Originally Posted by
Infected
I've been playing the guitar for nearly 20 years now, and here are some tips that helped me out.
Practice, practice, practice. Take out an hour or two in your day if you can afford to and just play your guitar. Muscle memory is a real thing and it will just help you get smoother and faster.
Find exercise techniques in videos on youtube, find the one you like, or one which you think you're lacking, and keep practicing. It maybe arpeggio picking techniques, or scales, or if you want to learn something more advanced, then check out pinch harmonics.
The way I do it even today is mix some of those techniques into exercises. Find a scale you like playing, and mix it with a picking technique you want to get better at. And just keep doing this till you are at a level you're satisfied with.
Lastly, I know these things get super boring and repetitive and that's kind of counter intuitive. So I try to find a song I like, that employs the techniques I want to get better at. I love to play Blurry by Puddle of Mudd because the opening riff has pinch harmonics, a cool scale, and a good picking pattern. Check that out, or any Jimi Hendrix tracks (I like Voodoo Child) for string bends, hammer ons/offs and general solo work. Another good song for picking/scales is Sweet Child O' Mine intor for the Guns n Roses version.
Hope this helps!