Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Drums Week 25
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Guitar Amps
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Artist news
  • Drums
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Santana on Beck
  • Friday, I'm in Love
  • Knopfler's 4-note secret
  • 95k+ free music samples
Don't miss these
PRS Mark Holcomb: previously only a limited edition run, the Periphery guitarist's Core Series signature model is now part of the PRS Guitars catalogue, as the Maryland high-end brand continues its 40th Anniversary celebrations by keeping the releases coming each month.
Artists Mark Holcomb’s limited run PRS is officially added to the Core series – and it ships in Drop C
Adrian Smith on stage in 2025
Artists “He said, ‘Your upstrokes are weak!’ I’m like, ‘You effin’ what?’”: Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith never stops learning
Zach Myers of Shinedown plays a hunter green PRS NF53 live onstage at Download Festival 2025.
Artists Zach Myers on Shinedown’s secret weapon, the limits of shred guitar, and getting schooled by BB King
Jackson Pro Series Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT7 and HT7P
Artists Misha Mansoor spills blood as a home shopping TV presenter to unveil new signature Jackson 7-strings
The Fender Richie Kotzen Stratocaster is made in Japan and features a contoured ash body with a stunning figured maple top, and comes with DiMarzio pickups and Gotoh tuners.
Artists Fender gives Richie Kotzen’s figured-maple topped MIJ signature Strat a global release
Orbit Culture's guitarists
Electric Guitars Orbit Culture show us their ESP guitars – and tell us why the EverTune bridge is a game-changer
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature Pro-Mod Nova-7 NAT: The new S-style is eight years in the making and in some of the promo pictures it looks like Angel Vivaldi has been on horseback for much of that time.
Artists Angel Vivaldi and Charvel unveil state-of-the-art 7-string for levelling up your shred game
native instruments
Music Production Tutorials "As nuanced as the real thing, but only if you know what you're doing": The ultimate guide to plugin guitars
Debbie Gough of Heriot demoes the new Jackson Pro Plus Metal Phase II Warrior on a darkened studio set.
Guitars Jackson adds Warrior, King V and Concert Bass to its limited edition Pro Plus Pure Metal range
Fender Custom Shop Ariel Posen Stratocaster: Posen's new signature model was inspired by the Jazzmaster and has custom-wound AP-90 pickups. Check out those cupcake-style control knobs.
Artists Ariel Posen’s new Custom Shop signature Strat is A) stunning and B) inspired by a… Jazzmaster?
Rick Graham is photographed in a dark setting with a warm stagelight in the background; he holds his new signature electric guitar, a shell-pink S-style with a reverse headstock
Artists Charvel and Rick Graham team up for Pro-Mod signature model with relic'd nitro cult colour finish
Mark Knopfler
Artists Mark Knopfler on the Dire Straits song he's come to accept that he has to start in the same way every time
Jackson Pro Series Limited Edition Phil Demmel KV King V: the V-style electric is finished in black-and-white polka dots, and looks good in all settings, against a white background or barroom scene alike.
Artists Jackson and Phil Demmel salute Randy Rhoads with limited run Pro Series King V in polka dot finish
A Fender Player II Stratocaster and Telecaster on a white piece of wood with lots of holes in it
Electric Guitars Best electric guitars under $1,000/£1,000 in 2025: My top picks for players of all styles
The Sterling By Music Man Kaizen is a more affordable version of the Animals As Leaders guitarist Tosin Abasi's signature model, and is offered here in Firemist Purple Satin and Stealth Black.
Artists Sterling By Music Man unveils affordable version of Tosin Abasi’s futuristic Kaizen signature model
  1. Tutorials
  2. Guitar Lessons & Tutorials

Mark Tremonti's 2015 guitar practice routine

Tuition
By Total Guitar ( Total Guitar ) published 29 June 2015

Four key Tremonti techniques

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Introduction

Introduction

Mark is an eternal student of the guitar and because of this, he gives some of the best playing advice you'll hear anywhere. Here, we take four techniques that Mark has been working on this year and assemble a practice routine worthy of the man himself...

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
Down-picking

Down-picking

This fiendishly simple, yet monstrously tough exercise is all about repetition, accuracy and stamina. Start at a manageable speed and get gradually faster.

Mark: "Whenever I do clinics, I ask people to do the down-pick challenge with me. It's easy to get mentally, but not physically.

