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<\/p>\n Unless you strictly want to play ambient background noise music, <\/span>rhythm will be a major part of every single thing you play on the guitar. <\/b>This means that every time you play, you should be thinking about sticking to a strict rhythm. And if you\u2019re new to the guitar, none of the tempos you choose to play should be fast. Take everything you\u2019ve already learned and focus on playing it in a slow and connected way. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ah, the metronome. When most people think of it, they conjure up images of stuffy old piano teachers, not guitar gods playing at breakneck speeds. But if you want to truly develop your speed and rhythm as a player, you\u2019ll need to get used to practicing with a metronome <\/span>every time you sit down to practice<\/b>. Why? Because working with a metronome forces us to play to a strict rhythm. Like a weightlifter gradually adding more pounds to a dead lift, the metronome allows us to incrementally increase speed as we improve. We can start playing things like chord transitions and scales at a slow pace and add more beats per minute as we progress as players. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And working with a metronome does much more than just improve our speed as guitar players. Playing regularly to the click of a metronome enforces the paramount idea that in music, generally everything we do is done with rhythm in mind. This isn\u2019t just a guitar thing. It applies to all musicians and instruments. The guitar speed exercises we have to show you in this article should always be played to the steady click of a metronome. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Proper picking technique is essential when it comes to not only speed but also things like accuracy, tone, and rhythm when it comes to playing in any style on the guitar. Every riff, scale, or melody you play should be done with alternate picking. Alternate picking is simply alternating from picking up and then down. Newer guitar players generally tend to pick in only one direction, but learning to harness the natural momentum that\u2019s generated when we pick in one direction to picking up and down is actually easier to play and is more accurate.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This first one of our guitar speed exercises does much more than just improve your speed. It\u2019s designed to improve your tone, accuracy, and spatial awareness when it comes to where your fingers align with the first four frets of the guitar. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Beginning with the 6th open string, play each open string and then the first, second, third, and fourth frets with your index, middle, ring, and pinky fingers. Repeat this sequence up every string until you get to the fourth fret of the first string. Then, repeat the sequence backwards until you get back to the open 6th string position. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Like all the guitar speed exercises we\u2019re going to show you, start slow with this one and work your way up. Try this scale at 70 BPM (beats per minute) on the metronome and gradually increase the speed as you improve. <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In this exercise we\u2019ll take a simple one-octave major scale and play it in three different rhythms at the same speed. Start at a slow speed and play each note in the scale as a quarter note. Then, without pausing, play each note in the scale as eighth notes. Then play the scale one more time with each note in eight note triplets. Once you\u2019ve done all three rhythms on the same scale, move up or down a fret and repeat the same sequence. Feel free to add in different rhythms or different scales for this exercise.<\/span> <\/p>\n Learning to skip strings is a skill that takes a lot of focused effort to develop. This exercise is designed to get your right hand comfortable skipping strings at a fast pace. You\u2019ll need to develop a good amount of spatial awareness and muscle memory if you want to be able to skip strings quickly and accurately. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Starting on the 12th fret of the 5th string, play that note, skip the 4th string and play the 10th fret of the third string. Repeat this sequence down a fret until you reach the bottom of the guitar. Feel free to tailor this exercise to fit your specific needs. Increase the metronome speed as you gain confidence. <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Guitar speed exercises don\u2019t just have to feature scales or lines of melody. This exercise is designed to help develop the skill of transitioning from chord to chord quickly. It\u2019s an important skill that applies to virtually every genre of music played on the guitar. Don\u2019t skip this exercise, even if all you want to do is shred on the guitar. The skills it takes to transition between chords are ones that also apply to lead guitar playing. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We\u2019ll use simple chords for this exercise, but feel free to add in more difficult ones if you need more of a challenge. Play G-G-G-G, Am-Am-Am-Am, Em-Em-Em-Em, and C-C-C-C with whole notes. When you\u2019re ready, try playing each chord with a half note and finally one separate chord strummed on each quarter note. Start this exercise very slowly and increase speed as you progress. <\/span> <\/p>\n This exercise is designed to enhance the speed and accuracy for power chord transitions. Starting on the outside power chord on the 12th fret, play that power chord as well as the inside one with whole notes. Then repeat that sequence but with half notes and then finally quarter notes. Repeat this sequence down a fret until you reach the bottom of the guitar. If you\u2019re looking for a challenge, try this exercise playing one power chord per eighth note from start to finish. <\/span><\/p>\n Adding these guitar speed exercises into your practice routine will do amazing things for your playing. We recommend reserving 10-15 minutes of your practices for exercises like these. If you need extra help upping the speed and accuracy of your playing, we recommend taking some time to find an experienced teacher in your area<\/a>. For more helpful articles about the world of music, check out the Musika Lessons blog<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you\u2019re completely new to playing the guitar, you\u2019re probably just starting to explore playing things like simple chords, scales, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[333,67],"tags":[2,303,77,304,184,133],"yoast_head":"\n![\"guitar](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/shutterstock_492436882.jpg\")
Before we can even start to think about playing anything fast on the guitar, we\u2019ve got to talk about rhythm. No, the guitar doesn\u2019t provide a huge rhythmic function within a band like the drums and bass guitar do, but if you\u2019re serious about developing any skill on the guitar, you need to become obsessed with how well you can play to a rhythm. How can you expect to play fast solos and chord changes if you can\u2019t play simple things to a strict rhythm at a moderate pace? <\/span><\/p>\nUse your metronome every time you practice<\/strong><\/h2>\n
There is no alternative to alternative picking<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Speed Exercise #1: Chromatic Scale<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n![\"chromatic](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-12-at-5.30.50-PM.png\")
<\/p>\nSpeed Exercise #2: Quarter note, eighth note, and eighth note triplet Major Scale<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n![\"triplets\"](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-12-at-5.30.59-PM.png\")
<\/p>\nSpeed Exercise #3: String Skipper<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n![\"string](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-12-at-5.31.06-PM.png\")
<\/p>\nSpeed Exercise #4: Chord Transitions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n![\"guitar](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-12-at-5.31.13-PM.png\")
<\/p>\nSpeed Exercise #5: Power Chord Transitions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"power](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-12-at-5.31.19-PM.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"guitar](\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/shutterstock_519396004.jpg\")
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