Today we will look at an exercise for connecting scales in 4 positions along the fingerboard with alternate picking.
The first point to take into account is that it is best to “Accent” the third note of each 4 note grouping.
This will drive the music/exercise along.
The next point to consider is the simplistic guitar fingering employed because this makes it easy for the fretting hand to connect the different positions together.
Internet Musician reveals “How to succeed in 2022” with your Songs,Videos and Talent Online. The Secret! Exploit the internet for your gain in 2022
PART 1: WHAT THE 2022 MUSICIAN THAT WANTS TO SUCCEED ONLINE MUST KNOW!
Generally there are five types of people who get successful on the internet, and here they are,
1] The naturally lucky person, the one out of a million who for some reason people just take a fancy to. This person seems to sail effortlessly in to every endevour and always comes out smelling of roses!
2] The Obsessive Entrepreneur Type that’s always investing in the next new strategy, chasing crazy gorilla marketing tactics and meditating on the mathematical averages from his/her obsessive analytics of algorhythms.
3] The Group of 3 who have a master craftsman in each department: The web designer, The content maker and the crafty marketeer. As a team they can penetrate the internet, because each person carries the load of their respective departments. This ensures consistency, hence, excellent results on a regular basis.
4] The Corporate Company/Band/Sport Star/Record Company, etc, with money to burn who are already globally established. They also pay for the best SEO and and have a ready made audience eager to pay.
LASTLY THOUGH, WE HAVE
5] The Persistent Bastard!……Yep, not a pleasant title, but…This is me! Persistent and proud, overdosing in blind faith. The obsessive who couldn’t care a toffee or a fig about any of the above.
WHY?
Because the “Persistent Bastard” is OBSESSIVE! and my dear musicIAn friends this is the whole secret for most of us!
This is the only way we can ensure our musical success online. This is our Ace in the hole!
ha ha, I hear you sigh!
If that’s the case then, why don’t most musicians see this?
Because most musicians get burn out and just give up.
metaphorically speaking:
It’s like a boxing match. You get in the ring and your opponent beats several tons of poo out of you. You go back to your corner and think to yourself, “I don’t need this, this is pointlesss”. Then your corner man says,”Have another go, you’ve got another 3 million rounds yet”.
And you think, “3 million rounds, okay, that’s actually quite a lot of rounds, in that case, let’s go another round, it’s not over yet”. After a while you get acclimatised to the roll with the punches and get in some crafty shots of your own. Your self reliance and confidence grows and it gets a lot less daunting and a lot less lonely.
To Reiterate:
You are learning How to cope and What to do and How it works as you go along.
I will bullet point the above:
1]How to cope
2] What to do
3] How it works
Remember the old days:
Once upon a time you would spend hours writing a business plan, present it to a Bank Manager or a Money Lender or a Rich Family Member. Finally, get it off the ground and in most cases find a bricks and mortar space to house and the run the business.
But, now that’s all changed. On the internet you really do have to learn it all as you go along, because the websites, social media sites, apps and everything just changes constantly. What works great for marketing one day is hopeless the next.
Nothing ever stays still. A very good example of this is with my wordpress website. One day it was plain sailing and the next it had changed to the Gutenberg Blocks. Now, you could say, well, go back and use the classic editor, but that is of no use because sooner or later the classic editor will be switched off for good. This means that in order for me to carry on being a prolific blogger and web page builder I needed to re-learn it NOW!
I will say it again: Nothing stays still on the internet.
It’s not the fittest that survive. It’s ones who can Adapt.
And to Adapt leads to PERSISTING or plain keep on going regardless!
But, where does this persistence really lead?
Well, Sooner or later something will Hit or as they say go Viral.
In my early days with my blog/website I had very little traffic…Until that is….
One day out of the blue I struck Pay dirt, Oil, Gold or whatever you want to call it. I started to get 1,250+ people a day. Now, to most bloggers that’s a small number, but for a single musician with a jazz/20 Century Classical/Modern Music Theory website that’s self contained that’s pretty good going.
And, believe me I tasted victory! Because I knew from that monent on that I can do it. I also realized how this whole thing works and why my peers failed.
Persistent content uploading=KEY!
The more content you upload the better you get at making it….and….. the Algorithms get to know who YOU are, and what YOU’RE all about!
ALSO:
The more you upload the better and quicker you get at making ”Sellable products” down the line!
Oh, and don’t forget your Evergreens….
Conclusion
This first part of how to make money from your music online is written out of a sort of sadness and sincerity after seeing so many gifted musicians who would have succeeded [or at least tried] in the old days just cave in.
Your success is literally in your own hands. All you need to do is keep posting great content and keep doing it . You will find avenues galore as you keep going. It is in the keeping going that you find new ways of promoting your material and getting fans and buyers to your website, youtube channel, online store and social links etc.
IN SUMMATION:
The power is in your hands dear musicians. Don’t listen to to the negatives. Put out your content consistently and go! Over time you will build and grow as your content/channel/website etc grows. Just do it and keep going, sooner or later it will start to give back! Good Luck!
HOW TO SUCCEED IN MUSIC ON THE INTERNET. SUCCESS FOR THE ONLINE MUSICIAN.
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Alternate picking is a strict Up/Down or Down/Up Picking Movement as opposed to a hammering on and pulling off technique. We do this by employing a relaxed wrist motion plucking up and down or down and up from the WRIST. Never do we pick from the elbow, forearm or shoulder!. We sometimes use a floating motion across the strings and sometimes a pivoting or anchoring technique by resting our palm lightly on the bridge of the guitar. The exercise below demonstrates the basic “Down Up” and “Up Down” Strict alternate picking movement.
