How do you play fast, or "shred" on guitar?

Question:I have been playing guitar for quite a few years and can play some good stuff fairly cleanly. For example Joe Satriani's Always With Me, Always With You, and some stuff by Eric Johnson. But no matter how hard I try I can't get the "shred" down. Certain parts where you have to pick twenty notes in three seconds and I just can't get it. It feels like my pick locks up and I can't play any faster. Help!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I have been playing guitar for quite a few years and can play some good stuff fairly cleanly. For example Joe Satriani's Always With Me, Always With You, and some stuff by Eric Johnson. But no matter how hard I try I can't get the "shred" down. Certain parts where you have to pick twenty notes in three seconds and I just can't get it. It feels like my pick locks up and I can't play any faster. Help!

Ah yes, the infamous "how do I play fast on guitar?" question. Well "shredding" on the guitar can be many things. The first example is tremolo picking; Tremolo picking is where you go back and forth on the string with your pick really fast. Another style is Sweep Picking; Sweep Picking is when you play scales, or any other form of interval of notes, up and down with your pick on the strings with a fluid motion (this can take years to master). There is something called Alternate Picking, and that is when you pick your strings in all different directions (once again, can take years to master). There is another form of "shredding" and that is called finger tapping, finger tapping can be very easy, but yet very complex. Finger tapping is simply when you don't use a pick at all and play an interval of notes, but just tapping them with your fingers (example: 5-8-10-5-8-10... tempo: 200). All these various "shredding" techniques are very complex, and can take years to master. I personally am still struggling with a few techniques for instance the alternate picking technique, I still cannot do 6 strings, but only 3. I would really suggest getting a teacher to teach you these techniques, but if you want to learn on your own, one of the primary things about "shredding" is the hammer-on, and pull-off. As you get more in-depth about these techniques, you will soon begin to realize how some other guitarists (such as Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, e.t.c.....) show off there skills on the guitar.

dont quit your day job

keep practicing!!

There are three key techniques of shredding: speedpicking, tapping and sweeping. Make sure you learn all of those before you call yourself a shredder. It sounds like you get tangled up when it comes to speedpicking and you also should know that some people just don't have that natural talent so you might want to practice more, I've only been playing for a year and a half and I can "shred". But if you just want to go fast then learn some tapping, learn "eruption" by Eddie van Halen, it's what I use to warm up on and its really fun to play and fast.
Another way you can go fast is by sweeping, although this is the hardest technique in my opinion, it took me a few months to do it cleanly and I practiced everyday for several hours. But once you get it down, its a really cool way to show off.
Some things you could do is use lighter gauge strings and thicker picks, I suggest 1.5 mm.
Speed just comes with practice, theres no big seceret to it.

The first thing you can do is practice. Start of slow and get faster and faster until you mess up, then start over. Also try alternate picking. Try going up and down faster and moving your fingers up and down in a scale over and over until it becomes faster. The more you play the faster you will become