The Best Tips On Guitar - To Develop Speed Of It

1. Sheer Speed vs. Technique-based Speed

I divide fast playing into two categories, the first one is sheer speed or natural speed as players that fall into this category play fast what they play slow i.e. they do not adopt any special techniques to be able to play a fast passage. Eric Johnson is a great example of this, his fast playing is just as melodic and tasteful as his slow playing and indeed almost sounds like his slow playing speeded up. If you study sheer speed players, you'll notice that their fast playing defies speed techniques. Their fast playing technique varies little from their slow playing technique leading me to the conclusion that sheer speed comes naturally and is not forced in any way.


2. Play Slow to Play Fast

The obvious way to develop sheer speed is not to worry about playing fast but instead concentrate on playing as fast as you can without making the slightest mistake or clam. Your natural speed will increase over time because you are creating a solid base for it by developing control.

3. Economy of Movement

If you're just starting to build up a little speed or if your fast playing needs a little refining, economy of movement is one of the most important factors. Economy of movement basically means moving both hands in the most minimal way possible in order to facilitate fast playing. This means keeping the pick as close to the strings as you can as well as your fingering hand as close to the strings as possible without muting them.

4. Picking Techniques

There are plenty of picking techniques out there that claim to hold the key to burning up and down the fretboard. Here's my take on a few of them:

Alternate Picking

This is probably the most common technique and the one that gets taught the most. I always found it clunky and kind of mechanical. Plus, an upstroke and a downstroke have different sounds and the more you practice alternate picking, the harder it is to break the up down up down thing. Alternate picking also requires you master inside picking. This is when you have to go from an upstroke to a downstroke while passing to the next string and if not taken care of can lead to sloppiness later on.

Sarod Picking

Sarod picking is basically picking in a circular stirring motion with a loose wrist. It's similar to tremolo picking but requires much less physical exertion. If you watch Eddie Van Halen when he plays fast you'll see the technique in action. It takes a while to get up to speed but once you do, it makes playing fast pretty effortless. Sarod picking does have its disadvantages though, you can't palm mute as you need to keep your wrist slightly at an angle to the fretboard and the learning process can be frustrating.

Frank Gambale's Picking Technique

This is the one I finally settled on as it really ties together sheer speed, economy of movement and allows you to easily play fast anything you can play slow. It's basically a combination of sweep picking (don't be put off) and alternate picking but the interesting thing is the way momentum is maintained when crossing the strings. I don't know if Frank came up with it himself but it does remind me of the way Allan Holdsworth picks.

It's probably a good idea to let the man himself explain how it's done (see below for the link) and believe it or not you can actually get up to a fairly decent speed in a relatively short time. Don't be put off by the extremely cheesy video and Frank's, 'Is the camera rolling?' face and lack of blinking.