Lessons

This looks very simple but it's all about execution. This lick is the foundation of alternate picking which was highlighted in Paul Gilbert's first instructional video 'Intense Rock'. The key is starting slow and building speed while keeping your picking clean. Once it starts to sound sloppy, decrease the speed and concentrate on the hardest part of alternate picking; switching strings intricately and without string noise. This exercise is in E minor (Aeolian).

Legato playing is characterized by the use of hammer-on's and pull-off's. The picking strokes (down or up) are not important in this exercise. Do what is comfortable but make sure the pick strokes are light. There should be no accent on the picked notes. The key to good legato playing is steady tempo and picked notes that sound almost the same as the non-picked notes. This exercise is in E minor (Aeolian).

This is a pivot lick that incorporates string skipping and barring. Use a picking technique that feels the most comfortable to you. The example is using alternate picking, starting with an upstroke. This exercise is in E Major (Ionian). It is based on a commonly used classical theme that is used by a lot of neo-classical guitarists.

This exercise targets alternate picking and position shifting. It uses simple shapes to aid in development and is a good beginner exercise. Once you get to the high E string, 15th fret, shift your hand up into the next position and then down again when you get to the end of the measure. This exercise is in D Major (Ionian).

Sweep Picking is a technique used to play arpeggiated chords that involves dragging and pulling the pick across the strings. Pick the 7th on the low E and hammer-on the 10th. On the high E, pick the first note, hammer-on the 12th and pull-off back to the 12th. This exercise is in C Major (Ionian).

This exercise targets alternate picking and position shifting. It uses simple shapes to aid in development and is a good beginner exercise. Once you get to the 10th fret A string and the high E string, 15th fret, shift your hand up into the next position and shift in the same manner on the way down. This exercise is in D Major (Ionian).

This is a pivot lick that uses a neighboring tone (G#). Use a picking technique that feels the most comfortable to you. The example is using alternate picking, starting with an upstroke. This exercise is in a minor (Aeolian). It is based on a commonly used classical theme that is used by a lot of neo-classical guitarists.

This lick is from Steve Morse's 1989 solo album High Tension Wires (Endless Waves - song title). This is a fun lick that moves down the A minor scale on two strings. The last note on the first row (8th fret high E) is actually 7th fret half step bend but since the bend cannot be represented, the 8th fret note is added twice for playback purposes. The target tempo would be around 200 but start slow and work your way up concentrating on clean picking and muting any string noise.

This is a single string exercise taken from Yngwie Malmsteens "I'll See The Light Tonight", which is based on a common classical theme. The target tempo is around 150 and is in the key of E minor. This exercise utilizes alternate picking starting with a downstroke.

Sweep Picking is a technique used to play arpeggiated chords that involves dragging and pulling the pick across the strings. Pick the first note and then hammer-on the 19th fret, low E. On the high E string, pick the first note, hammer-on the 20th and pull-off back to the 15th. This exercise is in C Major (Ionian).

Sweep Picking is a technique used to play arpeggiated chords that involves dragging and pulling the pick across the strings. All notes are swept until the high E string. Pick the first note on twelve, hammer-on the 15th and pull-off back to the 12th fret. This exercise is in C Major (Ionian).

Sweep Picking is a technique used to play arpeggiated chords that involves dragging and pulling the pick across the strings. Pick the first note on the low E string and hammer-on to the 15th fret. On the high E string, pick the 12th, hammer-on the 17th and pull-off back to the 12th.. This exercise is in A minor (Aeolian).

Sweep Picking is a technique used to play arpeggiated chords that involves dragging and pulling the pick across the strings. Sweep all notes up to the high E string. Pick the 8th fret note, hammer-on the 12th and pull-off back to the 8th fret. This exercise is in A minor (Aeolian).

Sweep Picking is a technique used to play arpeggiated chords that involves dragging and pulling the pick across the strings. Pick the first note and then hammer-on the 19th fret, low E. On the high E string, pick the first note, hammer-on the 20th and pull-off back to the 17th. This exercise is in A minor (Aeolian).

This exercise targets the upstroke on both on an ascending and descending motion. The key is starting slow and building speed while keeping your picking clean. Once it starts to sound sloppy, decrease the speed and concentrate on the hardest part of alternate picking; switching strings intricately and without string noise. This exercise is in E minor (Aeolian).

This is a picking exercise taken from the movie 'Crossroads' as played by Steve Vai (which he adapted from Paganini's 5th Caprice). While difficult to play extremely fast, it is a good picking exercise and helps with dexterity and endurance. It also targets the pinky finger which will aid in stretching ability and finger strength. This exercise is in A minor (Aeolian).

This exercise is used to break out of the three note per string (triplet sound) by taking a scale shape and only play two notes per string. This concept can be used with any scale shape but this particular example is in E Major (Ionian). Try descending as well. Starting on an upstroke or downstroke is optional but continue with alternate picking (do the opposite of what you did on the previous picking stroke).

This exercise ascends a major scale by breaking the scale shape into seconds . This exercise will help with your muting technique so that means that it is imperative to play this with minimal string noise when switching strings. This exercise is in D Major (Ionian).

This exercise ascends a major scale by breaking the scale shape into intervals of three. This exercise will help with your muting technique so that means that it is imperative to play this with minimal string noise when switching strings. This exercise is in D Major (Ionian).

This exercise descends a major scale by breaking the scale shape into seconds . This exercise will help with your muting technique so that means that it is imperative to play this with minimal string noise when switching strings. This exercise is in D Major (Ionian).

This exercise descends a major scale by breaking the scale shape into thirds . This exercise will help with your muting technique so that means that it is imperative to play this with minimal string noise when switching strings. This exercise is in D Major (Ionian).

This is an A minor exercise that builds dexterity in the fretting hand by incorporating four note per-string patterns. This legato lick repeats the initial pattern while ascending the neck. Start at 100 (tempo), while building towards a 200-220 tempo range. Since this is a four note per-string exercise, it may take time to be able to stretch the fingers into the position needed to perform this exercise cleanly.

This is taken from the first solo from the song 'I'm The One' on Van Halen's first album. This is loosely based in b minor (Aeolian) with a few passing tones thrown in there. The difficulty of playing this lick lies in the speed and picking as well as the repetitive upstrokes that occur on the D string. This is definitely an exercise that will build your alternate picking ability as well as a chance to play triplets in a be-bop rhythm. The target speed is around 175 and the last note is actually a whole step bend on the 7th fret (A string), which could not be represented here.