How to Practice These Exercises, thanks to DeftDigits Guitar Lessons:
Use a metronome. Practicing these exercises without a metronome will be as useful to your playing as watching a Jersey Shore marathon. Use a metronome. Start with a click for every note, then move to multiple notes per click, using your rhythmic sense for the best place for a click in each exercise.
Practice slowly. The first few times you try these exercises, before you get the muscle memory flowing, it’s essential that you keep the tempo slow. But even after you’re able to play faster, you’ll still gain from revisiting a relaxed speed to properly assess the details of your technique.
Watch your hands for efficiency and accuracy. This is easier if you’re playing slowly. Pay attention to how far your pick moves between notes. Use as little motion as possible at all times. Always ask, “Is this exactly what I want my muscles to remember?” Also consider the timing between your pick and fretting fingers. You want nothing but the sound of the pick on the string between notes. Again, this is easier to do when playing slowly.
Accent different notes. As you repeat these patterns over and over, you’ll probably accent the same note every time naturally, whichever one is on the metronome click. Harness that, and try placing a different note on the click.
Picking goes both ways, and here’s the most efficient way to do it.