I've noticed from my guitar teaching experience that many guitarists often feel immense frustration when it comes to their guitar playing. And while there are many potential reasons for this frustration, a very common one is having a short-term mindset. What I mean by this is that they are putting too much pressure on themselves to progress quickly. They want to get good, and they want to get good yesterday!
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One of the cool things about working on your guitar technique really hard is that you start to gain new insights. And these insights, although they may appear insignificant at times can actually make a huge difference to your playing. In fact, they often can make such a massive difference that you'll kick yourself that you didn't notice them sooner!
More on Is Your Pick Motion Speed Slowing Down Your Alternate Picking?
Have you ever noticed how guitarists who can alternate pick fast often make it look really easy? For Example: I remember watching a video of Tiago Della Vega setting the Guinness World Record for World's Fastest Guitarist. It was incredible to watch his picking hand as he played Flight Of The Bumblebee at a frightening 320bpm. Considering that song makes large use of sixteenth note rhythms, I think the tempo he played that song was otherworldly. (And it certainly inspired me enough to do lots of alternate picking practice for the rest of the day!).
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Let's face it. There is something very cool about the sound of guitar licks played with alternate picking. I particularly love the sound of shredders like Paul Gilbert and Michael Angelo Batio racing through some monster alternate picking licks at lightening fast speed. It's very inspiring. And listening to them definitely helps me to stay focused with my alternate picking practice! 
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If you've been searching online for alternate picking exercises, then you probably have noticed something-there is a heck of a lot of them! In fact, there are so many it can be totally overwhelming! And this feeling of overwhelm can cause you to ask yourself questions such are…
- What specific alternate picking exercises should I practice to get the greatest results?
- How do I find out what the best ones are for me?
- What alternate picking exercises are useful for me, and which ones are a total waste of my time?
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OK…I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit this. I'm definitely not proud of it. And I'm not sure if I should share this with you. But, here it goes anyway…
When I first started to learn to alternate I was after looking for a quick fix.
More on Is There Really A Magical Alternate Picking Exercise?
Let's face it. Most of us are busy. Really busy. And this lack of available practice time may cause you to worry about how long getting good at alternate picking will take. Maybe you feel that you don't even have enough free time to gain a mastery of alternate picking. Or maybe you even feel that you don't "have what it takes" to master it! If that's the case, then I can say confidently that you're not alone…
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You just need to visit a few guitar forums and you'll quickly see that there is an obscene number of guitarists wanting to increase their alternate picking speed. And hey…who am I to judge? After all, developing fast picking chops definitely allows you to play licks and solos that were previously impossible. Not to mention that rapid machine-gun picking also sounds really cool. :-) (You only need to listen to Paul Gilbert to get proof of this!).
More on Two Powerful Tips To Increase Your Alternate Picking Speed
Over the years I've helped a lot of my students improve their alternate picking. And one of the most common frustrations that I help them with is related to picking speed. Some students complain that they have hit a brick wall with their speed. They feel that they've hit the limit of their alternate picking ability.
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If you're new to alternate picking then you might be asking yourself what's the best pick to use to alternate pick fast. Well, it's definitely not an easy question to answer. It's a bit like asking what car is best for driving fast. (There are plenty that would get the job done!).
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