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Inside/Outside Picking Etude - Breakdown

Sean Conklin 456 lessons

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Firstly, let's make sure we're aware of the type of rhythmic notes we're playing. If you look at the tab/notation below, you'll see that there are six notes for every beat. So we'll be playing sixteenth-note triplets.

While you learn this, you'll want to think of most of the notes in groups of three. Let's look at the first three notes, where we'll be picking "down up down" within the G and B strings. That right there is our first grouping played with inside picking.

Now let's look at the next three notes. We'll then be picking "up down up" with the G and B strings. This is the first grouping played with outside picking.

While you learn this, I'd highly recommend accenting the first note of each 3-note grouping with your pick. Doing that will help you differentiate between the inside picking groupings and the outside picking groupings.

Inside picking can be tough. But once you master it, it's also very important to be able to blend both inside and outside picking within patterns or phrases. Practice this etude until the picking motions start to feel natural, then try coming up with your own patterns that incorporate inside and outside picking.

Have fun and once you're ready, head on over to the next page for the backing track!

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