Picking

Description

�

There's a big misconception that alternate picking is difficult. I'm here to
tell ya that it's not! Some people take longer than others to grasp it, but
that's only because they don't practice the right way, or the right way for
them. I can put picking exercises in here all day and not everyone's going to
get it. It IS however not that difficult to achieve and I'll try and give
you some examples here.



Picking should come from the wrist and fingers...NOT the forearm. The
only time you should use your forearm is for strumming and lifting your beer.
When I first learned how to play, I would use my whole arm to pick playing to
Slayer and Metallica and other speed bands. A couple years of this and I
developed tendonitis in my elbow. So I was forced to learn another way if I
wanted to keep playing. I wore a brace on my elbow to keep it from moving too
much and started using my wrist alone to pick. I was surprised how much easier
it was and how much better it sounded. My speed even increased...if you think
about it, the less movement, the faster it is. Yngwie uses his thumb and index
finger to pick with...if you watch him real close, you'll see hardly any
movement from his forearm and wrist. I've tried this, but it's pretty difficult
to do, especially being in the habit of using my wrist.



Get yourself a metronome! That is probably the best tool to use for picking
accuracy. or use a drum machine...whatever. Get your meter down first! Take the
first example I have below. EX-1. This is just a chromatic exercise
I use a lot to keep my picking up. Set your metronome to 100bpm and play
this. Where the x is every click. This will help you get your right/left hand in
synch. Also helps with speed and accuracy. Play this, like I said, at 100bpm
till you're comfortable with it then set the metronome to 110bpm. Keep
moving the increments by 10 and see how fast you can eventually get this. I can
do it at around 180/190bpm then I start looking for the ice.



EX-2 is the same idea, but you're advancing to another string.
This is better played starting on an upstroke (another tool I'll explain in
another lesson is figuring out when to start a run on an upstroke or a down stroke).
Keep moving this up the scale then reverse it and come back down. Once again use
the metronome and start at 100bpm (slower if you need).





EX-3 is an exercise I got from John Petrucci's "Hot
Licks" video. This really helps strengthen your picking hand. Play this a
few times and you'll see how this will wear you out real quick. Keep doing it
for like 5 minutes a day and it will get easier and easier and your picking will
become phenomenal. It's meant to be a sweeping exercise, but I like picking it
to strengthen the muscles.



EX-4 is the last one for this lesson. Do stuff like this to build
your speed in a scalular way. Come up with your own ideas that are comfortable
to you and you'll see it will become easy if you just stay at it. The audio
example I gave here is the end of a song I did with a buddy of mine (Pick Blade)
and is a good example of straight forward alternate picking. I'll get into rhythms
sometimes and just play scales all over the place nonstop and I think it sounds
kewl.



Enjoy!!!