Insane Workouts Booklet

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Introduction

INSANE WORKOUTS

Introduction to Insane Workouts Andy James Guitar Academy

I get a ton of questions from my fans asking about various aspects of my playing and writing. As such, I've written four short pieces that highlight four different parts of my playing style; Alternate Picking,

Arpeggios, Pentatonics and Tapping. These pieces aim to demonstrate how I approach each of these techniques in a technically demanding way while remaining musical.

I've broken down each piece in the accompanying paragraphs and hope they answer any questions you may have about my work. Practice hard, play hard and rock on! Andy James


I. The Alternate Picking Workout

“ Make sure when practising you pay attention to keeping everything clean and precise even at slower tempos” Andy James

I. The Alternate Picking Workout In this piece, I wanted to address how I come up with long alternate picked passages. For the most part, it is a collation of lots of smaller phrases linked together. Starting off is a series of sequences on one string that isolates focus on right and left hand coordination. In an effort to remain musical with this workout, the section ends with a simple 4-note descending melody over four bars to aid in transitioning to the next section.

The bulk of the workout is a one-bar phrase played on the E & A strings that moves diatonically through E minor., before moving through all three octaves. Stringing all 3 octaves together seamlessly will improve co-ordination, stamina and timing. It is important to ensure each exercise is executed cleanly and accurately.


The next section involves string skipping. When string skipping at high speeds I always pull-off the last note on each string when descending, as can be seen in the TAB. I rarely pick every note; sometimes you need to include hammerons and pull-offs to keep the pattern consistent without and give your right hand time to regain stamina. These string skipped passages should also benefit your arpeggio knowledge, as they fit tightly with the backing track's chords.

Make sure when practising you pay attention to keeping everything clean and precise even at slower tempos. Discipline is vital, as attempting to perform the entire piece in one go without the necessary attention to detail will lead to the development of bad habits. By repeating these exercises over and over you will develop your stamina, coordination and muscle memory, and this kind of playing will start to slip into your subconscious where it belongs.



“Take your time with each lick and focus on precision and accuracy with each note”

II. The Arpeggio Workout

Andy James

II. The Arpeggio Workout

force to really bring out the 'snap' and accent the peak of each arpeggio. It is This piece showcases some of my signature important to also note the hammer-ons, economy picked sweep arpeggios. It is pull-offs and slides within the TAB, as arguably the most technically demanding of these will allow you to play the lick far the four workouts, so be sure to take your more fluidly. There are also a couple of time with each lick and focus on precision tapped notes on some arpeggios as well. and accuracy with each note. The second section builds on the arpeggios Economy picking is a technique focusing in the first by including more than one note on efficiency while picking. The player on some strings. As can be seen in the TAB, simply picks in the direction they are the structure of each arpeggio stays travelling across strings. If more than three economy picked, so at no point do you have strings are crossed with no more than a to pick inefficiently. The ending of the single note on each, it is called sweep piece has a short alternate picked section picking. The first lick uses the minor before descending through three arpeggio shape and moves positions quite chromatically descending arpeggios. quickly. Try to pick the higher strings with



“This workout is pretty exaggerated in comparison to most of my solos III. The Pentatonic Workout

Andy James

III. The Pentatonic Workout:

strokes, allowing me to really dig in and get the aggression I'm looking for. This is I'm asked regularly how I use pentatonics something that I tend to do a lot in heavier in a solo. This piece is an extreme look at music, along with very wide vibrato to the kind of ideas I like to use within soloing really make the guitar scream. or improvising. This workout is pretty over the top and exaggerated in comparison to The second half is a blindingly fast most of my solos, but still gives you an idea pentatonic lick. Ensure that you break each of how link pentatonic ideas together, section down and practice it at slower interspersed with slow melodic phrases. tempos before speeding up. As with each of these pieces, repetitious practice and The first half of the piece is played with discipline is the only sure-fire way of th accented 8 notes. I play the entire section seeing improvement. up to Bar 15 exclusively with down-


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IV. The Tapping Workout

IV. The Tapping Workout: as well for great arpeggio tapping ideas, he is Tapping is one of those definitely one of the best out techniques that I think there at this and arguably sounds good at any level, under rated at how creative and in it's basic form is very he is with this technique and easy to do. This workout indeed the guitar in general. gradually builds in difficulty to really try and push your The main concern with playing to the next level. On tapping is preventing any each repeat of the backing unwanted string noise or track, I introduce a new ringing that results from technique for you to master. incorrect muting technique from both hands. The left One part of the backing hand's index finger should track alters to fit certain be used as a mute by gently arpeggios that have that touching the strings hard kinda Nuno Bettencourt feel enough to deaden any noise to them. I highly without forming a note. The recommend listening to him natural curve of the index

finger should be sufficient for the most part. By hammering with the left hand very hard, you will also create a very clean and defined note, so be sure to practice strengthening your hammer-ons with the left hand only. You must also make sure that when changing strings, you lift the previous note's finger at the same time as the next note sounds. Practising the motions extremely slowly will allow you to really notice any errors in your playing. The right palm should


gently press against the strings while tapping, in a rolling motion that follows the lick. If you are tapping on the higher strings, your right palm will be responsible for most of the lower string muting, while if you are playing on lower strings, the underside of your left hand can

be used to mute the higher strings. Each section can be practised in smaller chunks, perhaps practising the left and right hands separately before combining. Work Well - Practice Hard AJ

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Insane Workouts Booklet

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