Difficulty Picking High Strings |
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Difficulty Picking High Strings |
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May 5 2015, 09:28 AM |
Hello Jak,
Any chance of posting a couple of pictures? It's difficult to understand from words alone. Cheers Phil -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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May 5 2015, 06:23 PM |
Hi Jak, as Phil said, a video would really help to see exactly what you are doing. When picking different strings we try to pick each string with the same angle, that's why the position of the whole hand moves depending on the string that we are playing.
The best way to see this is checking GMC lessons, for example, check out this lesson by Ben in which he plays 1 note per string, notice how his hand moves up and down depending on the string played: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Picking-Arpeggios/ Please let me know if this clarifies it. -------------------- My lessons
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May 6 2015, 07:20 PM
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My hand looks similar to this when picking the low strings
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XHg13snXlrA/hqdefault.jpg My problem is that I cant maintain that angle when playing the high strings since the thumb part runs into the strings. Some questions about picking mechanics though. Should the pick travel straight up and down when picking a string or does it move across the string at an angle? I think im trying to keep the pick moving exactly up and down which is uncomfortable if my hand resting at an angle compared to the strings. I'll try the anchoring thing like Ben suggested, it seems to help with the high strings a bit. |
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May 6 2015, 09:55 PM |
To be honest Jak I've never thought too much about it.
There is no right or wrong, each player does what they need to do with their own biomechanical idiosyncrasies. Just do what you need to do, this is part of the reason why players have their own tone. Just practise scales across the neck (low E to high E) and eventually you will naturally develop your own method. Try not to think about it, dont watch your picking hand whilst you do this, let it find its own way. Hopefully this will help along with the other advice given. I remember seeing a busker who had had his hand amputated, he had taped a piece of wood to the end of his arm and pushed and glued a pick into it. He was awesome. There is always a way. Work at it and one day it will just happen and you will struggle to see how you had a problem. Enjoy the journey, Phil -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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May 7 2015, 06:31 AM |
It looks like your problem may be your basic hand position. Your curling up around the pick and your hand is residing near the top of the bridge. Can you shoot a bit video of your picking?
Take a look at this video. Look at my right hand. See how the palm of my hand rests on the bridge and my fingers tilt to get access to both high and low strings without losing my palm mute. Also notice my hand is flat not curled. This is NOT something that came natural but took me years to figure out. But it's something worth working on My hand looks similar to this when picking the low strings http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XHg13snXlrA/hqdefault.jpg My problem is that I cant maintain that angle when playing the high strings since the thumb part runs into the strings. Some questions about picking mechanics though. Should the pick travel straight up and down when picking a string or does it move across the string at an angle? I think im trying to keep the pick moving exactly up and down which is uncomfortable if my hand resting at an angle compared to the strings. I'll try the anchoring thing like Ben suggested, it seems to help with the high strings a bit. |
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May 7 2015, 07:13 AM |
My hand looks similar to this when picking the low strings http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XHg13snXlrA/hqdefault.jpg My problem is that I cant maintain that angle when playing the high strings since the thumb part runs into the strings. Some questions about picking mechanics though. Should the pick travel straight up and down when picking a string or does it move across the string at an angle? I think im trying to keep the pick moving exactly up and down which is uncomfortable if my hand resting at an angle compared to the strings. I'll try the anchoring thing like Ben suggested, it seems to help with the high strings a bit. You are what is known as an "upward pick slanter" so you use your thumb side of your hand to rotate around and that is where your picking motion comes from. This is a viable technique, there's nothing wrong with it at all. It just means you've got to understand it's strengths and weaknesses. With this position, changing to a higher string after an upstroke is a bit harder than changing after a downstroke. Things like that. So you've got to work around it. Have a look at this thread which will hopefully help you understand it a bit more https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=53692 Btw, regards the pick travelling across or up and down. Don't worry about that so much, it has less effect on your picking effectiveness than hand position. Hand position is more integral because it dictates what physical mechanics you use to create the picking motion. If you get your hand position then the pick hits the strings where it does and mainly takes care of itself. |
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