While speed picking, consistently pick in the same exact spot. Watch as you pick to make sure you are not moving side to side. You can also hear when you are hitting the string in different spots if you listen closely – listen for a slight change in pitch, or sometimes subtle pinch harmonics.

Use These Speed Picking Exercises Daily To Get Lightning-Fast Tremolo Technique

Learning how to process the movement in your picking hand is a key fundamental part of solid tremolo picking technique. Generally speaking: the better you are able to process movement in your hands, the more accurate and precise your guitar technique becomes.

Speed Picking Exercise 1: Break down your tremolo technique note by note.

Start building a solid foundation for your speed picking by beginning with just two notes. Fret any note or play an open string for this exercise.

Step One: Use a downstroke to pick the string once. Then use an upstroke to pick it again. Do this as fast as you can while playing the string perfectly for both pickstrokes.

Step Two: Immediately after step one, pause for a moment.

Step Three: Repeat steps one and two for 25 repetitions. Watch your hand as you pick and make sure you are picking as efficiently as possible.

Step Four: Add another pickstroke to the pattern. So now you have: down – up – down. Now emphasize the last pickstroke in the pattern using heavier picking power.

Step Five: Repeat steps one and two again with the added note. Focus closely on mentally process all three strokes (rather than turning your brain on auto-pilot).

Step Six: Continue this exercise by adding one note at a time. See how many notes you are able to speed pick until it becomes too difficult to keep track. This gives you a goal for next time to try to improve your mental processing speed.

Note: You do not always have to try to track every note you speed pick. For instance, if you speed pick continuously for 10 seconds. However, practicing speed picking in the manner above helps you control your technique better, play with great up and down strokes (rather than only strong downstrokes) and improves your consistency and top speed over time.

Practicing this exercise for just 5 minutes per day has a massive effect on your technique (especially when combined with the other exercises below). If needed, slow down your pick attack to more easily process each pick stroke until you are able to speed up. Remember: speed is a byproduct of great technique.

Speed Picking Exercise 2: Drill your tremolo picking speed for better consistency.

Now focus on continuous picking speed to develop consistency and stamina. Fret any note or play an open string for this exercise.

Step One: Speed pick the string continuously as fast as you can (while using efficient technique) for 5 seconds.

Step Two: Rest for 5 seconds.

Step Three: Repeat this for 25 repetitions.

Step Four: Increase the time in steps one and two to 10 seconds and repeat the process for 10 repetitions.

While playing this exercise, focus closely on picking with as little tension in your picking hand/arm as possible. Every repetition: focus on getting rid of tension until your speed picking technique is as effortless as you can make it.

Note: This does not mean to pick very lightly. Still pick with power, but just make sure to watch for any excess tension in order to eliminate it. This is what helps you play with consistent and fast tremolo picking technique without getting tired (leading to sloppy playing).

Learn more about the importance of getting rid of tension in your guitar playing by reading this guitar practice article.

This video demonstrates a great way to eliminate unwanted tension to make your guitar playing feel effortless: