Can You Play Guitar Really Fast?

Freaky fast guitar became popular in the eighties when a lot of guitar players wanted to play at speed like Satriani and Malmsteen. This need for speed never went away, and today guitarists like Vai still give shredders the taste of what they can do. But, you know it is not as easy as they make it look.

It is easy to learn the steps that will increase speed over time, and being persistent with each one will pay-off as time goes by. Learning to play really fast doesn’t happen over night, it takes great discipline. You will have to work on your left and right hand technique consistently, no slacking, because both hands have to be co-ordinated together to increase speed and dexterity. No co-ordination means no accuracy, which means it will sound awlful. You will also want to develop proper thumb and finger placement along the neck. The two basic thumb positions that are mostly used by professional players are putting the thumb over the top, and resting the thumb behind the neck. Behind the neck will give you bigger reach on the fretboard and will improve control and consistency. If you practice guitar scales and exercises slowly in these thumb positions, you will increase your accuracy and speed in time.

Finger position on the fret board as you play is critical for speed. Your four fingers should hover above the first 4 frets until needed. Again, keeping fingers here will optimise speed when playing scales and exercises. Finger movement is more tricky. Players can either keep a finger down when used until you need to raise it (finger anchoring), or lift each finger as the next one comes down (finger movement). For speed, finger movement is best. Finger accuracy involves consistently fretting a note right behind its fret bar and not just anywhere within the fret. This will give accuracy. Also, always ply with finger tips and not sides. The more consistent you are, the faster and more accurate you will be.

Left hand technique is just as important as the right. How you pick the strings, how you hold the pick and your motion will all have a bearing on speed. Picking can be alternating, sweeping or circular picking, and should probably be acquired in that order as they increase in complexity as well as speed. Alternate picking can still be very fast, and is used by Vai so don’t underestimate it.

If you want to play really fast, holding the pick lightly above the strings will do the trick, we have to reduce the drag factor as we sweep across the strings. Use the motion of the wrist, keeping it as loose as possible. Remember to not tense up your fingers and thumbs.

All of this will take discipline and practise. You will have to make time everyday to get better, a big splurge at the beginning of the week then nothing for the rest of the week is no good. Remember to practise with a drum machine, start at slow speeds and then increase tempo gradually.

Its just a matter of time with these simple techniques, with practise and discipline, you will be playing guitar really fast in no time.