How To Play Guitar Fast And Clean Like A Virtuoso Part 2:
Why You Struggle To Achieve Flawless 2 Hand Synchronization On Guitar

It’s no secret:

To play guitar fast and clean, your hands need to be in sync.

But if you struggle to keep your hands in sync – what should you do?

There are 3 causes of sloppy synchronization that cripple most guitarists when they try to play guitar fast.

Fortunately, there is a simple way to fix each one...

...and you can learn them in a few minutes to play guitar fast and clean today.

Ready to start?

Ok.

To begin, watch the guitar picking technique video below.

It shows how to prevent 2-hand synchronization challenges before they start to play guitar fast with ease:

Here is why your hands get out of sync:
 

Reason #1: Using Lazy Motions During Slow Practice

You know how everyone says you have to practice slow before you can play guitar fast?

There is a big problem with this advice.

Most assume that slow guitar practice = “moving your hands slowly”.

This isn’t always the case (I explain why below.)

This where “lazy motions” come from.

That said:

Slow practice, done incorrectly, can (and often does) hurt your 2 hand synchronization and keep you from learning to play guitar fast.

Here is what causes this:
 

Cause #1: Your pick may strike the string a moment sooner or later than the fretting hand.

The result?

A sloppy sound (that isn’t obvious at slow tempos).

This makes your technique fall apart when you start to play guitar fast.
 

Cause #2: Both hands might move sloppily to play the notes, creating noise before and/or after the note.

See Figure 1 below:
 

This diagram shows what happens when your hands move in a slow and lazy way to play notes.

See those squiggly lines right before and after each pick stroke? They show sloppy noise.

It means that your hands are not in sync in these moments, making it impossible to play guitar fast and clean.

Here is what this sounds like (notice the nasty hissing noises between notes)

What is the solution?

Move your hands QUICKLY to play each note.

Yes, you read correctly.

But: let each note sustain for a long time.

To be clear: you are NOT playing the whole exercise at a fast tempo!

Move your hands quickly for each note, but leave space between notes.

Look at Figure 2 below:
 

See how there is no sloppy noise before or after each note?

That is the result of using faster (and tighter) guitar picking attack. Your hands stay in sync and it sounds better when you play guitar fast.

Here is how guitar picking like this sounds.

Reason #2: You Aren’t Using The Best Guitar Picking Technique To Play Guitar Fast

There is a simple hack to keeping your hands in sync when you play guitar fast that most guitar players don’t know.

What is it?

It’s directional guitar picking technique.

Why does directional guitar picking help you play guitar fast more easily than alternate picking?

When you alternate pick, you often have to pass over the string you are going to play and then reverse your guitar picking motion.

Why is this bad?

This guitar picking approach breaks your momentum and slows you down.

Example:
 

Pay attention to string changes.

See how in the alternate picking example, your pick has to skip over a string it just played to move to the next string?

This causes mistakes and hurts your 2-hand synchronization.

Directional guitar picking technique solves this problem. Your pick moves less, which keeps your hands in sync and makes your playing cleaner.

Note: sometimes directional guitar picking and alternate picking are the same. This happens when you play on a single string or when you play 2 or 4 note-per-string licks.

Watch the following video to see how to play guitar fast with this technique:
 

Want to know more about using directional guitar picking to play guitar fast with ease?

This guitar picking technique article is for you.
 

Reason #3: You Aren’t Tracking Your Guitar Playing Progress FULLY

Track your 2-hand synchronization progress the same way you track your maximum speed, music theory knowledge or anything else.
 

How do you track your progress with 2-hand synchronization?

Easy:

Find the fastest speed you can play something with your hands perfectly in sync (play guitar fast and see when it becomes sloppy). This speed is different from your true maximum speed (the fastest speed you can barely play something 1-2 times before it falls apart).

This tells you the gap between your 2-hand synchronization top speed and your absolute top speed.

Practice 2-hand synchronization drills to close this gap so you can play guitar fast while playing solos.

Watch this video to learn how:

(The best way to play guitar fast is to track your progress, do it with the Guitar Playing Accelerator.)

You now know top 3 ways to get your hands in sync when you play guitar fast. The next step is to master the other elements that make it feel easy to play guitar fast and clean.

Download this free guitar speed eGuide right now and make all your friends wish they could play guitar fast like you.

---

About Tom Hess: Tom Hess is a guitar teacher, music career mentor and guitar teacher trainer. He teaches rock guitar lessons online to students from all over the world and conducts instructional live guitar training events attended by musicians from over 50 countries.

Learn how to play guitar fast + reach ALL your musical goals with electric guitar lessons online.