Accented Alternate Picking from “Patriot”
Be sure to check out Sean's immediate download e-book "SOLOING TECHNIQUES FOR GUITAR" now available here at CFH!Hey everyone, my name is Sean Conklin. I'm the founder of the guitar resource website, www.infiniteguitar.com. Check it out to access guitar videos, lessons, chord finder software, tablature, reviews, music history, and tons more.
In this lesson, we're going to learn a little riff from one of my songs called "Patriot". Check out the video clip...
The riff spans across the D and G strings, playing 16th notes with alternate picking. Now, the first note in each beat is played on the G string, while the rest of the notes are on the D string. For example, in the following 16th note count, I enlarged the counts that will be played on the G string. You'll notice how they all land on the downbeats/numbers.
1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a We are going to consider the G string notes as accented. So basically, the accented notes are going to be played with slighly more force than the other notes. Doing this is critical to helping your timing when playing faster passages. If you're completely unfamiliar with accented picking, try playing the above 16th note pattern on any open string, accenting the numbers while counting 16th notes. Also, exaggerate the louder accented notes, and exaggerate the softer non-accented notes. Getting used to both extremes helps you learn the technique faster and have better control. Make sure you use alternate picking. And if you do it correctly, you'll notice how each accent is on a downward pick stroke.
Alright, here's the riff. Play it very slowly until you start getting used to accenting the G string notes.
That's it! Now go and make your own variations!Rock on,
Sean Conklin
