Good exercises for left hand speed and consistency?

['59]

I've noticed I've hit a bit of a block in my guitar playing. My right hand rythmns good, my synchronization is good, my left hand dexterity is good, but I'm having issues with speeding it up.

I know this is mostly a practice makes perfect thing, but what are some absent minded left hand drills I can do while I'm say, watching football?

 

[Hsb]

As boring as it sounds, practice with a metronome, speeding up as you go along. I was always taught your oick hand should follow your fretting hand, not the other way round

 

[beaubrummels]

Place all four fingers on the high E string, each right behind subsequent frets.
Lift only one finger at a time and move it to the same fret on the next string over.
Once all four fingers are on the B string, repeat that pattern all the way to the low E
Then walk back in reverse to the high E again.

Do this pattern on a higher fret position where you feel comfortable and work your way down to lower fret positions.

Do not try to do this fast. Speed is not the goal. Consistency, measured finger independence, and the grace of movement are what matters.

You don't gain speed by adding speed. You gain speed by having proper form in the first place, and practicing until it's easy.

 

[Mincer]

Practicing picking with a metronome isn't the 'fun' part of guitar, but really great for synchronization. Especially if you pick every note.

 

[devastone]

To isolate the left hand find some good hammer on/pull off legato exercises. It sounds like that is your question, but, as you speed up you may have to go back and work on your left/right synchronization some more.

 

[Securb]

As others have mentioned, a metronome is the way. Play your scales with a metronome and once you play a scale cleanly three times stop take a breath and then increase the speed. Play the scale three times cleanly in a row and repeat the process. I also find moving the scales up the neck is a huge help. E maj, F maj, F# maj, G maj etc....then play them descending. Also playing different rhythmic patterns and mixing them up is a great exercise as you play the scales. Quarter note, triplet, quarter note, triplet....

If you do not have a metronome there are a bunch of them online and many free metronomes you can download to your phone or tablet.

 

[Aceman]

but what are some absent minded left hand drills I can do while I'm say, watching football?

Here is the bad news; There are no 'absent minded' drills.

If you want to get better you will need to focus on what you are trying to do. Key to serious improvement - DELIBERATE practice. That means paying uber attention to exactly what you are doing all the time you are doing it, for as long as you can. You need to really focus on getting it right, and correcting yourself when it is wrong.

Case in point here:
1. Relax is key. Start mindlessly doing things and the tension will creep right back in, making the practice useless
2. Metronome - start getting off a little and you will be building slop into your speed. Need to pay attention to the metronome.

And - tip - start a LOT slower than you think you need to and make it light and perfect. Extra perfect. Then and only then speed it up a little.

Feedback is critical. record yourself and look how off the note is from the beat in a digital recording tool.

 

[Napthol]

Correct. You must focus and pay attention to what you are doing when you're practicing. Although I will say that Claus Levin who can play extremely well (he also has his own website with videos for sale) has often said to practice this loopable exercise while you are watching TV.

Practice does not make perfect. We will never play perfectly. We are not built that way. Mistakes will always be made and that is okay.

What practicing does is it allows you to improve.

As far as starting slow and then speeding it up gradually Mike Phillippov has said that way of doing things does not work nearly as good as people think it does. He is another monster guitarist with his own website and videos.

But these guys are also salesmen. They are always trying to convince you to buy into their system and products.

I personally feel in the end everyone must find their own way.

 

[GuitarStv]

I think there's value to absentminded practice. Over the last couple weeks I've been running scale and arpeggio patterns that I'm rusty on while watching a show just to get my hands and brain absentmindedly remembering where they are, and it has really helped. Especially when I know I won't do that otherwise - it's just too freaking boring.

Not sure it would work for speed stuff though, that requires a certain level of focus and a metronome - or at least that's the only way I've ever made any headway on it.