The exercises on this instructional are divided up into two sections: Alternate picking (down, up, down, up, etc…) and Legato (hammer-on’s and pull-off’s). Rusty also briefly covers some fundamentals about proper technique, his unique “classical style” of holding the guitar while seated, and how you should go about practicing the exercises he provides.
The exercises themselves are all pretty basic and could be learned by a relative beginner, but they logically ramp up in difficulty as the instructional goes on. Many of them are single string patterns designed to help you master the different combinations of fingering patterns that are prevalent in all kinds of guitar music. Other exercises get into string skipping and other simple problems many guitarists have trouble executing clean and efficiently. Many of these exercises may seem too simple at times (especially if you’re a longtime guitar player), but if you stick with them and practice them daily how Rusty tells you, then within a month’s time you will begin to see how getting better and faster at the most fundamental finger movements helps you when you’re playing any song.
“Basic Training” can also do wonders for your alternate picking (if you have trouble keeping 100% proficiency with that). Rusty’s goal - as far as learning alternate picking when he was younger - was to be able to start at any point in any piece with either a down or an up-pick, and then proceed to alternate pick the rest perfectly (always with the next pick stroke in the opposite direction of the last). Many players have trouble playing certain exercises unless they can start with their preferred picking direction, so Rusty says to play each exercise for five minutes straight, and then all over again but starting with a pick stroke in the opposite direction. Practicing this will train you to pick any piece as intelligently as possible, and with maximum “economy of motion” (if your goal is to play it fast).
Simply watching Rusty DEMOLISH these basic patterns will force you to reconsider what truly mastering an exercise means. Sure, not everyone wants to play as fast as Rusty Cooley, but I think it’s safe to say that everyone wants to get good enough to play their favorite songs as fast and cleanly as their guitar heroes do.
-- Dave B.
Basic Training is available on DVD, VHS, CD-ROM, and E-Instructional immediate download from Chops From Hell: