Hi, how are you doing, Justin here
In this lesson I'm going to be talking about a really basic picking exercise
to get you used to the idea of picking one string at a time
because we are about to start looking both at a strumming pattern,
that involves picking one note at a time
and also picking out your first scale
So, just as a a little kind of precursor to that I wanna show you a good little exercise
just to get used to the idea of picking one string at a time, because so far all we've done is strumming
So, what we are going to be doing is we are going to be doing a down pick on every string,
an up pick on every string, then a down and an up pick on every string,
and then down, up, down, up on every string
Now, a really important technique that you want to get used to first, is this idea of an anchor,
which is putting your little finger down,
just at the bottom underneath the strings, near the thinnest string
It doesn't have to be rigid, it's not supposed to be straight,
it can a little bit curved, it can be relaxed, it's just about the touching
Now, there's a lot of debate in the guitar community,
as to whether using an anchor for picking is a good idea or not
I do it, most of the guys that I know that I really like use a little finger anchor,
but there are some really fantastic guitar players that don't
So, a little bit is down to your preference
What I'd recommend is that you start by using an anchor with your little finger,
see how you get on, and if you don't, maybe try another method
But, I think this is the method that works for most people most of the time,
but it's definitely not the only way, and so, if you learned another way,
or you know a great guitar player, or your favorite guitar player does it another way,
then, feel free to do it whatever way you like
Just, I'd recommend this way as a starting point
So, put your little finger anchor down the bottom there,
and then what we're gonna do, we are just gonna pick each string with a down motion.
Now, I'm gonna leave my hand covering the guitar neck like this, just so all the strings are dead
because I don't want them ringing out, it sound horrible when you have all strings ringing out
and this way as well you can practice if your partner or your parents or whatever are watching television
you can probably get away with doing this picking exercise without giving them the heebie-jeebies
So, lets have a look at doing this exercise, part one will be all down picks,
so just picking from the thickest string, fifth, fourth, three, two, one
back down, two, three, four, five, six
Maybe do that one again
. . .
Then all up picks, up, up (plays)
Just getting used to what it feels like to be doing an up pick each time
leaving your little finger anchored down all the time
Let's do that one again
You do this as slowly as you feel like to get it accurate,
because accuracy is the key here, not doing it fast.
Then we'll do a down and an up on each note, so down, up
down, up, next string, down, up, next string, down, up, next string...
and down, up
if you can, try to do it evenly like I 'm doing here where you are going:
down, up, down up (plays)
You could do it with a metronome if you you wanted to,
but maybe at this early stage it's better just to be doing it as an exercise
because all I'm trying to get you used to is the picking
And then last we are going to do four picks on each note, so:
1, 2, 3, 4,
.down, up, down, up,
..down, up, down, up,
. . .
down, up, down, up,
.1, 2, 3, 4,
..1, 2, 3, 4,
. . .
..nearly finished
. . .
Now, this is a really super simple picking exercise,
it's not one you are going to be doing for very long,
just maybe a few weeks are whatever, until you get to the next stage,
and we start looking at more creative ways of practicing your picking,
and learning a new scale at the same time
But it works as a really good introduction, just to get used to the idea of using the anchor,
and of getting your picking single strings kind of under your fingers,
so it doesn't seem too foreign when we start playing scales
So, I hope you found that a helpful little exercise,
and I'll see you for another lesson sometime real soon, bye bye!