A practical exercise for alternate picking and legato

Virgman

Taco of Death
I have found this to be a useful exercise for improving both alternate picking and legato.

This particular run comes from Paul Gilbert's Intense Rock I. The genius of this run is that it incorporates many, if not all, 3-note-per-string scale fingering combinations in the major scale.

The procedure for practicing it is a combination of a few things I have learned but not invented. These simple practice methods are really the key. The methods could be applied to learning just about any lick or run though.

Here's the method.

1) The run is made up of 6-note chunks. Thinking of the lick as chunks of 6-notes (two 3-note triplets) seems to help with the rhythm of the lick. i.e. "1-2-3, 1-2-3".

2) Use a metronome to keep time. I use GuitarPro to practice it so you can do that also.

3) Start slow. Half speed or less. You must be patient. There is no need to rush. The gradual increase in tempo allows you to groove the run in your brain and fingers.

4) Advance the metronome not more than 2 bpm 16th notes per day. So to go from 40 bpm to 60 bpm will take at least 10 days. It's ok to only advance the metronome 1 bpm per day. The important thing is to play the lick correctly. If your form is breaking down then you are going too fast.

5) Play the run with alternate picking ascending and descending one time. Then play it the next time with legato. Repeat until you get tired or start to lose focus. It's better to practice the run for a minute or two in good form, rest, and then do it some more than to practice it when you are tired and sloppy. I lose focus pretty quickly rather than get tired so that's when I take a short rest. You only need to practice for about 10 minutes a day. Really.

6) When ascending with alternate picking start with a downstroke. When descending with alternate picking start with an upstroke. This is very important. The purpose of this is to use outside picking and build repetitive muscle memory. It doesn't mean you can never use inside picking but for the purposes of this run we want to use outside picking exclusively. You want to be able to do this run without thought at some point like Zen.

7) When playing legato alternate pick each new string but start the lick with a downstroke. When descending with legato use all upstrokes. If this is not clear ask me to explain it.

Attention!

You will hit the wall!
At some point you will not be able to increase the metronome anymore. Your form will fall apart. You just can't keep bumping up the tempo in a straight line forever. So here's what you do. Let's say you hit the wall at 100 bpm. Recognize what is happening. Expect it to happen. Don't fight it. Just reduce the metronome by 20 bpm to 80 bpm and start climbing again 1 or 2 bpm each day. This is normal. Hopefully you will climb above 100 bpm on your next trip. Do the same thing when you hit the wall next time. Patience. Patience. Don't stop digging when the gold is just a few feet farther on!

You get better at what you practice! Don't expect the improved skills you get with this lick to directly carry over to other licks you are not familiar with. You will have to practice other licks to get better at them. However this particular scale run is very useful and you can shred with it once you get it up to speed. It starts on the 7th fret which is the 3rd note (B) of the G Major scale. It's a very useful scale position.

Thanks for reading and I hope this is of use to you.

Ciao baby.

 
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I have no trouble picking it, but my left hand just can't maintain that sort of speed.
 
I have no trouble picking it, but my left hand just can't maintain that sort of speed.

Hi.

What "sort of speed"? You go as slow as necessary in the beginning. 60 bpm? 40 bpm? 20 bpm? 10 bpm?

As slow as necessary to keep the hands in sync.

It's all good.
 
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