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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ Picking Techique
Posted by: Wabba Sep 19 2009, 10:02 AM
I have a questiong about my tehnique:
When I'm playing something slow, sweeping or using legato, I pick from my wrist. But when I'm playing with alternate picking, I start to pick from my elbow. I have managed to achieve a good, relaxed and pretty accurate techique with it. It doesn't wear my out or cause any pain or injury. Homever, it is picking from the elbow which is said to be wrong, And I use it already in pretty slow ap speeds.
I uploaded a take on mojo oro 1 here few days ago (You can check my technique from it, but it's pretty small sized video to decrease the memory usage), but i don't know how to attach it into this post, so you can view the original topic in http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=30541&st=0&p=423504&#entry423504.
So is it ok to pick from elbow?
EDIT: Oh yeah, i also find wrist picking easier on the lowest strings. I wonder why 
Posted by: djohnneay Sep 19 2009, 10:19 AM
Interesting problem. I got the same thing with downpicking, so I'm curious as well.
Posted by: Staffy Sep 19 2009, 10:21 AM
When I'm playing something slow, sweeping or using legato, I pick from my wrist. But when I'm playing with alternate picking, I start to pick from my elbow. I have managed to achieve a good, relaxed and pretty accurate techique with it. It doesn't wear my out or cause any pain or injury. Homever, it is picking from the elbow which is said to be wrong, And I use it already in pretty slow ap speeds.
I uploaded a take on mojo oro 1 here few days ago (You can check my technique from it, but it's pretty small sized video to decrease the memory usage), but i don't know how to attach it into this post, so you can view the original topic in http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=30541&st=0&p=423504&#entry423504.
So is it ok to pick from elbow?
EDIT: Oh yeah, i also find wrist picking easier on the lowest strings. I wonder why
I dont think this is a serious matter, a lot of players play from the elbow, I've seen Gary Moore doin that in his hardrock days, and that was FAST..... as long as you are comfortable with it, its just fine!
//Staffay
Posted by: Wabba Sep 19 2009, 02:21 PM
Ok, but... When i participate in the rec program, then do the instructors give me a lower grade on, hmm, posture, maybe, Because it looks so tense?
Posted by: Staffy Sep 19 2009, 02:26 PM
I dunno really, the instructors must answer this, but as long as it doesn't SOUND tense, I dont think it matters...
//Staffay
Posted by: Wabba Sep 19 2009, 03:40 PM
//Staffay
Yeah, it makes sense
But how can something sound tense, and can you tell it apart from just having a good attack?
Posted by: Marcus Siepen Sep 21 2009, 05:10 PM
Yes, I can hear a difference 
But I agree with the others, as long as your technique is fine and comfortable for you I don't see much of a problem, I could not play at all like that though.
Posted by: Wabba Sep 21 2009, 05:12 PM
But I agree with the others, as long as your technique is fine and comfortable for you I don't see much of a problem, I could not play at all like that though.Then if you can hear a difference, does my playing sound tense? I'd like to know, I'm huge perfectionist when it comes to my guitar technic.
Posted by: Eat-Sleep-andJam Sep 22 2009, 12:35 PM
I sorta have picked this way for a long time, and now I am starting to feel minor pains. I honestly think everything that can be done with the elbow, can be mimicked with the wrist and can achieve the same speed.
Posted by: Pedja Simovic Sep 22 2009, 12:38 PM
Don't worry too much about the posture New REC grading system should take care of that anyways.
Focus on getting the sound you want and in the meanwhile try not to harm your hands in any way
Posted by: Wabba Sep 22 2009, 02:49 PM
New REC grading system should take care of that anyways. Focus on getting the sound you want and in the meanwhile try not to harm your hands in any way
Ok... But does it sound tense? I'd reeaally like to know that...
Posted by: Marcus Siepen Sep 22 2009, 03:32 PM
Yes, it sounds a bit tense, but don't worry about this at all, after all this is defintiely not an easy piece of music. Sounding tense in this context means that I can hear you are struggling to make it every now and then, which again is perfectly ok. If you keep practicing it this tension will slowly fade and you will get more selfconfident about playing those licks, so as I said, don't worry about it.
Posted by: Frederik Sep 22 2009, 03:37 PM
Isnt it unprecise?
can u achor ur wrist? thinking of string skipping.. inst that harder to do from elbow
Posted by: Daniel Robinson Sep 22 2009, 06:13 PM
Aside what others have mentioned, i think the "Sounding tense" stems not from the elbow picking but the picking dynamics.
You not letting any accents thru, its all the same picking velocity. Try working on varying the picking dynamics so we can hear the accents in each phrase. I think that will go a long way in making it sound less tense
Daniel
Posted by: Wabba Sep 22 2009, 07:43 PM
So this means i can practically keep playing from the elbow? Anyways, I already started to practice playing from the wrist, I've improved somewhat, BUT I can play more relaxed and faster when i play from elbow. And no, it's not hard to do string skipping when elbow-picking. And yeah, that's not a very good take of mojo oro, mostly because it's too hard for me but my recording fear also affects it.
I'm also practicing the accents. I can feel them myself when I'm playing but it seems that it's not enough. Posted by: Vasilije Vukmirovic Sep 22 2009, 09:17 PM
Picking from elbow isn't necessarily wrong, but you should try to avoid it. Thing is that if yo pick from the elbow you don't have much control so it's pointless... There is a certain treshold where you don't have enough strength in "wrist", and you switch to your elbow, so by practicing properly that treshold gets higher and higher, at the end you don't need elbow at all!
Posted by: Wabba Sep 23 2009, 05:27 AM
Ok, I'll keep that in mind when I practice picking
Thanks to everyone from help!
Posted by: Marcus Siepen Sep 23 2009, 09:46 AM
By the way, the best way to fight this "recording fear" is to record yourself as much as possible. Many people are more nervous when they are recorded, but if you keep doing it all the time it will have two effects: first of all it will get kinda normal for you, it won't be a big deal anymore to be recorded, this will take away a lot of tension, mental tension. And the second great effect is that like this you can much better judge your own playing. While we just play we sometimes don't really pay attention to our flaws, we think we just played a cool riff/lick/whatever, but actually it might not have been that well played, when you record yourself you will clearly hear your flaws and can work on them.
Posted by: Wabba Sep 23 2009, 01:31 PM
Yeah, true indeed
It'll not go away until I make it go away.
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 23 2009, 02:15 PM
Vasilije said it very nicely, it is not wrong to play from the elbow, but keeping focused on wrist playing may be a good thing to do for the future practice sessions.
Posted by: Wabba Sep 23 2009, 02:20 PM
Good to hear, because that's exactly how I started doing 2 days ago
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