When Holding the pick [plectrum] the thumb needs to be “Rigid” but not tense [Flexible is the best definition]. There must be zero tension in the hand either.
[ With a loose thumb it is easy to drop the pick and lose fluidity.]
Ex.2 Simple exercise for holding the Pick:
Put out your hand as if to shake hands
Bring the fingers in as if to hold a cup
Bring down the thumb. It can remain “Flexible” but not wobbly and helpless.
Inside of plectrum grip. [Fingers Lightly Folded In]
Basic Grip with the THUMB as the “Powerhouse” [Never the arm/elbow]
Ready to Play! Although the thumb is gripping the plectrum firmly there is no tension in the hand or wrist.
The Classic Plectrum Grip [My Style]
The hand is closed but it is not tense. The fingers are lightly tucked in. The wrist is loose. This is a very common grip. This is a really excellent grip if you are having problems with your picking hand . This is the grip as used by the great improvisers like John Mclaughlin and Al Di Meola.
Other Plectrum picking Grips:
Different players grip the pick in different fashions. I use the classic John Mclaughlin grip because I feel it is the best one when it comes to jazz/fusion improvisation and complex rhythms. Whichever grip you choose always remember that regardless of how you hold the plectrum the Principles remain the same. The Thumb being the powerhouse that takes any “Pressure” as we “Pluck/alternate with the wrist”.
John Mclaughlin style Grip Lesson
THE MECHANICS!
If we look at the diagram below we can see what is PHYSICALLY taking place when we are crossing the strings.
If you pluck UP on your 1st string you will have to SKIP OVER the second string before plucking DOWN on it.
So when we are plucking across the strings we are in a way string skipping. Most people I have taught are completely unaware of this. This is why so many people find/assume that alternate picking is difficult.
From the "outside" of the strings it is Up skip over pluck down pluck up
[DOWN SKIP OVER PLUCK UP-reverse
From the “Inside” of the strings it is Down skip over pluck up.
[UP SKIP OVER PLUCK DOWN-reverse
VERY COMMON EXAMPLES/EXERCISES
Down skip over pluck up-when crossing
UP skip over pluck down-when crossing
Coming UP on the Up stroke Exercises
These 3 simple exercises emphasise the coming “UP” on the upstroke creating a rolling effect. These are “EVEN” groupings meaning that the picking pattern repeats itself.
2 strings crossing and left hand shifting whilst alternate picking “EVEN”Groupings
EXERCISE 3: JAZZ DOUBLE TIMING 16ths Semiquavers
Start with a downstroke and feel the last stroke in the group of 16th notes which will be an upstroke. Use this to be aware in order for you to pluck and accent the 1st stroke in the next group of four 16th notes. Repeat the pattern.This is essential to get the double timing 16th notes rhythmic and precise whilst alternate picking.
The exercise/lick below on a 2 5 1 is built on 4 note groupings of 16ths called “TETRACHORDS”.Take it slowly using the rhythmic method from the 16ths exercise above.
Exercise 4: GROUPS OF 6 NOTES “ODD” Groupings
Start on a DOWN STROKE and then come “UP” on the second group of triplets and follow the sequence. These are repeated patterns but are “ODD” Groupings meaning that on every 3 notes the picking pattern changes, e,g down 2 3 Up 2 3. [Although as a group of 6 it would be an even grouping].
FREVO “Rasgado” INTRO By John Mclaughlin/Paco De Lucia
ALTERNATE PICKING ALIGNMENT
In the diagram below we can easily see the right hand crossing the strings picking each string naturally as it comes. We can also see that the right hand is always aligned with the string it wishes to pluck.
Aligned with the 6th string Open E
Aligned with the 5th string Open A
Aligned with the 4th string Open D
Aligned with the 3rd string Open G
Aligned with the 2nd string Open B
Aligned with the 1st string Open E
BE AWARE!
If you do alternate picking properly and pluck each string and each note of a phrase with a loose wrist and and relaxed arm/hand then you will avoid injury.
But if you just do a tremolo and hammer on then you will put yourself at risk.
The principles outlined in this short book are very simple and easy to understand. They are not only here to help you progress but also to help you avoid injury.
PALM ANCHORING/FLOATING
Anchoring means pivoting on the bridge lightly
Floating means not resting on the bridge for support. Although this support could come from resting the arm on the body of the guitar [mainly acoustic].
Below is an example of what I do which is a mixture 70% FLOATING with 30% Anchoring.
Angling the pick
Some people prefer to angle the pick. Some people do this naturally.
It is best to use a “Hard” Plectrum for alternate picking. [Jim Dunlop do some very good hard plectrums].
METRENOME
Employing the metrenome is the only way to learn quickly and effectively. This amazing device will have you alternate picking smooth and precise rhythms on your guitar. Wether it’s jazz, fusion, improvisation or heavy metal the metronome is the best way to achieve mastery with the guitar pick.
Conclusion:
This website page is only a guide and was written for the main purpose of helping a beginner/or anyone struggling to understand alternate picking and avoid injury whilst learning it.
Alternate Picking "Triplet" Style Al di Meola CLICK
Alternate Picking Jazz Fusion Improvisational Style of John Mclaughlin CLICK
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