Picking Technique

Y

youngmic

Inspired
I've always been unhappy with my picking technique - kind of a figure-it-out-as-you-go-along kludge of a method. It's sloppy, noisy, and inefficient. To get any kind of speed, I basically anchor my picky on the guitar, drop my wrist, and use a bastardized alternate picking style. I've been to a couple of good schools, but never studied right hand technique. And actually, I think a lot of the techniques I see these days came after I was in school.

So anyway, I'm curious about what I'm seeing and exactly what is what. I've heard reference to "hybrid legato" picking. I see a lot of what I "think" is circle picking. There's the sweep picking thing - Frank Gambale's baby. There's Govan's "I can do everything everybody else does but better" various styles. I guess what I'm asking is if someone on this forum - preferably someone who's studied right hand technique - can give me a rundown on these techniques and how best to pursue developing them. What are the philosophies/methodologies behind the various approaches? I'm not really interested in the tapping thing. But the close handed, pick + fingers, fast alternate picking stuff is pretty interesting.

You're never too old to get better, right? I was inspired by Neal Peart's decision to go back and relearn his drum technique after so many years.
 
Last edited:
I'm with you Mic. Another inspiring example was Paul Gilbert. Back in the mid to late 80's I had a chance to talk to him in a class room setting. His picking hand was like a machine. Total control.. After blazing the neck he stopped and mentioned that he was in the process of rebuilding his picking hand. I can't remember the exact reason he gave, but there was something about his technique that was bugging him. So he identified the problem, corrected it and started rebuilding his technique. For me at the time, that woulda meant months of wood shedding with the metronome just back to get to the point I was. For him it was no big deal. He knew the process and had the dedication to put the work in.

Explanation of most at this wiki:

Guitar picking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I just found this. Tuck is a cool guitarists. I'll have to browse this is well.

Tuck & Patti: Pick & Fingerstyle Techniques

Whenever I get off my lazy keister I go with the metronome approach. Understand how the given picking technique is to be played and start with scales and a metronome. Begin playing as fast as you can without making a mistake (which usually means pretty slow). Practice times vary but I would do maybe 15 to 20 minutes a day for a week minimal. After a week bump up 5bps. Build your own practice scales, shapes, licks and or patterns. Keep it challenging.
 
Thanks for the info. Interesting story about Gilbert. Yeah, I need to do the same kind of thing. Now...which method to pursue...?
 
Narzugon said:
I just found this. Tuck is a cool guitarists. I'll have to browse this is well.

Tuck & Patti: Pick & Fingerstyle Techniques
Click to expand...

Tuck Andress is a monster. Once I heard his version of Europa, I knew I had to expand my picking technique too. It is miles away from his, but I have at least incorporated more pick and fingers combination and Travis style picking into my repertoire. I am at one of those "sick of my playing" phases where I really feel in a rut, so I understand the frustration. Perhaps I should look to some new picking techniques as well, for some inspiration in a new direction.
 
I'm going to do a whole picking thing on my guitar site. I have a whole battery of picking exercises which are very helpful in developing independence of picking techniques and directions and alternate picking, and alternatives to alternate picking. But it's too much to go into now and here. I've got to go practice and watch the Olympics!
 
luke said:
Guitar World Presents: Glenn Proudfoot [Part 3/3] - YouTube

Skip to 6:20 mark
Click to expand...

Thanks! That's EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm looking for. And while I'm not looking at that level of sweep picking, it is in the general proximity of the styles in which I'm interested. Hoping for more similar examples/descriptions, especially this "hybrid" technique and "legato" technique.

Jazz 3 picks. These seem to be a popular choice for the styles I'm discussing here. That alone would/will be a huge adjustment. i've been using standard fender 351 extra heavy picks for years.

I also notice that he's anchoring his pinky. From the limited reading I've done, it seems like a "floating" method is often advised. I'm curious about wrist vs. arm motion, pick angle, finger motion, all of it.

Currently, I employ a lot of wrist and finger motion. I also very the pressure on the extra heavy pick to simulate thinner picks for chords etc.

Anyway...thanks very much for the responses. Keep bringing it.

Mike
 
Last edited:
Seems to me that some espouse the economy picking, some espouse alternate picking, sweep picking, etc. Personally, I see value in working on mastering all of them. If you arrange your scales and linear phrasing so as to take advantage of your direction of travel (economy picking and sweep picking) it does increase speed and accuracy. The alternate pick is tried and true, and although you sometimes have to skip over a string, with some time and practice it works. I do find that when I make a mistake, mot of the time it is a right hand mistake, not a left hand one (I am right handed).
 
Geezerjohn said:
Seems to me that some espouse the economy picking, some espouse alternate picking, sweep picking, etc. Personally, I see value in working on mastering all of them. If you arrange your scales and linear phrasing so as to take advantage of your direction of travel (economy picking and sweep picking) it does increase speed and accuracy. The alternate pick is tried and true, and although you sometimes have to skip over a string, with some time and practice it works. I do find that when I make a mistake, mot of the time it is a right hand mistake, not a left hand one (I am right handed).
Click to expand...

Yep. I've been pretty much an alternate picking only guy with only a couple of sweep patterns. I haven't worked on economy picking enough to get it. I think what I'm interested in most here is technique recommendations for holding the pick, muting strings during fast runs, wrist/finger motion, etc. Those probably transcend all of the "styles".
 
I was stuck at 120bpm on upstroke prior to the video I showed, now I can play 16ths at 180bpm.
 
I may not be the best regarding how to hold the pick. I use uber thick, uber small Dunlop jazz picks. For "normal size"picks I use Dunlop 207's. I use a lot of arm in fast picking. I was trained on alternate picking. Frank Gambale opened my eyes to economy picking. For me the initial difficulty was not having my playing sound like a series of triplets. Also, I use a metronome when working on picking, starting slow, then bringing temp up to speed. When I have to record difficult parts, I work on them at a tempo faster than I will be playing for the recording. Makes the actual song tempo feel better.

Hope this helps you.
 
I found after 35 yrs of playing ,I went from a Dunlop 88 tortex to a herco flex 50. I have better control. much thinner pick.I also like to use all of the picking techniques I can ,alternate,economy ,scalpel ,sarod,and sweep.I don't think of it too much ,in seem's to just happen.I think more on how to start something like with a down stroke or up
 
I'm an alternate picking guy, but it took years of practice. Also, I picked up a stylus speed pick and read the instructions. The pick itself allows me to hone my technique, but the biggest change was the thought process. The instructions say to rub the string and feel the string fall off the tip of the pick. That made a huge difference for me.
 
I'm alternate picking kind of guy. But I also practice down, up, up, down, up, up and Down, up, down, down, up, down patterns to strengthen my right hand. I improvise and don't work out picking patterns to go with specific prearranged lines. Sometimes if my picking goes backwards I have to be able to recover quickly and painlessly.

ALSO triplets sound best and like TRIPLETS, when you down stroke on the downbeat. Most everything sound best when you're in the habit of downstroking on the downbeat. So a triplet would be DOWN, up, up, DOWN, up, up OR DOWN, up, down, DOWN up, down. It makes a tremendous difference.

I don't practice legato, I just do it. I do have to remind myself sometimes to not pick every note and to phrase naturally. What is called combination picking or economy picking where you come down on the next string doesn't make a lot of sense and is a lazy persons way of thinking you're doing alternate picking.

I don't do sweep picking at all. It can sound good, I suppose, but I'm not a fan of it for various reasons.
 
henryrobinett said:
ALSO triplets sound best and like TRIPLETS, when you down stroke on the downbeat. Most everything sound best when you're in the habit of downstroking on the downbeat. So a triplet would be DOWN, up, up, DOWN, up, up OR DOWN, up, down, DOWN up, down. It makes a tremendous difference.
Click to expand...

So what do you do if the line or the tempo doesn't allow for "down, up, up, ..." ?
IME and IMHO technique should follow the music, not the other way round. I.e. in this example: practise until down-/upstrokes don't differ in sound and feel.
Often there's a major difference (to me) wether I start a line on a downstroke or an upstroke, just depending on the structure, so I'd be seriously limited if I tied the choice of plucking direction to the beat.
That said, I try to practise all runs with different approaches, i.e. strict alternate picking, or with economy, with and without inside string picking, etc., but when I have to nail it live, I'll go for the safest, cleanest option.
 
Speaking of picks, I don't see many people using the Dunlop Tortex Jazz M3's. It's either the standard thin to medium fender pick or Jazz 3's. The Jazz 3's were always too thick for me. I like the M3's for a similar stiffness but not as thick to hold or push over the strings.

Cool link Luke. I'll check his band out as well.

Check this link out. An old Eric Johnson instructional video. He gets into a lot of picking techniques as well as solo stuff. Seems as if most of this video is on Youtube now.

Eric Johnson Guitar Lessons - YouTube
 
Paging all the (other) old farts around here.

Back around 1984 or 1985 Guitar Player magazine published a Steve Morse column with his "warm up picking routine". It was a quasi-baroque melody that he wrote himself, and it was brilliant.

I've long since lost the magazine but I still remember the first 10 bars or so of that exercise. If anyone knows what I'm talking about (or better knows of a scan of the exercise) I'd be very pleased.
 
A variety of picking techniques is needed to execute different forms of music. Strict alternate picking is all well and good for some styles, but doesn't work well for others. But basically apart from legato where a certain amount of left hand hammers and pull off takes over for some notes, everything is alternate, even if you go from 5th string to 3rd string, down, down and then up to 4th, you still have alternated just over more than a single string.
Swept arpeggios which are needed in neo classical or Paganini type stuff maybe a down and up motion possibly also including hammers and pull off techniques, just you are going through maybe four to six strings at a time in one direction like playing a chord but with individual note separation.
The video Luke posted is pretty good.
For alternate picking check out any Steve Morse, or John Petrucci's Rock Discipline.
Interestingly when people such as Malmsteen are asked about right hand technique it is more intuitive than the approach of the strict alternate picking approach.
Also hybrid picking is useful. But start perhaps with alternate picking and then explore other approaches.
 
Sebastian said:
So what do you do if the line or the tempo doesn't allow for "down, up, up, ..." ?
IME and IMHO technique should follow the music, not the other way round. I.e. in this example: practise until down-/upstrokes don't differ in sound and feel.
Often there's a major difference (to me) wether I start a line on a downstroke or an upstroke, just depending on the structure, so I'd be seriously limited if I tied the choice of plucking direction to the beat.
That said, I try to practise all runs with different approaches, i.e. strict alternate picking, or with economy, with and without inside string picking, etc., but when I have to nail it live, I'll go for the safest, cleanest option.
Click to expand...
I just don't think it's possible. A downstroke sound like a downstroke and an up stroke sounds up.

When lines are to fast to do the irregular strokes I do alternate picking. But you can't tell when it's going that fast. Or I try to legato the weak beats and only pick in the downbeats. Practicing lines, scales, exercises, arpeggios in triplets are the dead give away. It used to drive me crazy. Slow triplets are hard, for me, to get accurately unless I phrase them properly like triplets. Alternate picking just doesn't work. You can do things like play harder on the downbeat while doing alternate. But sometimes that's harder. When the downbeat comes on an upstroke and then alternates, my picking gets confused and my stomach muscles bunch up and I make more errors. It takes a while just to HEAR the proper triplet in order to play it correctly.

YMMV of course.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom