Rock guitarists can all agree:
Getting stuck in a speed plateau is the worst!
Not being able to make improvement for years at a time is incredibly frustrating.
And the worst thing is…
… you start to doubt your ability to make progress.
It’s always there, eating away at you.
You begin to wonder if you really have what it takes to become a better, faster guitar player.
Does this feel familiar?
Today, you are going to find out how to smash through your guitar speed plateaus. (This process is effective even if you’ve been stuck for years and only have a few minutes to practice each day.)
To get started, check out the video below.
Watch this video where one of my guitar students through a practice approach that made him better in just nine minutes:
How can you incorporate this into your guitar playing style and general approach?
Let me tell you.
Follow this process:
Step 1. Ground Yourself.
What do I mean exactly by the idea of “grounding”?
This means to:
- set an initial baseline for the level of tension you have in your hands as you play (see how to do it in the video).
- practice the precise motions of each hand in isolation from the other to focus more closely on what they feel like.
Watch this free video to see what I mean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iacQvKMSx6A&feature=emb_title
Step 2. Develop Machine-Like “Hand Independence”
After you ground yourself, what do you do next?
Answer: work on keeping your hands independent of each other.
To put it another way:
Keep your fretting hand tension-free, even if you pick with a lot of power.
There are additional ways to develop this in your playing. Check out the video at the beginning of this page to find out how.
Move between different levels of tension in your hands as you observed in the video.
Question: “Tom Hess, what do I do if I am having a very hard time with hand independence?”
Answer: Start on a small, easy to digest level. Practice developing hand independence on one note (by using tremolo picking technique). After this, keep adding more notes one-at-a-time until your hands become more independent of each other.
Step 3. Make Your Guitar Technique Efficient For Crazy Speed
What’s the number one key to playing guitar with insane speed?
It’s not all about “moving your hands more quickly”.
You don't need to practice many hours every day either…
Here is the correct answer:
…guitar technique efficiency.
Being efficient in your technique makes playing fast infinitely easier and effortless – just like when you see a great pro guitar player effortlessly playing a solo on stage.
Study the ideas in this video to find out what I am referring to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjmlFtQ2V8A
(To discover even more tips on technique efficiency, study these guitar practicing videos.)
Another Great Concept: Improve your overall usable guitar speed.
This may be a revelation for you if you never heard about it before:
There are actually different types of speed when it comes to guitar playing.
The two most common speed types are:
Potential speed and usable speed.
Potential speed is how fast you are able to move your hands while playing.
Usable speed means the speed where your hands are aligned in perfect sync and everything is totally clean and precise.
Another way to put it is:
Usable speed is the fastest speed you ever people to hear you play at during solos, licks or improvising.
How do you get faster usable guitar speed?
Use these helpful tips right now:
You now are familiar with a basic, yet very effective process for breaking through any guitar speed plateau.
So, are there any other powerful guitar speed tips out there?
You know it!
The next step to developing jaw-dropping guitar speed is to learn a killer guitar practice method that increases your playing speed significantly in just under twenty four hours.
Want to get this resource for no money at all?
Check out this guitar speed eGuide & learn guitar speed secrets most guitarists never know.
About The Author:
Tom Hess is a highly successful guitar teacher, recording artist and composer. He teaches guitar players from all over the world in his online guitar lessons. Learn more on the Tom Hess Wikipedia page.
