3 Guitar Speed Picking Drills That Give You Faster & More Precise Picking Technique

Fact: Many guitar players do not know how to practice to increase their picking speed very quickly.

What do they do (that you should avoid)?

I’ll tell you.

They spend the majority, if not 100% of their practice for speed picking to simply try to pick as fast as they can. That’s if they even set aside time to practice it to begin with.

Yes, picking fast is part of speed picking, however:

There are several practice drills most guitarists don’t know about that increase guitar picking speed very effectively by improving this skill from different angles.

Learn what they and start using them to pick faster by reading below:

 

Make Your Accuracy More Consistent Using Upstroke Picking Technique Practice

It’s much easier to perform a downstroke motion with the pick than it is to perform an upstroke motion.

Why?

Simple, gravity makes it easier to pick downward than to pick upward.

Most guitar players’ picking attack is out of balance because they never improve their upstrokes. This leads to sloppier and less consistent picking technique.

Make your upstrokes as strong as your downstrokes (or as close as you can get them) and your speed picking technique takes a massive leap forward.

Use this guitar speed picking drill to make your upstrokes stronger for a better picking attack:

1. For 1 minute, practice any guitar lick of your choice using only upstrokes.

2. For 1 minute, repeat the first part of the drill again using a stronger picking attack as shown in this video:

3. For 1 minute, pick each note in the lick you chose three times each using upstrokes only. Do this in quick triplet bursts with a short second of rest after each one.

4. Rest for 2 minutes.

5. Repeat steps 1-3.

In just 10 minutes, this drill makes any guitar lick feel much easier to play while strengthening your overall picking speed, accuracy and consistency.

Play the guitar lick you chose as you normally would (using whatever picking is needed). It now feels much more smooth and effortless.

 

Take Your Speed Picking To The Highest Tier Using Focus Training

Being able to practice with strong focus is one of the most powerful tools you have as a guitarist.

Practicing with strong focus means you are paying very close attention to the notes you are playing, how they are being played and all while listening carefully for mistakes (so you can quickly correct them).

There are ways to focus better during your guitar practice (in general), and this massively improves your speed picking ability as well.

Use this guitar speed picking drill to train yourself to speed pick better and more consistently using better focus:

First, choose a note on any string (or an open string).

Alternate pick the string at a medium level of speed in sequences of five notes at a time. As you do this, accent the very first note of the sequence with heavier picking power. To make it easier to keep track of the first note of the sequence, count the number of notes in your head using a 5 syllable word (ex: hip po pot a mus).

Repeat the previous step for several minutes.

Now alternate between picking the speed at a medium tempo, with speed picking it.

Like this:

Accent the first note of the tremolo picking sequence like done in this video (beginning at 1:26):

This helps to lock your hands together in sync, making your playing more smooth and effortless.

Make Speed Picking Flow More Musically In Your Playing Using Integration Training

Increasing your guitar picking speed isn’t just about picking a single string as fast as you can.

Applying speed picking into different musical situations helps you integrate it smoothly into your overall guitar technique. This results in smoother, more effortless guitar speed!

An excellent way to begin integrating speed picking into your regular playing is to practice it using the guitar scales you already know.

Use this exercise to increase your speed picking creativity using scales:

1.   Choose any guitar scale you know.

2.   Practice the scale in your normal way.

3.   Practice the scale while tremolo picking every note. See how fast you can play to a metronome while tremolo picking three notes for every note in the scale.

4.   Improvise freely using only the first five notes or so of the scale while focusing on mixing tremolo picking together with non-tremolo picked notes. Think of as many different phrases as you can in 5 minutes.

Practicing the drills on this page for less than 20 minutes per day is a sure-fire way to improve your speed picking. Try them for a couple of weeks and watch your speed go through the roof!