May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow
Photo by Jason Rogers
A lot of the cool licks that are used in solos are played on just 2 strings. Usually on the high E and B string.
Although they are most common in shredding, you can find them in all genres of music.
The best way to learn these licks fast, clear and fluently is to practice them with alternate picking and the use of a metronome.
Alternate picking means you hold the pick between your thumb and index finger with the pointed end facing toward the strings. You strictly use alternating down and up strokes. The first note you play is downstroke, the second an upstroke, the third one a downstroke, the fourth one an upstroke and so on.
Start out slowly and gradually increase speed. Use the licks as a warm up exercise in your daily practice workout.
Beside the metronome you can also learn to play the licks along with a backing track.
As you do this make sure you focus on correct tempo and timing.
Notes:-All of the exercises below are licks, except for exercise 20 and 21.
-Repetitive licks are shown by the 2 dots next to the bar line. Repeat what ever is written between those two dots. Repetitive licks are repeated at least 2 times or more.
These 22 exercises will really improve your alternate picking speed if you follow the instructions I just mentioned. You’ll have some nice chops to work with.
Have a great work out!
EXERCISE #1 (in key of D major or B minor) e:---------7--------|------------------------------------| B:--7-8-10---10-8---|------------------------------------| G:*----------------*|------------------------------------| D:*----------------*|------------------------------------| A:------------------|------------------------------------| E:------------------|------------------------------------| Continue Reading
