First step is to learn the right notes. This means encoding the left hand to play the right notes in the right order. And this is where I agree with the rule about “mistakes stick”… so in this phase I would indeed play very slowly and focus on never making mistakes.
I think these two points are the key. OP was having trouble going from 60bpm to 80bpm – not necessarily learning how to play fast. So I’m not sure making the jump to 110 bpm would be helpful if the notes aren’t right.
Go beyond* the target speed; Another crazy sounding tip that really works… say that you feel 120bpm is simply too much, you just cannot do it. Try setting the tempo to 130bpm, and do your very best to try to play along. You will probably fail, and it will be messy. But when you then drop back to 120bpm it will suddenly feel slow to you, and often that can be what allows you to play it comfortably at that speed. Sounds crazy, I know, but it works and I’ve used it often…
Thank you! Sleep is, really, important when it comes to guitar (or anything for that matter). I don’t hear enough people in the guitar community talk about it. Thank you for bringing it up here.
This is such a useful discussion. I’ve started on my lead journey with IM4 and all your experiences and advice are extremely useful for someone taking his baby steps. Thanks everyone.
Hey SoGuitar,
Have you investigated Justin’s Metronome app? It has a feature in the trainer section that allows you to change the BPM to specified tempos for either a fixed amount of time or for a fixed number of bars. For example, you could play at 60 BPM for 6 bars (1 minute) and then it would switch to 80 BPM for 6 bars (1 minute). You can specify both the Target BPMs and the durations.
There is also another feature that will allow you to set the metronome to gradually increase the BPM over a specified time interval. For example, you could start at 60 BPM and have the tempo gradually increase to 80 BPM over a 5-minute duration.
BTW Justin’s in the only metronome I use.