Alternate picking on one string: a 16th-note exercise
A melody in 16ths on the B string, every note alternate picked: a downstroke on every beat, an upstroke in between. Alternate picking is the base of nearly all fast single-note playing, and keeping it on one string lets you make the motion small, even and steady before string changes come in. The fretting hand moves along the string, so both hands have to stay in step.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with the metronome on, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 110 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 110 bpm
- Starts at
- 66 bpm
- Length
- 2 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
How to play it
Keep the strokes strictly alternating, small and even.
Everything is on the B string, so the picking hand never has to cross to another one: it can concentrate on making each stroke small and the same size. Down on every beat, up in between, without exception.
The fretting hand walks up and down between the 1st and 10th frets. Use whatever fingering keeps the hand relaxed, and make sure each note is fretted just before the pick hits it, not just after.
Mistakes to watch for
- Big, swinging strokes from the elbow. At speed the motion should come from the wrist or forearm rotation and be only a few millimetres past the string.
- Upstrokes quieter than downstrokes, which makes the line pulse in pairs.
- The fretting hand arriving late on the position shifts, so the note after a shift is clipped.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 66
- 72
- 77
- 83
- 88
- 94
- 99
- 105
- 110
That's 16 loops and about 2 minutes before you're playing at 110 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play 16ths on one string?
The goal is 110 bpm in 16th notes, which is 7.3 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 66 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
How do I know my picking is even?
Record a take. The take check marks notes that are early or late, and an uneven pair of strokes shows up as a regular pattern of late upstrokes.
Should I anchor my picking hand?
Either way works. Resting the side of the hand lightly on the bridge gives a reference point; floating gives freedom of movement. What matters is that the hand doesn't press down hard.