Guitar Speed Practice Routine To Help You Dominate The Fretboard & Play Solos Anywhere On The Neck

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome to play guitar solos with speed that flows effortlessly is not having good fretboard visualization. Having good fretboard visualization means you are able to visualize all scale and arpeggio patterns anywhere in the fretboard. This eliminates moments of hesitation that cause your solos to stall or lead to sloppy playing mistakes.

Developing excellent fretboard visualization for fast and clean guitar solos doesn’t happen overnight… However, knowing the right things to practice is the first step towards fast progress.

Use the guitar practice routine below to make your soloing feel effortless by learning how to better visualize patterns on the fretboard:

Start Mapping Out The Fretboard Using Mode Practice

Learning the different modes of the major scale is one of the first steps to conquering the entire fretboard (Modes simply refer to using the notes of a scale, but starting from a different scale degree than the first).

For example: In A major, the scale begins on A (the first scale degree). If you begin on B and continue to B in the next octave, you just played in the Dorian mode.

Guitar Scales On Fretboard

There are 7 basic modes for each note in the major scale. Here they are using the notes of A major:

  1. A Major (Ionian)

  2. B Dorian

  3. C# Phrygian

  4. D Lydian

  5. E Mixolydian

  6. F# Minor (Aeolian)

  7. G# Locrian

Guitar Speed Practice Routine Step One: Switch Between Different Mode Positions

It’s much easier to become comfortable using modes when you focus on learning patterns that are close together at first. This helps you visualize a smaller area of the fretboard at first, then you are able to learn more and expand from there.

For example, this shows two modes that are side-by-side on the fretboard – A Aeolian (minor) and B Locrian:

Minor Guitar Scales

Practice each pattern separately at first. Once you are comfortable with them, begin integrating them one note at a time. For instance, by adding the 16th fret on the G string to the A Aeolian/Minor pattern.

Make it your goal to transform these patterns into ONE pattern in your head by adding more and more notes until you are moving freely between both.

Practice this for 10 minutes.

Guitar Speed Practice Routine Step Two: Playing In High And Low Positions

Don’t make the mistake of getting too focused on one area of the fretboard while learning the modes. Playing the same patterns at higher octaves helps you expand your fretboard knowledge. Then you have two reference points and are able to use a scale pattern in between to bridge the gap.

For example, the tab below shows 3 different modes (each pattern next to the previous one):

Lower – A Aeolian/minor
Middle –B Locrian
Higher – C Ionian/major

Guitar Speed Practice Routine Step Three: Play On Different Strings As Starting Points

Guitar players often fall back into familiar patterns when things become challenging. This is especially true with learning the fretboard.

For example: You might find yourself playing in the same scale positions over and over while soloing or always needing to begin on the high/low E string to find your way. Practicing by beginning patterns on different strings helps you overcome this crutch and begin playing all over the fretboard with ease.

  • Using one of the patterns discussed in the tabs above, improvise freely over a back track while consistently returning to the first note in the pattern for 30 seconds, then the second for 30 seconds, the third for 30 seconds and so on until you’ve moved through the entire scale pattern.

  • Then choose two strings in the pattern and only improvise on those strings for several minutes before choosing a new pair.

Using these drills helps you maintain smooth guitar speed and phrasing while improvising because you don’t hesitate due to getting lost outside of your comfort zone.

Practice this for 15 minutes.

Guitar Speed Practice Routine Step Four: Play On A Single String Only

Practicing single string guitar scales is a great way to play with better synchronization in your hands (leading to faster and cleaner guitar speed). It also helps you visualize the fretboard from a new perspective to make soloing easier from any starting point.

Choose any scale pattern (such as A minor). Then improvise freely using only single string patterns of this scale by spending a few minutes on the high E string, a few on the B string and so on until you’ve played on every string.

Practice this for 10 minutes.

Using this practice routine a few times a week has a major positive effect on your guitar speed, solo phrasing and overall guitar playing fluency. Before you know it, you will no longer see a bunch of scale patterns on guitar, because they will all form into one big pattern… making playing all over the fretboard feel effortless!

Learn more ways to play guitar with speed and expressive phrasing by studying the resources on this page about playing amazing guitar solos.