It’s easier than you think to play guitar faster and get that “shred” sound you want.

Fact: A lot of fast guitar playing is easier than it sounds, but many guitarists become frustrated by trying to take on all techniques at once in order to quickly gain speed.

One technique gives you speed and doesn’t take too long to master when you practice it right:

-Tremolo picking (also called speed picking)

Using tremolo picking is a great way to add flair and spice into your playing with an energetic burst of speed – and it doesn’t require super-complex movements in your hands.

So, how exactly do you get started mastering fast tremolo picking?

The first thing you want to do is make sure you are picking with efficient movement.

This means:

Pick from your wrist while trying to create the smallest movements possible. In other words, leave as little space as you can between the pick and the string after you play it (before you make the next pickstroke).

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.

Develop Faster Tremolo Picking With These Powerful Drills

Mentally processing your picking hand movements is critical for fast and clean technique.

The better you are able to process movement in your hands, the more accurate and precise your guitar technique becomes.

Speed Picking Drill #1: Develop solid tremolo technique in bite-sized chunks.

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.

 

Bonus Tip: Struggling To Play Guitar Scale Licks & In-Time? Try This…

Ever play a scale lick or run during a solo and you are ahead of the click in several places (especially when a phrase repeats)?

Try this:

Record yourself into a computer that shows the grid of beats visually on the screen and then you can see where the spikes of your playing waves (accents) line up with the beat.

This will give you instant visual and audio feedback on how close you are to being perfectly in time. In any case, you should also practice recording yourself on audio and then listening back very carefully (in headphones) to notice when you play notes slightly before the click happens. You need to pull back mentally a little more to make them happen right ON the click.

Speed Picking Drill #2: Develop consistency for smooth picking technique.

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.

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: