C Major in Open Position and Alternate Picking
Remember these figures from earlier lessons? Good. We're about really nail this home.
fig. 1 e------------------------- b--------------------0--1- g--------------0--2------- d-----0--2--3------------- a--3---------------------- e------------------------- c d e f g a b c
fig. 2 e-------------------------------------------0--1--3-- b----------------------------------0--1--3----------- g----------------------------0--2-------------------- d-------------------0--2--3-------------------------- a----------0--2--3----------------------------------- e-0--1--3-------------------------------------------- e f g a b c d e f g a b c d e f g
fig. 3 |-|-|-|-|-| |x|R|-|-|-| |x|-|x|-|-| |x|-|x|x|-| |-|-|-|R|-| |-|-|-|-|-| 0 1 2 3 4
fig. 4 |x|x|-|x|-| |x|R|-|x|-| |x|-|x|-|-| |x|-|x|x|-| |x|-|x|R|-| |x|x|-|x|-| 0 1 2 3 4
Play those scales up and down until you're bored. Then play them some more. Get comfortable playing it.
The idea is to get good enough so that you don't need stringent focus on your left-hand. We're about to start some alternate picking. All that means is we alternate from down stroke to up stroke for each note. Let's see what I mean:
fig. 5 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d -0--0--0--0-|0--0--0--0-|1--1--1--1-|2--2--2--2-|3--
The d's and u's represent down and up strokes. Normally tab doesn't include these. And professional tab where d/u is indicated use something like п for up and v for down - notice these are rough approximations.
Notice the strict alternation. Count along to your playing.
fig. 6 d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d e-------------------------------------------0--1--3-- b----------------------------------0--1--3----------- g----------------------------0--2-------------------- d-------------------0--2--3-------------------------- a----------0--2--3----------------------------------- e-0--1--3-------------------------------------------- e f g a b c d e f g a b c d e f g
Be careful. Most beginner players get sucked into economy picking as follows:
fig. 7 d u d d u d d u d d u d u d d u d e-------------------------------------------0--1--3-- b----------------------------------0--1--3----------- g----------------------------0--2-------------------- d-------------------0--2--3-------------------------- a----------0--2--3----------------------------------- e-0--1--3-------------------------------------------- e f g a b c d e f g a b c d e f g
Notice this carries down-strokes over from one string to the next - you are using one pick stroke for 2 notes. Economy is generally good; however, if you start getting into this habit, your real alternate picking will suffer because you aren't practicing it. My advice is to focus on alternate picking. If you later feel like you need more speed and want to develop economy picking, you can do so then. But alternate picking tends to be easier to keep consistent rhythm and really strengthen the picking hand.
Also, alternate picking will tend to keep you on the beat better. Check out this example:
fig. 8 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 d u d d u d u d u d u d u d u d a----------0--2--3--2--3-|---------0--2--3--2--3-| e-0--1--3----------------|0--1--3----------------| e f g a b c b c e f g a b c b c
See how economy picking switches the way the down/up strokes line up to the beat? In the first measure beats 1 and 2 are played on downstrokes. All other beats are played on upstrokes. Alternate picking keeps the downstroke on the beats and uses upstrokes between beats. This can help ground you rhythmically, as you feel the beats line up to your downstrokes.
What about rests or notes with longer duration? In strict alternate picking, these do not change how the downstrokes and beats line up. It's like you are continuing to alternate pick, but you are simply not picking the string. Here's an example:
fig. 9 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 d u d (u) d u d (u) d u d (u) d u d ---0--0--0-----0--0--0----|0--0--0-----0--0--0----|
See the u's in ()'s. It's basically like you are trying to upstroke but missing the string.