Whenever you hear the phrase “improve your guitar technique” I’m sure that the first image that comes to mind is a guy playing super fast arpeggios and sequence runs. That may be great technique but most of us want to play music and not sequences. So with that in mind I set out to write an ebook that dealt with building technique in order to play the things that you want to play. Good technique does not mean shredding. It means that you have command over your instrument.

Some of these exercises got their inspiration from MIT/GIT, Steve Vai’s 10 hour workout and George Lynch’s finger stretching exercises. I was also thinking of ways to improve my sweep picking and transitioning around the fretboard. This course will cover Alternate picking, directional picking, Cross picking, Angular exercises, Finger independence and Stretching. I will also include two short synchronization exercises as well as the Guitar Techniques eBook.

We will breakdown the technique of alternate picking into up and down strokes in order to even out the attack and the rhythm. This is will weed out the weaker movements of the right hand which can effect rhythm playing as well as lead playing. The down strokes are the power movement and the upstrokes are the weaker movements. By evening these out it can tighten up your rhythm and single line playing at the same time. This concept carries over to the rest of the exercises as well.

Cross string exercises will help you with picking between strings in which there is a crossing over one string to perform a down or upstroke. Transitioning between strings has always been an issue for me as well and with wanting to get better at this technique I started doing these exercises while in college.

Angular exercises will help you in getting used to sweep picking and transitioning between string sets.

Finger Independence deals with being able to play different finger combinations which are covered with the alternate picking exercises as well as pivot exercises. This practice technique can save time by combining skill sets together to get the most from your practice time.

Stretching exercises help with reaching notes and being able to accommodate four notes per string lines. If that’s what you are going for. If not it will help with stretching for sure.

The Synchronization pieces are meant to put the ideas into practice in a more musical context. You could also go out and look at Bach pieces for some of the same integration of these techniques as well.

So go into this with an open mind and the desire to find new ways to expand your practice routine to improve technique. The goal is for you to start developing and being able to play those ideas that make you your unique self on the instrument. To develop your own musical voice.

• All Skill Levels

Categories:

• Mindfulness
• Practicing
• Technique

• Sub-topic 1 Examples of alternate, Directional and crosstring picking
• Sub-topic 2 Angular Exercises and String Skipping Exercises
• Sub-topic 3 Two Musical Examples uses some of the discussed techniques