Do you struggle with playing guitar fast? Is your lack of guitar speed making it difficult for you to express yourself fully as a musician? Although playing guitar fast is not every guitarist’s most significant goal, those who do want to improve their guitar speed desire this skill very much and are often frustrated with being unable to develop this part of their guitar playing. If this describes you, I want to share with you several important insights about building guitar speed that will greatly help you to develop this skill.
Good news and bad news:
The good news is that virtually anyone can learn to play guitar fast. In addition, you can directly control the practicing process to make it more effective and achieve your guitar speed goals in a lot less time than it takes an average guitar player.
The bad news is that most guitar players (those who can’t yet play guitar fast) are totally on the wrong track in their approach to increasing guitar speed. I see this all the time when working with new guitar students who come to me wanting to improve their guitar playing. The typical path to increasing one’s guitar speed is usually limited to “starting to practice slowly with a metronome and gradually increasing speed in small increments”. Such a tactic can be effective early on in the process of learning new guitar exercises, but if you rely on it exclusively to develop your maximum guitar speed it will lead to plateaus and frustration. Here are a few reasons why:
This approach shifts most of your focus on trying to “move your hands/fingers faster”. However, the concept of moving your fingers faster is a tiny, insignificant part of the big picture of what it takes to improve in order to build guitar speed. The most important elements of guitar speed remain neglected and under practiced with this guitar practice method. As a result, the practice sessions often turn into a series of impatient attempts to break through a current guitar speed plateau.
There is a large number of different elements that must be trained in order to learn to play guitar fast, including: 2 hand synchronization, picking articulation, tension control, mental processing speed, hand endurance at fast tempos, guitar speed with a single technique vs. guitar speed with integrating a variety of guitar techniques and many more. Each of these ‘guitar speed components’ need unique practice strategies in order to be mastered effectively. Relying exclusively on ‘any single’ guitar speed practicing strategy (such as the most common one described above) is not going to help you improve all of the guitar technique elements that are needed to build guitar speed.
Great guitar players who can play guitar fast were able to successfully master all of the above mentioned elements of guitar speed whether they consciously realized it or not. You need to do the same in order to increase your guitar speed to your maximum speed potential. If you do not know how to begin the process of practicing these skills in the most effective ways, check out this free mini course about learning to play guitar fast.
To help you expand and improve upon the conventional approach for building guitar speed, here are several guidelines to follow
Get specific about what problems you are having with trying to increase your guitar speed.
Simply saying “I can’t play guitar fast” is NOT specific enough. Being unable to play guitar fast is only a symptom of a more complex problem that usually has several causes. As you have seen above, the root of your guitar speed limitations can exist in any or all of the specific technical elements that make up the multidimensional skill of “playing guitar fast”. Knowing exactly what is causing your problem is the first step to solving it. When you learn exactly what is holding you back, you can focus your guitar practice sessions on the specific problems that needs to be overcome. Having your guitar playing analyzed by an expert guitar teacher is the fastest way to get this required level of clarity.
Use a variety of practice strategies for increasing your guitar speed.
As your guitar playing skill level evolves, so will your specific guitar technique challenges. Therefore, the practice techniques you use at each stage of your guitar playing must evolve as well in order to be effective. There is no such thing as ‘one’ ultimate guitar practice routine for increasing your guitar speed. Of course there are approaches to practicing guitar that are far more effective than others, but the way you organize your guitar speed training routines should be unique to your specific guitar technique and guitar speed challenges at any given time. You can see many examples of effective guitar speed building strategies that I use with my students by studying this free mini course on how to build guitar speed.
Practice integrating your guitar techniques together to avoid sounding like a ‘guitar speed robot’.
Over the years of teaching hundreds of guitar players to improve their guitar technique (as well as other musical skills), I have found that most guitarists spend very little time applying and integrating their musical skills and guitar techniques in particular. This results in lack of musical freedom to express yourself completely and fully in any musical context.
When it comes to increasing your guitar speed, most guitarists typically focus on becoming faster with only one technique at a time. For example, you may practice your sweep picking for 15 minutes, then move on to 15 minutes of legato, followed by 15 minutes of 2 hand tapping. Although this approach will help you to improve at these techniques in isolation, you also need to specifically practice using all of these techniques ‘together’ in the same way that you will find these techniques used in real guitar solos. Neglecting to do this will make your guitar playing sound unnatural and rather ‘robotic’ as you will struggle to play consistently well with using a variety of guitar techniques at once.
