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what are some alternate picking exercises?


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Posted

Look up Paul Gilbert lessons on youtube, those will keep you busy for a long time.

 

I'm just about ready to post some picking lessons. I made the videos about 3-4 years ago but never posted them. I was using them as guinea pigs for video editing. The lessons are good but the editing never really got any better :)

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Posted

There are thousands...

At least do yourself a favour: when suggestions start coming, just pick a bunch of them, something like no more than 8-10 and keep practicing just this bunch for at least a week or two before moving to others.

Try to sort exercises by their main challenge, for example single-string exercises, string-crossing where you always pick the same direction when changing string, string-crossing where you alternate picking direction when changing string, string skipping... Pick 2-3 in each category for your weekly or bi-weekly bunch.

I am assuming you're looking for exercises to develop precision and consistency with your RIGHT hand, and limited to strict alternate picking (not sweep/economy/hybrid picking) is this what you mean? Then for instance, consider that "chromatics" are not really for this purpose.

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There are thousands of these type of licks. Best thing is to learn a challenging song, piece or etude that you also enjoy. Playing mechancial "exercises" was always very boring for me, but you can get good purely technical results.
The best technique exercise I ever did was learn 'Flight of the Bumblebee"..that will work your alternate picking and left hand coordination very hard while also being a nice piece that everyone knows

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For me, it's trying to play the intro to this Gary Moore tune that I use as a workout..alternate picking, fast open string hammer/pulls..it's all there..the serious alternate picking stuff starts at around 1.24

 

[YOUTUBE]sQRDPOd88gA[/YOUTUBE]

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Posted

There's a purpose for exercise vs song. It's to overcome, and to teach yourself to overcome. The more victories you have at overcome things technically, musically, conceptually, visually, harmonically, tastefully, etc...is at the heart of calling yourself a musician...especially around other musicians. And the fact that you did your work at home shows up on the bandstand.

 

Great musicians all pay dues. Sounds like the OP is ready to start paying up today ;)

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I still warm up with the intro to Master of Puppets by Metallica. I find it's a good right hand workout.

 

 

Thats a good one for warming up the all down stokes, but not really alternate picking.

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Posted

As long as you do exercises that will help you with both inside the strings picking and outside the strings picking, they should be fine. The initial examples in Paul Gilbert's first Intense Rock video is perfect, work on this pattern on all the strings, all over the neck.

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