Help on improving speed

[SloeGin]

Hey guys,

First of all i know i suck yet i stick to it ... I quess i love guitarplaying too much.
For the past 3 weeks i've been practicing Crazy Train daily.
I really have a hard time with all the fills and the solo offcourse. I get to the point were my fingers get totally 'stiff' that i can barelly move them anymore when playing the solo.
What is a good method to improve the flexibility and speed of my fingers? Is it possible that I've hit already my plateau and just can't play fast(er)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Maniacal]

Sounds like you need a day off and you also play with too much tension.

Work on legato exercises such as trills and 3NPS scales. Focus on playing slowly, relaxed and for long periods of time. If you are trying to play something that is beyond your ability, the chances are you are going to be tense, uncontrolled and sloppy.

Take a step back.

 

[ChronicConsumer]

First of all, slow down to a speed at which you have perfect control over what you do: you should be able to play it perfectly, without mistakes, in time, without tensing up any muscles. Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect! Slowly build THIS speed up. 'But Chronic', you might ask yourself, 'that's going to take for ever!' and indeed, it does take a long time. Sorry, but trust me, it's the best way

As for the actual method for improving finger independence etc, I highly recommend chromatics (one finger, one fret!) in all their variations: 1234, 1324, 1423, all of them. Again, play them nice and slow, it's all about training those tiny little muscles, and using as little force as necessary to get the job done.
I also highly recommend doing trills with all fingers. What I mean by this is this (and use 1 finger per fret!):
5h6p5h6
5h7p5h7
5h8p5h8

And then the others (start with the middle finger on the sixth fret! We're still in the same position):
6h7p6h7
6h8p6h8
7h8p7h8

The last one is going to kill you, but it's good for you. These exercises make your fingers much more agile and independent from each other. Try doing them for about 10 minutes before you start practicing difficult things. If you feel any pain, stop immediately - the idea is not to do trills for 10 minutes straight, but do them in rows of say 10 sec each.

Good luck mate, it's not easy, but it's well worth practicing this stuff. Just remember, the key to speed and proper technique is relaxation and economy of motion, not tensing up and carpal tunnel syndrome.

 

[m3l-mrq3z]

Your fingers getting stiff means that they're not relaxed while you play. I guess you get nervous when playing fast licks because you haven't dealt with the technical issues behind them, so you're focused on not making mistakes, which is going to happen, anyway.


Avoid tension and you will be fine.

 

[SloeGin]

Thanks for all the advice guys!
@ChronicConsumer: Thanks for the suggestions. I'll start practicing like that