Let's hear your tips for developing picking speed.

[ADinNYC]

I've gotten better and better over the years but I've just never been able to develop the speed that most professional players seem to have. I've been getting into bluegrass lately and it's just amazing how fast some of those guys can pick. And it just seems so effortless to them. It's as if there's some secret code I just haven't been able to crack. I know playing fast isn't everything but I'd love to be able to tear it up once in a while.

Is there a certain way to hold the pick? Wrist position? What's the secret???

[DPK5150]

The only real way to develope "speed" is practice. Make sure you are practicing with a metronome or a drum machine starting slow (16th notes @ 100bpm) and increasing the tempo as you progress. Using a stiff pick 1.0mm or higher helps as well. Picking should be from the wrist & you should try to keep the muscles in your arm from tensing up too much. There are alot or great insturctional methods for developing your picking speed, John Petrucci's "Rock Discipline" is a personal favorite. PM me & I can send you some exercises that I give to my students to check out.

Cheers,
Dan

[AJ Love]

I'm not exactly a super fast picker, myself, but I have been able to develop at least a little more speed that I used to have by practicing with a metronome. I play a certain lick or solo that I want to get faster on at a slower speed on the metronome and gradually increase the speed over the course of a practice session

[klasaine]

Yes, the 'secret' is to practice - alot!
But you also need to make sure you're using efficient technique (notice I didn't say good or proper, everybody's different - so please don't turn the OP into a 'but Jimi did this or Alan does this' thread).
Check out the left and right hand positions of those fast bluegrass pickers you see.
Better yet, take a few (or a lot of) lessons and have a pro 'coach' you.

Don't play any song or runs faster than you can negotiate the hardest part cleanly.
Work with a metronome.
Play scales - tons of them!
Play arpeggios - tons of them!
Discipline yourself - scales/arps/excercises 20 minutes a day, 6 days a week - no slacking. (It works. Record yourself on day 1 and then record yourself 30 days later.)

*I prefer heavier strings for less pick resistance as well as a heavy pick (same reason).
011's on electrics and 012's or 013's on a dreadnaught and nothing thinner than a 1.15mm pick.

[Ridge runner]

A couple of years ago I took a great lesson from this guy in Dallas,
His name is Richard Tull-http://www.chopsfromhell.com/guest_tull1.html.
and one thing I noticed because while I can pick pretty fast been playing for a
bunch of years now.But I had nowhere near the speed,clarity,smoothness that He had!

He told me to get those old Paul Gilbert terrifying guitar videos,lots of great examples from them and to do strict alternate picking, to watch out for slipping in the "sweeping picking", but no keep it strict alternate picking with very simple 2 string exercises at first.
Three note per string things, he did do sweep picking but he only when he wanted it..not unintentional sweep picking but yeah he was also a Martial artist and he really took a "Bruce Lee" like approach to it.

Since I took that lesson I still haven't done the work to obtain this skill..I just felt that there were other holes in my playing that's far more important..Been watching Emily Remler videos recently watching Leon's great Western swing rhythm videos ect..But I plan on going back and doing this as well when I get time.

But yeah you want to get it where you play it like Al Demelo with "Authority" Richard Tull's picking had that going on..Very Impressive!

[63dot]

The guy who taught me was influenced by Joe, Steve, and Eddie. He always had a really fast attack and I couldn't figure it out.

Many players, through an easier path, resort a lot to hammer ons and pull offs but get in trouble when a fast passage with picking is involved.

He basically told me to alternate pick and go chromatic (half steps) using all the fingers from F on the first fret (F, F#, G, A flat), repeat pattern on 5th string, 4th, etc. Get used to playing fast with all thicknesses of picks, too. There is no one pick which is special or fast, only the player.

Then start pattern on F# note ( F#, G, A flat, A), repeating patterns on other strings, and then all the way up the neck. Musically this is boring and it really feels like work or exercise. It's not meant to be fun or creative but it will work those chops up in no time. A lot like reading music and ignored by the majority of players, hard work and discipline in these things separate most studio pros from the amateurs.

The trick is to work two things:

1) muscle memory for playing every note on neck
2) muscle memory for fast effortless alternate picking

I hope this helps.

[fezz parka]

Speed is a byproduct of accuracy.

[Joefish]

…. and, maybe give jazz picks a try

[GregB]

As a player of over 35 years and a music teacher with over 40 students I have this advice:

Never practice playing faster than you can play with no tension. A lot of people think that to play fast you use a metronome and set it just slightly slower than the point where you're a total train wreck. The problem is that you're teaching yourself to play at the point where you're almost a train wreck. You want to learn to play at a point where both hands and arms are relaxed.

