Strict alternate picking help for advanced player
I'm trying to learn strict alternate picking, but I cannot find lessons and/or exercises that address my problem. My problems is due to years of a self-taught regimen of hybrid/economy picking, or as it's commonly known as "Whatever gets the job done" and I'm damn good at this. If I'm practicing, say a minor scale or whatever, and do 3 triplets per scale degree, if I just disconnect my mind and play, I can rip through it effortlessly - but if I stop and try to play each group starting down then up on the next group, I run into trouble. I don't hit wrong notes or lose rhythm, my pick just simply ends up invariably on the wrong sequence sooner or later, while still playing the scale perfectly. I can do strict alternate obviously at mind-numbingly slow speeds - but it doesn't take much acceleration before my subconscious decides to start dictating whether to start any particular group down or up. This is maddening to me. I sit and play dn-up-dn up-dn-up dn-up-dn for a measure or so and before I know, it has flipped. I think I need an exercise or lesson that somehow helps me connect starting down on beats 1 and 3 and up on beats 2 and 4, but unfortunately most of lessons I've run across are for beginners and does not address my issue at all. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance! m/
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So I'm back after some hours.. and here's the solution I figured out.
As I pointed out, I believed my problem to not be rooted in the alternate picking regimen, and that it might possibly be attached to rhythm emphasis - and I was right (as it pertains to me).
It's the way the brain "chunks" information. You can count a triplet whatever way you were taught, but at a certain speed threshold, you can no longer verbalize each note in rhythm. Instead, you count the beat and let the other two notes fall into place. This is "chunking" and I needed a way to attach each chunk to a beat to signal a starting pick alternation.
I started "rocking" the guitar. I pushed the neck forward on 1 and 3, and pulled it back on 2 and 4. I then commanded the pick to start with a down stroke when the neck pushed forward, and an up stroke when pulled back, and it worked!
The progress I made in just the last 45 mins left me very satisfied and believing I earned the sleep I'm about to get hehe
after this beer = )) cheers all! Thanks for your time Tim, much appreciated!
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