2 Picking Exercises That Worked Wonders For My Playing | 5 Minute Licks

[@LeonTodd]

What would YOU like to see on 5 minute licks?

[@ColonelDingus]

Fretting hand exercises or legato exercises

[@jimmccall8030]

I’d like to see you demonstrate 5-10 of your favorite standard high speed repeating licks that you often play on the e and b strings and some that combine picking and legato

[@lyricbread]

King’s X

[@SidAlienTV]

Chet Atkins!

[@monteself6826]

HOW TO CURE ARTHRITIS ! lol

[@skipneumann1]

Love 5 minute licks is back! These 2 ideas are perfect for me! At age 72, I constantly deal with tension L&R hands/wrists - getting old is frustrating

[@mikestillwagon5675]

I’m 61. Getting old is definitely not for wimps. I worked a number of jobs that have caused me to develop some repetitive motion issues so shredding is no longer an option for me. However, it has forced me to become more melodic and expressive.

[@jimmccall8030]

72 here too, still correcting 60 years of bad habits, and yes it takes us longer to improve and requires more daily practice time but it’s great to be playing everyday and playing better than when I was at 20! I didn’t know that this would even be possible!

[@markberes2804]

Leon, wow I started playing about 35 years ago (63 YO now). Broke my left wrist back then and my right hand turned into my playing style, I am a super hot picker now, I anchor my pinkie loosely hooked on the bridge mostly then move around a bit nothing like a hot fast rhythm. Back then influenced by Robert Smith and the Edge. You are an amazing player, love your channel, keep rocking brother.

[@james-sf5yc]

This is so helpful, thank you! 52 yrs old, been playing since late teens, 90% self taught. I've been taking it much more seriously these past 10 yrs or so. I'm having a hard time with my picking arm cramping and have always struggled with speed. I'm probably developing tendonitis or something.(What you're talking about in this video is probably why) I can't "shred" , never could but not from lack of trying. I am currently teaching my self YYZ by Rush. Struggling a little with articulation in the main quicker riff. I think this will help a lot. My current guitar teacher hasn't shown me exercises like this. I will definitely be trying these exercises tonite. Thank again!

[@LeonTodd]

Keep me posted mate! The goal is always to make music but having a little bit of knowledge about how the body works can help a lot!

[@SeagoGuitarist]

I owe you a massive debt of gratitude on this one Leon. Seems so simple when you know it, but I wouldn't have figured this out myself. I've gotten decently fast in 18 years of playing. I figured out downward slanting, looser grip for faster playing, starting on a down to go up in threes, up to go up in twos, not putting more pressure on the strings than needed, muting unwanted string noise with my hand,Stuff like that. But I could never confidently go from higher strings to low fast or vice versa. After a bunch of warm up I'd get it. I'd get varied accuracy depending on warm up. But, this simple change, moving my hand slightly to maintain plectrum position, I guess I was doing it without realising, but actively thinking about it, now genuinely I feel 10x more confident. Accuracy shot way up trying this while I was practicing today. Sorry for the essay, but, this is a big deal/breakthrough moment. So many many many thanks!! 🙏✌️ Legend maaaate. 👌

[@LeonTodd]

This makes me so happy to read! Go get some shreeeeed!

[@jasonalexander5253]

Great lesson & I think the relaxing & not being concerned about a couple of duff notes (as gold may be round the corner) is a hugely underrated statement. That is when the magic moments really do happen. Cheers Leon

[@billyknowdownside5026]

The right hand is SOOOO important! Great way to educate the masses. Thanks

[@Fishbulb77]

Shifting the right hand from string to string was a lightbulb moment for me too - being a young Metallica fan, I got so used to chugging on the low E and A and palm muting being my right hand default

[@NickGranville]

Great advice! I’ve done some similar things but not the ‘flipper’

[@sebrura]

Dude, this is EXACTLY what I’ve been struggling with. Thanks a bunch. Also. bonus points for having watched VHS back in the days 💯

[@LeonTodd]

Glad it helped! VHS generation :p

[@johnplaystheguitar123]

Haven't even watched yet but from thumbnail alone I can see some serious Marty Friedman claw

[@LeonTodd]

The Friedman Flipper!

