Helpful 'Zen' Picking Exercise, Helps with Pacing!

Playing Technique
#1

Hi all, so I have been developing a deceptively simple seeming exercise that I have found to be a real good starter for my practice sessions.
It is a primarily DPS exercise focussing on timing/rhythmic sensibility, and tone.

Here’s the inspiration (feel free to skip a few lines down for the exercise, though this details the spirit of it which I think is sort of important).
So i was chatting to a talented trumpet playing friend of mine who was singing me the merits of how often he just starts his practice playing a series of really long notes, focussing on tone, breathing and intonation. It sounded like it tied into some ‘practice as meditation’ terrain which i find compelling (I don’t meditate myself, but find at its best, practice can supply a similar experience to what people describe from meditating :slight_smile: )

Quick disclaimer if you are getting concerned, the exercise isn’t just playing long notes!

It occurred to me that I didn’t have an equivalent on guitar, as I usually set the metronome and just start chopping away at my first exercise, trying as ever to improve accuracy and speed etc… as such I started looking for something for my routine that might synchronise me better with the instrument from go, and slow my brain down a bit, as I am prone to being a bit rushy, both mentally and playing.

What I arrived at is an exercise borrowing from a snare drum exercise a different friend outlined to me.

The idea is this: you set a click on the slow side (I tend to start at 80bpm) and play a simple 5 note pattern (detailed below), at first 1 note per beat, then 2 notes per beat, then 3 notes per beat, before returning to one note per beat.
If you find yourself speeding up or losing sync when you get to 2 notes then drop back down to 1, same when you get to 3 notes, the triplets can be a little squiffy! I try not to watch the clock too much while doing this and let it take the time it needs (If indeed i have the time to spare!)

The pattern mostly features downward pickslanting though there is one escaped UPS downstroke at the end of the triplet section to watch out for.
I have a bad tendency to rush through my sweeps when using DPS and this exercise has been helpful making me more deliberate in that motion and better able to adapt it to different tempos.

Ok, thanks if you are still bearing with me! Here’s the tab:

I - One note per beat - Upstrokes*

B------------------------------5---- and repeat
G---------5—7----------7---------
D----7---------------5--------------
U U U U U U

*these can all be downstrokes, as I mostly start on downstrokes when left to it, seemed good to balance that out by favoring upstrokes here.

II - 2 notes per Beat -

B--------------------------------------5-5— and repeat
G-----------5-5–7-7---------7-7----------
D----7-7----------------5-5-----------------
D U D U D U D U D U D U

Downwards pickslanting here so a change after every upstroke.

III - 3 notes per Beat

B------------------------------------------------------5-5-5*-
G-------------5-5-5-7-7-7--------------7-7-7-------------
D----7-7-7---------------------5-5-5------------------------
D U D D U D U D U D U D D U D D U D*

*escaped downstroke, quick switch to UPS

B------------------------------------------------------5-5-5*-
G-------------5-5-5-7-7-7--------------7-7-7-------------
D----7-7-7---------------------5-5-5------------------------
U D U D U D U D U D U D D U D D U D*

every second iteration of the triplet section alternates starting on and up or down stroke, but are the same after the first 3 notes.

The focus here is to really gel with the tempo and feel the changes in pace, as well as savor the sound of the longer notes ringing. Quite disconcerting at low tempo but quite ‘zen’ feeling once it clicks. I perform it over a drone (from C major) sometimes, it sets me up real nice for my subsequent conventional exercises.

This exercise can of course be performed at higher tempos, where the utility in practicing change of feel, triplets and back is useful as anywhere else, but i recommend putting a bit of time aside and testing one’s patience with it.

Any comments, thoughts or variations on it then do let me know (or if i have got any of my terminology wrong)! Would be keen to see if this addresses anyone else’s weaknesses the way it does mine.

Stay safe everyone, play one!

1 Like
#2

That’s a cool idea, and probably something I’ll try tonight, though I initially misunderstood what you were saying and I think the way I got it wrong could be interesting and challenging too.

One per beat:
   * * * * * *   * * * * * *
B|-----------5-|-----------5-|
G|---5-7---7---|---5-7---7---|
D|-7-----5-----|-7-----5-----|

two per beat:
   *   *   *     *   *   *  
B|-----------5-|-----------5-|
G|---5-7---7---|---5-7---7---|
D|-7-----5-----|-7-----5-----|

Three per beat:
   *     *       *     *   
B|-----------5-|-----------5-|
G|---5-7---7---|---5-7---7---|
D|-7-----5-----|-7-----5-----|

…etc etc. I’d imagine the frettinghand side could get kind of challenging too, over time.

#3

This sort of thing is like a calibration warm up of the brain, hands and beat. I like warmups like this, but the only thing that can go wrong is when you have a ‘bad guitar day’ and struggle to get it together, it can be a bit off-putting and I end up spending the practice session trying to get the warm-up sorted!

1 Like
#4

Thank you for sharing!

Quick note: if you put 4 spaces before your tabs they will visualise correctly on any device (like below), plus they’ ll have a handy scroll functionality:

E-----1-2-3
B-----2-3-4

Instead of

E-----1-2-3
B-----2-3-4

1 Like
#5

This looks neat, I try to come up with cool stuff like this for practice now and then!

#6

I found this one at an old-fashioned “bookstore” (remember those!) back in the day…

Kenny Werner – Effortless Mastery promo (with download link for meditation tracks)

Third-party summary

(Quoted from the summary):

We are constantly reminded that only way to improve is to try harder; that all that stands between us and mastery is grit, persistence and effort.

But there’s another side to the story; there are plateaus in every learning journey that brute force and determination just won’t seem to crack.

And the secret, explains Werner in Effortless Mastery , isn’t to try more, it’s to try less. It’s to get out of your mind; it’s to let go of the idea of progress entirely.

Why? Because there’s a point where progress isn’t about playing better, it’s about playing more organically. And to do so, you must turn learning on top of its head.

1 Like