Two Powerful Tips To Increase Your Alternate Picking Speed

You just need to visit a few guitar forums and you'll quickly see that there is an obscene number of guitarists wanting to increase their alternate picking speed. And hey...who am I to judge? After all, developing fast picking chops definitely allows you to play licks and solos that were previously impossible. Not to mention that rapid machine-gun picking also sounds really cool. :-) (You only need to listen to Paul Gilbert to get proof of this!).

So how do you increase your alternate picking speed? Well, unfortunately there's no magic bullet. It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears! To become an alternate picking monster takes most players years of consistent practice.

With that said, here are a couple of tips that will help...

Tip One: High Repetition Quality

You may have read about the importance of repetition and how it is essential to building motor skills like alternate picking. To put it simply, the more times you play a picking exercise the better you get at it! And the better you get at it, the faster you'll be able to play it. :-)

But repetition isn't enough. They must be high-quality repetitions. Each time you play the exercise you must play it with a high degree of perfection. Trying to play too quickly for your current level will only cause you to make mistakes. And these mistakes will mean it takes you longer to reach your speed goals.

Tip Two: Use Super-Slow Practice Before Using A Metronome 

Many guitarists start using their metronome too early. They start practicing the exercise to start a metronome before they have done the necessary preparatory work. And this can cause them to practice the exercise in a tense way with less-than optimal technique. And this is hardly a great way to build speed with alternate picking!

So what's the answer?

When I first learn an exercise I learn to play it insanely slow. In fact, I play it so slow that I will often take around 10-20 seconds to play each note. This allows me enough time to figure out the most relaxed and economical way to play each note of the exercise. It also gives me to focus on other important things like my overall posture and my breathing.

And this saves me a LOT of time in the long run. If I work out the best fingerings and pick motions from the start, it saves having to adjust them later on. And this also allows me to get the exercise up to speed much sooner than a guitarist who chooses fingerings and pick motions in a much more haphazard way.

Only when I can play the exercise perfectly will I start practicing it with a metronome.

>> Click HERE To Learn More About The Alternate Picking Fast Start System <<