Building Picking Independance
						-by Drew Peterson

	This is a series of drills that focus on not improving your picking *speed,* but 
rather your picking dexterity- practicing these licks, patterns, and excersizes will help 
you pick even the most awkward passages. Don't even to try to play most of this stuff fast 
at first, just focus on playing them slowly and evenly. Soon, you'll be able to make 
fretboard jumps that willmake lesser players weep. 


Part 1: "Chromatic"-inspired drills.

I got bored practicing your typical 4-note chromatic motif picking drill one night. I 
started doing sick and twisted things to it. This is what i came up with. Practice these for
a small amount of time each day in your practice routine and you WILL notice drastic changes
in your fretboard agility. They're arranged in order from easier to harder, and they make 
sense to practice them in that order- get "warmed up" on the sane ones before you go with 
the wilder ones. 

First, go up the neck as far as you're comfortabe (i'd at least get up to the 14th fret or 
so, if not higher) doing a straight chromatic picking drill. You know this one, so i won't 
tab it. Then, when you get to the topof your fretboard (ideally, you do want to get your 
pinkie up to  that last fret), work your way back  down. This is your "warm-up" for the 
stuff to follow. Do it easily, at a slow enough tempo soyour hands are relaxed and you're 
hitting each note cleanly. 


2.) Vary the order of notes. This will feel harder than the previous one because it's a 
fingering you're not used to. That's good, it means you're getting somewhere. 

|-----------------------------------------1-3-2-4---------|
|---------------------------------1-3-2-4---------2-4-3-5-|
|-------------------------1-3-2-4-------------------------|
|-----------------1-3-2-4---------------------------------|
|---------1-3-2-4-----------------------------------------|
|-1-3-2-4-------------------------------------------------|

|-----------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------|
|-2-4-3-5---------------------------------|
|---------2-4-3-5-------------------------|
|-----------------2-4-3-5---------3-5-4-6-|
|-------------------------2-4-3-5---------| etc.


3.) Reverse it. (i'll only tab the first ascent here for the rest)

|-----------------------------------------4-2-3-1---------|
|---------------------------------4-2-3-1---------5-3-4-2-|
|-------------------------4-2-3-1-------------------------|
|-----------------4-2-3-1---------------------------------|
|---------4-2-3-1-----------------------------------------|
|-4-2-3-1-------------------------------------------------| etc.


4.) Stop for a minute or so and shake out your hands. Play a few loos legato risks. Give 
your tendons a break. you don't want to hurt yourself with these. 

5.) Now we're going to start skiping strings, alternating notes between two adjascent 
strings. Once again, play it until your run out of frets, then work back down. This is 
actually easier than it looks- the tab is downright scary here.

|-----------------------------------2---4---------|
|---------------------------2---4-1---3-----3---5-|
|-------------------2---4-1---3-----------2---4---|
|-----------2---4-1---3---------------------------|
|---2---4-1---3-----------------------------------|
|-1---3-------------------------------------------| etc.

6.) Reverse the order of the string skipping- start on the higher string this time. all the 
way up, all the way back. 

|---------------------------------1---3-----------|
|-------------------------1---3-----2---4-2---4---|
|-----------------1---3-----2---4-----------3---5-|
|---------1---3-----2---4-------------------------|
|-1---3-----2---4---------------------------------|
|---2---4-----------------------------------------| etc.

7.) Stretch out your hands again. Maybe get a glass of water or something. You can never 
have too much water. Water is crucial for tendon repair, water deprivation is the leading 
cause of a feeling of exaustion and sleepiness during the day, and 9 times out of ten when 
you think you're hungry, you're actually thirsty. A friend of mine memorized all this stuff 
and used togo around spouting facts out. i only remember a tiny bit of it all, but it was 
enough so i decided to drink more water. ;o)

8.) Now do it backwards.

|-----------------------------------3---1---------|
|---------------------------3---1-4---2-----4---2-|
|-------------------3---1-4---2-----------5---3---|
|-----------3---1-4---2---------------------------|
|---3---1-4---2-----------------------------------|
|-4---2-------------------------------------------| etc.


9.) And with the string order reversed. 


|---------------------------------4---2-----------|
|-------------------------4---2-----3---1-5---3---|
|-----------------4---2-----3---1-----------4---2-|
|---------4---2-----3---1-------------------------|
|-4---2-----3---1---------------------------------|
|---3---1-----------------------------------------| etc.


10.) Yup, you guessed it. Time to stretch. You gotta be real careful with those hands of 
yours. You only get one set. 


