Our third unit is all about expanding our scale horizons, and working with wider shapes and economy picking as well as alternate picking. These are all ideas we will cover as we go through the exercises, so stay tuned! So as not to totally blow your mind, we will be working with one 3 note per string scale shape for the entire unit, mastering it from every angle!
First up, let’s take a look at the basic shape we are working with. This is essentially a G major scale, and can be moved all around the neck to dive into different keys, just as with our pentatonic shapes. We will learn it in G major but then, later on, work with it in a variety of other keys. Here is the shape for you to learn:
For the exercise we are simply picking through the shape using our economy picking. This is where we do the littlest possible movement with our picking hand. In the example of this scale we would do “down up down down” for the first 4 notes. The first three are on the same string, so alternate picking makes the most sense, then when moving to the A string, another down makes the most sense economically speaking as to do an upstroke means you go down (miss the string) and then up. Most players who play with lighting speed utilize this method of picking.
For this exercise, we demo it at 80BPM 16th Notes, then scroll down to 60BPM 8th notes. Our focus is to get it sounding perfect, slowly. As you grow in confidence with this exercise you can start to push the speed, but we would always recommend practicing this slowly first as a warm up.
Let’s take the same shape, in the same positions, but this time use a legato style of playing. This means we will work mainly with hammer ons and pull offs as we roll through the scale. We will also work with a back and forth sequence in 6’s which will sound fantastic in a “shred” style guitar solo!
For this exercise, we demo it at 80BPM 16th Notes, then scroll down to 60BPM 8th notes. Our focus is to get it sounding perfect, slowly. As you grow in confidence with this exercise you can start to push the speed, but we would always recommend practicing this slowly first as a warm up. Not only does it loosen up your fingers, but by training your fingers at a slower pace, the speed will be there when you need it.
We’ll now come back to our picking technique and worth with a sequence in 4’s This means that we play the first 4 notes of the scale, then drop back to the 2nd note and play 4 notes from there. We then drop back to the 3rd note and play 4 notes from there. We repeat this sequence over and over again, all the way through the scale. We then do the same in reverse. Pay close attention to your economy picking on this exercise too!
For this exercise, we demo it at 80BPM 16th Notes, then scroll down to 60BPM 8th notes. Our focus is to get it sounding perfect, slowly. As you grow in confidence with this exercise you can start to push the speed, but we would always recommend practicing this slowly first as a warm up. Not only does it loosen up your fingers, but by training your fingers at a slower pace, the speed will be there when you need it.
Finding patterns on the fretboard is a huge part of speed playing! This exercise demonstrates exactly this, by locating the wide 6 fret span of the first two strings, and duplicating it on the other strings. Not only does this make life easier for our brain, it also gets us across the fretboard in a very nice way. We also have a chance to work on our legato again here. Although short, don’t be fooled into thinking this exercise is super easy!
For this exercise, we need a shape that spans mos of the neck. Here it is written out:
For this exercise, we demo it at 60BPM 16th Notes, then scroll down to 60BPM 8th notes. Our focus is to get it sounding perfect, slowly. As you grow in confidence with this exercise you can start to push the speed, but we would always recommend practicing this slowly first as a warm up. Not only does it loosen up your fingers, but by training your fingers at a slower pace, the speed will be there when you need it.
Our final exercise is a real finger twister! We take the 3 note per string scale shape and move through it in major 3rds. What this means in practice is that we play the first note, skip the second and hit the third. We then return to the 2nd note (the one we missed) and repeat the sequence considering that note ans the first. This is initially difficult to grasp, but as you go through the shape it will start to click! Great practice for your economy picking too!
For this exercise, we demo it at 80BPM 16th Notes, then scroll down to 60BPM 8th notes. Our focus is to get it sounding perfect, slowly. As you grow in confidence with this exercise you can start to push the speed, but we would always recommend practicing this slowly first as a warm up. Not only does it loosen up your fingers, but by training your fingers at a slower pace, the speed will be there when you need it.
Here is our third mega workout, combining all of the exercises in one, across various speeds. You play along with the video, but make sure you know the order of exercises here. PS. Note that we’ve added a few extra bits to it!
Before You Start...
Ready to move on? Remember to check out every lesson in this unit first – then try the next unit...
This final unit deals with arpeggios. You'll learn some really useful shapes and develop the picking techniques needed to really use them in your own playing!