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Alternate Picking - Speed Picking Exercises
A series of speed picking exercises, involving alternate picking techniques!
I frequently get asked by my future "shredding" students how they can improve their speed and really zoom up and down the fingerboard. Being a "speed monster" myself, I totally relate to that request!
Playing really fast does not replace creating solos which FIT a given song BUT...when you want to speed and dazzle the audience with your guitar pyrotechnics, you need to be prepared to execute. Therefore... check out the exercises I like to demo for those students who want to increase their speed. I got those from another teacher who got those from some source, unknown at this point, but I really like those and have incorporated them into my repertoire.
On the right you can download some jpgs which will show you about 3 versions of playing a C major scale (Ionian mode). They are in triplets and involve alternate picking. There are all sorts of picking techniques ie. alternate picking, speed picking, economy picking, sweep picking etc. In my opinion, it all starts with using the "alternate picking" technique. Use a clean sound at first. If it doesn't sound good on a clean sound, distortion will only add mudd to the whole thing. So "stay clean" for a little while.
Some amazing guitarists who use alternate picking to its fullest are Paul Gilbert, Al DiMeola, Steve Morse, John McLaughlin, John Petrucci and most of the jazz greats. So get a-pickin'!! Don't hammer on or pull of. No short cuts for these exercises.
Now to these exercises: First of all, "alternate picking" is exactly what is says it is. You "alternate" between an upstroke and a downstroke or a downstroke and an upstroke. The rule that I like to use is: on your way up i.e. from low string to high string, start with a downstroke and alternate. On your way down i.e. from high string to low string, start with an upstroke and alternate.
For these exercises I use the "extended or linear or horizontal" way of playing this scale. All three terms are appropriate for this way of playing and basically mean that this C major scale is played by using 3 Notes Per String. You'll cover a lot of fretboard real estate this way, starting at the 8th fret on the low E string (C note) and ending up at the 13th fret on the high E string (F note), playing more then 2 octaves. With one mode alone! Unlike the traditional scale approach, which is more vertically oriented, covers two octaves, fluctuates between 2 or 3 notes per string and is more condensed. They both have their uses, believe me and I urge any budding guitarist to practice the scales/modes in both versions.
But for now, we'll use the "extended, 3 note per string" version.
I am ASSUMING you have a metronome. If not, go to a music store near you and get one. It is essential that you can play in time with a click. Plus you can increase or decrease the tempo, depending on your skill level. So this is a must have. Set your metronome to a slow speed at first, around 60.. and start alternate picking from the low E string up to the end of the scale, as outlined in the exercises (download jpgs on right), starting with a downstroke. These exercises are 2 repetitive phrases on each string, in triplets. Every time you move to another string, you should be on a "downstroke" again. If not, you did something wrong. Go back and try again.
Part two of the first exercise is reversing the direction. Start on the high E string, 13th Fret (F note), with an upstroke and work your way DOWN to the low E string, 8th Fret (C note). Every time you move to another lower string, you should be on an upstroke. Again.. if not, you did something wrong and should try it again.
Once you get this first exercise at a lower speed under your belt and it sounds nice, clean and precise, your fingerings are proper (I included all the proper finger positions for each note), go and increase the tempo on your metronome. By about 10. Play it again until you can comfortably feel it. Go as high as 120, which is quite fast or even more. Which is really fast. It's all about the coordination between left/right hands, picking, and wrist action.
The other two exercises are variation on the theme, with the third one being a bit more involved. But trust me, once you get going on those, your speed will improve dramatically, and you will find that other runs will become a lot smoother as well. So happy picking and the jpgs are on the top right of this page
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