5 Basic Speed Exercises For Lead Guitar
December 4th, 2006
Speed isn’t everything, tone is. Just ask Eric Clapton, or BB King. But I’m not going to lie to you: speed helps. Speed can impress. Speed can make or break your playing style.
I learned guitar when I was 20, and the most difficult thing about trying to play the guitar at such a late age is the lack of fluidity and flexibility your hands have. I remember my mentor calling me “Woodhand” (as opposed to just Slowhand) because I was so stiff. One thing I noticed early when I was starting out was how difficult it was to play fast, and to play fast cleanly. It was like there was a barrier, an upper limit, if you will, of how fast I can play. There still is, mind you: I’m no Michael Angelo Battio - but who is? 
During the course of my quest to better my skills, I started looking around and pestering better players for tips on how to exercise my fingers for the guitar, and the following is a collection of the basic tricks for lead guitar that will help your muscle memory, loosen up your fingers, and strengthen them.
Finger Independence - Left Hand
e |--1--4------------------------------- B |--------1--4------------------------- G |--------------1--4------------------- D |--------------------1--4------------- A |-------------------------1--4-------- E |-------------------------------1--4-- e |--2--4------------------------------- B |--------2--4------------------------- G |--------------2--4------------------- D |--------------------2--4------------- A |-------------------------2--4-------- E |-------------------------------2--4-- e |--3--4------------------------------- B |--------3--4------------------------- G |--------------3--4------------------- D |--------------------3--4------------- A |-------------------------3--4-------- E |-------------------------------3--4-- e |--0--4------------------------------- B |--------0--4------------------------- G |--------------0--4------------------- D |--------------------0--4------------- A |-------------------------0--4-------- E |-------------------------------0--4--
Start off slowly, with a uniform tempo and pick cleanly: I can’t stress how important it is to maintain a regular beat when doing this exercise. Tap your foot, or play with a metronome if possible. The muscle memory you will develop here will reward, or haunt you. Speed isn’t what’s important here, clarity and strength is. That’s why we’re starting at the wider frets, and hitting the open string notes. Later on you can increase the tempo, but keep a uniform beat no matter how fast you’re going. But for now, play slow enough that you’re not making any mistakes. Pick each note cleanly; start it off as a stacatto exercise, then switch to legatto, or hammer-ons and pull-offs, when you’re comfortable enough.
Chromatic Notes - Left Hand
e |--1-2-3-4---------------------------------------- B |----------1-2-3-4-------------------------------- G |------------------1-2-3-4------------------------ D |--------------------------1-2-3-4---------------- A |----------------------------------1-2-3-4-------- E |------------------------------------------1-2-3-4 e |------------------------------------------1-2-3-4 B |----------------------------------1-2-3-4-------- G |--------------------------1-2-3-4---------------- D |------------------1-2-3-4------------------------ A |----------1-2-3-4-------------------------------- E |--1-2-3-4----------------------------------------
Again, play slowly, cleanly, and with a uniform beat. Since these exercises are designed to focus in on a particular skill or area of playing, make sure you get it right. Be aware that if you practice something sloppy, it will come out when you play. Something to keep in mind with this exercise is note separation: be sure that each note sounds cleanly before hitting the next note.
Trill Exercises - Left Hand
A trill is two notes rapidly and repeatedly alternated. I often keep the finger that’s playing the lower note (often my middle finger) anchored down on the fret, and mute the adjacent strings with my first or index finger to eliminate unwanted string noise.
p h p h p h p h p h p h p h p h p h p h p h p h e |--8-5-8-5---------------------------------------------- B |-----------8-5-8-5------------------------------------- G |--------------------8-5-8-5---------------------------- D |-----------------------------8-5-8-5------------------- A |--------------------------------------8-5-8-5---------- E |-----------------------------------------------8-5-8-5-
The p’s and h’s above the tablature indicate hammer-ons and pull-offs; this means you “hammer” on to the note with your left, or playing hand’s finger, and then pull it off. This is done without the right or picking hand, so the notes should blend together, creating a smooth flow. Again, do this slowly and cleanly; go for clarity every time you exercise.
Alternate Picking - Right Hand
Picking techniques can be a touchy subject; I personally don’t have a single picking technique, often just reacting and adjusting to the moment. However, it is important to have a certain amount of discipline while picking to be able to play certain licks at certain speeds.
