How To Pick Faster On Guitar – Fast Guitar Picking Tips
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Want to pick faster on guitar?
Then my friend...
You've clicked on the right article.
Because I'm about to show you proven shred guitar tips that help you master fast guitar picking.
Most importantly…
… they make your fast guitar picking feel easy.
(Even if you don't have a lot of time to practice your guitar.)
First...
I'll show you of the guitar technique fundamentals that make it possible to play guitar fast.
Next...
I'll show you how to practice to make fast guitar picking feel easy, so you can play at your best, even when you're on stage.
(Or when you're recording shred guitar solos.)
EMAIL TO GET ACCESS
By submitting your info, you agree to send it to Tom Hess Music Corporation who will process and use it according to their privacy policy.
To begin…
Watch this video that goes over the secrets to fast guitar picking speed:
Now that you know the basics of what enables you to play guitar fast, let's go deeper.
Here are 5 more shred guitar picking tips that help you pick faster on guitar with less effort:
Fast Guitar Picking Tip #1: Use Directional Picking
If you want to pick faster on guitar without spending more hours practicing, start using directional picking.
This fast guitar picking technique helps you eliminate wasted motion in your picking hand. That means you play guitar fast with much less effort.
So… what is directional picking?
It’s a way of doing guitar picking that always follows the direction of your next note.
For example:
- When you’re picking on one string, use strict alternate picking (down-up-down-up).
- When switching strings, you pick in the direction of the string change:
Downstroke when moving to a thinner string (higher pitch)
Upstroke when moving to a thicker string (lower pitch)
This simple rule helps your hand take the shortest path to the next note. That’s what makes directional picking ideal for shred guitar players.
Most guitarists slow themselves down by using “outside picking” (a common side-effect of strict alternate picking). This happens when you do a downstroke on a thicker string, followed by an upstroke on the thinner string … or an upstroke on a thinner string and a downstroke on a thicker string.
This forces your picking hand to take a wide, looping motion around the string and makes fast guitar picking feel hard.
Directional picking solves that.
It makes guitar picking more direct, relaxed, and automatic.
And the best part?
Most of my guitar students improve their picking speed within just a few weeks of switching to directional picking. Even if they don’t add any extra practice time.
Watch this video to see how directional picking works and how to train it:
Question: “Tom Hess, I’ve heard alternate picking is the ‘correct’ way to do fast guitar picking. Why not just master that instead?”
Answer: Alternate picking works, but it’s not the most efficient way to pick faster on guitar. It forces your hand to take the long way around the string when switching directions (especially during string changes).
That extra movement adds tension and slows you down — especially when trying to play guitar fast with perfect accuracy.
Directional picking removes those wide movements, making your picking smoother and more economical. That’s why it’s a much better approach for fast guitar picking that feels relaxed and controlled.
Question: “Can I use directional picking for all styles of music or is it just for shred guitar?”
Answer: You can use directional picking in any style. Whether you’re playing shred guitar solos, tight rhythm parts or melodic phrases — directional picking works.
Directional picking has nothing to do with the genre you play.
It’s about making your guitar picking as efficient as possible so you can play guitar fast unnecessary effort.
Once you internalize the motions, directional picking feels completely natural — and it helps your speed and accuracy in every style of music.
Fast Guitar Picking Tip #2: Practice Getting Your Hands In Sync
Want to play guitar fast and clean?
Then your fretting hand and picking hand need to work together like a machine.
Most guitarists hit a wall with fast guitar picking because their hands are not synchronized at higher speeds.
Here’s the truth:
It doesn’t matter how fast your picking hand is — or how fast your fretting hand is — if they’re not locked in together, your shred guitar licks will sound messy.
The secret to clean, fast guitar picking is tightening the connection between both hands.
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Here are a few ways to do that in your guitar practice:
1. Double-pick your notes
Pick every note twice before moving to the next one.
This forces your picking hand to move faster than your fretting hand and exposes any timing issues between the two.
2. Practice unplugged
Unplug your guitar while practicing.
This makes it easier to hear subtle timing flaws and forces your fretting hand to articulate clearly.
You’ll quickly notice if your hands are out of sync — and fix it fast.
3. Use single-string licks
Play fast guitar picking licks on just one string.
Why?
Because there are no string changes to "reset" your timing.
That means your picking and fretting hands have to stay 100% in sync on every note.
The more you train this way, the easier it becomes to pick faster on guitar without sacrificing clarity.
Here’s the key:
As you practice shred guitar licks, focus on what it feels like when your hands are perfectly locked together.
When it’s right, you’ll feel the string slapping back against your fretting hand at the exact moment your pick hits the string.
That physical feeling is your signal that your guitar picking technique is dialed in.
Question: "Tom Hess, what is the best tempo for practicing 2-hand synchronization?"
Answer: The best tempo is just below your current synchronization limit — that’s where your guitar picking feels clean but still challenges your timing.
