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this primer will help you think in these terms. with this mind-set,
you'll be able to build an arsenal of smooth, fast, picking licks that
you can execute even on your worst day.
now rest the heel of your palm on the strings in front of the bridge.
this technique is called "palm muting". the more pressure you apply, the
"chunkier" your sound will be. for lightning runs, a light pressure will
allow the strings to ring, but will cut unwanted noise. where you pick is
also important: picking right in front of the bridge produces a trebly
twang, whereas picking closer to the neck creates a softer, mellower tone.
the angle at which you attack the strings also effects your sound. holding
the pick parallel to the strings and plucking produces the clearest attack.
"slicing" the string at an angle yields a less-defined attack.
if you're sitting down, anchor your right forearm to the guitar's body for
added control and stability. if you're standing up, the angle between your
wrist and arm will depend on the length of your strap. adjust your strap
to where you're the most comfortable. don't put the guitar lower than you
can handle: no matter how cool you look walking out on stage with the
guitar around you knees, the spell will be broken the moment you try to
play something in that awkward position.
you can also anchor your pinky on the pickguard to help maintain stability
and provide your hand with a close point of reference. experts disagree
about the benefits of anchoring your hand in this way, so if it doesn't
feel right, don't do it.
now that you've achieved the perfect picking posture, you're ready for the
two basic alternate-picking moves" the upstroke and downstroke. the
moves are easy, but getting them to flow quickly and smoothly is the trick
to attaining warp speed. some players favor the stiff-wrist approach, which
restricts all movement to the elbow joint. the circular motion approach,
employing only the thumb and index fingers, is another technique. but
most players get the best results by initiating all movement in their wrist.
use the technique that feels the most natural to you and always remember to
keep your wrist relaxed.
if you feel any pain during a workout, stop immediately. pain is your
body's way of telling you that you're doing something wrong. stop and
rest. if the pain or soreness persists, see an orthopedic specialist to
make sure you aren't developing tendinitis.
gradually increase the tempo as you get better. you're smokin' if you can
perform this exercise at 160 beats per minute. don't forget to always use
a clean tone (no distortion).
h hammer on
p pull off
\ slide down / slide up
tr trill
u upstroke
d downstroke
figure 1
d u d u d etc
|-0--0--0--0--3--3--3--3--4--4--4--4--7--7--7--7-|-8--8--8--8--11--11--11--11
|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------
|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------
|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------
|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------
|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------
-12--12--12--12--15--15--15--15-|-16--16--16--16--15--15--15--15--12--12--12
--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------
--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------
--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------
--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------
--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------
-12--11--11--11--11-|-8--8--8--8--7--7--7--7--4--4--4--4--3--3--3--3------||
--------------------|-----------------------------------------------------||
--------------------|-----------------------------------------------------||
--------------------|-----------------------------------------------------||
--------------------|-----------------------------------------------------||
--------------------|-----------------------------------------------------||
figures 2-4 are some cool, easy-to-execute, single string speed licks,
designed to help improve your left/right hand synchronization. as you
become familiar with each one's fingering pattern, try moving in onto
another string. every string feels different-not only are they different
thicknesses, your pick attacks them at different angles. these kinds of
licks are not only easy to pick at high speeds, they also sound (and look)
impressive. once you feel comfortable performing them quickly, you're ready
for string-crossing.
figure 2
d u d u etc
|-4-3-2-1-5-4-3-2-6-5-4-3-5-4-3-2-|-6-5-4-3-7-6-5-4-8-7-6-5-7-6-5-4-|-8-7-6-
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|-------
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|-------
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|-------
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|-------
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|-------
-5-9-8-7-6-10-9-8-7-9-8-7-6-|-10-9-8-7-11-10-9-8-12-11-10-9-11-10-9-8-||
----------------------------|-----------------------------------------||
----------------------------|-----------------------------------------||
----------------------------|-----------------------------------------||
----------------------------|-----------------------------------------||
----------------------------|-----------------------------------------||
figure 3
d u d u
|-0-1-3-4-1-3-4/6-3-4-6/7-4-6-7/9-|-6-7-9/10-7-9-10/12-9-10-12/13-10-12-13/-
|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------------
|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------------
|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------------
|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------------
|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------------
-15-|-15-13-12\10-13-12-10\9-12-10-9\7-10-9-7\6-|-9-7-6\4-7-6-4\3-6-4-3\1---
----|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------
----|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------
----|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------
----|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------
----|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------
-4-3-1-0-||
---------||
---------||
---------||
---------||
---------||
figure 4
d u d u etc
|-4-0-2-0-5-0-2-0-7-0-4-0-9-0-5-0-|-11-0-7-0-12-0-9-0-14-0-11-0-16-0-12-0-||
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------------||
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------------||
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------------||
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------------||
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------------||
figures 5a-c show three different ways to pick the same lick. the first
way (fig 5a) is the most laborious for the right-hand-it requires the pick
to make four awkward string crosses. figure 5b shows a much smoother,
easier way to pick the same run. notice that there are only two string
crosses. figure 5c is the easiest. the e note moves over to the 3rd
string and the whole pattern begins with a downstroke, enabling you to
best accent the downbeats for a strong, forceful attack.
