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Guitar Picking Exercises
Whether you are picking scales, arpeggios, riffs, or licks on the guitar, accuracy in picking is a must! Many guitar students and players ignore their weaknesses, one of which is picking accuracy. With the exercises in this tip, you will learn how to break bad habits, and take your guitar picking to a much higher level!
Pick Grip and Pick Angle
Let's start by focusing in on holding the pick. When picking, it is important that your wrist has the widest range of motion. The picking motion, after all, is made with the wrist...not the fingers. In order to do this, it is very important that you grip the pick with your thumb and index finger only! There are very few great players who hold the pick differently...Eddie Van Halen is one of them. In my fifteen years of teaching students how to play the guitar, I have found that the thumb/index method works the best.
| Correct Pick Grip |
Correct Pick Angle to String |
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Guitar Picking Exercises
Now that you have the correct grip and pick angle to the string, let's work on some picking exercises which will greatly improve your picking accuracy and speed! Practice these exercises slowly at first! The key here is to produce an equal tone on every note. Strive for a smooth, connected sound moving from note to note.
TIP: In all of the following exercises, lift the pick above the strings to avoid striking unwanted strings.
Picking Exercise 1 (HEAR IT!) and 2 (HEAR IT!)
*TYPO: The guitar tab open 6th string notes in Ex. 1,2,3,4 should be 3rd fret/6th string notes.
Picking Exercise 3 (HEAR IT!) and 4 (HEAR IT!)
Picking Exercise 5 (HEAR IT!) and 6 (HEAR IT!)
Picking Exercise 7 (HEAR IT!) and 8 (HEAR IT!)
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