Learn How To Make Fast Guitar Playing Easier By Keeping Both Hands In Perfect Sync
No guitar player likes the feeling you get when you try to play a fast lick and aren’t able to do it consistently without making frustrating mistakes.
So why do so many guitar players have a hard time playing clean at faster speeds?
This is the answer:
Not very many guitarists understand how to keep their hands in sync at fast speeds.
After you are done reading this article, you’ll be one of the few who does.
To get things in motion, check out this video to see how to keep your hands in sync when playing fast:
You now understand how to get your hands in sync while playing any guitar lick.
But this isn’t it for what you’re going to learn today.
The following are three of the best 2-hand synchronization tips for increasing guitar speed and improving accuracy:
2-Hand Synchronization Guitar Practice Strategy #1: Double Picking
Just like the name says:
Practice every scale and sequence by picking the notes within them twice.
Watch this lead guitar picking demonstration video by one of my students that shows double picking.
Why does this picking approach seem to work so well?
Easy:
Picking notes twice makes it harder to keep your hands together in sync.
(Your picking hand moves twice as fast as your fretting hand. So mistakes become more easy to see.)
And when you start playing like normal?
Picking feels effortless and your 2-hand synchronization feels tight, like a glove.
You can use this approach in a couple of ways:
1. Use a double picking approach as you warm up (for 15 minutes). This way you develop better technique while warming up.
2. Practice all your licks using double picking for a few minutes. This helps you play these licks faster and makes your synchronization better with everything you play.
2-Hand Synchronization Guitar Practice Strategy #2: Practice Guitar Without Distortion Sometimes
Invest a little bit of your guitar practice time into playing without an amplifier/on clean settings. Pick the notes with enough power that you could hear them well unplugged.
One way I do this is to…
…imagine you are on one side of a football field playing guitar for your frieds seated on the other side.
And you don’t have any amplification.
Pick with enough volume that they can hear you 100 yards away.
Playing guitar without distortion shows you inconsistencies within your pick attack which bring your hands out of sync.
Don’t practice without an amp all the time. Spend most of your time practicing using settings appropriate for the style you prefer. This is how you clean up sloppy open string noise in your guitar paying.
Note: Be sure you don’t allow your fretting hand to tense up when you play unplugged. Keep it relaxed in the same way you would while playing with an amp. If you have trouble doing that, this free guide on improving fretting hand technique will help you.
2-Hand Synchronization Guitar Practice Strategy #3: Work On Single String Guitar Picking Licks
What is a great way to assess your skills with two-hand synchronization?
Answer: how well you are able to keep your hands in sync while playing on just one string.
For instance: Continuously pick these frets on the thin E string: 10 7 9 10 9 7
Track how fast you can play a simple lick like this again and again until you get out of sync.
Then use the advice in the other points of this article to tighten up the sync between your hands.
What happens then?
As your single string two-hand synchronization improves — all your licks start to feel effortless.
You now understand what it takes to keep your hands in sync while playing at faster speeds.
The next action you need to take is to develop effortless fretting hand technique. How is this done? I tell you in my free online resource on mastering fretting hand finger independence. Download it for no cost right now and learn guitar playing secrets most guitarists never know.
About The Author:
Tom Hess is a highly successful guitar teacher, touring musician and composer. He teaches electric guitar online lessons to guitarists around the world. Follow Tom Hess on Facebook for daily guitar playing tips and links to free guitar resources.
