Alternate Picking Part 1 - Online Guitar Lesson Video

lesson summary

Lesson 1 of 9 in our Series: Alternate Picking Part 1

Nick starts his series with Alternate Picking part 1. Improve your timing, speed, and execution with this important lesson.

Chapter 1: (2:34) Series Introduction

Welcome to my "Speed and Technique" lesson series! The purpose of this series is to give you an overview of some of the essential techniques for rock guitar playing. The three main topics of the series are Alternate Picking, Legato Playing, and Sweep Picking/Arpeggios. As the series moves forward the lessons for each topic will get progressively more difficult, so be sure that you are comfortable with each lesson before moving on to the next.

Chapter 2: (4:17) Lesson Introduction This first lesson in my "Speed and Technique" series focuses on alternate picking. Alternate picking is, of course, the constant "down, up" or "up, down" motion of the right hand. This technique is the cornerstone of playing scale lines with speed and rhythmic accuracy.

The goal of this lesson is for the student to get comfortable using the technique on a single string so that it becomes second nature to alternate pick. Developing the technique this way is essential so that when you begin playing more complicated lines or full scales, you don’t have to think about the picking pattern.

The 15 exercises in this lesson are designed so that a simple fret-hand pattern is repeated with continuous alternate picking. Be sure that you do not "re-start" the picking pattern each time you repeat the fret-hand fingering, for that is one of the biggest pitfalls for beginning players.

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about Nick Greathouse

Nick Greathouse: Skilled Performing Musician, Educated Guitarist & Experienced Teacher

Nick Greathouse was born on December 11th, 1980 in Canton, Ohio. He was exposed to many different musical styles from a very young age. Growing up in the "MTV generation"ï¿½ some of his earliest memories involve watching Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Guns n' Roses with his brother and cousin. His mother played piano, sang and filled the house with the sounds of singer-songwriters Cat Stevens, Jackson Browne and Elton John and his father was always listening to country music along with classic rockers Tom Petty and Bob Seger. He never had to look far to hear great music.

Though he was constantly surrounded by music, it wasn't until Nick heard his first Beatles album (Revolver) when he was 10 that he became interested in being a musician. Shortly thereafter, his older brother got an electric guitar which Nick began to play (while his bro was out of the house!). The moment his fingers touched the strings for the first time, he was hooked and had to have one of his own.

Throughout high school Nick took guitar lessons and would jam with his friends as much as possible, his skills on the instrument improved significantly. He would spend hours with his cd player learning Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix songs by ear. But after hearing Steve Vai's album "Passion and Warfare"ï¿½ guitar playing became an all out obsession.

After high school, at age 18, Nick began teaching guitar lessons at a local music store. He also entered the music program at Kent State University where he studied classical guitar with George Bachmann. During this time he performed many solo guitar recitals and also played with the guitar ensemble. When he honed his reading chops to a high level he started playing in pit orchestras and band for local theaters.

Nick took a break from Kent in 2004 when he moved to Hollywood, California for a short time to study at Musician's Institute (GIT). While there he had classes with Daniel Gilbert, Joy Basu, Tom Kolb, Carl Verheyen, and his private lesson instructor Jean-Marc Belkadi.

Nick returned to Ohio in order to finish his college education. He joined a local metal core band called Last Second Decision which was formed by his brother. During his tenure with Last Second Decision Nick began taking lessons from one of his heroes, Cleveland based guitar virtuoso, Neil Zaza. They became fast friends and since then Nick has gone on to perform with Zaza numerous times including television appearances, local club gigs and the holiday spectacular "Neil Zaza's One Silent Night"ï¿½ at Cleveland's Playhouse Square. Nick also appears on the 2007 CD "Neil Zaza's One Silent Night: A Night at The Palace"ï¿½.

Nick is a graduate of Kent State University (BA Music) and continues to teach privately at a music store in Kent, Ohio and also at his home. He is very excited to be a part of the JamPlay team!

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Alternate Picking Part 1 | Free Online Guitar Lesson