Guitar Gym: Alternate Picking Workouts

Frustrating to say the least.

Levels 1 and 2 were challenging, fun, and rewarding - but the jump from level 2 to level 3 has had me stuck for weeks, still wondering why I'm even bothering, because it's not musical or enjoyable. It would have been nice to ease our way into string skipping and uber-complicated patterns, but instead he left me in the dust and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Brilliant! Just what I needed.

Been playing for a couple of years & got into the habit of economy picking, feels very natural to me & really ingrained in my muscle memory, but now I'm starting to learn more challenging songs & I really need to get my alternate picking under control. This is great! Fighting through my natural instincts to economy pick and I made it through Level 1, the last excercise was quite challenging for me & took some time, so looking forward to Level 2 getting me into shape!

Alternat Picking.

Working through the course and already seeing my picking skills improving.

Harder than you think

I thought that alternate picking was pretty simple and straightforward. I started this course in an effort to revisit fundamental skills, and it has been a great way to assess my picking. I am surprised how often my picking stumbles. Chris does.a great job keeping you accountable and offering a very systematic approach.

DO THE WORK.

I've been playing guitar since I was 18 years old. There was no internet when I started playing, all I had was books, friends that already played, and Wednesday afternoon music lessons at college. Now, I'm 46 and I'm wishing I'd had Guitar Gym when I started all that time ago. People have told me I'm pretty good in the past, but nobody knows your own playing like you do. I knew I could be MUCH BETTER. As a fan of lifelong learning and trying to be better than the guy I was yesterday, I decided to try the Alternate Picking Workouts course after being lured in by Chris and his non-conventional style. It was a good decision. The exercises start off a little on the easy side, but by the time you've mastered Level 1 and dismissed it as too simple, Level 2 comes out of nowhere and smacks you in the face. Yes, some of the exercises are a little atonal and esoteric, (if you want something more tune-oriented, the Scale Workouts course follows the same structure pretty much) but that's all part of the fun. At least to me. Being able to build up the tempo as you go really hammers the patterns home so by the time you're at the top of the tempo ladder, you're all set. Honestly, this course has already changed my picking technique for the better and I've been doing this for 45 minutes to an hour every day for around 6 weeks. I'd never heard of an 'inside pivot' before this, but now they feel natural. It takes practice, but if you're willing to put the time in, it will pay off. A couple of observations that may or may not be a thing, or may just be me personally: 1)To really get the benefit of these exercises, you really need to R-E-L-A-X. I can't emphasise this enough. It really slows everything down when you get to the higher tempos and stops you feeling overwhelmed. 2) Build up by learning the exercises/patterns at the slower tempos first. If you go straight to playing faster, you won't feel the benefits. 3) I personally find the emphasis switching to the major scale in Level 3 a little discombobulating. The first workout in Level 3 I just CAN'T get my head around even if I slow it down. It's very complex and there's a lot of string-skipping that isn't present in the earlier workouts. When you combine this with the quicker tempo from the get-go, it's very, very tough to fathom. 4) The exercises get longer later on and it's hard to stay focused. This might just be me though. I'm trying to do these workouts on a Fender Jazzmaster which probably isn't the best idea as I've discovered the scale length doesn't suit me (I get some wrist and shoulder pain if I'm not careful) but once I swap it out for something different, I'm hoping it'll all be more comfortable. But all in all, this course is great and Chris is a fantastic teacher. I've also discovered that my ability sits somewhere between intermediate and advanced thanks to this course, and it's great to have something to work with and aim for. Thank you so much Chris for this course and your great teaching, it's appreciated!