related: How to Master Advanced Alternate Picking on Guitar
Mastering alternate picking on guitar is one way to develop fluidity and ease when playing melodies and arpeggios. In this lesson I offer an exercise to introduce to you alternate picking on one guitar string at a time.
First some background on picking techniques. Alternate picking is one of three common picking techniques, along with sweep picking and economy picking. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of alternate picking is the absolute consistency of using downstrokes on every beat and upstrokes on every note between beats. With enough practice these movements become highly accurate and second nature, no longer requiring conscious attention to picking directions while playing. On the downside, alternate picking is not as efficient as sweep and economy picking, and so can limit a player’s speed.
Exercise 1 is a six-note pattern in Bb major. I’ve chosen Bb because it is a less friendly guitar key but still common, and necessary when playing with horns. I’ve put all of the notes of the scale on the G string. The first step to mastering this exercise is to play the Bb major scale straight up and down the G string to get familiar with, and memorize, the positions of the notes.
The exercise breaks the scale down into six-note segments that each consist of three adjacent scale tones. In the first measure we begin by playing the 1st, 3rd, then 2nd note of the scale, followed by the 1st, 2nd, then 3rd note. We can convey this pattern of scale tones this way: 1 3 2 1 2 3. This sequence of these adjacent notes is repeated throughout the exercise starting on each scale degree.
Start at a slow and steady pace and alternate pick your way through the exercise while paying close attention to your left hand fingering. There are several instances where you will be stretching considerably beyond a 4 fret span (for instance 3rd to 7th fret, 8th to 12th fret, etc.). When you come to these, use your 1st finger on the 1st note, pinky on the 3rd note and middle finger on the 2nd note.
After you attain accuracy with both your picking and left hand at a slow speed, slowly and steadily increase your speed at a rate at which you are able to maintain accuracy. You will see your alternate picking improve quickly!
Next, go on to master alternate picking with my exercise that combines alternate picking with string crossings.
related: How to Master Advanced Alternate Picking on Guitar
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