"After 30 seconds, people lose stamina. It's like working a muscle. If you do that three times a day until you burn out, you'll notice your downstrokes improve. They are the essence of speed-metal rhythm playing."

Down-picking tab (right-click to download)

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
Alternate picking

Alternate picking

This lick is designed to help you get away from picking the same number of notes on every string, thus honing your accuracy when playing less uniform lead lines.

Mark: "I remember what Zakk Wylde told me: 'Pick everything!' I was never a 'pick everything' kinda guy - I would use pull-offs here and there. But for practising, Zakk's approach is really great, because by the time you come back to playing your normal songs, you'll be completely nailing it."

Alternate picking tab (right-click to download)

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
Pentatonic warm-ups

Pentatonic warm-ups

This lick is based around a 10-note phrase that crosses the whole fretboard as it recycles, so each 10-note pattern will help you anticipate the next.

Mark: "Usually, I'll fly through pentatonic shapes at 140bpm and try to pick the most awkward spots, then continue through those shapes. I won't think about where I'm going, I'm just trying to survive! Then I take it up with the metronome. Joe Bonamassa inspired me to work on more of that stuff."

Pentatonic warm-ups tab (right-click to download)

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
Inventive lead

Inventive lead

You could easily wail over this progression using G major pentatonic, but landing on a chord tone on every change will sound sweet and help prevent note clashes.

Mark: "People overlook following the chord progression [and] hitting [notes from] the chords. As simple as it sounds, for many years I didn't know what that meant. If the chord goes from here to here in the rhythm, then hit that perfect note when it changes, get off it and go back to the main scale."

Inventive lead tab (right-click to download)

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
Total Guitar
Total Guitar
Social Links Navigation

Total Guitar is Europe's best-selling guitar magazine.

Every month we feature interviews with the biggest names and hottest new acts in guitar land, plus Guest Lessons from the stars.

Finally, our Rocked & Rated section is the place to go for reviews, round-ups and help setting up your guitars and gear.

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/totalguitar

Read more
PRS Mark Holcomb: previously only a limited edition run, the Periphery guitarist's Core Series signature model is now part of the PRS Guitars catalogue, as the Maryland high-end brand continues its 40th Anniversary celebrations by keeping the releases coming each month.
Mark Holcomb’s limited run PRS is officially added to the Core series – and it ships in Drop C
Adrian Smith on stage in 2025
“He said, ‘Your upstrokes are weak!’ I’m like, ‘You effin’ what?’”: Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith never stops learning
Zach Myers of Shinedown plays a hunter green PRS NF53 live onstage at Download Festival 2025.
Zach Myers on Shinedown’s secret weapon, the limits of shred guitar, and getting schooled by BB King
Jackson Pro Series Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT7 and HT7P
Misha Mansoor spills blood as a home shopping TV presenter to unveil new signature Jackson 7-strings
The Fender Richie Kotzen Stratocaster is made in Japan and features a contoured ash body with a stunning figured maple top, and comes with DiMarzio pickups and Gotoh tuners.
Fender gives Richie Kotzen’s figured-maple topped MIJ signature Strat a global release
Orbit Culture's guitarists
Orbit Culture show us their ESP guitars – and tell us why the EverTune bridge is a game-changer
Latest in Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
Close up of a person holding an acoustic guitar bathed sunlight
Ignite your inner guitar god for just 27 cents a day with TrueFire’s July 4th sale - save 60% on online lessons
MusicNomad fret tuition
Can you fix your guitar's frets yourself? We try three innovative approaches from MusicNomad to investigate how they might conquer a major cause of fret buzz
George Harrison
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
MusicNomad guitar fret cleaning
"You owe your guitar the chance to be its best": How to clean and polish your guitar frets a better way
Jimmy Page
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
Music Theory
How learning and understanding chord symbols can prove a major benefit for sharing your musical ideas
Latest in Tuition
Frustrated music producer
Why imposing hard limitations could be the secret to finishing more music
Ableton Live Tutorial
5 creative ways to use distortion in Ableton Live: From punchier drums to dub techno delays
Logic Drums
How to think like a human drummer when building software beats
Virtual drums
How to make virtual acoustic drum performances sound like the real thing
How to program MIDI drums that sound like the real thing
Drum recording
10 tips for recording perfect drums

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...