Everyone wants to be able to play faster...
To unlock the hidden finger speed that lies dormant in your hands…
Whether that’s feeling more confident changing between tricky chords. Or flying up and down the guitar fretboard playing your favourite guitar solo. (Or anything else.)
But here’s the interesting part…
How do YOU get your fingers to move faster?
It’s quite simple once you know how.
You might think… “I just need to practice more…”
.. but it’s not true.
Otherwise there would be more people who can play guitar at the speed they want.
To unlock the hidden speed inside your fingers… you need strategy. And the tools that help your fingers move faster. (Obviously, it goes beyond the scope of this article to be able to share ALL the details…)
But I’d like to share a small piece of the puzzle with you today.
And it’s all about being able to relax.
Let me explain…
When you try to play fast or increase your finger speed, we all have the same thought…
“This is hard.”
When the brain thinks something is hard to do… it thinks more effort and force is needed. In the context of guitar playing, this can be when your fingers feel “stiff” or “sluggish.” Almost like there’s some kind of “force” holding you back.
This feeling is known as tension. It’s where muscles in your body are literally tightening up.
What’s interesting is that people who are able to play guitar fast (whatever that means to you) make things look easy.
And that’s because it is for them. Their brain isn’t having the same “this is hard” reaction. That means that their body is more relaxed and so their fingers can move around freely.
When your fingers can move more freely… they’re able to move faster.
This might all sound like nonsense to you but it’s true.
I know that I haven’t fully explained exactly “how” you got about doing this. That’s part of what I teach in lessons with my students.
By just being aware of this idea of playing more relaxed… the brain can start looking for answers.