|----------------------------|| |-------------------------||
|---------------8------------|| |-------5--6--8--6--5-----||
|-----7--9--10-----10--9--7--|| |-5--7-----------------7--||
|-10-------------------------|| |-------------------------||
|----------------------------|| |-------------------------||
|----------------------------|| |-------------------------||
fig 5c (easier)
|-------------------------||
|----------6--8--6--------||
|-5--7--9-----------9--7--||
|-------------------------||
|-------------------------||
|-------------------------||
figure 6
|-------------------------------------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------||
|-7--5--------7--5--------7--5--------7--5--------||
|-------7--5--------7--5--------7--5--------7--5--||
|-------------------------------------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------||
figure 7
|-------------------------------------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------||
|----------5--7--5-----------------5--7--5--------||
|----5--7-----------7--5-----5--7-----------7--5--||
|-7-----------------------7-----------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------||
figure 8
|------------------------------------------------------||
|--------------10-------------------------8------------||
|--------7--8------8--7-------------7--8-----8--7------||
|-7--10------------------10--7--10-----------------10--||
|------------------------------------------------------||
|------------------------------------------------------||
figure 9
|-------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------5--8--5----|
|-------------------------------------|-------5--7--5-----5--7-----------7-|
|-------------------------5--7--5-----|-5--7-----------7-------------------|
|-------5--7--5-----5--7-----------7--|------------------------------------|
|-5--8-----------8--------------------|------------------------------------|
|-------5--8--5-----------5----------|------------------------------------|
|-5--8-----------8--5--8-----8--5----|-------5----------------------------|
|----------------------------------7-|-5--7-----7--5-----------5----------|
|------------------------------------|----------------7--5--7-----7--5----|
|------------------------------------|----------------------------------7-|
|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
-------------------||
-------------------||
-------------------||
-------5-----------||
-5--7-----7--5-----||
----------------8--||
figure 10
|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------
|------------------------------------------------|-------------5------------
|-------------------------------------5----------|-------5--7-----7--5------
|-------------5-----------------5--7-----7--5----|-5--7-----------------7---
|-------5--7-----7--5-----5--7-----------------7-|--------------------------
|-5--8-----------------8-------------------------|--------------------------
-------------5----------|-------5--8--5----------------------------------|
-------5--8-----8--5----|-5--8-----------8--5-----------5--8--5----------|
-5--7-----------------7-|----------------------7--5--7-----------7--5----|
------------------------|----------------------------------------------7-|
------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------||
|------------------------------------------------||
|-------5--7--5----------------------------------||
|-5--7-----------7--5-----------5--7--5----------||
|----------------------7--5--7-----------7--5----||
|----------------------------------------------8-||
most teachers and method books instruct you to practice major, melodic-
minor and harmonic-minor scales and their various modes in positions.
though this fingering approach may look like it makes the most sense, it
often proves to be very awkward for fast, alternate picking-especially
when descending. i've found that during the descent, most seven-note
scales can be picked more smoothly and easily by employing an alternate
left-hand fingering.
figure 11
-------------awkward------------------
|-----------------------------3-5-|-7-5-3---------------------------------||
|-------------------------5-7-----|-------7-5-----------------------------||
|-------------------4-5-7---------|-----------7-5-4-----------------------||
|-------------4-5-7---------------|-----------------7-5-4-----------------||
|-------3-5-7---------------------|-----------------------7-5-3-----------||
|-3-5-7---------------------------|-----------------------------7-5-3-----||
figure 12
|-------------------------------5-|-7-5------------------------------------|
|-------------------------5-7-8---|-----8-7--------------------------------|
|-------------------4-5-7---------|---------9-7-5\4------------------------|
|-------------4-5-7---------------|-----------------7-5--------------------|
|-------3-5-7---------------------|---------------------9-7-5\3------------|
|-3-5-7---------------------------|-----------------------------7-5-3------|
this same alternate-fingering approach can help you pick many other types
of scales more quickly. figure 13 is a chromatic scale pattern that uses
finger slides on the 1st and 6th strings to maintain a smooth picking
pattern. note that the entire fingering pattern is shifted up one fret
on the descent.
