Guitar Lesson Six - Right Hand Technique

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Guitar Lesson Six - Technique

Right Hand

By now, you should be well aware that I place great emphasis on alternate picking.

When it comes to developing timing, phrasing, accuracy, speed, fluidity, control, and practically every other attribute ascribed to the right hand, the mastery of alternate picking is a must.

There are other methods of picking that we will address in future lessons, but in order to properly take advantage of them, you will have to draw on your mastery of alternate picking.

Alternate picking on one string presents no special difficulties. This is not so when it comes to applying alternate picking as you cross from one string to the next. Here you will have to be extra careful that you are making the correct pick stroke.

Before we continue, two symbols:

= down-stroke

= up-stroke

Now, let's say that you were to play the following:

The single most common mistake that players make is to play the 4th note with a down-stroke instead of an up-stroke.

This is a serious trap that will cause all manner of troubles down the road. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that you pay particular attention to which stroke you use when crossing strings.

There are three rules for alternate picking:

If you just played a down-stroke, your next MUST be an up-stroke.

If you just played an up-stroke, your next MUST be a down-stroke.

No exceptions!

The reason for the strictness of alternate picking is for the sake of consistency in the beginning and for the ability to articulate note groupings in the long run.

The time you spend now getting it right will pay big dividends down the road.

Before we go any further, you need to review the right hand exercise that I gave you in lesson 2.

Regular practice of this exercise will help you to keep your pick-strokes in order as you cross the strings.

Here is another exercise for working out your pick strokes on two strings:

Familiarize yourself with the fingering, pick-strokes and note values, then click on the metronome and practice keeping time with the file.

Metronome

Watch out for the third and fourth notes of measure two. The third note of the measure is played with a down-stroke, then you cross to the A-string with an up-stroke. The tendency is to cross to the A-string and try to play a down-stroke.

One thing that can help you to avoid this type of mistake is to over-exagerate the movement of the right hand as you pick and try to get a feel for the consistency of the up-down movement.

Once you get a feel for the motion, try to make your pick-strokes as short as possible. This will help you to increase the speed and accuracy of your right hand.

Now, once you get the above exercise in perfect sync with the metronome, try changing the note values to this:

Notice the DOT after the half-note in measure two. This symbol means to add half of the given note's value to itself. In the case of a dotted half-note, you would play it as though it were a half-note and a quarter-note added together. If the note were a dotted quarter, you would play it as if it were a quarter and an eighth added together etc...

Now, as you attempt to play eighth-notes with the metronome be sure to space the notes evenly across the beat and be very careful to use the proper pick stroke for each.

After you get comfortable with eighth-notes try sixteenths:

You may not have the control with the right hand that you need to play sixteenth-notes with the metronome quite yet. That's ok. Just keep working at it, and you'll find that your speed will gradually increase.

If you are unsure about how to count and play these rhythms, review lesson 4.

This lesson is divided into six parts:

Introduction

Theory Part I

Theory Part II

Left Hand Technique

Right Hand Technique

Music

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