Download Best Movies

This lead guitar lesson will explain common picking techniques used in lead guitar playing, the most common of these being alternate picking. Understanding when to use the best picking techniques is an important skill in lead guitar.

In this lead guitar lesson, three picking techniques will be discussed. These include downpicking, sweep picking and alternate picking. Each technique will be better suited to a certain phrase of music and will reflect individual preferences and styles of playing.

Alternate picking, as the name suggests, involves the use of alternating up and down strokes. As an example, to play the C major scale or Ionian mode using three notes per string, with alternate picking, we first typically start with a downstroke on the C note, followed by an upstroke on the D note and then a downstroke on the E. We then shift to the A string where the F note is an upstroke. Next is a downstroke on the G note and then an upstroke on the A, and so on and on. The scale is completed using these up and down strokes. This alternating movement helps maintain steady time and rhythm and enables maximum speed. This lead guitar lesson aims to emphasise the importance of using this style of picking in lead guitar playing.

Sweep picking is a more advanced and less commonly used technique. When applied properly it is a very useful picking style. It involves a continuous stroke over two or more strings in the same direction. It is similar to playing a chord without letting the notes ring out. When consecutive notes lie on adjacent strings, this picking style is best used, creating the best economy of movement and thus speed.

When playing lead guitar, one often starts out using purely downstrokes. This will often enable a steady and accurate production of notes at the expense of speed. Using the alternate picking technique in the same situation will effectively halve the stroke movements, potentially doubling the speed.

When studying lead guitar it is important to practice propper picking technique. A good starting point is to repeat a scale pattern using alternate picking. You can gradually increase the speed as you improve but not to the point where your playing gets sloppy. As you practice this exercise, your rhythm, timing and precision will improve, and so will your lead playing overall. A great lead guitar lesson tip is to start very slowly and to always use a metronome to help you stay in time.

For a very limited time our popular E Book entitled “Learn Guitar Scales For Lead Guitar Mastery” is available as a FREE download from our website. Click on the link to grab your free copy now. pentatonic guitar scales

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.