One good technique or approach to picking is consistent or alternate picking. This is a very good technique for developing a good sense of rhythm. The regular picking motion will help you with getting that even, regular timing, and as I’ve been saying since the beginning of this post, maintaining a uniform beat is crucial.
Take a look at the previous exercises and try to pick the notes in alternating down-up-down-up strokes. It is important to articulate each note, and get a feel for what it sounds like when you pick it with an upstroke or a downstroke. Try to accentuate the first of every four-note set, or try to hum to yourself: bah-du-du-du-bah-du-du-du. It may seem silly if you’re at all self-conscious, but this accent will help a lot in letting you know where you are in a sequence when you’re playing really fast.
When you’re done with the down-up-down-up pattern, try doing the up-down-up-down pattern, just to familiarize yourself with how it’ll feel like. It’s not critical early on, but it will help if you’re not a stranger to it.
Note Memory
One thing that is absolutely important in trying to play fast is to know what note you’ll play next. Obviously That’s why getting to know the fretboard is absolutely essential. Below is an image of the notes in a 22-fret fretboard:
Study it, learn the patterns where the notes repeat. There are only 12 unique notes in the modern western scale, and the key to knowing where they all are in your guitar is to remember the patterns. The standard-tuned open string notes are, from top to bottom, (low) E, A, D, G, B and (high) E, and they repeat at the 12th fret.
Try to do simple memorization exercises; for example, one of the things I found really useful was to try to locate all the instances of a given note in ten seconds or less. Don’t just limit yourself to the easy ones, like E or A, but go for broke and find C#, or Eb, or Bb or something.
And that’s it!
Pat yourself on the back, you’re well on your way. Try to add some variation to the exercises, like playing at different starting locations, or picking twice per note, when you’re comfortable enough. Don’t stay too long in one exercise, especially if it gets boring. When your fingers start to ache, stop. If you’re hankering to get more practice done, wait ten to fifteen minutes before trying again. These exercises aren’t easy solutions to speed; consider them an investment in your overall guitar skills. Like all good diets, you won’t lose fat/gain speed right away, but you will get there!
So, until next time, keep rockin! \m/
8 Responses to “5 Basic Speed Exercises For Lead Guitar”
February 26th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Hahaha! I started a year ago, when I was 22. Yuck!! I’m teaching myself and it’s hecka hard! I haven’t touched my acoustic guitar since.. oh I don’t know.. last month? I don’t think I’m meant to be a lead guitar player.. or a guitar player.. ever. Sad.. I really like the sound of guitars..
February 27th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Don’t give up! Here’s a tip I found handy: always leave your guitar on your bed. That way when you feel like lying down, you’ll have to move it - trust me when I say it’s almost impossible for you to just “move” a guitar. You have the urge to play with it for a while, and pretty soon… you’re practicing! ^_^
February 28th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
hey there guys… i really want to play fast on guitars, i want to be a lead guitar player…well not yet a year since i’ve learned how to play the guitar, but i think i can play a little bit of a lead playing ‘coz it’s like i play almost 12 hrs a day… d’ya think i can play really fast before a year ends??? I really need some tips on playing guitar fast…
March 1st, 2007 at 3:24 am
12 hours a day?!?! man that’s insane!!! is that straight practice? di ka ba nangngayat? pag ganon kalupet dedication mo pare ayos yan you’ll get faster i’m sure! good luck!
March 1st, 2007 at 10:04 pm
thanks there… i wish i could play really fast ‘coz me and my friends are forming a band but we’re all beginners and i’m going to be the lead guitar player…
…..well..it’s not really 12hrs a day,,,,,,, it’s just 5-6 hours ;o)…heheh….(”,)
March 7th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Thanks for the exercises. You guys think you’re late comers - I’m approaching 40! Besides messing around for my own enjoyment, I also built an electric guitar while I was at it. Late to that as well.
March 30th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Thanks for the great finger exercises. I found that they are very helpful. I am still trying to learn the notes on the fretboard. That may take me a while to master. Anyway… great information!
March 30th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Good exercises. These are some of the same ones I learned. Another variation is to start them all at the ninth fret and move down one fret after you have played on all of the strings. Another variation on the chromatic exercise is to do different combinations of fingers, like 1st finger, 3rd finger, 2nd finger, 4th finger, 1243, 1342, 2341, or any combination you can think of. This gets your fingers used to any combination of frets that it may have to play.