[@dougleydorite]

Chicken pick’n

[@VMV8622]

Happy new year Leon ! All the best to you and the ones you love !

[@LeonTodd]

HNY mate!

[@dennyclosser8456]

Appreciate that Leon. As a 66 year-old guitar player it’s easy to get in your own head especially when you have arthritis. Age sucks buddy, but keeping them moving and practicing with great tips like these certainly helps so keep them coming.

[@DreidMusicalX]

I have found over the past 39 years of playing that I try to adapt to as many styles of picking as possible because every action has a reaction to being a different sound and if you can incorporate them all into your playing its much like a new pedal giving you a different effect. I noticed back before the internet when all we had to go by being a dirt poor kid and trying to copy what you could from a MTV video, (which were not accurate but do show you artists and slight variations of how they held their hands. How they lifted their fingers from the fret board and piecing it together was difficult, but also gave me a little of my own style which i think is important for us all and making sure you are all not playing the same way as everyone else being a clone.

[@SoundPeke]

It is back baby! Wooot!

[@luisbadolato]

The anchoring is key for getting back in shape after years of no-shred! Thanks for these two super helpful tips

[@Steven-u5w]

Yes anchoring your wrist on your bridge and the flipper movement. Wonderful my gosh. I'm starting to fever and I'm going home myself in oh my gosh I never thought about videoing myself and play it back. Wow! Good technique that yes and different ways of holding the the platform too finger tapping something I'd have to try and work on polish things up. Wow! Thanks, Leon God bless

[@DavidMacVicar]

Good timing for this video. I am that guitar player who has been playing for 20+ years with the same old bad habits. I can play well, but not fast. I believe it's due to: not practising properly, and not holding the pick properly. I am trying the stuff in this video, but it is oddly making my right shoulder burn like crazy; lots of tension. I don't know if its because I am doing it wrong, OR... it is a whole new way for me to actually hold the pick/wrist when trying to play fast stuff and I am getting used to it. Thanks for the content Leon!

[@MKRISING75]

Great lesson thanks so much for the great advice you’re a great teacher bro.🤟🏻

[@LeonTodd]

I appreciate that!

[@BLACKSYNTH]

Took me years to develop my picking playing style right. So much tone /attack change with how this is approached modified for whatever sound you want, a lot change out pickups and put new Speakers in to rectify what they are not doing with their picking hand. One new thing I like to do here and there is in Drop tuning where you pick the top string and then pull off the second and third string in one fluid triplet and all the accentuations you can do with that like letting the top string ring more and muting the other 2 or vice versa, no idea what you call that but I first heard it in the TooL song Jambi .

[@simontongs]

Leon..You nailed it bro.. So many people get that "Raspy attack" from the Pick angle across the string, playing fast.. Your "Marty" analogy's PERFECT mate .. wrist out..relaxed .. pick and string "parallel" .. best warm up. Remembering, that failure is good ! . its how we learn yeah ?.. Best Picking Video in ages Leon, awesome.. Oh, and as a "Custom" guy myself, I've been LOVING watching how much you DIG that BITCHIN Les Paul lately !! Haha .. Love ya work Leon, keep it up bro. Simo.

[@LeonTodd]

Man that LP just has "it" if you know what I mean?

[@christopheranderson2158]

Man…KILLER LESSON, Leon!!! Very simple concept that might be very challenging at first, but the potential benefits are obvious. I’m going to give this a try! Also….you had the perfect camera angle setup to clearly see what you were doing! Well done! 🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@LeonTodd]

Keep me posted with how you go!

[@BobbyLaneProductions]

I love these kinds of videos.. good advice.. thanks LT!

[@LeonTodd]

My pleasure mate, I love doing these and will do more!

[@chrisbarclay]

My right hand came before my left did. Nice video and tone

[@SidAlienTV]

4:22 The great Vernon Reid of Living Colour use most times that pick angle for those very quick passages. Visually is very awkward, but gives very accurate results in the end. Great video!

[@LeonTodd]

I love Vern's playing so much. "Sheets of sound" for rock.

[@peterharvin2775]

I love what you had to say towards the end about being in the moment and enjoying yourself. I respect and admire and certainly envy people like you who can shred and smoke, but I know my limitations-- and I'm ok with that. I've relaxed, and I've found that I love playing more than ever, and occasionally surprise myself with something tasty. Great tips in this video and I'll give them a try, though at a much more modest bpm lol.

