Building Speed and Accuracy on Guitar, by Derek Frets

Step 1: Focus on Picking Technique

Ever wish you could shred through blazing fast passages and licks like John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Yngwie Malmsteen, and those insane TikTok and Instagram #shredders? Or pull out some tasty jazz lines like Al Di Meola, Joe Pass, and John McLaughlin but couldn't quite get through the "fast parts"? No matter what your goals are, having great technique is crucial for playing anything you want. Even if you just warm up with these exercises, they will lock you in, allowing you to be more expressive and emotive. They will also strengthen your hands and fingers, resulting in better bends, vibrato, and overall playing.

Let's Begin

To start, we're going to mute the strings with our fretting hand by laying it lightly across the strings around the 5th-7th frets. With our picking hand, we'll play a sequence of 6 notes, consisting of 3 notes on one string and 3 notes on the next. We'll be using alternate picking exclusively and starting with an upstroke. The reason we start with an upstroke is so that when we change strings, we are starting on a downstroke every time.

Follow the example below while muting the strings with your fretting hand. Play every "^" as an upstroke, and each "v" as a downstroke, like this:

Next we're going to repeat that 6-note pattern, this time starting on the A string:

Now when we put those two patterns together it looks like this (I've added numbers below the tab to help you count and keep track of where you're at in the pattern, and you could also count it as one-and-uh, two-and-uh, one-and-uh, two-and-uh):

Go ahead and play through that a few times, and notice you're playing 6 notes on the A string. The first 3 start with a downstroke, and the second 3 begin the pattern again with an upstroke. Keep it SLOOOOOOOOW and make sure each stroke is precise and deliberate. Stay relaxed and use small pick movements. You don't have to dig in too much with the pick when playing fast; you just need to hit enough of the string with the tip of the pick to get it vibrating.

Once you have that picking pattern down and comfortable, you can extend the pattern across all of the strings, like this:

Now it's important to remember to keep the pattern accented as 3 notes on one string, then three notes on the next string, and NOT six notes on one string followed by six on the next string. When played correctly it sounds like it's building or stepping up to something:

Step 2: Adding Your Fretting Hand

Next, let's add some simple fingerings by alternating between the 5th and 6th frets while maintaining the same picking pattern. Follow the tab below, starting with an upstroke:

Or you could alternate between the 5th and 7th frets if that's more comfortable, like this:

Once you get that down we can try adding more notes with your fretting hand. Start by playing a repeating 3-note sequence (5-6-7) using your first three fingers, one on each fret, and start with an upstroke. I still use this exercise all the time to warm up and rebuild my speed any time I'm not in top form:

At this point you could take the next several days, weeks, or months to work on this one exercise and build up speed. Just work on it as much as you can each time you pick up your guitar, but don't overdo it. It's important to note that I always stretch my fingers, hands, and forearms before starting. You'll find that once you have the hang of this exercise it's literally like going to the gym for your guitar playing and you'll get to a point where you're shredding through the exercises and actually feeling the burn. Do only what you can and then try to push it a little farther next time. Make sure you take breaks and keep stretching and massaging those muscle groups. The key is to keep a balance between being completely relaxed, while still maintaining total control of your picking and fretting hands.

Once you have that down and are building up speed, what I like to do to make it more interesting is shift my hand up a fret after each 6-note pattern, like so:

Step 3: Extended Patterns & Scales

In step 3 of this lesson we are going to extend our pattern even more and add other variations and scales to the mix.

We'll start by adding our pinky finger by changing from a (5-6-7) pattern, to a (5-6-8) pattern and running it all the way up the neck, à la Eddie Van Halen:

Now shift your middle note from the (5-6-8) pattern, to a (5-7-8):

Then stretch it out a little and do a whole-step pattern (5-7-9), like this:

Adding Scales

Next, we'll transition to a 3-note-per-string A major and A minor scale, starting on the E string, 5th fret, and then repeat this with as many 3-note per string scales and patters you can. The A major and minor scales look like this:

A Major

A Minor

Conclusion

Always stretch before, during, and after these exercises, and practice them slowly and deliberately. Then gradually increase your speed as you become more comfortable. Another thing I recommend is interval training. The way I do that is play the 6-note patterns at a slow, comfortable speed, then double-time for 1 or 2 patterns, then slow again, and so on. Other times I'll do quick bursts on one string. So I would hold the 5th fret and start tremolo picking as fast as I can, then go 5-6-7 real quick and stop. Then do the same thing but stop on the 5th fret of the next string. Then up to the 5th and 6th fret, and then the 5th, 6th, and 7th. Then do it all again and again. You'll also want to work the patterns in the opposite direction from the 1st string to the 6th, like this:

Keep learning scales and making up patterns, and move them all over the fretboard. Remember, even though it's an "exercise," keep it musical (1-&-a, 2-&-a), stay relaxed, and focus on clean and precise picking motions, and you'll build that speed up in no time!