12-Week Shred Guitar Mastery

Shred Routine: Week 2

Introduction

Welcome to Week 2 of your 12-week shred transformation! This week, we’ll expand on alternate picking by applying patterns across all strings, explore 3-notes-per-string diatonic scales, refine arpeggio picking, and introduce chromatic exercises to build precision and speed.

Alternate Picking

Expanding Scale Patterns

In Week 1, we focused on single and two-string patterns. Now, we’ll take those patterns across all strings, applying them to diatonic scales in 3-notes-per-string shapes. The diatonic scale has 7 notes, which means we will explore 7 different scale shapes, one for each degree.

Step 1: Learning the Scale Shapes (15 minutes)

Before adding picking patterns, first familiarize yourself with the 7 diatonic scale shapes. This will not only improve your picking but also help you visualize the fretboard better.

Step 2: Applying Picking Patterns (30 minutes)

Now, take one of the picking patterns from Week 1 and apply it across all scale shapes. This will reinforce your picking accuracy and help you develop fluidity across the neck.

Chromatic Scale Exercise (5 minutes)

Chromatic scales are another powerful way to develop speed, finger independence, and picking consistency. This exercise will help you refine alternate picking while synchronizing both hands for clean execution.

Exercise: Chromatic scale picking sequence

Picking Arpeggios (10 minutes)

Building on Week 1

In Week 1, we introduced picking arpeggios. Now, we’ll expand by practicing arpeggios across the D major tonality. This will strengthen your ability to connect arpeggios seamlessly within a key, an essential skill for neoclassical and shred-style soloing.

Exercise: Arpeggio sequence covering all positions in D major

Wrap-Up

This concludes Week 2! Keep focusing on precision and speed. Mastering these scale and arpeggio shapes will set you up for the advanced techniques coming in future weeks. See you next week for more shredding!

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