Guitar Alternate Picking Exercises
Play each pattern with strict alternate picking: down, up, down, up, never two downstrokes in a row. Start with the single-string patterns, then move to string crossings and three-notes-per-string scale fragments. Use a metronome and log your clean tempo for each pattern.
Alternate picking on one string
Alternate picking across strings
Pick down-up-down-up strictly, even when you change string. Start at 60 BPM in eighth notes and raise the tempo by 4 BPM only after three clean repetitions.
Goal
Develop clean, even, efficient alternate picking: the core technique for fast single-note lines in rock, metal, jazz and bluegrass.
How to practise
- Hold the pick firmly but not tightly; move from the wrist, keep the motion small.
- Start at 60–70 BPM, sixteenth notes if you can, eighth notes otherwise.
- Play each pattern for one minute, then rest. Total 10 minutes is enough.
- Raise the tempo by 4–5 BPM when a pattern is clean three times in a row. Write down your tempo each day.
- Practise both inside picking (pick between the two strings) and outside picking (pick around them); the patterns on the sheet train both.
Self-check
Record yourself at your top tempo. Each note should be equally loud and evenly spaced. If the line gets uneven or tense, drop 10 BPM.
Next steps
Continue with string skipping and pentatonic sequences. Use the online metronome and the chromatic warm-up before you start.