If you’re looking for a guitar book that will help you improve your picking speed and accuracy, then look no further than “Building Right Hand Technique” by Bill Bay. This book is chock full of great right hand exercises. When I’m working out of this, my Steve Morse/Jon Finn/John Petrucci cross string picking playing feels a lot easier.
I found this book while poking around the guitar book section of a used book store. For $7.49, this book was a steal!
“Picking Studies” in the beginning of the book prepare your right hand for the basic technique of alternate picking as well as learning to string skip with both outside and inside picking. While the emphasis is on alternate picking, there are many examples of economy picking and even a few jazzy sweep picking arpeggios.
There’s a fantastic little section on tremelo with studies that are mandolin-like rather than typical Eddie Van Halen-type exercises. Nothing wrong with EVH tremelo licks, but it’s nice to have a little melody to play with the tremelo technique.
…I was also inspired and not bored by the beautiful examples and music within.
The book wastes no time in getting to Petrucci-like difficulty levels with the “Further Picking Studies” section, especially when played at a fast tempo. You’ll definitely get a picking workout!
Here are a few examples of what you’ll find in the book.
“Andante in Bm”
“Bill’s Etude”
There are a number of excellent etudes and little fiddle tunes, but the majority of the book is real world examples in the form of classical studies and pieces converted to pick style guitar by composers such as J.S. Bach, Fernando Sor, Maruo Guilliani, and many others. After working my way through the book, my pick hand technique improved of course, but I was also inspired and not bored by the beautiful examples and music within.
Who is this book for?
- Anyone looking to greatly improve their picking technique with targeted exercises, etudes, and fun real world examples.
- Players interested in playing classical music with a pick-style approach.
Who is this book not for?
- Strummers
- People who prefer deficiencies in their picking technique
Format
- Tablature and Standard Notation
Publisher
- Mel Bay
Ready to take your picking hand technique to the next level with a book that will inspire? Click the link to check this book out! Building Right Hand Technique