A technical étude

The étude

Written for this site. Three parts, without a break:

1. Sixteenth notes with strict alternate picking: the pentatonic in fours, in position 1.
2. Legato: hammer-ons going up, pull-offs going down.
3. Sweep: the A minor arpeggio, then a final note with vibrato.

e|---------------------------------------------------------------5-----5-------------5h8-8p5--------------------8------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------5-----5-8---5-8---5-8-----------5h8---------8p5-------------10---10---------|
G|-------------------------------5-----5-7---5-7---5-7-----7-----------------5h7-----------------7p5-------9---------9-------|
D|---------------5-----5-7---5-7---5-7-----7-----------------------------5h7----------------------------10-------------10-7~-|
A|-----5-7---5-7---5-7-----7-------------------------------------------------------------------------12----------------------|
E|-5-8-----8-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Target tempos

The player plays one note per eighth note: set it to twice the sixteenth-note tempo. Start at the starting tempo, and apply the +5 BPM method, part by part, then to the whole étude.

The transitions

The hardest part isn’t any one technique, it’s moving from one to the next: your picking hand changes roles. Isolate each transition: the last four notes of one part and the first four of the next, on a loop.

Your tempo

Write down your clean tempo in a notebook every day. After two weeks, compare: the curve goes up, even if progress seems slow from one day to the next.

You’ve got it when…

• You play each transition of the étude on a loop, without stopping
• You play the whole étude with a metronome, at a tempo you write down every day
• You play the étude for one minute with no mistakes at its target tempo