Shred Academy – Free Guitar Lesson by Tom Hess

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How To Practice for Maximum Speed ~
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Part 2: Speed Builder Strategy 2 ~
By Tom Hess

Please
be sure to read Part 1 before attempting
to follow the advice offered here in Part 2. I am offering a
completely different approach to building great speed compared
to what I described in part 1, but this new system does not
work well unless you have mastered the ability to play cleanly
and accurately at slow tempos (this is critical).

Unlike
the first system described in part 1, which takes several weeks
to complete, this new approach can be done in a single practice
session. This new approach is not intended as a substitute for
my other method, it is rather a supplemental practice tool intended
for more advanced players.

“My
Ladder System”

Let’s
say you can play a particular technique at 100 bpm (beats per
minute) on a metronome cleanly and consistently. Let’s
also assume that your goal is to play the same technique at
200 bpm.

Warm up
for: 15 minutes in the winter months
10 minutes in the spring and autumn months
5 minutes in the summer months

Play at 60 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 90 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 75 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 105 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 90 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 120 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 105 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 135 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 120 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 150 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 135 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 165 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 150 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 180 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 165 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 195 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 180 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 210 bpm for 2-3 minutes

As you can
imagine, the beginning of this routine will be easy if you can
already play this without problems at 100 bpm. But it will be
totally impossible to play well during the latter part of the
routine. Play it anyway! Yes I know it will sound horrible,
it will be a huge mess of sloppy musical chaos. Don’t
worry about that when doing this routine, because you are not
going to practice this way every day.

The ladder
system is designed to do two main things:

1. (most
important!) It will train your brain that greater speed is possible
(even if sloppy for now) for you. To go far beyond what you
think you can do well today is important as a psychological
tool. You see, speed (like many aspects of music) has more to
do with self – imposed psychological limitations than
physical ones.

2. It gets
your hands to move faster than they ever do in normal practicing
(even though the motions are sloppy and not something you will
put into a recording of your next solo),

Most
speed barriers come as a result of synchronization problems
between the two hands – lack of speed is usually not caused
directly from how fast you are able to move your hands. BUT
because the main cause is synchronization issue between the
hands, your practicing becomes limited to synchronization practice
and not on sheer speed (even if you are totally aware of it).
Your increased synchronization skills will improve your overall
technique, but you will have not really trained your hands to
move much faster than before…..This system does. I’m
sorry to have to keep repeating the point, but it is so important?
This system is a supplemental one and not a substitute for normal
practicing.

A word of
caution: Because this practice system is extremely demanding
on your fingers, hands, wrists and arms, you must be very careful
to avoid pain. If you feel any pain when doing this technique,
you must stop at once and rest before attempting this again.
Never play in pain, or excessive stress on your muscles or joints.
Doing so can cause you serious long term physical problems.
Also, make sure you are thoroughly warmed up before practicing
anything strenuous (especially when attempting my ladder system!).

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