Introduction
Whew, who wouldīve thought... ? Well, I actually planned to have only two articles in the "Art Of Picking" series. But, after I finished the second one, I gave it some extra-thought and decided to add this "appendix".
What this is is simply a collection of exercises, focussing on the different aspects of alternate picking. Starting with simple one string-exercises, Iīm gonna take you through the whole routine until we reach "sequences" ( more on that later ).
Anyway, this is by no means a complete collection or anything. There are gazillions of different picking-exercises. I am just trying to give away some that I liked the most, that helped me and / or my students the most. Hopefully these will be helpful for you too, and I hope even more that theyīll inspire you to go ahead and create your own licks and exercises.
If you realize you have a certain problem with your picking, create an exercise focussing on that problem. This will help to eliminate it. Just some short, repetitive exercises are usually more helpful than long etudes. If you i.e. wanna get used to the concept of "inside picking", I recommend to use some short, repetitive lick using that approach, instead of trying to tackle a whole long etude or solo with that technique immediately.
Same goes for all these exercises and licks that I am showing you in this article, and also the ones I gave away in the other parts: Practise each exercise / lick bit by bit, take out short passages and "practise them in bursts" ( as explained in Part II ), trying to get familiar with the "critical spots" ( i.e. changing from one string to the other etc. ), then try to play the whole exercise.
Example: If you have a fast three note per string-run on all six strings, start with just playing on one of these strings. Get familiar with the picking motion, and try to play the three notes on that string accurate and quick. Then, take the next step and play the three notes on the next. Then, play on these two strings, incorporating the switch from one string to the other. After youīre familiar with all these little segments, put it together.
I once tried to learn the "Moto Perpetuo", a short etude by Niccolo Paganini, which was also quoted by Paul Gilbert in Racer Xīs "Y.R.O." ( from the "Street Lethal"-album ). What I did wrong was I tried to play the whole thing through. It didnīt work. Either I made too many mistakes or never got to speed it up. So I sat down and practised just one measure on itīs own. Then I added the next measure... and so on... took a bit longer but was way more efficient. Try to keep that in mind when working on the exercises in this article... or on any other lick, solo or exercise you wanna work on.
The Pick
Didnīt go into details too much on that topic, I guess. I think I mentioned that, for alternate picking, itīs a good idea to slant the pick a bit, so that one side is closer to the floor than the other ( so itīs not perpendicular to the strings ).
Also, using only the very tip of the pick will help a bit... itīs a great tool for dynamics too, since youīll get a louder sound ( more "whack" ) out of the strings once you "dig in deeper" and use more of the pick. You can change between using only the tip and using more of the pick... will result in a change of volume.
I recommend rather hard picks. I use a Dunlop Jazz III, and so do guys like Petrucci, Eric Johnson and others. Theyīre rather small, which fits my style very well... works better than the bigger-sized picks ( Steve Morse i.e. is using a regular, Fender-style pick, while Paul Gilbert uses smaller ones, kind of like the Pickboy Jazz-Picks )
A harder pick wonīt bend when you play, and therefore get to the next string faster than a soft pick. Thatīs just a recommendation though, experiment with that yourself. ( And check out my "99 Ways To Pick" article )
Anyway, letīs stop talking that much, letīs get to the exercises !!
Single String Exercises
Ok, when working on alternate picking, you should start with single string exercises ( again: Iīm just gonna give away more exercises in this article, check out Part 1&2 for more info ). You can and should do all those single string exercises on every string... start on high E-string, then do the same thing on the B-string etc...
In 16th notes, incorporating the open string, ascending in G Major...
And, the more difficult version, in sixtuplets... make sure all the notes are in time.
Chromatically ascending on one string...
... and descending...
OK, here are two exercises I picked up from other players. Bar 1 is a cool exercise by Tony Macalpine, in bar 2 you see a lick often used by guys like Gilbert & Malmsteen... move them up and down the string and also play them on other strings...
Here is the previous exercise ( measure No.2 ) moved diatonically along the string... Try different keys and scales...
OK, letīs move on by adding another string...
2 adjacent strings
OK, doing those exercises on 2 adjacent strings is the first step towards playing fast picked runs on all strings... letīs go !
The "Paul Gilbert"-exercise + variation. This is an essential one, and I also showed you those in the other picking-articles... ( memorize the one in measure 2, youīll need it again when we get to the sequences at the end of this article ! )
Here is an exercise I once created... a classical-style pedaltone-lick on two strings, moving down the neck diatonically...
In case youīre wondering why I didnīt include pick direction-indicators... why donīt you try to add those yourself ? Also, I recommend to work on starting with either an upstroke OR a downstroke... start each exercise with a downstroke, and next time start with an upstroke.
Also, I didnīt include licks with focus on inside / outside-picking or economy-picking. I explained those techniques / approaches in the other articles, and Iīll leave it to you to find and / or create your own exercises for those techniques. SO, this time I focussed entirely on straight alternate picking.
This one I showed you before, too: The PG-lick, moving up the neck diatonically in D-Major...
And another sequence, 3 descending notes on each string, then moving the sequence up the neck diatonically...
And the other way around: 6 ascending notes, with the sequence moving down the neck...
OK, letīs take it up another notch... picking on more than two adjacent strings...
More than 2 strings
Here are 4 short exercises, based on the G Major Patterns ( three note per string )... play all of them both ascending and descending...
Another variation... ascending in one pattern, descending in the next ( measure 1 ) and descending in one pattern, ascending in the next ( measure 2 )
OK, here are some more sequences. The first one is a "Ascend 3, jump back 2, ascend 3etc." sequence ( very popular ! ) in F Major ( 3 Note per string Pattern )... continue until you get to the high E-String... try in different Patterns two...
And descend again... "Descend 3, jump up 2, descend 3..."
Another variation... "Ascend 2, jump back 1, ascend 2", ascending in sixtuplets...
And the descending variation...
Finally, three examples for special sequences. Those give the listener the impression that itīs a very long, complicated run, while itīs actually nothign else but a simple sequence ( in this case, the same "Paul Gilbert"-sequence I showed you on the previous page, first example, measure 2 ) applied to all string-combinations...
Our example, ascending in G Major:
And descending, same sequence, but reversed:
And our last example of sequences, made up by yours truly:
Thatīs It !!!
OK, thatīs it. There wasnīt much new information in this one... thatīs what I called it an "appendix". I was just trying to give you a "Best Of... Picking Exercises". Feel free to use them in your own practising-routine, or make up your own... there are millions of different exercises you can come up with...
Good luck !