This inside picking study – as the name implies – crosses every string change with an inside picking motion (as opposed to outside pick strokes). There are some rests between phrases where inside picking isn’t used. but it is used consistently within each phrase. The tune is an eight-bar phrase that starts in the key of G for three bars and then switches to the key of C (at the G7 chord) for the remaining bars. I tried to give the video an authentic Tex-Mex sound by playing a nylon string guitar. But those are difficult to play beyond the 12th fret. So be aware that the fingering I use in the video in the final phrase is different from what’s in the transcription. The transcription shows what most guitarists will recognize as the stock Em pentatonic scale with a few extra notes added. I had to play that ‘two shapes down’ on the nylon string. If you’re playing this on an electric guitar, you should have no problem with the fingering in the transcription.
The chord progression is repeated three times with each round focusing on a different secondary concept (the primary concept is always inside picking.) Pay close attention to the pick strokes in the transcription as the whole point of this study is to practice inside picking!
- Chorus 1 – Alternate picking
- Chorus 2 – Tremolo picking
- Chorus 3 – Pentatonic shapes