[@LeonTodd]

THIS

[@theanalogkid4171]

Outstanding info! More alt picking help please Leon, thanks!

[@AAAA-lt9hq]

Awwwww yeah. Leon doing lessons. :)

[@paulbradshawguitar]

can't help but hear Sykes with the LP Custom, sounds great and thanks for sharing technique stuff like this a big one for me this past year or so, after making a shift to lighter picks was the idea of letting your pick go through the string if that makes sense, sometimes by being so focussed on only picking the one area on a string your right hand can tense up which is not a good thing on faster runs, holding the pick light on the Friedman esque part kinda shows it well depends on what you're playing of course and approach, i really like economy picking/hybrid style stuff so that has really helped on some runs , and ultimately practicing instead of procrastinating what guitar i might buy next 😄

[@LeonTodd]

Mmmmm I know what I'm doing tomorrow. Time to dig the pick draw up

[@heavybrett-al4082]

🙏🎸🤘🤘🤘you were right brother, 2025 my Les Paul year....got me the 2024 Les Paul studio, $2499 , and I'm glad I made the sacrifice and it feels and sounds fantastic 👍thank you for the advice and inspiration.

[@LeonTodd]

Duuuuude!!!!!!

[@chrisrussoroos6091]

great teaching - thanks! u r a great player too

[@LeonTodd]

Appreciate it!

[@massimilianocastellani669]

Bravo

[@oaniamut]

Awesome lesson, perfect for getting back in the Shred game in 2025. A a question/follow-up topic - you mention the benefit of maintaining your downward pick slant angle. How does this translate to your upwards picking?

[@LeonTodd]

It makes it easy for your upstrokes to "escape" adjacent strings. Troy Grady discusses this at length and in great detail, well worth watching if you haven't already.

[@notsure1135]

I do like your alternate picking, I just cannot pull it off consistently. I only learnt it was a thing about twenty years into playing.

[@csgband]

Super helpful. Thanks

[@LeonTodd]

Glad it was helpful!

[@johnnyceravolo]

I loved this video. At the end your right hand was covered by a mini video. Do you have a way to remove that so your right hand is viewable. I wish KZbin didn’t put those mini videos there at the end. Super frustrating. It’s such a bummer. Thanks for all your content. You’re really great.

[@LeonTodd]

Should be fixed now!

[@medved3027]

Regarding anchoring, you especially notice this on 8 string guitars, where if you're positioned well for the 8th string, you'll have a hard time reaching the high E at all. That forced me to do what you're doing here, but it wasn't conscious at first, I just noticed I'm faster and cleaner on my 8-string than I am on my 6-string for some reason. I also later re-watched the videos of fast scalar runs that Gilbert does, e.g. the one in "The Curse of Castle Dragon" and Paul's right hand does move there. You can also see him alternate (on the fly!) between slight upward and slight downward pick-slant, too!

[@LeonTodd]

Still not convinced that paul isn't an alien!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Fantastic tips!

[@LeonTodd]

Thanks man

[@Bricklinsv1970]

Great tip!

[@Saxby8six]

Thanks for the vid. I know the focus was on the right had but it would of been nice for you to break down that lick for us slow people. Also I tried to catch some of your theory ideas during your last live stream but you were burning though them lol.

[@LeonTodd]

I'll try to explain some of the theory in an upcoming video! Great idea.

[@Saxby8six]

@LeonTodd thanks! Looking forward to it

[@Chris_Nouvelli]

I grew up learning at the feet of Petrucci and his ‘Rick Discipline’ dvd. I’ve found that I unintentionally weight my pinky on the body of the guitar and can’t unlearn it. I can shred quite fast when required but I sometimes wish I’d gone back and forced myself to have a closed fist when I play.

[@LeonTodd]

The closed fist thing is often used as a cue to relax your wrist, but there's no reason you can't be relaxed in other configurations.

[@TheToneWork]

Huh, now I have to go back and watch my wrist. Pretty sure I someone (unintentionally) have been shifting my wrist. Great video as always. Also, lol the focus at the end. Nice product placement?