Although ‘guitar speed’ is clearly only one out of many musical areas that must be mastered in order to become a truly expressive and creative musician, it is a highly desired skill that most guitar players do not have. Applying the suggestions above during your guitar practice sessions and following the guidelines from this free guitar speed training mini course will help you greatly to build as much guitar speed as you desire for your specific guitar playing goals.
Schecter Guitar Research is another guitar manufacturer that creates quality guitars for musicians, and they boast an impressive list of professional players who love their instruments. Though the company officially started manufacturing guitars in 1989, they were in business long before that manufacturing replacement guitar parts for guitars such as Fenders and Gibsons. The company also changed ownership in 1989, around the time when they started manufacturing their own guitars.
Why Silvertone Acoustic Guitar Is The Best Choice
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric signals. Since the generated signal is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker. Since the output of an electric guitar is an electric signal, the signal may easily be altered using electronic circuits to add colour to the sound. Often the signal is modified using effects such as reverb and distortion. Conceived in 1931, the electric guitar became a necessity as jazz musicians sought to amplify their sound. Since then, it has evolved into a stringed musical instrument capable of a multitude of sounds and styles. It served as a major component in the development of rock and roll and countless other genres of music.
Guitar Adjustment Made Easy
Fundamentally, acoustic guitar strings have been around longer than any other type of guitar string. They have evolved into one of the most critical components of the acoustic scene. Technology has taken the tone capabilities of the acoustic guitar string to new levels. There are many choices, sometimes leaving musicians confused at times. We are going to discuss one aspect of acoustic guitar strings in this writing…Metal.It’s about metal…What makes an acoustic guitar string different than electric guitar strings? Metal. Electric guitar strings utilize ferromagnetic metals, namely steel, to allow the pickup to sense it. Electric guitar pickups are based on variable reluctance technology. They rely on a magnetic field to be interrupted by a metal target (aka. Guitar string). The interruption is in the form of a vibration from the string. Acoustic guitar strings do not need ferromagnetic metals. Amplification is often not a focus of the acoustic guitar. Strings with clarity, brilliance and volume are preferred. The technology used to amplify an acoustic guitar does not rely upon strings having ferromagnetic properties. Transducing an acoustic guitar is more about picking up a signal via piezo effects, or sound pressure being picked up by a microphone. This opens up the door to a wider variety of string selections.There are many different flavors that acoustic guitar strings come in these days. A series of alloys exist at the most basic level. Interestingly, I find players of all ages and experience who do not know the differences in string metals. Some have a rough idea, while some have no idea. Copper, zinc and tin are metals seldom discussed by guitarist. As soon as a number like 92/8 or 80/20 is mentioned in reference to alloy sets, bewilderment can start. If you are thinking, “Yeah, what the hell do those numbers mean to my tone?” You are about to find out. So, without further delay, here is a guided tour!The Acoustic String Metal GuideBronze – Of all the strings manufactured, bronze has got to be the brightest and most articulate string available. There are no strings that are “pure” bronze, per say, but a mix of several different alloys including tin-phosphor, zinc and copper. The core is usually made of steel. Bronze strings can make virtually any acoustic guitar come alive with highly penetrating tone, versus their steel string counterparts. Bronze metal is known for its shimmer and brassy sound, but a deep rich low end can also be attained. Since string coatings have become popular, many of the previously highly corrosive bronze sets have become popular again. Uncoated bronze sets can lose their brilliance after a few hours of playing, as they can be highly corrosive. Many players used to use them for recording sessions for their short lived brassy sound. String coatings in general, have pumped new life into acoustic bronze sets. The brassy sound can last for many weeks, or months, without decaying.80/20 Bronze – Here is one of those numbers we mentioned earlier. What does 80/20 mean? It is the ratio of copper to zinc in the wrap wire. The wrap wire is 80% copper while the other 20% is zinc. Since copper is highly corrosive, the zinc component helps slows down the aging process and adds additional hardness. However, since the advent of string coatings, the corrosion issue has all but disappeared as a primary concern. Although, poorly coated 80/20 strings, or strings with worn away coating will corrode. Tone wise, the 80/20 mix is excellent for creating a string that yields fantastic tonal range. The 80/20 strings are known for their brilliance and crisp highs. Uncoated versions of this string can lose brilliance after a few hours of playing sessions. In fact, this string has gotten a bad rap over the years for being “dead” sounding due to its high corrosion rate. Super old sets exposed to high humidity can turn light green from the copper content. Again, coating technologies have completely changed this factor.85/15 Bronze – This string has a tonal spectrum in between an 80/20 bronze and a phosphor bronze string. It retains much of the brilliance found in an 80/20 bronze