Use a metronome, but slow it down to the point where you have no tension in either hand or arm. If you're having trouble relaxing your forearm then think about relaxing your shoulders. Often, if you remove tension from your shoulders your arms will automatically relax.

According to books like "Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot" the brain learns repetitive motions by doing them repeatably. But the speed of those motions doesn't matter. Because of this it's vastly more important that you learn to play accurately and without tension than to play fast. The speed just happens.

Years ago I was playing in a bluegrass band and I had to learn a Dan Crary solo. I had the solo written out in his book so I learned it note by note until it was perfect. A used a metronome but NEVER set it to triple digits. I always practiced it below 100 bpm. At that speed I could do it over and over with no tension in my hands at all. When it came time for the band to play I ripped through that solo with no problem. After the gig I asked the guys to count off that song at the tempo we played it so I could check it against my metronome. We were playing at over 200 beats per minute but I didn't have any problem playing it. My brain had learned to play it accurately and without tension. The speed was just replaying the movements I had already learned at a different rate.

A couple of years ago I had a very bad accident which kept me from playing anything for over 6 months. As part of my recovery I've been going back to practicing scales and arpeggios at slow tempos (under 100 bpm) When I sit in at a jam I play much faster but that feeling of no tension stays with me. This is important not only because it makes me a better player, but after the accident, tension hurts.

The road to speed is still a long one. But it's paved with slow, accurate practice rather than blazing fast practice.

Oh by the way, if your pick is parallel to the strings you'll have a tough time getting much speed. Bend your thumb just a bit so the pick is pointed more towards the cutaway.

And finally, here's an exercise which I learned from mandolin wizard Mike Marshall. Play the A on your high E string (5th fret) with a down stroke and a Bb (6th fret) with an up stroke. Play those two notes back and forth, always with down up down up and see how fast you can go. At some point your two hands will not synch up.

Now slow down and just play the A note down up down up slowly. Release the tension in your hand by holding the pick as lightly as possible. Release the grip on your pick until your pick literally falls out of your hand. Just before the pick fell out was the minimal force you needed to hold the pick. It was also the quietest you could play on your instrument.

Pick up your pick and play the 2 note A Bb down up down up exercise again but this time keep that very light grip. You want to play very quietly. Play faster, but not louder. You'll find that you can now play a lot faster before your hands get out of sync. What you're doing with this exercise is teaching yourself to play with a minimum of tension. Try it. It really works.

[klasaine]

^^^^ GREAT POST! ^^^^

[boneyguy]

"No tempo' practice is also very useful. I learned this many years ago from 'The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar'. It's a very good book that will likely introduce new ideas to most people I'm guessing. It sure did to me

The importance and usefulness of 'no tempo' practice is that when you set aside trying to play in time you can then completely focus your attention on relaxation and efficient muscle movement.

Playing with a metronome is very important of course but in my opinion 'no tempo' practice can play a really important role as well especially when you're struggling with a particular lick or passage of music. Turn off the metronome and completely forget about playing in time. Go as slowly as possible (like stupidly slow) with no mind to keeping time at all. In other words you're not trying to keep slow time. You're completely disgregarding time keeping altogether. You're simply observing the quality of the movements you're making and that's all. The feeling should be almost meditative with a relaxed but focused attention on your whole body (tension held anywhere, especially in the breath, will effect the quality of movement in your hands and arms)

It's interesting but initially I found it hard to let go of wanting to keep time but to benefit from this exercise you have to.

[TG]

I move my forearm to be more parallel/in line with the strings when I want to pick faster. Approaching from the direction of the bridge, sort of, with a straight wrist.
I usually finger pick or else hold the pick between my thumb and middle finger (got some joint problems), but recently I've found that temporarily shifting to a thumb/forefinger grip and repositioning my arm as described above allows me to pick as fast and as long as I like.
I can even do that fast Greek mandolin picking like that.
But if I want to play with 'feel' I go back to my usual way.

Figured it out playing Miserlou with our band...

[ADinNYC]

So much great advice presented...thanks everyone!

[guitar dan]

Originally Posted by GregB

As a player of over 35 years and a music teacher with over 40 students I have this advice:

Never practice playing faster than you can play with no tension. A lot of people think that to play fast you use a metronome and set it just slightly slower than the point where you're a total train wreck. The problem is that you're teaching yourself to play at the point where you're almost a train wreck. You want to learn to play at a point where both hands and arms are relaxed.

Use a metronome, but slow it down to the point where you have no tension in either hand or arm. If you're having trouble relaxing your forearm then think about relaxing your shoulders. Often, if you remove tension from your shoulders your arms will automatically relax.

