{"id":3258,"date":"2018-11-11T06:37:33","date_gmt":"2018-11-11T06:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vancouverguitarlessons.net\/?p=3258"},"modified":"2018-11-11T06:37:33","modified_gmt":"2018-11-11T06:37:33","slug":"guitar-riffs-or-pick-exercises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uptempomusiclessons.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/11\/guitar-riffs-or-pick-exercises\/","title":{"rendered":"Guitar Riffs or Pick Exercises?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guitar Riffs or Pick Exercises<\/h3>\n

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Hey everyone, this week we tackle some really neat intros to songs.\u00a0 These riffs not only sound great, but they are great exercises to master alternate picking.\u00a0 Let’s get started.<\/p>\n

Figure 1 is from the amazing Rush song “Spirit of The Radio.”<\/p>\n

In this riff we have a combination of pull offs and picked notes.\u00a0 The key here is to keep the pick moving, even when a pull off is occuring.\u00a0 This makes for a more even sound.<\/p>\n

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Figure 2 is a riff made famous (Wasted Years) by Iron Maiden and written by their amazing guitarist Adrian Smith.\u00a0 This riff is great for syncronizing hands and learning the E natural minor scale on a single string.\u00a0 People always think of scales as having to be in a position but a great way to gain more mastery of the guitar is to practice scales in a linear fashion (on a single string) as well as in position.\u00a0 Just keep the pick moving the entire time, down, up, and you are good to go.<\/p>\n

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Figure 3 is from ACDC and it is called “Thunderstruck.”\u00a0 This one starts on an upstroke.\u00a0 Seems counter intuitive, but the reality of 16 note patterns is that you want the stronger sounding attack to be on the beats.\u00a0 Since this riff starts with a pickup on the 4th 16th note of bar 4 (which is a weak point), we pick that note with an upstroke.\u00a0\u00a0 Once the downbeat of 1 happens, we are back to alternate picking for the duration of the riff.<\/p>\n

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