You are capable of playing much faster than you think, perhaps even astonishingly fast

Most guitar players believe you cannot play fast scales and arpeggios because your reflexes are not fast enough, or because you can’t make your fingers move fast enough, or because you cannot adequately sync your left and right hands. In other words, you believe you are not physically capable of playing fast.

The actual truth, however, is that you are capable of playing much faster than you think, perhaps even astonishingly fast. To accomplish this, all you need to do is practice correctly and put in the necessary time and effort. Here’s how:

Begin with something easy

First learn to play just two notes in fast succession, either the first two notes of a scale or of an arpeggio. Play the notes very slowly two or three times in a row, then as fast as you can just once. And when I say fast I mean really fast.

Don’t strain yourself

Play the notes in as relaxed a manner as possible. Practice playing those two notes on the same string, and also from one string to another. Again, play the two notes slowly two or three times in succession, then once extremely fast. Repeat the process over and over.

If you practice this for a while you will be astonished at how fast you can actually play two notes without straining.

Next, do the same thing with three notes in succession using the same technique. This works for both scales and arpeggios. The secret is to play the notes slowly two or three times, followed by once extremely fast.

Then add a fourth note

After you learn to play four notes rapidly in succession, add a fifth note, and so on.

Practice the notes in both directions, both up and down the scale or arpeggio, and from one string to another.

Once you learn how to play scales and arpeggios fast, practice a challenging piece of music using the same technique. Play one measure slowly two or three times in a row, followed by once really fast.

Learning to play the guitar is easy, but only if you practice correctly.