How can I improve my finger speed?

MAXIFUNK · Feb 25, 2010

Besides practicing scales what else can I do to improve the fingering speed of my left hand (I am a right handed player)?

deeaa · Feb 25, 2010

No idea, just play....my problem is the right hand speed. I think I can be fast enough with the left,but speed picking etc. right hand stuff....hard. and I'm right-handed. I have been tx as a kid I sort of preferred left, though. ate with the left, drew etc...but they forced house the right hand and I became right-handed.

Katastrophe · Feb 25, 2010

There are a ton of different finger excercises out there... Here's a few ideas.

1. Set up your guitar properly, with action as low as is comfortable for you without buzz. You'll automatically gain speed when you don't have to fight your guitar. Contrary to conventional wisdom, you can get good tone with lighter gauge strings.

2. When practicing, try to get an even, clean result with as little finger movement as possible. The idea here is economy. It's not just about speed, but efficiency.

3. Buy a metronome. It's boring, but hitting the notes in an even rhythm will make you more efficient.

4. SLOW DOWN. Start slow, and don't raise the tempo until you can reapeat a pattern, moving up the neck one fret at a time, backwards and forward, until you get to the 12th fret.

5. When it gets too boring, stop and go to something else. Focusing on speed only will drive you nuts.

Matt John · May 7, 2010

Play scales and finger exercises.
A good exercise to do is the "1-2-3-4" exercise.

You use the first four frets, and all four of your fingers, and you go across all six strings. It helps your alternate picking too.

You can also try it with hammering on and pulling off too.

If you don't know what the 1-2-3-4 exercise is, Google it.

Place ALL four fingers on the High E string. (Smallest one.) Simply allign then on the frets as 1 2 3 4. On those frets all on the same string. Now get your pinky and pull of the string (Keep other fingers placed on fret 1 2 3.) And just keep pulling off fret 4 with the pinky. You'll feel alot of burn, that means your pinkys getting stronger! (Best way to bulk it up!)

MAXIFUNK · May 7, 2010

Katastrophe & Matt John,

Thanks for the info I will try them both reach one teach one thanks.

Jimi75 · May 7, 2010

Some people swear on the spider excercise. It's supposed to improve speed and coordiantion between let and right hand.

http://www.fretmeup.com/spider-exercises/

ZMAN · May 7, 2010

I practice a scale I found in a 1980 Hal Leonard book I bought back then. I rediscoverd it a couple of years ago. It helps you move up and down the neck, and can be used in soloing. Practice it in several keys and both forward and backwards, try to get faster and faster without looking as well.

deeaa · May 7, 2010

ZMAN I probably read the very same book

all the theory I ever learnt about guitar playing or music ;-)

MAXIFUNK · May 7, 2010

Thanks just Awesome

See this is why I dig this site people will take the time to answer your question even if its months later without bias and insult.

I know a whole lot guys & gals who frequent the site are so far removed from the newbie stage that some of mine & others newbie questions might be a bore or a been there done type thing but yet they (you dudes/dudettes) still take the time to answer our questions.

I just wanted to say thanks and how cool it is that you guys do so. There are some sights I've been to and it seems all they do is rip each other apart as if they themselves are all in top 98 percentile of guitar players.

Thanks Standing "O" :applause :applause :applause :applause :applause

ZMAN · May 7, 2010

You know I really should look at the date of the original posting. New members come on and seem to find old posts to answer. I see it and think that it is a new posting. I didn't realize it was from Feb. originally. I must have missed it then or I would have sent my picture of the Scale I use.
I found practicing this one helped a lot. If you watch Clapton and a lot of the blues guys they use this one A LOT in their soloing.

