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First Picking Pattern
After you have learned to associate your fingers with particular strings,
you can begin to develop a coherent pattern of picking. The first pattern you
will learn is an arpeggiated C chord. This pattern can then be varied to fit
any musical requirement.
- Play the four strings listed on the previous page, in order, from low to high: 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd.
- The correct fingers are shown below the tab: T=thumb, I=index, M=middle, and R=ring. These designations are used throughout the rest of the lessons.
- Use these same fingers for each repetition.
- Start very slowly at first. After the last exercise you should be comfortable picking each string, but you must now train your hand muscles to perform this pattern.
- Play this pattern repeatedly, until you can play it at a moderate speed. The only way to learn this pattern and to train your hand is to repeat this exercise many times.
- Remain on the C chord, because other chords require you to use other strings.
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- Once you have learned this first picking pattern, you can begin changing your pattern.
- Reverse this picking pattern; that is, play chords from high to low, as in Figure 2. This pattern will require a bit more concentration because you must now train your hand to do the exact opposite motion. If this exercise is difficult for you, repeat the top exercise until you are comfortable with it.
- Pick the chord from low to high and back down, as in Figure 3. Once you have learned the above two exercises, this should be a bit simpler to do. However, it does require integration of the above exercises, so if you can do this pattern you will be able to play almost anything else you want.
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