In this lesson, I will be teaching you some basics on becoming a technically more proficient guitarist, with some techniques such as sweep arpeggios, string skipping, and picking technique. Materials: one guitar, a plectrum (I suggest Dunlop Jazz III, and so does Sir Michael Angelo Batio), a metronome.
1. Proper picking technique.
Economy picking and alternate picking: you should know what alternate picking is, and use it, but if not, you can find other lessons on the internet. Economy picking is what I will be teaching you now. Economy Picking Is basically using the least amount ofmovement in your picking hand. You do this by using a sweep like technique.
ex. Instead of Economy picking is
v n n n
I---5-I I---5-I
I-6---I I-6---I
I-----I I-----I
I-----I I-----I
I-----I I-----I
I-----I I-----I
n= Down stroke
v= Up strokeEssentially sweeping the strings, which is a technique we will learn later on, economy picking will increase your speed and accuracy. Remember don't ever forget to use alternate picking, as it is also good to use sometimes.
Exercise:
n n v n v n v v
I---5-6-8-6-5-----I
I-6-----------6---I
I---------------7-I
I-----------------I
I-----------------I
I-----------------I
2. Practicing - always use a metronome!
First off you should learn a few basic scales such as major, minor, pentatonics, harmonic minor, and look at my preceding lessons on modes for a list of them, which you should also memorize. After you have learned them, you should play them at a steady tempo (using a metronome) in different patterns - be creative.
Ex. A Phrygian
I--------------------------------------------I
I--------------------------------------------I
I--------------------------------------------I
I----------------------------------5-7-8-7-5-I
I-------5-7-8-7-5-----------5-7-8------------I
I-5-6-8-----------8-6-5-6-8------------------I
I--------------------------------------I
I----------------------5---------------I
I------------------5-7---7-5-------5-7-I
I-----------5-7-8------------8-7-8-----I
I-8-7-5-7-8----------------------------I
I--------------------------------------I
I-------5-----------5-6-8-17~-I
I-5-6-8---8-6-5-6-8-----------I
I-----------------------------I
I-----------------------------I
I-----------------------------I
I-----------------------------I
After you make your own patterns, and played them over and over to a metronome, you can start trying to improvise licks with them.
Legato:
is using hammer-ons and pull offs, and is sometimes used when shredding.
Ex.
Am
nh h nh h nh nh h nh h nh h
I-----------------------------5-7-8-I
I-----------------------5-6-7-------I
I-----------------4-5-7-------------I
I-------------5-7-------------------I
I-------5-7-8-----------------------I
I-5-7-8-----------------------------I
n= Down stroke
H=hammer-onYou can do the same thing descending. To improve your legato, just use all hammer-ons and pull offs with various scales.
3. Chord Formation/Sweep Picking - proper technique, and how they blend.
Chord construction. Say you need to make a minor chord. For this example, we will use D minor. Use the formula of the minor scale, and fit the notes D-C into it.
Figure 1
--------
W H W W H W W < minor scale formula
D E F G A Bb C < notes d-c, with accidentals to fit the formula
You take the notes d e f g a b c, and alter them to fit the series of whole steps and half steps that we call a scale formula. So now with this, we can take the first, the third and the fifth (triad), to make a D minor chord.
Dm
Chord | Notes
------|-------
I-----I|
I-----I|
I-----I|
I--7--I| A (fifth)
I--8--I| F (third)
I--10-I| D (root)
If you wanted you could repeat the notes, and make another octave. There are also many other formations for each chord, experiment with the triad. Now we have our chord. You can make more chords using scales, or use triad formulas. Some basic triad formulas:
Major (R, 3, 5)
Minor (R, b3, 5)
Augmented (R, 3, #5)
Diminished (R, b3, b5)
Sweep Arpeggios.
Sweep picking is playing arpeggiated notes in a sequence, whilst technically sweeping the strings, playing each note at a time, with no blending of the notes. Always follow the strict economy picking when you are sweeping. An arpeggio is a chord, which is a triad, so you now know how to make arpeggios. So, using our previous example, we will construct a D minor Arpeggio.
Ex.
D Minor Arpeggio
n= Down stroke
v= Up stroke
n n n n h p v v v
E||-----------10-13-10-----------|
B||--------10----------10--------|
G||-----10----------------10-----|
D||--12----------------------12--|
A||------------------------------|
E||------------------------------|This particular sweep pattern has 3 strings with the same fret (10) which would be difficult, so you need to use the technique of rolling. Rolling is where you virtually "roll" your finger across the fret, on each string. We do this, so that the notes aren't blurred together, like they would be if you just barred the notes. Rolling is a very useful technique when it comes to shredding. Here are some exercises you can do to improve your rolling and you're picking technique.
Left hand rolling:
I-------------------------I
I-----5-7---------5-7-----I
I---5-----7-----5-----7---I
I-5---------7-5---------7-I
I-------------------------I
I-------------------------I
Right hand picking:
I---------------------------------------4-1-------I
I-----------------------4-1-----------3-----2-----I
I-------4-1-----------3-----2-------2---------3---I
I-----3-----2-------2---------3---1-------------4-I
I---2---------3---1-------------4-----------------I
I-1-------------4---------------------------------I
Here are some examples.
Am7
I-----------5-8-5-----------I
I---------8-------8---------I
I-------5-----------5-------I
I-----7---------------7-----I
I---7-------------------7---I
I-5-----------------------5-I
E Major
5 string
I---------4-7-4---------I
I-------5-------5-------I
I-----4-----------4-----I
I---6---------------6---I
I-7-------------------7-I
I-----------------------I
4 string
I----------12-16-12----------I
I-------12----------12-------I
I----13----------------13----I
I-14----------------------14-I
I----------------------------I
I----------------------------I
3 string
I------7-12-7-----I
I----9--------9---I
I--9------------9-I
I-----------------I
I-----------------I
I-----------------I
E Phrygian
5 string
I---------3-7-3---------I
I-------5-------5-------I
I-----4-----------4-----I
I---5---------------5---I
I-7-------------------7-I
I-----------------------I
4 string
I-------------15-------------I
I----------17----17----------I
I----12-16----------16-12----I
I-14----------------------14-I
I----------------------------I
I----------------------------I
3 string
I-----7-12-7-----I
I---8--------8---I
I-9------------9-I
I----------------I
I----------------I
I----------------ITap sweeping:
Tap sweeping is an added challenge to sweeping. Sweep the first half up to the E string, and then tap the higher notes on the E string with your picking hand.
h T T p
I----------6-10-15-10-11-10-6-------------I
I--------8--------------------8-----------I
I------7------------------------7-/-5-----I
I----8--------------------------------7---I
I-10------------------------------------8-I
I-----------------------------------------I4. String skipping - it will improve your accuracy and speed.
String skipping is well, string skipping. The best way to explain is to show an example.
Ex.
Am
I---------------------------------I
I---------------------------------I
I---------------------------------I
I-------5-7-9-7-5-----------5-7-9-I
I---------------------------------I
I-5-7-8-----------8-7-5-7-8-------IIn this example we are "skipping" (not picking) any notes on the D string.
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I think My butts crampinn up tryin to understand it... 
