Use This Guitar Speed Solo Exercise To Play Any Solo Like A Boss

Got a cool guitar solo you want to play perfectly with speed whenever you feel like it?

The common approach is to play the solo over and over in a unorganized manner until eventually you can kind of play some parts great and others not so much…

But there is a much better and more efficient way to master any guitar solo.

Use the guitar speed soloing exercise below as a step-by-step process for learning and mastering any solo you want to play:

Step One: Break Down The Solo Into Short Segments

After choosing the guitar solo you want to master, break it down into short segments of just a few notes per segments.

Here are some easy ways to know where to break down segments:

·         By musical phrases

·         By technique

·         By moving 3-5 notes at a time

·         By the specific time a lick occurs in the solo (for example: [1:17 – 1:20])

Breaking down a guitar solo helps you play it up to speed faster.

Why?

Because it makes the notes easier to process so you don’t become overwhelmed by mistakes or waste time constantly starting over from the beginning or playing parts you already mastered.

 

Step Two: Schedule Your Practice For Each Segment

Most guitarists would practice everything at once a few times, then eventually lose interest if they don’t master the solo quickly.

Let’s take a better approach.

Now that you have the solo broken down into segments, it’s time to laser-focus on each one to master them individually, before combining them all together.

For the next week, schedule one or two segments per day to practice (depending on how many segments there are, you may practice more per day).

Let’s say your guitar solo breaks down into 10 segments of 5 notes each.

Here is an example of what your practice schedule may look like:

Monday – Practice segments 1-2

Tuesday – Practice segments 3-6

Wednesday – Practice segments 7-9

Thursday – Practice segments 1-2

Friday – Practice segments 8-10

Saturday – Practice segments 1-2

Sunday – Practice segments 3-6

What you practice most will depend on which parts of the guitar solo you struggle with most.

Make sure to keep making progress by not always spending the most time on the things that are easiest of the most fun. Focus on what challenges you most, then you gain motivation as you get better (which is really fun too!).

 

Step Three: Practice Each Segment To Perfect It Using Circuit Training

Good news: you don’t have to spend many hours practicing each segment of the solo per day to make tons of progress.

Training yourself with circuit training (do something for a few minutes, then immediately move onto something else for a few minutes, then something else, etc.) is a great way to quickly master anything.

Use this circuit practice approach with each guitar solo element to play with more speed and accuracy to master each one:

1 minute – Play the segment slightly faster than the speed of the original solo using the short burst method show in this video:

Aim for playing 5-10 beats per minute faster than the original.

Don’t worry about making too many mistakes, but take note of the mistakes you make so you know what to work on during each repetition.

1 minute – Play each note using heavy picking articulation as explained in this video:

1 minute – Make sure your string muting is effective for eliminating unplayed string noise.

Concentrate your mind on how well you are muting with your fretting hand for 30 seconds and how well you are muting in your picking hand for the other 30 seconds.

Note: Mute with your fretting hand by using the side of your index finger to mute the thinner strings above the one you are playing and your picking hand thumb to mute the thicker strings below the one you are playing.

 

1 minute – Make sure any vibrato/bends are in tune, and if the solo doesn’t contain them, find places to add them (such as longer-held notes). Watch this video to learn how to play with excellent vibrato and bending technique:

1 minute – Play everything like normal.

Next:

Repeat this circuit several times to make tons of progress towards mastering any guitar solo. For the absolute best results, organize your practice based on the priority of each section you are working on.

This way you know for sure you are spending the most time on the things that really need it.

To organize your practice, use this guitar practice generator tool.