The topic of guitar speed exercises tends to divide guitarists. On the one hand, there are those who practice them constantly, claiming that only in further speed can you show how good you are as a player. Theres also those who will deny these entirely, and they will say that they only want to focus on the note choice and feel. There's no reason why the two positions have to be mutually exclusive though, and learning to play faster and more fluently can be of benefit to almost any style. The trick is to practice well, so that you aren’t wasting time, aren’t increasing your risks of injury, and aren’t practicing things that you’ll never want to play. For that, you need the right instruction.
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Books
Theres some awesome books out there that will gaurantee that you start to play faster but of course they don't always agree 100% on the strategy. The key is to find an author whose approach suits both you and your guitar playing style. One of the best places to start looking is Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar by Troy Stetina. It’s the classic manual on playing faster and is packed full of effective guitar speed exercises. Another respected name in the realm of flat out guitar technique is that of Australian jazz fusion virtuoso Frank Gambale. His book Speed Picking demonstrates the mechanics and exercises involved in developing his phenomenal economy picking style, and also represents one of the few books in this area that isn’t unashamedly metal. For a more general work that covers legato, tapping, alternate picking, sweep picking and lots of other, stranger topics, try Guthrie Govan’s Creative Guitar Volume Two: Advanced Techniques. You’ll soon be picking at light speed, if you aren’t too busy emulating theramins or practising your outside playing.
DVDs
Then always you could want to see things from a philosophical standpoint (what does that mean anyway?). In which case check out the Rock House Metal Guitar series featuring Alex Laiho. This will promise all the bells of whistles such as :two hand tapping songs: the skills of laiho used when he was shredding Children of bodom, as well as string skipped arpeggios (can you say STING?). Those interested in following the same approaches that have built many of rock’s best players might prefer to try Paul Gilbert’s Intense Guitar series, packed full of the approaches and lessons that made him the exceptional shredder he is today.
For anyone interested in the most intense rock workout going though, the port of call has to be Rusty Cooley’s Fretboard Autopsy series. As a player, he's taken speed to whole new levels, and his use of things like four note per string scales and stretched legato arpeggios means that, when it comes to guitar speed exercises, this series is one of the most challenging around.
It is also important that you get the fundamentals down before you focus on speed per say.
If you are interested in learning the guitar, check out my review on Easy Guitar Lessons.
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