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2nd QUARTER: TECHNIQUE EXERCISES 2 & 3

September 25, 2020 By Jim Beckwith

 

This post finishes up the 2nd quarter technique exercises. We’re

adding a whopping 5 minutes to our daily routine! (10>15 min.)

Remember in my original intro post, ” Practicing with no time:

part 3″ published 10/15/2019, the point is to build a practice

habit, something you do at the same time every day like brushing

your teeth. One reason I’m keeping the time allotment so small

is you have to be able to do it on the hard days. 15 minutes can

seem like a long time on a busy/crappy day! Moving on…..

Exercise#2 QUAD TECHNIQUE: A lot of people know this one.

It’s good for articulation, alternate picking and ultimately, speed.

(tab follows explanation pick all notes down and up)

-Put your 1st finger on the 6th string 1st fret, your 2nd finger

on the 6th string 2nd fret, your 3rd finger on the 6th string 3rd

fret and your 4th finger on the 6th string 4th fret. Pick all 4

notes in sequence, down up down up. Do the same on the 5th

string, 1 finger per fret/down up down up. Continue this for the

4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings; 1 finger per fret and continuous

down/up picking. When you get to the 1st string 4th fret 4th

finger, slide your 4th finger up 1 fret to the 5th fret and start

back down; 4th finger on the 1st string 5th fret, 3rd finger on

the 1st string 4th fret, 2nd finger on the 1st string 3rd fret and

1st finger on the 1st string 2nd fret. Repeat the process on the

2nd string, 1 finger per fret still picking down and up. Continue

all the way down the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th strings, then move

your finger 1st finger from the 2nd fret to the 3rd fret on the 6th

string and walk back up, etc. Your goal is to keep walking your

way back and forth across the fretboard to at least the 12th fret.

(tab: pick all notes down and up v^)

1—————————————————————1-2-3-4->5-4-3-2–

2—————————————————1-2-3-4————————-5-4-3-

3————————————–1-2-3-4——————————————–etc..

4————————–1-2-3-4——————————————————–

5————-1-2-3-4———————————————————————

6-1-2-3-4———————————————————————————

Don’t be in a rush with this exercise, take your time and pick  each  

each note cleanly, especially your 4th finger notes (nobody likes

to use their pinky!). The 3rd exercise is for cross picking, the

ability to jump your pick from one string to another without looking.

#3 CROSSPICKING: This exercise develops your ability to find the

string you want to pick without having to look for it, to pick

without looking. This is my simplification of a Berklee Book 

exercise. I switched it to a 1st position A minor/C major pentatonic

scale because everybody knows that one. If you don’t you will by

the time you finish reading the tab! Keep your 4th finger pressed

down on the 1st string 8th fret throughout the exercise. Pick 100%

down and up (v^), the pinky note on the 1st string 8th fret will 

always be on the up stroke of the pick. Here is the tab;

 v ^ (down-up)

1—8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8-etc…

2-8–5———————————————————————-5–8–

3———7–5——————————————————5–7–

4——————7—5———————————–5–7–

5————————–7–5——————–5–7–

6———————————–8–5—5–8– 

You will probably need to look at your pick at first, but aim to

play without looking as soon as possible, even with a few mistakes.

Learn to pick this exercise by feel! Speed is not the goal here,

developing a sense of where the strings are is the goal.

This wraps up the 3 technique exercises. I still do all 3 as a

warm up 5 days a week. It stretches out my fingers and loosens

me up for the rest of the day and only takes me 5 minutes or so.

Remember 15 minutes total (5 on I/II roots and chords, 5 technique

and 5 jamming) 5 days a week. We’re building a habit! The next

quarter introduces scales.

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