To Play Fast, Learn to Play Slow

Learning to play fast.

At some point everyone sees or hears an amazing guitar player who seems to be able to effortlessly play at blazing speeds. How do they do that? The beginning guitar player sees no way to learn to go that fast, insists they sped up the recording, or used some other electronic trick. Then, they see that guitarist in person and realize he or she is capable of playing fast. So, how do you learn to increase your speed?
Believe it or not, the best way is to learn to play slowly. When learning guitar, you need to remember that if you can't play it slow there's no way you can play it fast. Yes, it's really that simple. Here are some tips for learning to increase your speed.

• Get a metronome and USE IT! I have students who buy metronomes and drum machines, use them for a short time and then give up on them. The most common mistake is setting a speed that you can't keep up with. Then the excuses start to come out. I can't play that slow, it's boring, the song or exercises don't sound good slow, and many more. Set the rhythm to a slow pace, concentrate on picking each note exactly on the beat, with each note being clean and clear. Don't try to play complicated songs or exercises at first. Don't speed up at all until you can play each note in time without missing a beat.
• Work on major, minor and pentatonic scales. Every song is based on a scale, so practicing scales is a valuable use of your time. You'll learn to recognize the sounds of the different scales which will help you develop the ability to pick out songs by ear.
• Listen to the masters. There are amazing guitarists in all kinds of genres. It doesn't matter if you like rock, metal, country, folk, classical or bluegrass music, with a little research you'll find someone you can relate to.
• Practice every day. You don't need to spend hours on exercises but you do need to work on them. One of the quotes I use is: if you think scales are boring, practice them until they're not boring. If you don't think scales are boring, practice them until they are boring, then repeat step one.
• Get help. A guitar teacher can help you progress by watching and listening to you play and giving you valuable tips and ways to improve.
• Find a practice buddy. Do you know someone who also plays guitar or perhaps another instrument that complements the guitar? Is there a particular style of music that you'd really like to play? Find someone to practice with and to hold you accountable. You can do the same for him or her.

There's lots of printed material to help you improve your speed, so check out all of the resources that are available. You can find books, online lessons, CDs and DVDs to help you.

To learn a song note for note, I highly recommend Riffmaster Pro Software. (Affiliate Link). The software enables you to slow down songs without changing the pitch, set up loops so you can work on individual phrases, change the eq settings to emphasize certain instruments, and export the slowed down songs you so you can record and practice them.

Should you purchase the program and have any questions about how to use it, just email me or leave a comment on this blog and I'll be happy to help you figure it out.

Music Theory, Part 2, The Circle of Fifths and Scales

The circle of fifths. What is it, why would I use it.

As you travel on your musical journey you'll certainly read or hear about the circle of fifths. It's a learning tool that helps you remember several important concepts. There are many examples on the internet, just Google circle of fifths. The circle teaches you key signatures, how many sharps or flats are in each key, which chords go together, and the relative minor chords. Going clockwise around the circle you learn the sharp  # keys,  going counterclockwise you learn the flat b keys. This helps you learn how to play in different scales. The letters around the top can also help you remember what the 3 main chords are in each scale. Pick a letter, then go clockwise 1 and counterclockwise 1 to get the 3 chords that are most common.

Relative Minors.

No, they're not your young children. Every scale has 2 letters that use the name number of sharps or flats. So C Major and A Minor have the same number, in this case zero, of sharps or flats. To play either one you just start on the first letter and then go through the 7 letters we use in music until it comes back around. For example: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C is the C Major Scale while A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A is the relative minor.

How is this useful?

By knowing which chords go with which scales you can learn songs more quickly. The other advantage is that it will help you follow along when practicing or jamming with other musicians. This is just a brief explanation, so if you'd like to explore the circle further, do some research or have your guitar teacher go over it with you. It can definitely make figuring songs out a lot easier.