Rod Collins

We’re going to try and offer some free online guitar lessons for beginners to intermediate players.
All based on shred - metal or hard rock of course \m/

How to Play faster Shred Guitar

The first thing to say is there are no short cuts or easy ways - practice is the key to increasing your speed as a lead guitarist.
There is a tendency when getting started to seek speed above all else, this, whilst understandable, is a mistake.
Clean and accurate playing is the most important thing

In the example below you’ll see a fairly straight forward run. It is easy enough to learn as the pattern repeats itself after every 6 notes in octave intervals.
Start by playing it slowly to learn the pattern, aim to make every note as clear as possible.
Speed will come as you keep playing it - gradually try to increase the speed but do not sacrifice accuracy or tonal quality - each note should count !

Use alternate picking, that is up and down strokes of the plectrum. You should also be also stick to using the 1st finger , 3rd finger and pinkie for the 3rd note.
The little finger is the weakest and there is a temptation to stretch - this is short-sighted, use the one finger per fret rule for runs or scales such as this - it will pay in the end

Start with the 1st finger in the 5th fret position for the first 6 notes then shift to the 7th then the 10th. Do this as smoothly as possible, keep it clean and even in tempo.

E—————————————————————–10-12-13-
B————————————————-10-12-13—————-
G————————————7-9-10——————————-
D————————7-9-10——————————————
A————5-7-8—————————————————-
E-5-7-8————————————————————-

To further increase dexterity and make more of the lick you can also reverse it. Simply play the pattern backwards and finish with some heavy vibrato on the last A (5th fret low E string)

Running straight up and down this pattern will not only increase your speed but also the accuracy of your picking and the smoothness between shifting hand position.

If there is enough interest in these free online guitar lessons then we shall keep them coming.
If you have any questions or comments you can leave them below
Happy Shredding !
Rod