figure 13
|----------------------------|-----------------4-5-6-7/|8-7-6-5-------------
|----------------------------|---------5-6-7-8---------|--------9-8-7-6-----
|----------------------------|-5-6-7-8-----------------|----------------9-8-
|--------------------6-7-8-9-|-------------------------|--------------------
|-----------7-8-9-10---------|-------------------------|--------------------
|-8-9-10-11------------------|-------------------------|--------------------
-----|---------------------------------||
-----|---------------------------------||
-7-6-|---------------------------------||
-----|-10-9-8-7------------------------||
-----|----------11-10-9-8--------------||
-----|--------------------12-11-10-9\8-||
figure 14
|----------------------------------|----------------------------------------
|----------------------------------|----------------------------------------
|----------------------------------|---------------------10-11-12-13-14-15--
|----------------------------------|7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14--------------------
|-----------------4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11|----------------------------------------
|-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8------------------|----------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
------|------------------------17-18-19-20-21-20-19-18|17-16-15-14----------
------|14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21------------------------|------------18-17-16-
-16-17|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------
------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------
------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------
------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------
3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4/ 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2
---------------------------|----------------------------------|-------------
-15-14-13-12-11------------|----------------------------------|-------------
----------------14-13-12-11|10-9-8-7--------------------------|-------------
---------------------------|---------11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4--------|-------------
---------------------------|---------------------------8-7-6-5|4-3-2-1------
---------------------------|----------------------------------|--------5-4--
1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3
--------||
--------||
--------||
--------||
--------||
-3-2\1--||
2 1\1
figure 15
|--------------------------------------11|13-11-----------------------------
|-----------------------------10-12-14---|------14-12-10\8------------------
|---------------------8-10-12------------|-----------------10-8-------------
|--------------7-9-11--------------------|----------------------11-9-7\5----
|-------6-8-10---------------------------|----------------------------------
|-5-7-9----------------------------------|----------------------------------
-----------||
-----------||
-----------||
-----------||
-8-6-------||
-----9-7-5-||
figure 16
|-------------------------------3|5-3-------------------------------||
|-------------------------4-5-7--|----7-5---------------------------||
|-------------------3-5-6--------|--------8-6-5\3-------------------||
|-------------4-5-7--------------|----------------7-5---------------||
|-------4-6-7--------------------|--------------------9-7-6\4-------||
|-5-6-8--------------------------|----------------------------8-6-5-||
figure 17
|-------------------------------------|------------11-12-14-12-11\9---------
|-------------------------------------|10-11-13/14------------------13-11---
|----------------------------8-9-11/12|-------------------------------------
|------------------7-8-10/11----------|-------------------------------------
|---------6-7-9/10--------------------|-------------------------------------
|-5-6-8/9-----------------------------|-------------------------------------
----------|---------------------------||
-10\8-----|---------------------------||
------11-9|8\6------------------------||
----------|----10-8-7\5---------------||
----------|-------------9-7-6\4-------||
----------|---------------------8-6-5-||
figure 18
|------------------------------------------|------------16-17-19-17-16\14---
|------------------------------------------|14-15-17/19---------------------
|-------------------------------11-13-14/16|--------------------------------
|--------------------9-11-12/14------------|--------------------------------
|----------7-9-11/12-----------------------|--------------------------------
|-5-7-9/10---------------------------------|--------------------------------
------------------|------------------------------||
-17-15-14\12------|------------------------------||
-------------14-13|11\9--------------------------||
------------------|-----12-11-9\7----------------||
------------------|---------------11-9-7\5-------||
------------------|------------------------9-7-5-||
figure 19
|------------------------------------------|------------16-17-19-17-16\14---
|------------------------------------------|13-15-17/19---------------------
|-------------------------------11-13-14/16|--------------------------------
|--------------------9-10-12/14------------|--------------------------------
|----------7-9-11/12-----------------------|--------------------------------
|-5-7-8/10---------------------------------|--------------------------------
------------------|-------------------------------||
-17-15-13\12------|-------------------------------||
-------------14-13|11\9---------------------------||
------------------|-----12-10-9\7-----------------||
------------------|---------------11-9-7\5--------||
------------------|------------------------8-7-5--||
figure 20
|------------------------------------------|------------16-17-19-17-16\13---
|------------------------------------------|13-15-17/18---------------------
