by Rafael Nery

Hey Guitar Players, how are you guys doing? For our premier column about alternate picking I decided to show some simple exercises and explain what technique is for.

There are too many people around the world who think that technique is just playing fast, and this is a terrible mistake, I will explain the reason I think that way:

First of all, I am not a guy against who plays fast, I just think that the guitar player has to have good sense for deciding when it's necessary and when it will sound good.

Technique is something beyond playing fast. It is about you to have all the tools to interpret one lick or to resume it:"It is how your sound will reach the listener".

From now on we have to put this as a goal and try to study, following this hint. Now get ready and let's practice.

Alternate Picking:

This technique is about you to change the direction of the pick when you are picking. It makes the sound clearer and more defined. The great names for this technique are: Steve Morse, Paul Gilbert among other ones.

Example 1

This is one of the most common exercise all over the world, but if you don't do this correctly now, you will have problems in the future. Try to pay attention to the rhythm and make the division (Sixteenth notes) sound the best you can. Remember to pick this way: Down, Up, Down, Up

Example 2

The second one here is about fixing the idea of sixteenth notes. First you will get the idea and after you will start to do the exercises as shown in the following exercise

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Everyone who has any kind of doubt can e-mail me! ;)

I see you in our next column,

Rafael