but captures the warmth and fullness of phosphor bronze strings. The 85/15 was the initial development of the more popular 80/20. However, 85/15 still remains a popular choice for finger style playing. It helps add volume to finger style articulation and give clarity similar to a plectrum.Phosphor Bronze – The phosphor bronze strings were developed to have a longer lasting life cycle. In other words, the phosphorus content helped preserve the brilliant tone longer than the 80/20 and 80/15 bronze strings. Phosphor bronze strings are the darkest sounding of the bronze string family. They have about 75-80% the brilliance of a fresh set of 80/20 bronze. Phosphor adds a warm pleasing tone that give a tonal softness not found in other strings. They tend to have a little less “pick noise” as a plectrum sweeps across the strings. In fact, some sets have been known to yield a soft “brushing” type of pick noise.92/8 Phosphor Bronze – The 92/8 is a ratio represents a blend of 92% copper and 8% tin phosphide in the wrap wire. The 8% actually breakdown to a 7% tin and 1% phosphor composition. The tin phosphide helps preserve the tonal range over time. Again, since the advent of coatings, the role of phosphor in coated string is purely tone versus longevity.Gold Plated – In an effort to prevent corrosion, some strings utilize a micro layer of gold plating on the wrap wire. The gold plating gives a less brighter sound than the non-plated 80/20 bronze string sets and non-plated phosphor bronze sets. The gold is often plated on 80/20 bronze wrap wire and phosphor bronze sets. The gold plating is a good alternative for players who feel the poly-resin coating on strings impact string performance.Titanium – Acoustic string sets based on titanium compositions and cores have been cited for their corrosion resistance abilities. The non-ferromagnetic properties of titanium strings inherently put them in the acoustic class of strings. The tonal range of titanium is somewhere between steel and bronze sets with a very unique sounding clarity and richness. Titanium is a bit of an exotic metal and can be over thirty times the cost of stainless steel.Stainless Steel – Stainless steel strings bring their own tonal uniqueness to the acoustic world. Their high tension requirements make them less friendly to acoustic designs, but still give exceptional performance. Steel give a much softer sound with less volume than their bronze counterparts. They make a good choice for the hard strumming, open style chord players. Players on a budget will appreciate their availability in low price points. In addition, their stainless properties give them good corrosion resistance.Silk Steel – Don’t own a classical guitar? No problem. For players seeking the soft sound of classical guitar strings, silk steel strings deliver the classical tonal range. This string is constructed of a center wrap of silk with a steel winding. The combination of silk and steel bring a classical tone to finger-style players wanting to keep their traditional dreadnaught or concert auditorium acoustic guitar. Unlike classical strings, the silk steel strings come with a ball end to anchor in a bridge made for metal strings.We have covered a lot of ground here. As you can see, there are a bunch of options for alloys in the acoustic string world. Hopefully, this overview has provided enough insight to let you know the differences between the various alloys.
An English immigrant family is responsible for the trademark of Squier Fender Guitars. Jerome Bonaparte “JB” Squier and his son Victor Carroll “VC” Squier built and repaired violins together in Boston during the late 19th century. Eventually settling at Battle Creek, Michigan, where he opened his own string shop named V.C. Squier Company. In the 1950s the company first contacted Fender, This is when Squier began making electric guitar strings for Fender’s first products.
Who doesn’t want to play a guitar? The guitar has become the de facto universal symbol of the contemporary musician, rock and roll of course, starting sometime in the 1940′s with the appearance of folk and country singers in the United States. Although the guitar appeared on the entertainment stage before 1950, the appearance of Elvis Presley with his gyrating hips and slender figure, strumming a guitar and handling it as if holding a lover, along with his mellifluous voice, set the guitar as the indispensable accompaniment to rock and roll singers on the entertainment stage, perhaps forever more. Thanks to Elvis and those earlier rockers who followed him, the guitar has gained an unprecedented popularity that still holds today. Those who aspire to entertain in the rock industry know that being able to play the guitar is surely a requirement if one is to find their own place among the stars.
Maybe it’s all relative on the subject of what you should contemplate are cheap electric guitars. I put it to anyone anytime you are looking at good value Fender electric guitars will most certainly be right up there.
Anyone who is experienced in playing the guitar will eventually just have to take that leap and learn how to build their very own guitar. If you choose to do so, you should try giving yourself the great challenge of building your own electric guitar, yes, it can be done and it does not really have to be too very difficult for you. Some people may choose to build an acoustic guitar, that is awesome too, but just know that these two types of guitars are built completely differently from one another. Before you ever consider getting into something such as building an electric guitar, make sure you are more than prepared though, because it is important to know exactly what you can expect during this process, so that if you do run into any major problems, you will totally be prepared to handle them, to the best of your knowledge. 