|-------------------------------10-13-14/16|--------------------------------
|--------------------9-10-12/14------------|--------------------------------
|----------7-8-11/12-----------------------|--------------------------------
|-5-7-8/10---------------------------------|--------------------------------
------------------|-------------------------------||
-17-15-13\12------|-------------------------------||
-------------14-13|10\9---------------------------||
------------------|-----12-10-9\7-----------------||
------------------|---------------11-8-7\5--------||
------------------|------------------------8-7-5--||
figure 21
|--------------------------17-20-17---------|-----------------||
|--------------------13-18----------18-13---|-----------------||
|--------------10-14----------------------14|10---------------||
|---------7-10------------------------------|---10-7----------||
|-----3-8-----------------------------------|--------8-3------||
|-1-5---------------------------------------|------------5-1--||
figure 22
|-------------------------|------------------------------------|------17-20-
|-------------------------|------------------------13-18-13----|13-18-------
|-------------------------|------10-14-10----10-14----------14-|------------
|----------------7-10-7---|-7-10----------10-------------------|------------
|----3-8-3---3-8--------8-|------------------------------------|------------
|1-5-------5--------------|------------------------------------|------------
-17----------17----------|----------------------------------|--------------||
----18-13-18----18-13----|-------13-------------------------|--------------||
----------------------14-|-10-14----14-10---------10--------|--------------||
-------------------------|----------------10-7-10----10-7---|-----7--------||
-------------------------|--------------------------------8-|-3-8---8-3----||
-------------------------|----------------------------------|-----------5-1||
figure 23
|---------------------9-11-9-------|---------------||
|----------------9-10--------10-9--|---------------||
|------------6-8------------------8|6--------------||
|--------6-7-----------------------|--7-6----------||
|----4-6---------------------------|------6-4------||
|-4-5------------------------------|----------5-4--||
figure 24
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|----3-6
|---------------------------------|---------------------3-6-----6-8-|3-6----
|---------------------------------|-----3-5-----5-7-3-7-----5-7-----|-------
|---------------------3-5-----5-8-|-3-5-----5-8---------------------|-------
|-----3-5-----5-8-3-5-----5-8-----|---------------------------------|-------
|-3-6-----6-8---------------------|---------------------------------|-------
2
----6-8------8-10-------10-13-|-------13-15-------15-18-18b--rb13~--||
6-8-----8-11------11-13-------|-13-15-------15-18-------------------||
------------------------------|-------------------------------------||
------------------------------|-------------------------------------||
------------------------------|-------------------------------------||
------------------------------|-------------------------------------||
figure 25
|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------------
|-5-4-----8-5-----9-8-----12-9------|-13-12-------16-13-------17-16---------
|-----5-4-----8-5-----9-8------12-9-|-------13-12-------16-13-------17-16---
|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------------
-------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------
-20-17-------|-17-16-------16-13-------13-12-------12-9------|-9-8-----8-5--
-------20-17-|-------17-16-------16-13-------13-12------12-9-|-----9-8------
-------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------
-------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------
-------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------
---------------------||
-----5-4-----4-1-----||
-8-5-----5-4-----4-1-||
---------------------||
---------------------||
---------------------||
figure 26
|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------------
|------9-12-------12-15-------15-18-------12-15-|-------15-18-------18-21---
|-9-10------12-13-------15-16-------12-13-------|-15-16-------18-19---------
|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------------
|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------------
|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------------
-------------------------||
-------15-18-------12-15-||
-15-16-------12-13-------||
-------------------------||
-------------------------||
-------------------------||
figure 27
|-------1-3-5-------3-5-7|------5-7-8--------7-8-10|--------8-10-12---------
|-1-3-5-------3-5-6------|5-6-8-------6-8-10-------|8-10-12---------10-12-13
|------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------
|------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------
|------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------
|------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------
-10-12-13|---------12-13-15-----||
---------|12-13-15----------13~-||
---------|----------------------||
---------|----------------------||
---------|----------------------||
---------|----------------------||
figure 28
|-15-13-------------13-12-------------|12-10------------10-8-----------|8-7-
|-------17-15-13\12-------15-13-12\10-|------13-12-10\8------12-10-8\6-|----
|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|----
|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|----
|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|----
|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|----
----------7-5---------|5-3---------3-1------------||
-10-8-6\5-----8-6-5\3-|----6-5-3\1-----5-3-1-0-1~-||
----------------------|---------------------------||
----------------------|---------------------------||
----------------------|---------------------------||
----------------------|---------------------------||