Learn How To Use Alternate Picking For Speed That Sounds Intense & Musically Expressive By Combining It With Bends

Playing guitar with killer speed sounds great when you know how to use it expressively. Combining alternate picking and a technique like bending is one of the best ways to turn guitar solos into incredibly expressive pieces of music that make people stop and take notice.

The reason this works is simple and can be explained like so:

·         Fast alternate picking (tremolo picking) builds tension and intensity.

·         Bending technique imitates the human voice, giving it an innate expressive quality.

Combing both together gives you intense and expressive phrasing while making your solos sound unique.


-First, understand the key to playing with excellent alternate picking technique:

Maximum picking speed requires striking the string as many times as possible within a given period of time by using efficient movement. Most guitarists pick with way too much motion in their technique, which slows them down and puts a limit on their top picking speed.

This video shows you how to pick with speed as efficiently as possible:

-Second, understand the keys to playing with excellent bending technique:

Playing with expressive and pro bending technique requires keeping the bend in tune.

This means bending the string to the exact target pitch (such as a half step or whole step away) or releasing the bend to the exact target pitch.

Letting a bend go too early or bending slightly too much makes your playing sound out of control and ruins the expressive effect of the bend.

This video about vibrato discusses bending the string to keep your playing in tune. Use the exercise discussed at the time marker to practice your bending technique so it is consistently perfect:

Working on this exercise for just a few minutes per day has a massively positive effect for your bending and vibrato technique.

Take this a step further by first bending the string and THEN picking it (playing the exact target pitch in the process). This takes time to get used to, but helps you develop the feeling of what a perfect bend feels like without needing to hear the pitch first.


How To Play Killer Guitar Licks That Combine Fast Alternate Picking With Expressive Bends

Once you have mastered the basics of alternate picking and bending, it’s time to get creative and play some killer guitar licks! Combine these ideas together to make your lead guitar playing more expressive and intense:


Idea #1: Use A Variety Of Bending Approaches

Your lead guitar playing becomes more expressive when you use variety in your bending technique instead of always bending the same way. Here are a few ideas for how bending can be performed for different expressive effects:

·         Strike the string, then bend immediately

·         Strike the string, then slowly bend up

·         Strike the string, let the note ring for a moment, then bend

·         Pre-bend to the target note, strike the string and release the bend

·         Pre-bend to the target note, strike the string, let it ring for a moment and release the bend

Practice each of these bend approaches for a few minutes and observe how each one feels. Notice how letting the note ring for a moment before bending adds extra intensity and suspense to the note.


Idea #2: Use Varying Speed In Your Alternate Picking Attack

Speed picking on guitar as fast as you can sounds awesome. However, you build tension and intensity even more by tremolo picking at a slower speed and gradually getting faster. This sounds badass when combined with the bending variations you just practiced.

Practicing with any/all of the bend variations from idea #1, apply a gradually increasing alternate picking attack.

Watch as the bend becomes extremely intense. Using this approach in a solo adds TONS of drama and musical expression to your playing!


Bring Alternate Picking And Bending Technique Together Using This Exercise

Train yourself to integrate alternate picking speed and bending technique together until it feels like a natural part of your playing using this exercise:

Step One: Create a short guitar lick of only 5 notes maximum.

Step Two: For 1 minute, create as many variations of the lick as possible using bending technique.

Step Three: For 1 minute, create as many variations of the lick as possible using alternate picking technique.

Step Four: For 2 minutes, create as many variations of the lick as possible using both alternate picking and bending together.

Using this exercise for only 5 minutes a day quickly develops your skills with both techniques and helps you easily improvise killer guitar licks that contain speed and expression.


Make Your Guitar Licks Memorable By Resolving The Tension You Created With Vibrato

Using vibrato adds life to the notes you play and sustains the pitch longer. It also serves to resolve all the tension created after bending a note. This creates a powerful, expressive effect that sounds awesome and demands people’s attention.

Add vibrato to a bend in these three ways to make guitar licks that reach out and grab people by the throat:

·         Apply tremolo/alternate picking to note while bending, then when the target note is reached, apply wide vibrato (watch the video earlier for help playing with great vibrato)

·         Strike the string, bend the note to the target pitch, wait a moment, then strike the string again and add wide vibrato

·         Add a pinch harmonic to target note and apply vibrato to make your phrases scream

Now you have several powerful tools to use to make your guitar playing sound intense and expressive at any time. However, this is just the beginning! Learn how to express yourself freely through guitar using the other ideas in this resource about how to add fire and emotion to any guitar lick.