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5 Effective Pentatonic Exercises For Building Speed

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Photo by JD Hancock
Building speed is not just for guitar players who want to play fast and look good (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but building speed is good for any aspect of guitar playing.

Once you’ve got a good technique and finger dexterity everything you play becomes easier from rhythm playing to soloing and everything in between. Life on the guitar gets better.

I’ve written down 5 exercises that will help you build up speed but also to get a good grip on your pentatonic scale so you can learn to play them inside out.

Go through each exercise slowly a couple of times before you try to speed up.

Set up a slow tempo on your metronome and when you feel comfortable enough gradually increase the tempo. Play as accurate as possible and keep your notes clear and clean.

Try to avoid extra sounding notes that aren’t supposed to be there by muting the strings you don’t want to hear with either your left hand or right hand.

Practice with focus and dedication and reap the benefits.
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4 Furious 4 Notes-Per-String Exercises!

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I couldn’t resist the temptation to write one final post on notes-per-string licks.

I just love ‘m! They’re great for warm-ups and to work on your alternate picking.

Previously I wrote a post on 2-notes-per string called “10 Smoking 2 Notes-Per-String Licks to Rock On!” and a 3-notes-per strings article (my most popular post) “21 Cool 3 Notes-Per-String Exercises”, but today we’re gonna take it one step further and dive into some 4 notes-per-string exercises for the adventurers among us.

You can play all 4 notes on each string with all your four fingers, that would be a nice finger stretch exercise which is good for building strength and reach. Or you can play it a more easier way which feels and sounds really nice too. You can see below the tabs with which fingers to play each note.

i = indexfinger, m = middlefinger, r = ringfinger, p = pink

Building speed:
– First play the exercise slow a couple of times.
– Memorize the exercise.
– Gradually increase your tempo. (play the exercise a couple of times)
– Now play the exercise slow and accurately. (a couple of times)
– Increase your tempo a little more. (play the exercise a couple of times)Continue Reading

10 Smoking 2 Notes-Per-String Licks to Rock On!

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Photo by John Hope
A lot of you who are working on “developing technique and increasing speed” have probably put some blood sweat and tears in my 21 Cool 3 Notes-Per-String Exercises.

If you haven’t and you got the nerve be sure to check it out.

But today I present to you 10 smoking 2 notes-per-string licks”.

A technique that feels different from the 3 notes per string and will definitely improve your technique in many ways if you work hard at it. Also the licks are perfect to incorporate into your improvisations.

While there are a lot of great guitar players known for their 3 notes-per-string, don’t underestimate what people like Zakk Wylde, Eric Johnson and John McLaughlin can do with 2 notes per string. They rock!

So let’s get your hands back in the dirt and work on these smoking licks.

Note: Don’t forget to use the alternate picking technique (up,down,up,down,up,down…)

Make yourself proud!


EXERCISE #1 (A minor pentatonic)
e--------------------------------------------------------5-8-|
B-----------------------------------------5-8-------5-8------|
G--------------------------5-7-------5-7-------5-7-----------|
D-----------5-7-------5-7-------5-7--------------------------|
A------5-7-------5-7-----------------------------------------|
E-5-8--------------------------------------------------------|
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9 Effective Ways to Increase Your Guitar Picking Speed

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Working on increasing your picking speed is not just for the hell fire speed wannabe’s.

Once your speed increases your whole style of playing loosens up. Your fingers will feel light and flexible and you’ll gain much more freedom in your playing.

Your fingers will float easily across the strings without trying so hard. It’s an important skill to work on and to maintain.

Increasing your picking speed comes with obstacles, victories, ups and downs, lots of patience and hard work. It’s all about practicing and equally important “the right way of practicing”. Just practicing a lot of hours doesn’t necessarily increase your picking speed if you don’t do it the right way.

Every individual has it’s own specific hurdles to overcome, but if you focus on these tips you are already off to a great start.

You can do it too!
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