Guitarists: What do you do to increase speed & dexterity?

[jfrog]

Guitarists: What exercises/drills do you do to increase fretboard speed & dexterity?

[andyhix]

you don't want to know.

[Rockerbob]

Play a lot! That's about it.

[glimmer_doll]

umm....Megadeth style...

strap on a pound of crystal meth and just go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go
etc...

[chadsxe]

umm practice

[jfrog]

Originally Posted by chadsxe

umm practice

umm yeah. That kind of goes without saying...which is why I didn't say it.

Practice what & how is really the question...what works and what doesn't? Scales? Finger strengthening exercises? What works for you guys?

I actually play quite a bit, and have done so for many years. Like (probably) many of us, my practice is somewhat innefficient: Most of the time I'm either (1) learning a specific song for a performance, (2) recording or (3) noodling around.

[chadsxe]

Well thats your problem if your practicing songs for performance then chances are you not praticing anything that challenges you. If you want to learn metal and triplits play Lamb of god stuff. If you want to play improvised rhtym blues play Pride and Joy. It all depends on what you want to strengthen.

[mojew]

find really hard solos and learn them. learning brian setzer solos has definitely made me a better guitarist.

learn all the scales in all the modes. i have yet to do this... but thats what every guitar teacher i've ever talked to has told me to do.

oh yeah: PRACTICE TO A METRONOME!!!!

[Scottgman]

Here is what I like to do. It's a finger exercise that increases coordination and dexterity. I use it as a warm-up before I play or practice. I kind of think of it as a bench-press for the fingers. If you want to increase your speed, practice this exercise while increasing the speed each time. Another way is to practice your picking technique: instead of hitting each note once, try hitting them twice, three times, or four times.


e|-----------------------------------------1-2-3-4-|
B|---------------------------------1-2-3-4---------|
G|-------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------|
D|-----------------1-2-3-4-------------------------|
A|---------1-2-3-4---------------------------------|
E|-1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------|


Then move it up a half-step:

e|-----------------------------------------2-3-4-5-|
B|---------------------------------2-3-4-5---------|
G|-------------------------2-3-4-5-----------------|
D|-----------------2-3-4-5-------------------------|
A|---------2-3-4-5---------------------------------|
E|-2-3-4-5-----------------------------------------|


I do this until my pinky hits the 12th fret. You can change it up in all kinds of different ways. I like to change it up to keep it fresh and challenging. Use hammer-ons and pull-offs. Pick each note once or multiple times. Do it up the neck on each string instead of down the strings. One variation I've been liking lately is like this:


e|-----------------------------------------6-7-8-9---------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------5-6-7-8---------7-8-9-10------------------------|
G|-------------------------4-5-6-7--------------------------8-9-10-11--------------|
D|-----------------3-4-5-6-------------------------------------------9-10-11-12----|
A|---------2-3-4-5-----------------------------------------------------10-11-12-13-|
E|-1-2-3-4--------------------------------------------------------------11-12-13-14|


Ran out of space there at the end... heh. But, you get the idea.

This exercise is great for increaseding right-hand/left-hand coordination. But--as with any exercise-- I think gradually increasing the speed will improve your speed technique.

[photoresistor]

I have a friend who would play master of puppets over and over and over... it isn't THAT fast but it goes through the whole song i think.

anyways, he seems to think it helped him with downpicking speed and stamina.

Find a song you like thats fast or has a cool guitar part and play it... and keep playing it... haha.

[chadsxe]

This is all good advice. Just practice stuff the is really hard to you.

[Light]

Practice SLOWLY. Work your way up to fast.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[Armistice]

Nothing - I have enough speed. If I had more speed I might play more notes and there are enough of you out there playing too many already without me joining in...

I don't practice doing anything (by way of exercises) but when I'm constructing solo passages I challenge myself to get outside the box - move around on the fretboard a bit instead of staying in the one spot doing pentatonic in E - then when I find something that works, I practice playing it until I get it.

I've heard people who've spent a lot of time playing scales and modes do solos that sound just like scales and modes. Not for me, to to each his own....

[gtar02]

segovia scales

[Chill]

Steve Vai's 10 hour workout. Which was apparently 30 hours when it was republished in one of the guitar mags 4/04. Scottgman's exercises look similar to some of the exercises in there.

Also try 1234, 2341, 3412, 4123 going up each string, then move everything up one fret on the top E and go back down, continuing the same pattern, then back up, then down one fret, then back down the strings.

