing. practice is something very boring, which you play again and again and again till you master the skill. and playing with guitar is just play whatever you like for instance strumming while sing your favourite songs, well i think that won't improve your speed anyway. force yourself to keep in practice and keep the spirit all the time, with the hardwork and effort of course you can be a faster and faster player. i dun use metronomes (i usually stamping to create some beat), i just play scale and some of my favourite solo... faster and faster. i am practicing like that, do hope can help you some... :)
# 12
Ironically enough, one of the answers to getting fast is go slow. If you can't play something slow, you'll never be able to play it fast. If you play something 100 times correctly at a slow and easy tempo, there's no reason why the 101st time should be wrong, where as if you're playing the same thing 100 times poorly at 200 bpm, then why would that 101st time be expected to be right? Like Jolly said, practice, but a metronome and slowing things down do help (I had asked about building speed already and the metronome thing does work...a lot).
The Gods Made Heavy Metal, And They Saw That It Was Good
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Whatever you do, don't eat limes. A friend of mine ate a lime once and BAM!! Two years later. Herpes.
They Said To Play It Louder Than Hell, We Promised That We Would
Hulk Smash!!
Whatever you do, don't eat limes. A friend of mine ate a lime once and BAM!! Two years later. Herpes.
# 13

Ok first of all set goals for yourself. "Playing fast" is a term that can be used extremely loosely. For example, you may say that Stevie Ray Vaughan is a fast player, but put him up to Yngwie and he's like a tortoise. Make your goal as specific as possible, eg, I want to play this lick at 150 BPM, or this scale on all 16ths at 200 BPM or sweep arps all 16ths at 160 BPM... etc. You can have more than one goal at once. Once you have achieved your goal, make a new one - that way you will always be improving yourself.
Now develop a routine to practice with. Get a metronome, have your goal in your mind (or written down), and write down a practice schedule that goes along with your goal. Here's some pointers for helping you do this:
-Always spend at least 15-30 minutes warming up. Get some good warm up licks and patterns off of this site or another, stretch your hands out, then do the licks at a very slow tempo. You have no idea the benefits of warming up properly.
-If your goal is to play a certain solo at a certain speed, do not spend the majority of your schedule working on that solo. It may seem tempting, but if you have a half an hour of other stuff, then an hour of working out one lick, the lick becomes tedious and boring. This doesn't seem very bad at first, but eventually you'll get so bored that you won't pay attention and become sloppy. I would only spend 30 min. max on this part of the routine.
-Work on scales for awhile. Don't limit yourself to just one pattern though, find one scale and try to figure out patterns all over the neck. A lot of fast playing you'll see is just ripping up scales and arps., so you might as well go to the source. One good thing to do is to practice scales while watching TV or reading a book, because it'll work in subliminally. You'll go back to the guitar and find that you know the patterns by heart! If youi feel so inclined you may spend an hour or more on scales.
That's all I have to say about the technical aspect of routines (except you may want to insert things lick working on vibrato, tapping, arpeggios, legato).
Now while you are practicing - remember to play slow and work it in the muscles (I know, it's a redundant thing that everyone tells you). Play cloes attention to your picking technique while you practice to, make sure that if your going for alternate, you're doing strict alternate picking. Same for econ... etc.
Ok I'm done. Hope that helps!
Now develop a routine to practice with. Get a metronome, have your goal in your mind (or written down), and write down a practice schedule that goes along with your goal. Here's some pointers for helping you do this:
-Always spend at least 15-30 minutes warming up. Get some good warm up licks and patterns off of this site or another, stretch your hands out, then do the licks at a very slow tempo. You have no idea the benefits of warming up properly.
-If your goal is to play a certain solo at a certain speed, do not spend the majority of your schedule working on that solo. It may seem tempting, but if you have a half an hour of other stuff, then an hour of working out one lick, the lick becomes tedious and boring. This doesn't seem very bad at first, but eventually you'll get so bored that you won't pay attention and become sloppy. I would only spend 30 min. max on this part of the routine.
-Work on scales for awhile. Don't limit yourself to just one pattern though, find one scale and try to figure out patterns all over the neck. A lot of fast playing you'll see is just ripping up scales and arps., so you might as well go to the source. One good thing to do is to practice scales while watching TV or reading a book, because it'll work in subliminally. You'll go back to the guitar and find that you know the patterns by heart! If youi feel so inclined you may spend an hour or more on scales.
That's all I have to say about the technical aspect of routines (except you may want to insert things lick working on vibrato, tapping, arpeggios, legato).
Now while you are practicing - remember to play slow and work it in the muscles (I know, it's a redundant thing that everyone tells you). Play cloes attention to your picking technique while you practice to, make sure that if your going for alternate, you're doing strict alternate picking. Same for econ... etc.
Ok I'm done. Hope that helps!
There are only two important things in life - There's music and theres girls, not necessarily in that order....
The Ace's Guitar Tricks
The Ace's Guitar Tricks
# 14

