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7. The Raking Technique

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This course covers an important fingerstyle technique – raking. This is a technique that most players begin to use very naturally, but which can make playing from string to string much easier. This course breaks down the mechanics behind raking and has ten exercises that will help you to perfect the technique.

Don't forget to hit the Download Resources button above to receive the PDF that accompanies these lessons!

This course is 28 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. The Raking Technique

This video will explain how the raking technique works. This essential technique – which feels very natural to use – is then demonstrated in a simple exercise.

2. Exercise #48

This exercise ascends through all four strings (playing for a bar on each one), then descends. This is a great exercise for working on the raking technique.

3. Exercise #49

This exercise follows the same sequence of notes/strings as the previous one but uses eighth notes in place of quarter notes.

4. Exercise #50

This exercise illustrates how the raking technique can be used to easily descend through more than one string. Doing so saves a lot of unnecessary movement.

5. Exercise #51

This exercise follows the same sequence as the previous one but is played using an eighth note rhythm. The raking technique is applied in exactly the same way.

6. Exercise #52

In this exercise you will be raking back across three strings: starting from the D-string, down to the A-string, then down to the E-string.

7. Exercise #53

This exercise is built around a descending A minor arpeggio, which opens the first and third bars. This figure provides an excellent opportunity for raking.

8. Exercise #54

This exercise is based around a three-string rake, but also has a two-string rake later in the line. By now you should be quite comfortable with this technique.

9. Exercise #55

In this exercise you’ll be raking with the same finger back across all four strings. It’s quite rare that you’ll need to do this, but as you’ll see, it works perfectly well.

10. Exercise #56

This exercise has opportunities for raking within the first three bars, but also includes a few notes that will be covered in the next few courses.