For now, we will work each hand separately. When you're working on one hand, don't worry about how the other is doing it's job. Just concentrate on getting the hand you are working to do what it is supposed to.
If you start right at the beginning and make yourself practice correct technique, you will NOT run into any of the road blocks that a lot of guitarists encounter after they have played for a few years. Most tend to learn the hard way. They opt for sloppy technique instead of spending the time and effort to get it right from start. I've seen this time and time again. A player reaches a certain level only to have to start back at the beginning and re-learn such things as hand position or picking. This is because improper technique will limit your ability to play like a "mother". In the beginning a player is usually more interested in learning to whip out a few cool songs, but when they try to step beyond that and really play, they find that they can't get the "high performance" that they need out of their hands.
Technique is based on efficiency and economy. Correct positioning and use of the hands is essential in order to maximize your ability to get at the notes that you need to play.
I can't stress this enough. Take the time to get it right. In the long run you'el save yourself a lot of back-tracking.
Right Hand:
As far as how to hold the pick is concerned, There's really no "one way" to do it. Unlike the left hand, most people just do what comes natural. I hold my pick like this (opens in new window)(Yes, that's my hand stuffed into the scanner. It's a good thing we have a flatbed and not one of those that look like the wringer on those really old washing machines! Ouch!!). I pick from the wrist with my palm lightly resting on the strings. The angle of my arm insures that I'm not resting my palm on the string that I'm playing.
picture
(opens in new window)
The most important thing about the picking hand is that it is as relaxed as possible without fear of dropping the pick ( I still drop mine once in a while).
There are a lot of subtleties to the techniques that the right hand is required to perform. We will address these as they become important. For now, just hold the pick in whatever way feels comfortable, relax and concentrate on hitting the right string at the right time.
Here's an exercise for your picking hand. It's good to practice this after your left hand gets worn out from doing the other exercises. You're not going to use your left hand at all, just the right hand picking the open strings.
Below you will find a MIDI file that is just a steady click. What you are going to practice is note groupings in time with the click. This is the foundation of RHYTHM and TIMING.
The exercise goes like this:
Pick an open string (perhaps the B-string, but any string will do). Play the MIDI file. Using only down strokes of the pick try to hit the string at the exact same time as the click. Try this with only up strokes, as well. Practice this until you can stay in near perfect sync with the click.
Once you get that down, then you're going to play two notes for every click (think 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & etc...). These two notes must be evenly spaced. Later on, we'el work on uneven spacing of notes. Play these notes using ALTERNATE PICKING. That means that if you start with a down stroke on the first note, the second gets an up stroke then, down, up, down, up etc...
Most people find starting with a down stroke to be most natural, but you need to be able to start with an up stroke as well. Practice both.
When you get two notes per click down, then try four (think 1 e & a 2 e & a etc...). Again, you want to practice this starting with a down stroke AND starting with an up stroke.
When you get to the point where you can easily play one, two or four notes per click, then practice going from one group to another without stopping:
Here's the practice file:
This lesson is divided into four parts:
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