This is called your synchronization threshold. It’s the fastest tempo where your hands still stay tight.
Practice right under that speed until it feels automatic… then bump it up slightly.
This is how you build real speed and precision — one level at a time.
Watch this video to learn how to find and raise your 2-hand sync threshold:
Fast Guitar Picking Tip #3: Use Speed Bursts To Build More Guitar Speed Without Slow Practice
One of the fastest ways to build real shred guitar speed is to stop practicing long licks… and focus on short bursts instead.
Speed bursts are tiny fragments of fast guitar picking runs — usually just a few notes long.
They help you pick faster on guitar by forcing your hands to get used to higher speeds without needing to go through the usual practice method of "starting slow and gradually getting faster".
Here’s how they work:
Instead of trying to rip through an entire guitar picking phrase from start to finish, you zoom in on just 4 to 8 notes.
You play those few notes at a speed slightly beyond your current limit… then you stop, relax, and reset before doing it again.
Most guitar players never practice like this.
They either play too slow to challenge their hands — or way 'too' fast for too long and lose control.
Speed bursts give you the sweet spot: just enough intensity to push your limits, but short enough to stay clean.
Here’s a simple way to build speed using this method:
Step 1: Pick a small chunk from a fast lick you’re working on — no more than 8–10 notes.
Step 2: Raise your metronome to a speed that’s about 10 bpm faster than you normally practice.
Step 3: Play the burst once, then pause.
Let your hands fully relax and think about what just happened. Was it clean? Did your picking feel tense?
Repeat this step a few times (pausing after every repetition of the fragment)
Stop if it gets sloppy or if you feel tension. That’s your cue to either slow it down a bit or shorten the lick even more.
Step 5: Once the original fragment feels easy to play, extend the burst by a few notes. Keep the tempo the same.
Before long, you’ll be shredding the full lick at top speed.
Want to see how it’s done?
Watch this video to learn how to apply speed bursts in your shred guitar practice:
Fast Guitar Picking Tip #4: Control Excess String Noise
You can pick faster on guitar all you want…
…but if your playing is full of string noise, it’s going to sound sloppy — no matter how fast your hands move.
That’s because real shred guitar technique isn’t just about speed. It’s also about how clean your fast guitar picking sounds at your top speeds.
The cleaner your guitar picking sounds, the more impressive your speed becomes — even if you’re not playing as fast as the top shred guitarists.
Unwanted noise usually comes from three places:
- Lower strings ringing out while you play higher ones
- Higher strings ringing out while you play lower ones
- Notes blending together when they should be separate
Each one of these can make even the most articulate and in-sync fast guitar picking sound messy.
Here’s how to fix them:
To silence lower (thicker) strings:
Use your picking hand’s thumb to mute them.
As you move from string to string, lightly rest your thumb on the lower strings and glide it across as you ascend.
This blocks noise automatically while keeping your picking hand right where it needs to be.
To mute the higher (thinner) strings:
Use the side of your fretting hand’s index finger to gently touch them.
This stops those strings from ringing out while you’re playing on the lower ones.
To keep notes from bleeding together:
Focus on the transition between notes.
Each note should stop exactly when the next one starts.
This clean transition is what separates tight, pro-level shred guitar technique from sloppy, amateur playing.
Here’s another pro tip:
Practice your guitar picking with distortion most of the time.
Distortion exaggerates string noise flaws, making them easier to spot and fix.
Fast Guitar Picking Tip #5: Control Excess Muscle Tension
If you want to play guitar fast, your muscles can’t work against you.
Excess tension is one of the biggest invisible obstacles to fast guitar picking.
The more tension you carry in your body, the harder it becomes to pick faster on guitar.
Here’s how to fix that:
Start doing tension audits while you practice.
Every few minutes, stop and scan through your body. Ask yourself:
- Is your jaw clenched? Let it go.
- Are your shoulders raised? Drop them down.
- Are your arms, hands, stomach, or even your legs stiff? Relax those too.
You’d be amazed how often tension sneaks into places that have nothing to do with guitar picking.
But once you start letting go of that tension, your hands move faster without even trying harder.
Another great tip: right before playing a shred guitar lick at high speed, exhale.
Just a quick breath out. This triggers a full-body relaxation response that helps you stay loose under pressure.
You can also try briefly tensing up on purpose — squeeze your muscles hard for a few seconds, then fully release everything.
This makes your fast guitar picking feel lighter and easier.
Watch this video to see a full-body “tension audit” in action:
When you stop wasting energy on muscles you don’t need, you’ll pick faster on guitar almost automatically.
Now that you know how to develop fast guitar picking technique and play guitar fast, I want to show you how to master the rest of your guitar playing and reach your musical goals faster. I show you how in my new free eGuide Guitar Mastery Decoded. Thousands of my guitar students have used this process to take their playing to pro level, often practicing less than one hour per day. Download it today to learn how to become one of them and discover the guitar playing secrets most guitarists will never know.
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