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Lesson 7 of 7

Speed-building routine

Speed comes from clean, relaxed motion repeated at gradually higher tempos. This routine adds three tools to the tempo ladder. Spend about 15 minutes on it, after your warm-up.

Minutes Tool Exercise
0-5 Bursts Sixteenth-note bursts
5-10 Chunking Four-note chunks up the box
10-15 Accent shifting Shifting accent

The tools

Bursts. Play a short group at full speed, then stop and reset. The burst is short enough to stay clean; the rest lets your hand relax. In the exercise, a beat of A minor pentatonic sixteenths lands on the C at the 5th fret of the G string, then a longer burst lands on the G at the 5th fret of the D string.

Chunking. Long runs are built from small chunks. Here the A minor pentatonic box is played in groups of four, each group starting one note higher than the last. Practice one chunk until it's automatic, then link two, then the whole run.

Accent shifting. The same four notes loop for four bars, but the accent moves: first note, second, third, fourth. Accenting upstrokes and string crossings reveals which notes your picking hand doesn't control yet.

Ladder rules for alternate picking

  • Strict alternate picking: down, up, down, up, even across strings.
  • Raise by 4-5 bpm only after four clean loops.
  • Keep the pick movement small. Speed comes from less motion, not more effort.
  • When your forearm tightens, drop 10 bpm or stop.

The most common mistake is practicing at your top speed every day. Spend most of the time just below it, where you're clean.

Exercises

Sixteenth-note bursts

50 → 90 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. A string, fret 5
    2. A string, fret 7
    3. D string, fret 5
    4. D string, fret 7
    5. G string, fret 5
    6. rest
    7. rest
    8. rest
    9. A string, fret 5
    10. A string, fret 7
    11. D string, fret 5
    12. D string, fret 7
    13. G string, fret 5
    14. rest
    15. rest
    16. rest
  2. Bar 2
    1. A string, fret 5
    2. A string, fret 7
    3. D string, fret 5
    4. D string, fret 7
    5. G string, fret 5
    6. G string, fret 7
    7. G string, fret 5
    8. D string, fret 7
    9. D string, fret 5
    10. rest
    11. rest
    12. rest
    13. rest
    14. rest
    15. rest
    16. rest

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Four-note chunks up the box

50 → 90 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. low E string, fret 5
    2. low E string, fret 8
    3. A string, fret 5
    4. A string, fret 7
    5. low E string, fret 8
    6. A string, fret 5
    7. A string, fret 7
    8. D string, fret 5
    9. A string, fret 5
    10. A string, fret 7
    11. D string, fret 5
    12. D string, fret 7
    13. A string, fret 7
    14. D string, fret 5
    15. D string, fret 7
    16. G string, fret 5
  2. Bar 2
    1. D string, fret 5
    2. D string, fret 7
    3. G string, fret 5
    4. G string, fret 7
    5. D string, fret 7
    6. G string, fret 5
    7. G string, fret 7
    8. B string, fret 5
    9. G string, fret 5
    10. G string, fret 7
    11. B string, fret 5
    12. B string, fret 8
    13. G string, fret 7
    14. B string, fret 5
    15. B string, fret 8
    16. high E string, fret 5
  3. Bar 3
    1. B string, fret 5
    2. B string, fret 8
    3. high E string, fret 5
    4. high E string, fret 8
    5. high E string, fret 5
    6. rest
    7. rest
    8. rest
    9. rest
    10. rest
    11. rest
    12. rest
    13. rest
    14. rest
    15. rest
    16. rest

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Shifting accent

50 → 100 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. A string, fret 5, accented
    2. A string, fret 7
    3. D string, fret 5
    4. D string, fret 7
    5. A string, fret 5, accented
    6. A string, fret 7
    7. D string, fret 5
    8. D string, fret 7
    9. A string, fret 5, accented
    10. A string, fret 7
    11. D string, fret 5
    12. D string, fret 7
    13. A string, fret 5, accented
    14. A string, fret 7
    15. D string, fret 5
    16. D string, fret 7
  2. Bar 2
    1. A string, fret 5
    2. A string, fret 7, accented
    3. D string, fret 5
    4. D string, fret 7
    5. A string, fret 5
    6. A string, fret 7, accented
    7. D string, fret 5
    8. D string, fret 7
    9. A string, fret 5
    10. A string, fret 7, accented
    11. D string, fret 5
    12. D string, fret 7
    13. A string, fret 5
    14. A string, fret 7, accented
    15. D string, fret 5
    16. D string, fret 7
  3. Bar 3
    1. A string, fret 5
    2. A string, fret 7
    3. D string, fret 5, accented
    4. D string, fret 7
    5. A string, fret 5
    6. A string, fret 7
    7. D string, fret 5, accented
    8. D string, fret 7
    9. A string, fret 5
    10. A string, fret 7
    11. D string, fret 5, accented
    12. D string, fret 7
    13. A string, fret 5
    14. A string, fret 7
    15. D string, fret 5, accented
    16. D string, fret 7
  4. Bar 4
    1. A string, fret 5
    2. A string, fret 7
    3. D string, fret 5
    4. D string, fret 7, accented
    5. A string, fret 5
    6. A string, fret 7
    7. D string, fret 5
    8. D string, fret 7, accented
    9. A string, fret 5
    10. A string, fret 7
    11. D string, fret 5
    12. D string, fret 7, accented
    13. A string, fret 5
    14. A string, fret 7
    15. D string, fret 5
    16. D string, fret 7, accented

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Checkpoint

Move on when you can do all of these.

  • Bursts clean and in time at 90 bpm for 4 loops
  • Each accent position clearly louder at 100 bpm
  • Your top clean tempo on the chunks goes up 10 bpm in two weeks
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