ZMAN · May 7, 2010

deeaa said:
ZMAN I probably read the very same book all the theory I ever learnt about guitar playing or music ;-)

The book I got it from was called Lead Rock Method by Al Clausen. It was a Hal Leonard guitar series that I bought in 1981. Of course I was hardly playing at the time and forgot about it. I rediscovered it about 5 years ago and since I was playing at a higher level started to use it.
It isn't a huge book but it shows licks and scales that these guys use,Trower, Alvin Lee, Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Lifeson,Beck, Frampton, BB KIng Van Halen and others.
Actually a pretty cool book.

MAXIFUNK · May 7, 2010

ZMAN said:
You know I really should look at the date of the original posting. /QUOTE]

I know its easy to miss threads here since there is so many threads on the site.
Heck Kat answered the question and I did not see his answer until Matt John the question last night 2 months later.

ZMAN, its just cool you guys have no problem with reach one teach one what so ever. I will Google that book to see if its in print anywhere.

ZMAN · May 8, 2010

Yes Maxi I went through a kind of flat period where my playing was just not getting any better. I was trying to play songs note for note until I realized while watching some of the Crossroads jams that each player had his own take on the song, and style for their solos. When I rediscovered this book I saw how to connect the different scales, up and down the neck.
It is a great tool, and I doublt you will find it. All I can say is it worked for me.

Tig · May 9, 2010

Something simple I picked up from Pebber Brown (and am still working on)...

When you lift fingers that aren't being used, keep them down low and close to the fretboard. Let them hover just above the strings. Many players lift them up and away, which slows fretting speed.
Very simple tip, but it is not easy to break the old habit.

Tig · Aug 4, 2011

Matt John said:
Play scales and finger exercises.
A good exercise to do is the "1-2-3-4" exercise.

To expand upon this...

1-2-3-4
1-3-2-4
1-2-4-3
1-4-2-3
1-4-3-2

Do these on each string, in both directions, and on different areas of the neck. You can reverse them all.

Eric · Aug 4, 2011

Tig said:
To expand upon this...

1-2-3-4
1-3-2-4
1-2-4-3
1-4-2-3
1-4-3-2

Do these on each string, in both directions, and on different areas of the neck. You can reverse them all.

Or if (like me) you don't feel like figuring out all of the possible permutations, you can get this book that has lots and lots of finger exercises listed.

61RJEbSheML._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

I've been working through it recently and while the exercises are nothing revolutionary, it's organized and provides a logical basis to use for finger exercises. It has helped, and doing these finger exercises helps me realize just how little control I typically have over my left hand. I'm excited to see what kind of progress I can make over a 6-month period.

Robert · Aug 4, 2011

Key point here - practice exercises to a drum machine or metronome. Only kick it up a notch once you are able to play the exercise really nice and clean and coordinated at the current speed.

Neal · Aug 4, 2011

I used a metronome, and worked on the cromatic scales, up and down the neck, even when I was looking at television.

MAXIFUNK · Aug 12, 2011

Too cool!

bhatnagar.ashish001 · Aug 22, 2011

Interesting post. I like it. Thanks for sharing this post with me. Good post. Keep sharing.

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Tig · Aug 22, 2011

SPAM never sleeps, eh?

syo · Aug 22, 2011

Tig said:
SPAM never sleeps, eh?

You know that reminds me of some childhood summers I spent with my family in Lake Shastra in Northern California. Mostly enjoyable but I remember there were always tons of meat hornets buzzing around the dehli slices and spam that we would have at lunch. Quite a bother really...

Regarding finger speed, I have to thank Jimi for the spider excercises which I have come to love. Sort of. I like it Jimi. Please keep sharing. :AOK

R_of_G · Aug 22, 2011

Robert said:
...Only kick it up a notch once you are able to play the exercise really nice and clean and coordinated at the current speed.

Somewhere I still have issue in a pile of other magazines I saved but there was a piece a few years ago I read with Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave) about his speed-training regime. The thing he stressed the most was to do the exercises at a dinosaur-slow pace until each and every note is clean and precise before moving up in speed.

How can I improve my finger speed?

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