Vivaldi Winter Arpeggios, Practice Alternate Picking Options

[Manu RASSE]

I think you have very solid technique here. It's clean, it's well played, you have good pick control and muting and hand synch. I think you are making great progress! It is probably harder so see from your perspective as you hear yourself play every day so it happens in much smaller steps. We see you play on videos and time passes in between each one so it's obvious to me that you are making gains. Sometimes it seems like it's very slow just because you only see the daily slight increase. Trust me, it's there!

Your picking technique is very good. If you want to explore thumb/finger articulation, forget about the left hand for a minute. Just take it off the guitar. Plant your palm on the bride and don't let it move. Now using just your finger and thumb, try to touch the pick to each string going up and each one going down. That's a basic articulation drill
Todd

Hi Todd Thank you for advices and encouragement.
I would do that

It's visible that you worked and believe me we see your huge progress more than you can imagine.
Todd has right, you have a very solid technique and I also like the fact that you play clean.

But....you still not make the movement that we looking for (it's true that your thumb it doesn't look so stiff anymore). In your video you keep the thumb finger bend, but your movements come from the wrist not from your thumb.
You need to block your wrist and let the thumb finger to make the job.


Make an experiment. Try when you practice in a slow tempo to not let your wrist to make any movement. Freeze your wrist and put your thumb finger to make a much wide movement than should be. Totally exaggerate with the thumb movement until you will get used to it. At some point your thumb will start to make automatically the motion in a correct way without to think at it. Have patience and things will start work.



Look, you have here a short demo from a lesson that I work. I play this at 200 bpm but this time I posted for you a demo at 175 bpm because it's much easy to see exactly my thumb movement. Also I zoomed the right hand. I'm not used to work in Adobe Premiere but I don't know how to zoom so much in other program. So if the image it's not perfect clear, please forgive me.
Be careful at my right hand when I start to play the run. I don't involve the wrist for movement. My thumb makes all the job and that's why I not even feel the speed.

Hi Monica

I love your com - The translate with google is perferct - I understand all your advices.
Your take is amazing - Your thumb movement 00"05" to 00"08 is very very impressive, so perfect.
Your playing is now similar to the instructors.

I keep focus on it, I made a new take 50% to show you my thumb work -
Movement is more visible. I am aware of the lack of amplitude.

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This post has been edited by MisterM: Aug 8 2019, 08:06 AM

[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi MisterM! I've been following your progress at the mentoring program and it's awesome mate. I know that it's difficult to notice our own improvements but you just have to check old videos and you'll see mate. I've seen old videos from you recently and there are lots of improvements regarding groove, dynamics, precision, speed, tone and much more.

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[Monica Gheorghev...]

Hi Monica

I love your com - The translate with google is perferct - I understand all your advices.
Your take is amazing - Your thumb movement 00"05" to 00"08 is very very impressive, so perfect.
Your playing is now similar to the instructors.

I keep focus on it, I made a new take 50% to show you my thumb work -
Movement is more visible. I am aware of the lack of amplitude.

It's great to hear that Google translate works in a good way and you can understand all I say.
If sometimes you don’t understand something, tell me and I will try to explain that thing in other ways. It's not a problem for me. Also, if words not work, I will make you a video to show you what I say.
I love your playing, your amazing takes, I know how much you work and if I can help you with something, I will do my best to find the perfect way to explain you.


Returning at your video.
You have right, at this speed the movement it's more visible and this time I saw exactly from where come the problem. Now it's easy to explain you how to fix this in a fast way.
I will tell you, from my point of view what you are doing wrong right now and how to solve the issue to make this works.
So, let's start with the beginning.


What you do wrong at this moment:
Your thumb makes a movement but it's not a constant one. Are moments when your thumb uses the same kind of position (bend or stretched) for two or free notes (first example is 0:05- 0:06).
Using an irregular movement for your thumb, will not let you to have a good coordination and will make impossible to keep this thumb movement under control.
I think the issue comes from a misunderstanding of thumb movement. That's why you still use the wrist to make the motions because are places where you use your thumb stretched to make the up strokes (example: transition between 0:13 - 0:14). This thing it forces you to use your wrist for movement.



How to fix the issue:
I will explain you how to see and how to think at this thumb movement in a very easy way.

As you know in alternate picking, for each note that we play we use a down and up movement. The key for this technique it's to never mess the picking direction.

When we use the thumb joint movement, in your mind you must keep this:
- for each down stroke pick, you will stretch your thumb
- for each up stroke pick, you will bend your thumb

Your thumb must make a movement on each note that you play. It's the same thinking as for alternate picking but instead to have in mind: down, up, down up, you should think at your thumb with: stretch, bend, stretch, bend (for each note…..stretch thumb for down stroke and bend thumb for up stroke). The direction of thumb movement is the key. Respecting this, you will get a correct and regular motion for your thumb.

It's perfect how you made between 0:11 -0:12 – that kind of movement should make the thumb.




To be sure that you will limit your wrist movements, you can try to do this:

Put your right hand in the palm muting position. For the beginning don't let your hand to move from that place. Keep your wrist blocked. Play only moving your thumb and index finger. The next free fingers (pinky, ring and middle finger) should stay motionless.

First time you will not feel this comfortable. You will have the feeling that you are not able to play nothing in this way. It will be like a fight, where your wrist unconscious will want to make the move that it knows, and your mind which must force the wrist to stay blocked.
When the thumb will get used with the movement, all the weird feeling it will disappear. You will see all the things from a different perspective. One, that will allow you to reach impressive speeds with minimum of effort.

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[Todd Simpson]

Spot on! This is very similar to the advice I gave as well. It's about planting the palm and not letting it move. This forces the thumb to adapt to reach and strike a string. It's a basic articulation drill that helped me quite a bit which is why I suggested it here. I think it may require a video as text alone may not be enough. I"ll record a video example.

Put your right hand in the palm muting position. For the beginning don't let your hand to move from that place. Keep your wrist blocked. Play only moving your thumb and index finger. The next free fingers (pinky, ring and middle finger) should stay motionless.

First time you will not feel this comfortable. You will have the feeling that you are not able to play nothing in this way. It will be like a fight, where your wrist unconscious will want to make the move that it knows, and your mind which must force the wrist to stay blocked.
When the thumb will get used with the movement, all the weird feeling it will disappear. You will see all the things from a different perspective. One, that will allow you to reach impressive speeds with minimum of effort.

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[Todd Simpson]

Here is close up vid of just picking on one string using the thumb method. Give this a look and let me know if it makes sense

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[Manu RASSE]

Thank you Monica Thank you Todd

I undestand my mistake
I'll try to correct that. I'll make a new take soon

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This post has been edited by MisterM: Aug 9 2019, 02:02 PM

[Kristofer Dahl]

Just to echo what's been said here. Your progress is amazing - and if you could practice by doing exactly what Monica explained and Todd showed in his video - you would be nailing your specific "problem" area.

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[Manu RASSE]

Hi

my thumb does not have the necessary amplitude but progress will come from working.
However, the small progress gives me the feeling that it’s a little easier to play

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[Monica Gheorghev...]

Hi

my thumb does not have the necessary amplitude but progress will come from working.
However, the small progress gives me the feeling that it’s a little easier to play

Judging after the fact that have passed only few days from your last post, I can say that you definitely made a big improvement. Your thumb looks better because you eliminated that irregular movement. This is an awesome thing.
Also you achieved a relaxing in playing and I like this very much.


Now the main problem that does not let you to achieve this thumb joint movement in a correct way, still remains your wrist. In your video you use the wrist for the movement and this should not happen.
As Todd showed you in his video, his wrist stay blocked and only the thumb do the job.


Try to work on this area. Force your wrist to not make any move. Probably you will need to make a little more visible the stretch and bend movement of your thumb. At this moment you minimized this thumb movement but not because of the speed, because of your wrist which still make the motion.


One more thing. I want to assure myself that I pointed everything to not let any misunderstanding to occur.

In Vivaldi Winter Arpeggios lesson, Cosmin don't use the thumb movement. So, if you compare your take with original take made by Cosmin, keep in mind that your wrist should not make the same motion as in the Cosmin's take.
You work at a different technique which can be used in many situations including the lesson made by Cosmin.
If I remember well, instructors mentioned about the thumb joint movement when you posted in REC "Triplet Etude". But there Piotr use the thumb movement and his wrist and pinky finger stay in the same place entire lesson.
I wanted to mention this to be sure that you not take as reference how Cosmin move the wrist.

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This post has been edited by Monica Gheorghevici: Aug 12 2019, 12:24 PM

[Manu RASSE]

Hi Monica

I understood the mechanism but it is not easy to apply
I know that in this lesson Cosmin doesn't use this technique but I try to apply it on the alternate picking to train me.
I also have problems of timing and accentuation that I need to improve

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[Todd Simpson]

I"Ve got something else for you to try. This is a lick that will be coming up soon in QUICK LICKS and it's based on using THUMB/FINGER articulation. Perhaps the vivaldi piece is not the best idea to work on this technique as it's a VERY complex piece that requires much of your brain to think about notes. Try this. I"m playing pretty slow. Let me know if you need tablature. This lick is only three fretted notes. It's the same notes that move down a whole step then back up. It will give you space to focus on your picking instead of on hitting 1,000 different notes all over the neck. Isolation is often the key element when working on new techniques. That vivaldi piece will NOT let you isolate anything IMHO as it's just to complicated. It's a great piece, but way to much for just working on thumb articulation imho. Have a look at this. Sorry for the poor quality, this is a raw cell phone video that I make to remind myself what to record next for quick licks.

