Do not start with sweep arpeggios. Sequence: comfortable posture and pick hold → power chords that stay quiet on unused strings → palm-muted open-string chugs to a click → simple 8th-then-16th alternate picking → minor pentatonic over a one-chord vamp → one easy song section looped clean.
Key takeaways
Clean and in time beats “almost the song.”
Each stage has an exit test (see below). Do not skip tests.
Stages and exit tests
Hold and sit/stand — 10 minutes without pain or a death-grip. Exit: pick does not fly out; shoulder is down.
Power chords — root-fifth on strings 6 and 5, then 5 and 4. Exit: unused strings stay quiet. See power chord.
Mute — open 6th-string 8ths muted evenly at 70 BPM. Exit: every hit the same length. Palm muting guide.
Alternate 8ths then 16ths on one string. Exit: upstrokes audible. Picking guide.
Pentatonic box over a recorded power-chord loop. Exit: you can land on the root on purpose.
One riff from a real song slower than the record, clean, with a click. Then bump tempo.