[@LeonTodd]

Yeah editing that I had a good chuckle thinking "ok Mr Gibson shill!"

[@guitarplayer1434]

the problem is practicing slow vs fast , when practicing slow you don't practice the jerky wrist movement that has to happen when you play fast , when changing strings you have to travel about 4 times as far as when you are tremolo picking on 1 string , so that string movement has to be 4 times as fast as the rest to maintain timing and that trouble usually shows up at about 85-90 bpm at 6 notes per beat .. This is were new guitarists get stuck . If you want an exagerated example , the pentatonic lick in miracle man by Zakk.. 2 notes than a big movement ( i just typed this so I could get big movement in), than 2 more 'string change' and so on

[@LeonTodd]

That miracle man lick still gets me

[@guitarplayer1434]

@@LeonTodd warmed up I can usually get it , but coming out of the arp section before I don't think I could ever record the solo in it's entirety

[@nigelsmith721]

Shredding.....

[@NirvanaFan83]

@LeonTodd could you please help me make my sweep picking sound more natural?

[@NirvanaFan83]

It sounds very forced and mechanical and I have trouble incorporating it into my solos

[@LeonTodd]

I've got some sweeping stuff coming soon!

[@AngusClarkGTR]

Nice tip!

[@LeonTodd]

How was the most recent tour? Still recovering?

[@AngusClarkGTR]

@ Went great! I’m sort of right back into working, but I’m def tired!

[@chrischoir3594]

that's the cheezy marty freidman technique

[@hiyeja]

Hey, great Video ! So do you play the whole thing with an downward pickslant ? I always thought when you end on a downstroke (uneven number of notes)you have to use Upward Pickslant ? This whole concept of pickslanting is still a bit confusing to me 😅

[@LeonTodd]

That would be 2-way pickslanting! It's worth experimenting with a bunch of approaches and finding what works for you.

[@hiyeja]

@ ok, got it :) Thank you ! I really liked the 5 Minute Licks you did an Zakks no more tears solo ending. That helped me out a lot ! I would love to see more of those cool repeating licks in the future. Rawk on

[@Kraatzman]

Stupid question how thick of a pick do you like to use.

[@andyglamrock]

Killer playing and teaching! One question though, what¡s your action height at the 12th? 4/64ths? From my perspective it looks ultra low but videos are deceptive

[@LeonTodd]

I'd need to measure it to be sure - it's definitely "low" but not as low as some of my other guitars.

[@billyc6678]

Interesting 🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽

[@bill-sr1vd]

Paul Gilbert's Intense Rock is a little older than 15 years. It's 35 years old 🙂

[@LeonTodd]

My bad if that didn't make sense - I was 15 when I heard it, 20 years ago!

[@dimebud9866]

Yep 1min in n I thought wow he’s really good but didn’t know he taught Paul Gilbert his own technique 5 years before lol all good bro u rock

[@LeonTodd]

@@dimebud9866 words are hard for me at the best of times :p

[@guyinpajamapants6892]

My real job has given me tremendous arthritis in my joints. I’m not even that old and it’s tough to change strings that fast.

[@mauriziomaurelli2649]

Do you use doubler in this video?

[@LeonTodd]

There's a little stereo detune on the guitar

[@valaryc]

1) Be careful of anchoring. 2) Relax and don't tense up.

[@Hoxle-87]

Ha! I see Jake e Lees pedal peeking on the floor

[@LeonTodd]

😁

[@plantagenant]

Didn't Eddie Van Halen use that arched wrist to do his tremolo picking?

[@LeonTodd]

yep, very similar. Gypsy jazz players do a similar thing too.

[@plantagenant]

@@LeonTodd I've always found picking awkward and after years I've still not fixed on a settled way! It always struck me that the natural arm /wrist position should be arched like a violin player ...the rotation is natural and allows a wide span of the plectrum. But while its easier on an archtop jazz guitar its very hard on a solid body and hopeless if you play with any gain and need to mute strings.

[@teaserrocks1768]

❤

[@gioelevio1626]

Great lesson! I was thinking that now that the Helix has an EVH 5150 and a Bogner Ecstasy it might be the right time for another amp comparison between digital platforms. Sorry haha but I really like those videos of yours💜

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

Mistakes can sometimes turn out to be very useful, happy accidents