This outside picking study in A harmonic minor is carefully composed so that every string cross is accomplished with outside picking – so pay close attention to the pick strokes in the tab. The piece starts on a downstroke and is alternate picked from there. Bar 4 ends on a downstroke and held for a full bar, allowing bar 5 to begin on a downstroke. This is the only place where stroke direction is repeated. The rest of the study is pure alternate picking. There are three sections of this study. Section A establishes the theme and varies it in the second half. Section B incorporates pedal tones, string skipping, an arpeggio shape, and is a workout for the pinky. Section C changes the vibe a bit by moving the tonality from Am to C major then back to Am with an extended two-note-per-string diminished line. Note the backing tracks play through the study three times.
