Hi again Alex, I have a new idea to experiment.
In order to achieve our guitar goals, it's important to have a well designed routine that keeps us working every day, motivated and sure of what we have to do. I would like to suggest a plan just designed for you and your alternate picking technique. This one can be combined with other techniques and works as it will be a 30 minutes AP routine. You won't be able to master all this stuff in just one week so this plan can be repeated as many weeks as you think you'd should do it. I can also suffer changes later but it's a good guideline to know what to do each day and also, to monitor your progress recording yourself playing the tasks. You could even record youself doing the 30 minutes routine! It would be a great way to be sure that you are totally focused and don't give up in the middle of the routine.
This is the routine:
Alternate Picking - 30 minutes - 6 Days Routine:Day 1:10 minutes: Learn "
Picking Hand Basics".
10 minutes: Isolate the tricky parts and work on them with metronome.
10 minutes: Practice the lesson over the original take and using the backing tracks.
Day 2:10 minutes: Start learning this lesson (
Picking Arpeggios) and use it as a warming up.
10 minutes: Isolate the trickier parts of this lesson (
Alternate Workout II) and work on them as a loop.
10 minutes: Practice alternate picking workout 2 using backing tracks.
Day 3:10 minutes: Learn the patterns used on this lesson:
Pentatonic Licks 1.10 minutes: Practice each of the patterns using the backings tracks.
10 minutes: Learn a lick that you like from any lesson that uses Alternate Picking lesson and play it over the backing, combined with variations and your own phrases.
Day 4:10 minutes: Learn the first 18 seconds of this lesson:
Alternate Workout10 minutes: Work on each lick over metronome.
10 minutes: Practice the licks connected over the backing track.
Day 5:10 minutes: Learn the first 15 seconds of this lesson:
AP - Upstroke focus10 minutes: Work on each lick over metronome.
10 minutes: Practice the licks connected over the backing track.
Day 6:10 minutes: Learn the first two parts of this lesson:
Alternate Picking chops10 minutes: Practice the licks over the backing tracks.
10 minutes: Improvise your own ideas combined with the AP licks and creating your own variations.
Notes:
- Notice that this is mostly a technique routine so you should combine it with some more creative stuff and even include it duirng this routine. Always dedicate some minutes to just play along with the backings.
- Use a notepad to transcribe this routine and write notes about how the practice was. Everything that happened and you think during the practice and be good info for the future. It's also good if you write the tempos reached and what are the apparent problems that you had during the practice.
- If you have an extra day, (7th day) use it just to learn some random licks that use AP and use them to improvise.
What do you think?