Intermediate Guitar Exercises for Building Speed and Precision

Hey Fret-Masters! Looking to build speed and precision? You’re in the right place! This blog will help intermediate players looking to enhance their skills, with a few unique exercises. 

Let's start with the age-old question: What’s more important: speed or precision? If you practice with precision, will speed follow? Or, if you play beyond your comfortable speed, can you build precision later? The truth is they're two sides of the same coin and it's important to have a good grasp on both to improve as a player. In this post we'll understand when to focus on speed, when to focus on precision, and when to swap between them.

Precision 

The best types of exercises for precision typically lack melodic content for the ear to latch onto, requiring a greater focus on finger precision. They often include classic exercises like the 1234 pattern and its variations, such as 1324, 1243, and 4321.

In this post I want to introduce some special exercises that are quite different from these. I'm not dismissing the classic exercises; I frequently use them in my practice and teaching. But I challenge you to try something new! This means you won't have muscle memory to rely on, and will have to slowly and deliberately place your fingers on the correct frets. This approach to learning and practicing will benefit you in all future exercises.

Precision Exercises

To get the most out of this exercise we follow these rules:

1. 1.

   Use one finger per fret! Don't slide up and down the neck. Finger 1 on fret 5, finger 2 on fret 6, finger 3 on fret 7 and finger 4 on fret 8. Use that pinky!

2. 2.

   Do not raise a finger until the four-note set is complete.

3. 3.

   Avoid hugging the guitar neck; keep your thumb low at the back of the neck - not over the top.

4. 4.

   Fret with your fingertips! You cannot be flat-fingered on these exercises.

5. 5.

   Memorise the exercise away from the metronome. Once you can play it without the tab try with a metronome/drum beat.

6. 6.

   Use alternate picking where indicated.

Speed 

Now that our fingers are pumped from the precision exercises, we're shifting to some more melodic, repetitive sequences from the pentatonic scale to focus on speed. The concept behind this approach is that by using something more melodic, our ears will become attuned to the sequence. This means that when we increase our speed, we'll immediately notice any deviations from the melody, enabling us to identify and correct our mistakes more effectively. The exercises are presented in minor pentatonic shape 1, but you can (and should!) do this in all positions.

The rules for this challenge are: 

1. 1.

   Carry over the concepts from the precision exercises to improve your technique.

2. 2.

   Learn each bar separately. Take your time and practice little by little; your fingers will have more time to memorise the sequence.

3. 3.

   Avoid relying too heavily on the tab. Once you've figured out the sequence for 2 or 3 bars, work out the rest by yourself.

4. 4.

   Glue the bars together and ensure all notes are played evenly and have the same length.

5. 5.

   Before using the metronome, decide on the rhythm. The exercise is written in triplets, but you can also practice with 8th or 16th notes.

6. 6.

   Use a metronome/drum beat and play in time.

7. 7.

   The last step: Pause the metronome and push beyond your comfort zone. Forget about precision momentarily and challenge yourself. This will allow you to get a feel for the higher speeds.

Conclusion

Building speed and precision in guitar playing isn't about discovering a secret formula, but rather making a solid commitment to acquiring the necessary skill set. The real challenge lies in maintaining this commitment and consistently applying proven methods to new exercises. While the specific exercises may vary, the foundational methods often remain the same. By sticking to the basics and maintaining this disciplined approach, you'll find that speed naturally follows. Happy shredding, Fret-Masters!