Everything I Know About Playing Guitar FAST

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Timestamps:

0:00 Not being able to play fast sucks
0:32 What we'll be covering
1:09 The 2 main schools of thought
1:56 Applying slow VS fast methodology
4:01 Which is better?
6:32 Different types of playing fast
6:40 Fast alternate picking
6:48 Shorts bursts of 5 notes
7:03 3-note-per-string scales
7:52 Short bursts of 9 notes
8:02 Not staying consistent = no speed development
8:45 Turkish March etude
9:01 Think about how you'd teach someone to play fast
9:19 Legato
9:26 Breaking down one of my fav legato licks
10:53 3-note-per-string scales
11:32 Musical legato exercise example
11:52 Track your progress
12:00 Sweep picking
12:49 Tapping
13:35 Picking mechanics
13:47 Inside vs outside picking
15:53 Pick slanting pros & cons
18:01 Paying attention to picking direction and style
21:21 Stamina

You're all a bunch of bitches

[bazokguitar]

Hi Brandon! Thanks for the reference. As you said in the video - context is very important. Later in my video I go into detail about how to use chunking and explain that "dirty" exercises can be done effectively within a limited range of difficulty (close to your limits, not far beyond them). Thanks for another good video. Best!

[renceagnir]

I love watching your longer videos, I learn so much

[Dylan_Pearson]

1:42 the moment I realised Brandon playing sloppy is cleaner than me trying to play clean 😂

[medeusmediuth]

I can't believe no one told me the picking direction trick when playing the pentatonic scale, and now that I'm practicing it, I feel like I just learned the pentatonic scale all over again

[AlexSaheli]

I love sweeping in the upward direction it is soooo healful :D

[AlexSaheli]

That video helped me give up smoking. Thank you.

[anynhi]

Great video. However, the real key to master fast playing, by mastering fast playing I mean, not just being able to play fast, but actually be confident and be in control 10 out 10 ten times, is to build up endurance. When human do things fast, they can’t really think of anything because they are mentally tired or physically tired. When we walk we can talk about anything but when we run fast, we can barely breath, let alone talking. But after years of practice, we can now run fast and still being able to control our breath and think about other things. And the only way to build up endurance is to practice at our limit, but only slightly uncomfortable zone. This is no new subject for classical musician but for electric guitar players, unexperienced musicians still grab their head everytime. And finally, you can’t fight back physics. Playing fast = less control over the sound in general, so that’s the trade off one has to make. But again, love your video.

[ImprovGuitarRAFAEL]

I hope u see this Brandon, I play every day 6+ hours daily because I feel like I lost 9 years of practice time. I picked up an acoustic at 15 and gave up immediately then I picked up my first electric 17 months ago and I am now gigging. Never thought that would happen. I since day one played by ear to my favorite records Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin etc I want to THANK YOU only you and only like 2 other channels for guitar helped me. most are horrible. What I’ve learned in the last year is accountability is everything and how much you play IS HUGE. Kevin nickens and u helped me with theory here and there and that helped me out a lot THANK YOU.

[m.noormatt]

I remember when I tried this I immediately shot up from 120 bpm to 200 bpm, but would only practice speed bursts. It led to me being much more comfortable at higher Tempos like 160 bpm, but I'm still working towards playing at 190 - 200 bpm normally. The idea that worked for me is to play short bursts of notes at a tempo that is a bit outside of your comfort zone, where you can maybe only play short bursts in time with the metronome 80% of the time, as opposed to a tempo where it's too easy and you nail it everytime, practicing speedbursts at that tempo that is just barely outside of your comfort zone will do wonders for your alternate picking speed.

[Jermthemusician]

I always tune in to your videos when you post, I grew up playing violin and I can 101% vouche for these methods working, all these types of work outs were given to us and you could definitely tell who put the time in 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[omgabaddon]

I personally like Rocksmith. It never taught me much technique, but getting to play songs I like is way more interesting than following boring tabs and doing exercises that, honestly, I just don't want to do, because I play guitar for fun so if it's not fun, then no guitar.

The best part in my case is that, since I really liked playing as part of the band, I would keep coming back, so I naturally started developing dexterity, and when I play now vs 3 months ago I can tell I've gained a lot just from that little game. It pushed me to the point where I am now interested in taking the next step and learning some theory, develop a better technique, etc. so I can play more songs.

I mean, I know it's not the most efficient way to make progress, but I'm surprised literally nobody recommends this learning tool, and that there isn't much sponsored content.

[alxndrthree-dhyl]

holy crap man, i was just walking home from work, having thought about whether to play slow and clean or fast and sloppy to improve my speed, having started your scale workout routine start of last week, impeccable timing!

[ImprovGuitarRAFAEL]

It’s been a year and I’m faster than I ever thought I’d be. It’s really the time you put in (I play 6+ hours a day) plus I got a chip on my shoulder I started acoustic at 15 and gave up IMMEDIATELY like a BI**h
I turned 25 last night and I feel like I lost 9 years of practice that’s my motivation. Ik I’m gonna play 4 life. And I’m going to rock more shows small shows but they will keep growing in size. Piece by Piece.

[alwyndsouza]

Your lessons are elaborate and well explained. I have begun to like them a lot. Especially when you contextualise the licks and runs.

I request you to make a few lessons on building a solo over any simple chord let that solo consist of single notes, small and slow licks and fast (bursts of notes) runs in it.

Please please please.

[soumendasgupta]

As a beginner, to build muscle memory, flexibility slow progress is the best progress.. but somewhat out of boundary goal should be set to achieve and then make that boundary and again for another goal .. its like gym .. growing from 10kg to 25kh

[ImprovGuitarRAFAEL]

I can’t afford your program and I learn so much from you regardless I REALLY DO !! I was born in 99’
and I think most people aren’t motivated to keep it up ( guitar playing) due to playing for the WRONG REASONS I hope people see THIS. I lost a lot of time due to a legal issue. i turned 25 last night and in the last 17 months I’ve obsessed over mastering the instrument and the Beauty is I know I’m going to play for life.
My Drummer (best friend since childhood) is the same he’s always been a drummer and I’ve always been a songwriter and a guitar lover.

[tresixteen]

Thank you Brandon, this will be my goal to work on this sober October.

[cb]

Faster tempo means more repetitions in a shorter amount of time. That can be a bad thing if your technique isn’t dialed in. Hardwiring bad habits.

[RatsAreSoAwesome]

this is the best video about pickslanting i've ever found

[youztuber]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I really think having the right guitar can REALLY help with playing fast. Brandon might hate it, but a shred guitar would help him play faster... Large frets and a flat radius really help with speed. Get a JP sig or Ibanez or something for shred. As much as I like telecasters, they're not easy to shred on. Sure people have somehow done it, but it's not ideal.