*You can use any strike pattern that works for you. Also, if you need to wag the wrist a pinch to reach the next string, try to change the angle of the hand instead of using the wrist for movement. If a pinch of wrist sneaks in, it's ok, just play slow and try to see how much of your thumb/finger you can use and how little of your wrist you can use.

Hi Monica

I understood the mechanism but it is not easy to apply
I know that in this lesson Cosmin doesn't use this technique but I try to apply it on the alternate picking to train me.
I also have problems of timing and accentuation that I need to improve

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 13 2019, 02:14 AM

[Manu RASSE]

Hi Todd

Ok I will try, I will make a take to show you my work
Yes I'll like have a tab if you can - this will help me understand the beat

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This post has been edited by MisterM: Aug 13 2019, 05:57 AM

[Todd Simpson]

Sure thing Here ya go. Tablature and tab file for guitar pro. This is just one position. Play it on a loop. After you get used to it, at the loop point at the end of the second bar, move it down a whole step. This is not a requirement, just something to try after, I repeat, after, you can use your thumb to articulate most of the pick strikes. Forget about speed. Play it at 5 BPM if you have to. Form is what matters here
 thumbarticulation.gp5 ( 1.95K ) Number of downloads: 91

Hi Todd

Ok I will try, I will make a take to show you my work
Yes I'll like have a tab if you can - this will help me understand the beat

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 14 2019, 12:29 AM

[Manu RASSE]

Thank you Todd

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[Todd Simpson]

Happy to Help!! I'll make a better video when I shoot for Quick LIcks, this is just to remind me not to forget the lick It's a very fun lick! Once you can play it at 240bpm without missing any strikes, you've arrived!
Todd

Thank you Todd

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[Manu RASSE]

Hi Todd

I trained yesterday, difficult to apply correctly palm mute as "tab"
Very funny, I like it

I should make a take soon to show you my thumb work

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[Manu RASSE]

Hi Todd

I made a take with bass line
I love very much this gimmick, it's crazy.

My thumb isn't more articulate but it's so funny

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[Todd Simpson]

Glad you like it!!! It's actually part of a Song I was writing. I realized it made a great hand drill SO I thought I'd use it in Quick Licks! Looks like you added a connecting note which is fine. You can just take the whole thing and move it down 2 frets as well, then move 2 frets down again, then 1 fret and you've got the entire intro for the song it's a great riff for working on picking!! It's very hard to prevent string noise on this so it's a great one for muting as well! I"m very impressed that you are able to play it cleanly at this speed! I sometimes get lost in it and hit a wrong note now and then. It's almost like the pattern mesmerizes your brain and my fingers forget which string is next. Took me a good bit of practice to play this smoothly.

As for your thumb, I do see it trying to work it's magic! Your wrist is doing a lot of the work here. There is no crime in picking from the wrist. It looks like you are using a combo of both and learning on the wrist which is fine Try it at a really slow speed and don't let you hand/wrist move at all, which will force your fingers to do the articulation.
Todd

Hi Todd

I made a take with bass line
I love very much this gimmick, it's crazy.

My thumb isn't more articulate but it's so funny

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 17 2019, 10:06 AM

[Manu RASSE]

Hi Todd

Yes I should work slowly.


Hi there,

This morning, I played with the metronome’s help.
I tried not to put too much pressure on the pick

I added a phaser, because I can’t get the sound of Cosmin
I think it’s kind of cool

I’m starting to think about a take for the REC Section

What do you think about it ?

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This post has been edited by MisterM: Aug 17 2019, 09:58 AM

[Todd Simpson]

I can tell your speed has increased thats for sure! You are not lagging like you were in the previous vid but it did sound like you missed a few notes entirely, e.g. a very short gap where it sounds like a note should have been but it didn't get strike or hammered strongly enough. You are getting closer on this! I think your other thumb work is actually helping on this one. Your picking now is a bit faster that your fretting hand. The parts that are hammer on have to be strongly hammered to make as much noise as the notes that are picked. The best way to work on this IMHO is to take the picking hand out of the equation and do a few LEFT HAND ONLY drills to work on finger power.

Thankfully I have 3 such drills ready to go. Quick Licks 90 is the first one.

Hi Todd

Yes I should work slowly.


Hi there,

This morning, I played with the metronome’s help.
I tried not to put too much pressure on the pick

I added a phaser, because I can’t get the sound of Cosmin
I think it’s kind of cool

I’m starting to think about a take for the REC Section

What do you think about it ?

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!