Scales: 3 notes per string is good for memorization, but not the greatest for speed on the way back down. Try a 2/ 4/ 2/ 4 notes per string pattern on the way back down for better picking efficiency. There's a free online lesson about picking speed which deals with this...I just forgot where it is. Maybe over at harmony central, guitars101, or chops from HELL!!!

Pentatonic: know all 5 positions by heart. Go up and down 4 notes at a time using hammerons and pulloffs. This is somewhat useful, but I still find that it's inefficient compared to the speed you can get with chops.

And, of course, everybody's favorite: tremolo picking. Fret a pitch and pick 16th notes, then work in patterns in the minor and major scales. E.g. Hammett's solos on Kill 'em All.

Oh, and take some tips from Strongbad: http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail36.html

[Light]

Back before my hands gave out on me, when I thought I could become a great guitarist, I practiced scales in intervals. What I would do is one key in seconds (all seven positions), and then I would do the next key in thirds (1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-5-7-6-1... again, all seven positions), and the next key in fourths (1-4-2-5-3-6-4-7-5-1-6-2-7-3-1...all seven positions), and so on. I would do all intervals, and all keys. I would rotate the starting key every day so that in the course of a week I would get every key in every interval up to sevenths. My theory, which seemed to work, was that this kept me from thinking only in seconds, which is what happens to a lot of people who only ever play scales in seconds, kept my solos from being to linier. The next step would be to start doing three interval patterns (a second, then a third; or a fourth then a seventh) so as to get your hands used to making any interval jump at any time.

Takes forever to get through them all, though. It would usually take me an hour and a half, or more.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[thehouseofshawn]

What I've adapted - VIRUS FREE!!! Lol. Had to add that.

[Purge]

That was such a cool article. I've been practicing those "angular" ones lately.

[turnitdown]

I think it's important to practice for as long a period of time as possible.... I used to sit in front of the TV for yours when I was younger, w/ guitar in hand, just noodling... my chops got pretty impressive... (Ah... the 80's!!! )

[ibanezrocks]

I can play guitar without watching tv.... but i cant watch tv without playing guitar... I'd agree with that one.

[choldy]

The non-musical approach opened up a whole new world to me. I felt as if my playing had become boring and repetetive, which was strange because technically I feel like I'm a reasonably accomplished player, and practiced a lot of scales etc. It wasn't until I read a guitar mag with Zakk Wylde's boot camp article that I realised why. I now regularly do non-musical type runs like the ones above for warming up and warming down, and it's improved my speed heaps but also made my playing a bit more interesting.

[darknailblue]

An excellent technique and musical theory website thats devoted to SHRED guitar playing is www.ibreathemusic.com Another one that is okay, but has a lot of monthly columns is www.insaneguitar.com iBreatheMusic has a fourm thats dedicated to guitar technique, songwriting, gear and everything else guitar. The best thing to do though, and everyone says it, and everyone is right, is to play technical exercises with a metronome. My personal favorite even more than those god awful 1234 permutations is to play scalar sequences. Thats how fast guitar players like petrucci, vai, satch, malmsteen, gilbert and dimeola usually developed their speed, and is a trademark of their fast playing. Record your daily progress and then take it up a notch when your TECHNIQUE is prefect. There is a difference between your mental endurance (how fast you can think), and your technique (how fast and accurate your finger move). Your mental endurace will usually increase before your technique does, so be careful not to rush it and develop sloppy technique. Concentrate on memorizing the exercise first, and then concentrate on how your fingers should move. Good luck.


~darknail

[jfrog]

Originally Posted by darknailblue

The best thing to do though, and everyone says it, and everyone is right, is to play technical exercises with a metronome.

There's that nasty word again...METRONOME!!

Next thing you'll tell me is that I need to floss my teeth! and exercise!!



I have started to do scales & such along w/ my metronome (really a drum machine) It really puts a glaring spotlight on my timing problems. Either that, or the drum machine keeps changing tempo.

[darknailblue]

It's important though!! Playing with a drum machine is better though. When I do recording and I play to a click track I usually notice that when I put the drums to it I'm slightly off. When I paly to a drum track - because of the fact that theres more going on - I play WAAAAAAAAAY more accurately. Unfortunately theres no magic way to get faster, just like theres no magic way to look like arnold swatchenegger... woah.... but anyway, practice, practice, practice.

~darknail