Man people who say stuff like "Howd you play fast?" should have their guitars confiscated! Its like people who wana be famous- they want a byproduct of a skill. Fame and speed are two things that arent important in playing an insturment. :rolleyes:
The emotions you get from it are whats important- and that shouldnt be down to how fast you can play! :)
The emotions you get from it are whats important- and that shouldnt be down to how fast you can play! :)
# 15

for all u simple minded heads who replied with *practice* cant u already tell the host of this forum already knows that he needs to practice?
i dont consider praciticing guitar *practice*
i do it kuz its fun, i sit dwon, train myself, but i dont think its a practice, its an obssesive enjoyment
there are some things u can try if u wana *sound* like a virtuoso
-sweep picking arpegios up and down (but u gotta know ur arpegio chord progresssion before u improvise sweeping
-alternate picking (look at yngwie, do i need to say more?)
-tapping, one of my favorite stuff to do, wil make u sound hella fast n good, melodic as well, depends on what mode u wanna tap on, harmnoic minor sounds the best to me, lydian, if u wana sound liek vai
-hamer on pull off, including the open note on open string, for ex: 0h4h7
0h5h7, 0h5h7h9, ect... those were majors by the way
-also, try to come up wiht ur own lick, which u are comfortable with.
for ex, Vai's for the love of god solo, his first phrase is ona a very comfortable fingering, and he shreds it
-repreat ur phrases
i dont consider praciticing guitar *practice*
i do it kuz its fun, i sit dwon, train myself, but i dont think its a practice, its an obssesive enjoyment
there are some things u can try if u wana *sound* like a virtuoso
-sweep picking arpegios up and down (but u gotta know ur arpegio chord progresssion before u improvise sweeping
-alternate picking (look at yngwie, do i need to say more?)
-tapping, one of my favorite stuff to do, wil make u sound hella fast n good, melodic as well, depends on what mode u wanna tap on, harmnoic minor sounds the best to me, lydian, if u wana sound liek vai
-hamer on pull off, including the open note on open string, for ex: 0h4h7
0h5h7, 0h5h7h9, ect... those were majors by the way
-also, try to come up wiht ur own lick, which u are comfortable with.
for ex, Vai's for the love of god solo, his first phrase is ona a very comfortable fingering, and he shreds it
-repreat ur phrases
# 16

To play/alternate pick fast and accurately, you need to slow things down until you can play and repeat the passage flawlessly. Don't practice mistakes or sloppy notes! Speed will come naturally with time.
Another important thing is that you play slow exactly like you play fast, or else once you start speeding up, the picking motions might change and you'll hit a speed barrier that you can't seem to pass.
To make sure, just alternate pick a single note as fast as you can and start slowing down, without changing the picking motion.. then practice your passages with THOSE picking motions.
Another important thing is that you play slow exactly like you play fast, or else once you start speeding up, the picking motions might change and you'll hit a speed barrier that you can't seem to pass.
To make sure, just alternate pick a single note as fast as you can and start slowing down, without changing the picking motion.. then practice your passages with THOSE picking motions.
# 17

dude i got the same problem. iv been playin for 5 years now and i cant play any cool metal licks. u know the kinds that r like: meedly meedly meedly meedly meedly MEEEEEEEE!!!!!! but neways. iv seen ppl that hav playd for less than i have and can tare it up. and i know that i just need to practice. but i do. all day. everyday. but i only play songs that i know well and easy rythem stuff. so just the word "practice" doesnt really work cus its too broad of a term. i relized that i need to practice exercise riffs. everytime i pick up the guitar i play exercise riffs for like 20 mins. theres some really cool exercise riff on this site. iv been noticing my speed and dextarity has improved.
# 18
Originally Posted by: Antwondude i got the same problem. iv been playin for 5 years now and i cant play any cool metal licks. u know the kinds that r like: meedly meedly meedly meedly meedly MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Strongbad!!!
# 19
Originally Posted by: Antwonthe kinds that r like: meedly meedly meedly meedly meedly MEEEEEEEE!!!!!! [/QUOTE]
Just thought you know I audibly laughed when I read your onomatopoeia on a metal solo. Good one dude :cool:
[QUOTE=Jolly]Strongbad!!!
I remember that one :). Back when I was in college, 2 of my roommates were frat boys and I'd always say, "You can wear the shirt from the party you had last month, and then one of you can whip out an acoustic guitar and play 'white' blues". Cracked us all the up :D
Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel.
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# 20