So many to choose from.. but, probably a good one is playing a scale WITH A METRONOME. After each pass becomes comfortable, increase the ticks by 5.. but, more important, because that gets boring really quick, is break the pattern up with choice of fingers. Pick 2 notes up, one note down, stuff like that. To make it really fun, play to a simple backing track and do the exercise musically, in time with the track. Meaning, maybe pick 3 notes, pause, then a couple more.. You can be random with choice of notes too.. just stay in the scale..

There really isn’t a single “this is how it’s done” method, but, several. The best thing to do is look on YouTube for ideas. Speed will actually happen over time, but, it takes time.. More important is accuracy and dynamics. Dynamics meaning, how hard or soft you pick. Pre-bends, stuff like that.

Slow down. First concentrate on the left hand. Fret a note, consciously relax everything in your hand that you don’t need to fret the note. Wiggle your other fingers, make sure that they all can move and nothing has locked up. Play the note, and relax your fretting finger as soon as you don’t need it for sound anymore. Consciously relax it. Do this really slowly, making sure you can stay as relaxed as possible. Don’t worry at all about speed. Instead, make sure you can play whatever it is you want using this method in the left hand.

Now separately, do the same thing in the right hand. Bring the pick to the string and rest it on the string. Then pick through the string in an absurdly big motion and stop. Relax. Then, if you are alternate picking, bring the pick back up to the string for the upstroke, and rest it there. Relax. Then pick through the string in absurdly big motion. Stop and relax. The relaxing is the important part.

If you are economy or sweep picking, your stroke through the string when changing strings will combine with resting your pick on the adjacent string.

This takes tons of patience, and it is something that you will never actually complete. Almost always, speed is hampered by muscles locking up, which usually is a result of trying to move in two directions at once (because you are trying to go fast). The antidote is building conscious relaxation, and incorporating it into muscle memory.

If you do exercises to play fast and don’t do this to begin with, you will be building up bad habits that will limit your speed for years to come (I know this from personal experience).

Duffy speaks the truth. Practice accuracy, not speed. After a while you’ll suddenly realize “Hey, I’m playing faster”.

I can second Duffy and Sunjamr from experience too. I still have a long way to go but I have found myself a lot more relaxed by using slow play methods and I can say that just this last week I have found that I have really lightened my whole touch.

You can find your limits by practicing a scale or a piece and just nudging the speed up 3 or 4 beats when you are entirely relaxed at playing it at a given tempo. To this end all the lessons from EP091 upwards have Soundslice incorporated and I find that the way forward for me is to perfect a lesson at slow tempo and then build in small increments using the soundslice software. So this approach gives you the best of both worlds because it enables you to practice and learn various tunes which keeps the interest up whilst also gaining dexterity and you soon realize the speed follows.

JohnStrat

I seen this post by Peter and can relate big time. I’ve been playing since the early 60’s when i was 14 or so and in the band i always had a lead man so i was basically just a rhyhem player as i am a vocaslist . Like every thing else, life takes its toll and the guitar gets pushed to the side for a lot of us.Now that i’m retired and have sites like Active Melody ( I still say it’s the best out there by the way)Being retired and have the time and playing lounges and clubs as a solo act , i’m not convinced at 69 a guy picks up a guitar and starts slamming riffs like Chuck Berry’s Jonny B Good. I may be wrong, and i’m not a negative person and open to suggestions but myself i find it major hard and i’m at it daily. EP 024 Carl Perkins , man i’ve been on that sucker for 2 weeks and im not sure i’m gaining, I will admit that playing always acoustics and buying a Fender Stat 50’s replca in a lot of ways it’s easier then playing an acoustic.I’m not giving up but some days i have my moments.The new micro one minute lessons i find pricelass.