Man that hybrid picking excercise is awesome..it's simple but I'm addicted to it haha..I tried growing the nails out along time ago but it never worked out because they caught on the strings and broke..I didn't know there was such a process! Plus, despite the fact I am a metal musician, I am quite progressive in my thought process. Actually, I'm trying to make mid tempo to slow music that is highly technical..I also want to stay away from single note tremolo and blast beats.