11.) Now we go nuts with the "string skipping" idea. 4 notes, four non-adjacent strings. 
First, something pretty straight-forward- a Steve Vai inspired exercise. Consider it a 
sweep-picking "time out" in this workout, as it's better for sweeping than alternate 
picking, although it certiantly wouldn't hurt to practice it both ways. Practice this on the 
lower strings, too. 

|-1-------------5-3---...-21-------------------23-19----|
|---2---------4-----4-...----22-------------22-------20-|
|-----3-----3---------...-------23-------21-------------|
|-------4-2-----------...----------24-20----------------|
|---------------------...-------------------------------|
|---------------------...-------------------------------| etc.

12.) Time to mess with the fingerings. ;o)  

|-1-------------5-3---|
|---3---------3-----5-|
|-----2-----4---------|
|-------4-2-----------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------| etc.

13.) stop and stretch. this next one's a killer. ;o)

14.) The Chromatic Drill From Hell. This one and it's variations will drive you crazy, but 
even practicing it as infrequently as i have (I'm a lazy practicer), it's done wonders for 
my picking (You think it's bad now? you should have heard it before). Up and down the neck, 
as far as you can go before you run out of frets. It actually sounds pretty cool. 


|-----------------------4-------------------------------6-|
|---------------4---2-----------5---------------6---4-----|
|-------4---2---------3-----3-----------5---4---------5---|
|---2---------3---1-----------4-----3---------5---3-------|
|-----3---1---------------2-----------4---3---------------|
|-1-------------------------------2-----------------------| etc.


15.) You guessed it, invert the skipping pattern. 

|-----------------1-------------------------------3-------|
|---------1-----------2---2---------------3-----------4---|
|-1-----------2-----3---------3---2-----------4-----5-----|
|-----2-----3-----------4---4---------3-----5-----------6-|
|---3-----------4---------------5---4-----------6---------|
|-------4-------------------------------5-----------------| etc.


16.) And now, switch the order of your fingers.

|-----------------------3-------------------------|
|---------------3---4-----------4---------------5-|
|-------3---4---------2-----5-----------4---6-----|
|---4---------2---1-----------3-----5---------4---|
|-----2---1---------------2-----------3---3-------|
|-1-------------------------------2---------------| etc.


17.) And finally, reverse it. 

|-----------------1-------------------------------|
|---------1-----------3---2---------------3-------|
|-1-----------3-----4---------4---2-----------5---|
|-----3-----4-----------2---5---------4-----6-----|
|---4-----------2---------------3---5-----------4-|
|-------2-------------------------------3---------| etc.

congradulations, you've survived. Do that nice easy chromatic picking drill at the beginning
as a cool down, shake out your hands a bit, and get ready for...



Part 2: String Skipping. 


1.) Pedal-point drill. hold the top note with your pinkie, and play all the way down an Em 
scale pedaling off it. This is the one time where it might not be a bad idea to turn up the 
gain when practicing- played clean, it doesn't matter if you let that high G ring out 
throughout. With some distortion, it'll sustain against all the other notes and make one big 
muddy mess. The distortion forces you to very slightly lift your pinkie to deaden the note 
when you play a note on a different string, and since if you were to ever play something 
like this in the real world it'd probably be with a distorted tone, now might be a good time 
to start practicing it. (This is a drill you can actually use in a solo- sort of a 
neo-classical cadenza)

|-15-14-15-12-15----15----15----15----15----15----15----15----15----15----15----15-|
|----------------15----13----12----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------14----12----11----------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------14----12----------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------15----14----12----|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

|----15----15----15----15-----15----15----15----15-----15----15----15----15-|
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------11----12----|
|--------------------------------------------------12-----14----------------|
|--------------------------------12----14----15-----------------------------|
|-15----14----12----14----15------------------------------------------------| etc.


2.) If you flip it around, themuting becomes easier but the fingerings become harder. It 
also sounds quite a bit different- more "minor" because you're now pedaling off the E.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------12----13----15----|
|----------------------------------------------------12----14----------------------|
|----------------------------------12----14----16----------------------------------|
|----------------12----14----15----------------------------------------------------|
|-12-14-12-15-12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12-|

|-12----14----15----14----12----------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------15----13----12----------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------14----12----------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------16----14----|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12----12-| etc.

3.) Back to the clean channel. This one's a scary little example of how far you can run with
an idea- you're playing a descending line starting from the b3 and an ascending line from 
the root of an Em scale against each other, alternating notes. suggested fingerings on top, 
but experiment with others, they'll all help.

  1  4  2  3   4  1  2  4  3  2  4  1  2  4  3  1    1  3 etc...  
|----15----14-----12-------------------------------|----------------------------12----14-|
|-----------------------15----13----12-------------|----------12----13----15-------------|
|-----------------------------------------14----12-|----14-------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------12----14----|-12----------------------------------|
|--------------------12----14----15----------------|-------15----14----12----------------|
|-12----14-----15----------------------------------|-------------------------15----14----|


Stretch out again, then on to the next page.