According to books like "Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot" the brain learns repetitive motions by doing them repeatably. But the speed of those motions doesn't matter. Because of this it's vastly more important that you learn to play accurately and without tension than to play fast. The speed just happens.

+100000000000

I hardly ever hear guitar teachers talking about playing relaxed. I also agree that the booked mentioned earlier "The Principle of Correct Practice For Guitar" has a lot of great ideas for practicing this way.

[Piotr]

GregB, thank you sooo much. This really is something I've never considered that seriously. Playing on the train wreck verge was my kind of speed practicing...

[slowpinky]

Never practice playing faster than you can play with no tension.

This is so true - and its common sense too.

Think about pick angle too. The flatter your pick the slower the pick moves across the string - and it sounds 'pickier' too. Which is cool if thats the tone your going for.
Angling it forward or back will get it across the string faster and vibrate the string differently - the change in tone will be immediate - its more immediate and ' bigger' sounding but takes a little getting used to.

Great if you are habitual alternate picker like me.

[JayFreddy]

Originally Posted by GregB

As a player of over 35 years and a music teacher with over 40 students I have this advice:

Never practice playing faster than you can play with no tension. A lot of people think that to play fast you use a metronome and set it just slightly slower than the point where you're a total train wreck. The problem is that you're teaching yourself to play at the point where you're almost a train wreck. You want to learn to play at a point where both hands and arms are relaxed.

Use a metronome, but slow it down to the point where you have no tension in either hand or arm. If you're having trouble relaxing your forearm then think about relaxing your shoulders. Often, if you remove tension from your shoulders your arms will automatically relax.

According to books like "Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot" the brain learns repetitive motions by doing them repeatably. But the speed of those motions doesn't matter. Because of this it's vastly more important that you learn to play accurately and without tension than to play fast. The speed just happens.

Years ago I was playing in a bluegrass band and I had to learn a Dan Crary solo. I had the solo written out in his book so I learned it note by note until it was perfect. A used a metronome but NEVER set it to triple digits. I always practiced it below 100 bpm. At that speed I could do it over and over with no tension in my hands at all. When it came time for the band to play I ripped through that solo with no problem. After the gig I asked the guys to count off that song at the tempo we played it so I could check it against my metronome. We were playing at over 200 beats per minute but I didn't have any problem playing it. My brain had learned to play it accurately and without tension. The speed was just replaying the movements I had already learned at a different rate.

A couple of years ago I had a very bad accident which kept me from playing anything for over 6 months. As part of my recovery I've been going back to practicing scales and arpeggios at slow tempos (under 100 bpm) When I sit in at a jam I play much faster but that feeling of no tension stays with me. This is important not only because it makes me a better player, but after the accident, tension hurts.

The road to speed is still a long one. But it's paved with slow, accurate practice rather than blazing fast practice.

Oh by the way, if your pick is parallel to the strings you'll have a tough time getting much speed. Bend your thumb just a bit so the pick is pointed more towards the cutaway.

And finally, here's an exercise which I learned from mandolin wizard Mike Marshall. Play the A on your high E string (5th fret) with a down stroke and a Bb (6th fret) with an up stroke. Play those two notes back and forth, always with down up down up and see how fast you can go. At some point your two hands will not synch up.

Now slow down and just play the A note down up down up slowly. Release the tension in your hand by holding the pick as lightly as possible. Release the grip on your pick until your pick literally falls out of your hand. Just before the pick fell out was the minimal force you needed to hold the pick. It was also the quietest you could play on your instrument.

Pick up your pick and play the 2 note A Bb down up down up exercise again but this time keep that very light grip. You want to play very quietly. Play faster, but not louder. You'll find that you can now play a lot faster before your hands get out of sync. What you're doing with this exercise is teaching yourself to play with a minimum of tension. Try it. It really works.

Thank you. I have a Yahoo group that I use as a kind of blog, would you mind if I quoted your post there?

[Piotr]

GregB, I used your approach to bring my version of Havana by Kazumi Watanabe up to the original tempo. It worked!
That's a great tune, by the way, and nice to practice quick picking.

[moonman2]

One thing that has'nt been mentioned.......
....and the one thing that solved approximately 90% of all my problems (and still does when I overlook it) is......

ECONOMY OF MOTION

It was'nt until somebody said this to me one day, and I really took it on board and thought about it, that things started to really change and improve FAST.

"You dont get fast by being fast, you get fast by being ECONOMICAL"

- never move more than is ever absolutely necessary. (This applys to both hands)

.... additionaly, (as already mentioned) learning to relax is also essential

[stickler4tone]

Some great info here.
Personally, I found slowing things down and playing as cleanly as possible was the key to playing faster. But most players aren't mature enough to go there, you kind of have to take the focus of playing fast to really be capable of the technique required to develop speed.