Learn How To Play Guitar Cleanly And Fast With Ease

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Common questions about efficiency:

Question: “Tom Hess, what about string bends and vibrato? Doesn't the thumb have to come up over the top of the neck when doing these techniques?”

Answer: Yes, it does. When you bend strings (or do vibrato), the web between your thumb and index finger gives you the a pivot point for doing these techniques. 

You need to practice switching between the thumb-over and thumb-behind-the-neck positions when you practice. (It’s not hard and doesn’t take a long time, but it is a nuance you need to focus on.)
 

Question: Tom Hess, my thumb generally stays in a good position until I shift positions. Then it points towards the head of the guitar. What should I do?

Answer: This is very common. The solution is to isolate position shifts. 

Like this: 

Step 1: Isolate the last 2-3 notes of “part 1” (the part your fretting hand plays before the position shift … 
… and the first 2-3 notes of “part 2” (the part your fretting hand plays after the position shift). 

Step 2: Practice switching from one isolated fragment to another without picking any notes.

Don’t use any hammer ons or pull offs (unless they are part of the lick) – just fret notes in silence. 

As you do Step 2, watch your fretting hand thumb like a hawk. And play as slowly as it takes to keep it from shifting.

Here is the good news: 

You can easily get your thumb to do what you want (it won’t take long at all – a couple of weeks at most.) 

That’s because the problem is almost entirely mental, not physical. And the way you fix any mental guitar playing problem is by slowing down enough to do the motion the right way.

That’s all there is to it.
 

Question: “Tom Hess, I can’t keep my thumb behind the neck when I am playing on the highest frets. What should I do?”

Answer: This is normal. Here is why it happens: 

To keep your thumb behind the neck of the guitar, it has to come down (and become closer to the high E string than it would normally be).

However, on most guitars, the guitar body begins to dig into the back of your wrist when you do this.

That means: proper hand position on the higher frets (on most modern guitars) is not possible 

Good news is: this doesn't matter. Many great players let their thumb come up and wrap the fretboard while they play on the highest frets. 

On higher frets, this is not a problem, because the frets are so close together. Just make sure to use proper hand position when you are playing on the lower frets. 

Now that we covered efficiency of the fretting hand, let’s make your picking hand more efficient too.

It all starts with keeping your pick close to the strings between notes and making your picking motions smaller. 

(Avoid moving your pick too far away from the strings.) 

THIS is where efficiency (or lack of it) can make or break your guitar speed. 

Also, be mindful of “pick wobbling”.

What is pick wobbling?

It’s where your guitar pick moves around in your hand as you play.

Here is why this is a problem: 

After your pick moves, it takes a moment for it to adjust back into position. This inefficiency gets in the way of your 2-hand synchronization and makes playing fast very hard.

Find a way hold the pick so it doesn't move when you play.

And speaking of guitar picks…

Use a guitar pick thick enough to not flex when you play. Here is one more BIG tip for your picking hand efficiency. 

Use directional picking in all of your lead guitar playing. 

Directional picking is more efficient than strict alternate picking and it helps you build more sped with less effort.

What is directional picking? 

It’s where you use alternate picking on a single string … and when you change strings, you pick in in the direction of the string you are going to. 

Said another way: when you are ascending (moving to the string that is higher in pitch), you change strings with a downstroke. 

When you are descending (moving to the lower in pitch string), you change strings with an upstroke. 


Question: “Tom Hess, does directional picking only work for 3-note-per-string scales? What if I want to play pentatonic scales or other scales that don’t have 3 notes on every string?”

Answer: Directional picking works for everything you play (with zero exceptions).

The principle of directional picking is to use the shortest possible path to the next note you play. Sometimes the shortest path to your next note is to use alternate picking. Other times, the shortest path is to use sweep picking to change strings and NOT use alternate picking. 
 

Back to the topic of speed:

Once you work on these elements of efficiency to your guitar playing, your speed will have no choice but to increase.

Same way it increases for guitar players I teach in my Breakthrough Guitar Lessons.
 

Here are the results my students are getting: