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Author
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Topic: Alternate Picking Help
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On the Guest List Posts: 4
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted August 11, 2004 02:34 PM
  
Hi there, I've been playing guitar for 2 years and for the entire time, i've been playing with just downstrokes.I heard that to be able to play faster, I gotta use alternate picking and do downstrokes and upstrokes. But problem is, it is sooooooo frustratingly hard, and I can't play very fast or very accurately. Any advice? IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 46
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted August 11, 2004 03:19 PM
Just play slow to start with ,doing chromatic exercises on the same string until you get used to to the alternate picking,then from Low E to high E up and down back and foward, then move it onto scales.IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 426
Registered: May 2004
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posted August 11, 2004 08:58 PM
Start very slow, I was like you and tried to play ridiculously fast passages with only downstrokes and it was a big mistake. Which way do you hold the pick? Also, what excersises are you trying that makes alternating so hard?IP: Logged |
On the Guest List Posts: 4
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted August 12, 2004 06:28 PM
Well, I hold it with my thumb and index finger.But thing is, when I use alternate picking, I can't go very fast. String skipping is very hard, and i often hit unwanted strings. Also, I have to keep looking at my right hand, and it takes my concentration away from my left hand, so I often miss fingerings. IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 426
Registered: May 2004
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posted August 12, 2004 07:11 PM
We share a similar problem crunchy. Since the day I started guitar, I have always held the pick with my thumb, index, and middle. But when I started shredding, I had to go to holding the pick with the TIP of my index and thumb. I was able to go very fast very accuratly especially with alternate picking with that way of holding it. Now I am trying to clean up my act and I see all the pros holding it with the side of their index. So I try to do it that way as much as possible, and the only problem is I can't go fast and cant string skip well. May I ask where you anchor your hand? Is the hand resting on the bridge or a pinky on the pickguard?IP: Logged |
On the Guest List Posts: 4
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted August 12, 2004 09:21 PM
I usually put my pinky on the pickguard.And can you explain what you mean by "holding the pick with the TIP of my index and thumb"? IP: Logged |
On the Guest List Posts: 21
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted August 12, 2004 11:43 PM
I suffered that too, feeling like a snail since I only used down strokes then moving to alternate picking. Just start slow, you will pick up speed faster than you think.. for me only the first day did I feel like a dang idiot and for the first few days I didn't care about the pattern I ran I just started using 2 fingers index and ring finger up and down the strings then went to 3 when it felt ok and then 4. Within a week I supassed my down stroke only speed so as long as you dont let it frustrate you to bad it goes faster then if you had never played and started off alternate picking hehe[This message has been edited by BluesMetal (edited August 12, 2004).] IP: Logged |
On the Guest List Posts: 4
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted August 13, 2004 08:43 AM
Well, when I alternate pick, I feel a lot of...pressure/resistance from the string.
Meaning that I have to pick harder, and can't do it as fast...and it's hard to keep a steady 4-note beat.
And it is harder with the lower strings (E, A, D)IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 426
Registered: May 2004
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posted August 13, 2004 09:27 AM
Crunchy, when I alternate pick for shredding, I hold the pick between the tip of my index finger and thumb like I am making an ok sign. I find I get a lot more flexability and speed from this rather than holding it against the side of the fingerIP: Logged |
On the Guest List Posts: 5
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted August 16, 2004 10:19 PM
When I pick, I hold the pick with the side of my index finger and my thumb, and I can go very fast with accuracy. The secret for me is to hold the pick very lightly so there is almost no resistance from the string...hope this helps!IP: Logged |
On the Guest List Posts: 20
Registered: May 2004
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posted August 18, 2004 04:03 AM
Well, the problem with holding the pick at the TIP of your fingers is that it provides less stability which might add some speed(less pressure from the strings) but it also means that the pick has a tendancy to move about and it might actualli fall out if you pick hard/fast enough...
Just hold the pick from the side of your index finger and the inside of your thumb but just hold it light. And most importantly...practice![This message has been edited by Soapermania123 (edited August 18, 2004).] IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 426
Registered: May 2004
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posted August 18, 2004 09:13 AM
Yes soaper, I know the feeling of instability you talked about when I hold the pick like that. The problem is I have been practicing holding the pick the correct way and have found nothing but problems with it. It changes the position of the right hand making it hard to palm mute and pivot at the bridge. Also alternate picking with that way of pick holding means I have to move my hand differently with up stroke and down strokes because the pick is at an angle when I hold it like that. IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 72
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted August 25, 2004 07:14 PM
I hold the pick between the side of my index finger and my thumb. The tip of my index finger sticks out past the side of the pick about a centimetre or so. I also rotate the pick towards the headstock slightly, rather than having it point out nice and straight. Then I hold the guitar up at an angle, so that the headstock is about the same height as my head, which means I'm picking each string at an angle, rather than straight through the string.I used to anchor my pinky, but stopped doing that a while back. It was surprisingly easy to switch over, and stops all the tension in the right hand that comes with anchoring the pinky. (That's only really a problem if the tension starts getting in the way of what you want to play though, and that generally only happens when you really start pushing yourself to play stuff fast.) Take it extremely slowly at first. When doing a downpick on the A string, the pick should move only halfway towards the D string. When doing the upstroke, the pick moves halfway towards the E string. If you want to play fast, efficiency is important. You don't want your pick flying all over the place and having to cover a whole heap of ground to get to the next note. If you're really serious about playing the guitar properly - get hold of 'Principles of correct practice for guitar' by Jamey Andreas. It goes into painstaking detail on the correct way to hold the guitar, fret notes and pick strings. Great book. IP: Logged |
On the Guest List Posts: 11
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted August 31, 2004 10:31 PM
luckily, i never learned anything BUT alternate picking. My lesson teacher had me on alternate picking since my first lesson. All i can say is practicing scales over and over and over and over. BTW, one of the hardest things about alternate picking is the angle you hold the pick relative to the string. A big problem for many new alternating pickers is that when the stroke up, they have the pick pointing up(into the string), thus making it very hard for the pick to pass through the string. You have to pay very special attention to not do this, and dont do the opposite either. That is, when you stroke down, dont have the pick pointing down. Obviously you dont do this, but when you increase speed with alternate picking, you hand easily gets confused and you have to focus on that pick.IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 94
Registered: May 2004
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posted September 01, 2004 02:27 PM
ya i was like ^^ in that my guitar teacher made me alternate pick to begin with. somthing i learned is that if you are having trouble with the right hand keeping up with the left on a particularly tough piece, take a break for bout 30 minutes and then come back wut it means is that your speed is increasing in one hand but not the other. so you need to make the muscles in that hand thats speeding up tighten up, becacause you dont want it faster than the right. also it helps to use heavier picks. i use fender heavy's but i know people who use like 3s lol..alot of guitarists think its harder to shred with heavy picks, its actually easier you just have to get use to them.IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 72
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted September 01, 2004 03:41 PM
You don't ever want to tighten up the muscles in your hands. It's not good to get your hands into bad habits, just to slow them down enough so the other hand can catch up.Always try and keep the muscles in your hands as relaxed as possible. If one hand can't keep up - slow it down to a speed where that hand can keep up. Then play the section perfectly for 5 minutes. Then speed it up. If your right hand is a lot slower than your left hand - just concentrate on your right hand for a while. Pick an exercise that is basic for your left hand, but gives your right hand a good workout, then play it over and over until your right hand gets in the swing of it. As always, figure out exactly what the problem is, (as in, be able to explain to another guitarist on the phone what's going wrong) then find or create an exercise that practices exactly that problem area. And anyone who thinks it's harder to shred with heavy picks is inexperienced. Give them one of those floppy 0.45 mm picks and ask them to play something fast with alternate picking. Then laugh at them. Any pick that's 1.0mm or thicker won't bend as it moves through the string. As you move from 1.0mm to 3.0mm, you don't get any speed advantage - all that happens is your tone becomes duller. That then becomes a personal preference thing. Maybe some people prefer the 3.0mm big stubbies because they're made of funky see-through plastic, plus they've got those nice scalloped sides for your index finger and thumb to sit in. Hmmm... I used them for years, and they are stylish picks. But those scalloped sections are in the wrong spot, and my tone brightened up a whole lot when I tried a 1.0mm pick again. IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 94
Registered: May 2004
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posted September 02, 2004 05:23 PM
Good post oh master Guru. lol Rayman do you have a aim sn? id like to chat on aim if your ever on. IP: Logged |
Band Member Posts: 72
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted September 02, 2004 06:10 PM
Nope, I'm not on aim. Probably because I'm antisocial, and like being in control of my time. I get annoyed every time the phone rings. That's weird, isn't it? I should just chill out and let go every now and then... or maybe it's just what happens when you have kids, and your life starts to revolve around their timetable. You start becoming very protective of your time.Er. I'm rambling again. Short answer is no. IP: Logged |
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