Alternate picking/prog style playing

Chewie5150

Chewie5150

Fractal Fanatic
Since I got my PRS Holcomb guitar as a dedicated guitar for heavier/downtuning playing I've been dipping my feet into some more technical styles. Rock is my 'home' in terms of playing style and ability but I've really wanted to challenge myself rather than just keep playing the same riffs I've played for years. I started working on Marigold by Periphery the other night. It's taking my brain some time to adjust and more than that...my hands ouch. I have to play with my guitar nearly upright for ergonomics! How do these guys play this at full speed standing up regular posture I don't know! with the song I mentioned...that main riff I was watching few different videos of it and mostly its straight up alternate picking but I also saw Mark Holcomb in a Reverb vid demo the riff and he plays it the way that feels more natural for me in that there are some decending notes he does upstrokes on the way down. So not strictly up/down/up/down the entire time. There are no rules with guitar but seems to me to just be consistent in the right hand so it gets to the point you're not even thinking what it's doing if you're just repeating the same pattern as the chords just move up the neck

secondary: for these heavier sounds I'm going 5150 III or HBE models. Are you guys doing anything else to in the signal chain to accommodate heavy, low tuned, single line rhythmic type runs. Multiband compressor for example?
 
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What a intro riff , I learned up to the part where you need the 7th string, it is quite the finger work out. I learnt it pretty traditionally picking styles but I'm sure they have their own magic touch on it
 
Im not sure i’d start on new periphery haha. Learn stuff off the first album?

As for tone shaping, i know bulb and co made everyone want to run compressors with their high gain amps too. Heavy gate settings and eq cuts are likely required as well. Look for old posts by Bulb, he used to spend a ton of time on sevenstring.org before the band blew up.
 
As for the picking stuff, just do whatever is comfortable and allows you to play it.

For some reason, when I started playing I automatically started picking everything with an upstroke. My uncle told me for the first few years it would negatively effect me later in life. I was 11 then and I’m 40 now, it’s only made things easier for me to play because I had to learn how to play “inside” the strings, which eliminated the need for me to learn economy picking.

I’m learning an EJ song right now and all the lessons say to economy pick one particular part, or to start this run with a downstroke or upstroke…..it’d take me 6 years to learn the damn song if I listened to all that.
 
Been working on Marigold now for day 2 and getting the pattern down slowly building tempo. Now up to 75% speed comfortable but I struggle with the odd interval change when it reaches the 8th fret position and getting that index finger to stretch down to 7th fret on D string. Fun riff. The tendonitis I'll develop will be worth it I'm sure
 
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@5:11 he shows his method. Up strokes as you move to higher string, down as you move to lower strings.

An older Paul Gilbert told me that he doesn't always pick every note. He does on the recordings, but live the first two notes of a three note per string run will do.
 
ruso said:
That looks like a lovely practice setup! Is that a weighted stand? Is it pretty stout? Any wobble?
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Very stable. I’ve had it for years. It’s just a Dixon mic stand with the little shelf attachment I picked up off amazon I think. iPad holder too.
 
fractalz said:
@5:11 he shows his method. Up strokes as you move to higher string, down as you move to lower strings.
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He was using strict alternate picking there, so not that method. (You described either 1. economy picking with higher & lower strings mixed up, or 2. some other less efficient thing.)
 
Bakerman said:
He was using strict alternate picking there, so not that method. (You described either 1. economy picking with higher & lower strings mixed up, or 2. some other less efficient thing.)
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The licks are architected to have the right number of notes on each string to get the picking to line up. You can Google his lessons and there is a method.
 
RevDrucifer said:
As for the picking stuff, just do whatever is comfortable and allows you to play it.
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^ this of course

Chewie5150 said:
I was watching few different videos of it and mostly its straight up alternate picking but I also saw Mark Holcomb in a Reverb vid demo the riff and he plays it the way that feels more natural for me in that there are some decending notes he does upstrokes on the way down. So not strictly up/down/up/down the entire time.
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I tried the riff (it's really nice!) and I think he's descending that way (a sort of sweep or economy) because it's not palm muted... so this gives the "7/8 loop" a more round feeling
 
Chewie5150 said:
secondary: for these heavier sounds I'm going 5150 III or HBE models. Are you guys doing anything else to in the signal chain to accommodate heavy, low tuned, single line rhythmic type runs. Multiband compressor for example?
Click to expand...
My uneducated guess is:
  • parallel compression (30%)
  • hi-gain amp with:
    • input boost (FAS or CC or T808)
    • input eq lowcut around 150/200
  • multiband compressor (I'm using a block from the mighty Leon)
 
Riccardo Ros said:
My uneducated guess is:
  • parallel compression (30%)
  • hi-gain amp with:
    • input boost (FAS or CC or T808)
    • input eq lowcut around 150/200
  • multiband compressor (I'm using a block from the mighty Leon)
Click to expand...
thats pretty much exact what i'm doing. I"m using one of my fav Leon presets with the mesa IIC+ and has MBC in chain. I changed the drive to T808 and its perfect. Ironic as I often favor Marshalesque models but this IIC+ has become my go to high gain lately. Leon's presets are one of the few that translate well over to my setup with minor tweaking
 
Chewie5150 said:
thats pretty much exact what i'm doing. I"m using one of my fav Leon presets with the mesa IIC+ and has MBC in chain. I changed the drive to T808 and its perfect. Ironic as I often favor Marshalesque models but this IIC+ has become my go to high gain lately. Leon's presets are one of the few that translate well over to my setup with minor tweaking
Click to expand...
Same here, IIC+ has the right gain, eq, tone, etc.. Everyday I try a new amp but... That boogie is "home"
 
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