Learn & Master Guitar Tip #5

To Play Fast, Slow It Down

This is #5 in a series of Learn and Master Guitar Secrets. These simple tips can help you improve your guitar playing skills and sound better. This one a "play better" tip that's the most effective way to improve your speed and control.

Learn & Master Guitar Secret #5: To Obtain Speed...Slow Down!

So you wanna play fast? This is one of those counter- intuitive secrets. That's right- Slow Down!

True speed begins with control and the only way to get control is to SLOW DOWN. Building speed takes a bit of time to train the fingers and your 'motor skill muscle memory.'Do you know what they call fast playing that's kinda sloppy?They call it "sloppy playing!"

So here's a simple process for building your speed:

1. Buy a metronome and get used to playing with it. A metronome is going to be your way of measuring speed. An Olympic sprinter works with a stopwatch to gaugeProgress. Musicians work with a metronome.

2. Start slow on a favorite exercise. Take a favorite scale exercise - for instance, pentatonic scales. Set your metronome at a nice, comfortable tempo, like 60 bpm (beats per minute) and play through the scale in sixteenth notes (4 notes for every beat of the metronome.)

You'll start slow and build up to faster speeds just like a sprinter warms up before a race. Resist the urge to skip this step!

3. When you can play it perfectly, then adjust the metronome speed upward just slightly (62 bpm.) When you can play it at that speed (perfectly) a couple of times, then increase the speed to the next level, (this time to 64 bpm.)

4. Repeat this "step up" process until you reach your top tempo. You need to work your way up gradually to your top speed. **When you start losing control, you've reached your top tempo. Write the top speed down.

5. You'll do this same process for each of your exercises... starting slow, and increasing incrementally...noting your top tempo for each one.

6. Your "top tempo" will change! If you practice this "go slow to get fast" process every day for about 20-30 minutes you can't help but increase your speed.

You won't notice much change for the first 3 days, but by the end of the first week, you will notice your top tempo going up a bit.

Building speed takes some time. Be patient and don't give up! Don't forget, I've got the system of exercises that can take you to guitar mastery...including speed. Check out Learn & Master Guitar here. Keep Learning and Growing!

Steve Krenz
Author and Instructor
Learn & Master Guitar

Steve Krenz is a professional guitarist and guitar teacher in Nashville, Tennessee. For more information on his award-winning Learn and Master Guitar home study course, click on the button below Learn and Master Guitar