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dairwolf
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dairwolf

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18 Apr 2013
Hey everyone!

I´ve been struggling with a certain technical problem for more than a year now, and I think I finally collected all the pieces I need to solve the problem. Since the problem almost made me quit playing the guitar, I thought I might share this with all of you.


My problem was that every time I changed strings with alternate picking, I accidentally hit the next string on the wrong side. So let´s say I am doing an upstroke on the high e string. My pick wouldn´t move up enough then and hit the b string, which is next to the e string, on the inside, which was not intended (the next correct stroke would be a downstroke on the outside of the b string).

Naturally the first thing I tried was to just keep practicing the very movement that I couldn´t get right. So I would sit there, play string changes (outside and inside, one or two note per string patterns etc., you know what I mean) and track the speeds I managed to reach.


However, I very soon realized that I was stuck at a certain tempo (which was 120 BPM, four notes per Beat). I realized if I am already stuck at 120 BPM and can´t get any further no matter how much I practice, there has got to be something wrong with my technique. And I think that I now know what it was.

I have to go into detail here, but if you are having the same problem, you might want to thank me later.

The move I used to get the tip of the pick up so that it can go over the next string was the muscle you´d need to tap on your table. Put your fingers on any surface and move all of them up at once from your wrist and then down again, and you´ll know what move I mean.

I soon realized the following:
You need to get the pick up AND down again for just ONE stroke, so if you play e.g. The high e string and the b string, you´d have to get the pick up when doing the upstroke on the e string, down again to do the downstroke on the b string, up again to get over the e string again etc.

If I wanted to play at fast tempos (200 BPM, fpur notes per beat), that would have meant that in those cases where there are a lot of string changes, I would have had to be able to tap my index finger on the surface FOUR TIMES a beat at 200 BPM! I dare you to try it, and I dare to say that this is physically impossible. (Maybe someday some body builder will focuse on this muscle, but I don´t see the point.)

I actually signed up for Paul Gilbert´s School of rock. There he has a description of his picking technique. When I read his description, it dawned on me.

For fast string changes, you have to combine different techniques for each stroke!

I found that there are basically three techniques for moving the pick up and down:

1. rotating the wrist (moving the root of the thumb away from the guitar strings)
2. the "tapping" move I described earlier and
3. moving up your index finger while holding the pick.

Now again, if you used only ONE of those moves to get the pick up, you won´t be able to reach high speed. I don´t think anyone in the world can move his index finger up and down or rotate the wrist FOUR times per beat at the tempo of 200 BPM.

Of course you have to combine the up and down movement with a side to side movement, but this is rather easy. (I think it´s the same move you´d do when you use a rubber to erase something on a sheet). However, one important thing to notice here is that you are NOT necessarily rotating the wrist, you are only moving it from side to side!

To conclude this, I want to briefly describe how Paul does it and then how I am doing it:

Paul actually has his wrist in a twisted position, so he "leans" the pick forward. When he does upstrokes, the pick is already at the perfect angle to get over the next lower string. So for upstrokes, he is ONLY using the side to side move of the wrist, without rotating it (I think he does it that way, if I am mistaken please tell me).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94851587@N03/8638952267/

For the downstrokes, he uses a different technique. He also uses the side to side move of the wrist, but he adds yet another move, which is the "tapping" move. Since his wrist is in a twisted position all the time, the pick would get stuck below the next higher string, like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94851587@N03/8638953587/

So by using the "tapping" move, it becomes like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94851587@N03/8638953607/

To me, having my wrist in a twisted position all the time feels weird, so I am doing it like this:

When I do an upstroke, I move my wrist from one side to the other AND very slightly rotate it, so that the pick will "lean" and get over the next string. For the downstrokes, I use the side to side move and the "tapping" move.

God, this got long! I hope that there´s some people out there who can use this advice. Fell free to tell me what you think!

Best regards,

Tobi
31 Mar 2013
Right now I am thinking about expanding my knowledge about fast licks/ scales/ runs etc..

Listening to the one or the other guitar shredder, I noticed that very often do the play the notes of a scale or lick simply in ascending or descending order, and there are hardly any "outside" notes (so notes you wouldn´t expect in that respective scale).

I think that Jazz or Bebop in particular might be very helpful to expand my lick collection, the problem I have now is that I don´t really know where to start or how to go about learning Bebop or Jazz improvisation.

Can enyone recommend me books, links, teachers etc. that deal with that kind of problem? And is there maybe something as a "lick library" that lists a lot of licks or explains how to improvise in Jazz?



Thanks,



Tobi
23 Jan 2013
A friend of mine send me this link of a guy who plays death metal songs on the clarinet. It´s pretty awesome and funny, so I thought I´d share! biggrin.gif





12 Jan 2013
Hey everyone!

I finally did a video about my picking technique problems. The quality is crappy and at some points there´s a logo right in the middle of the screen, but as long as it serves the purpose, I am fine with that!

I think that a lot of players do have the same problem as I have, so please watch this video and give me some feedback!!





Thanks, Tobi
14 Dec 2012
Hey everyone! Right now I am trying to improve my right hand. I noticed that I am quite bad at accenting strokes or playing with a strong attack in general.

My limit seems to be somewhere between 100 and 110 BPM. So if I try to play four notes per beat I can do it with enough attack (well, in my opinion). The muscles of my right hand will tire after a few minutes, though. However, if I try any faster tempo, I can hardly get any attack out of my strokes.

So want I am wondering about is the following: Where does the stronger attack come from? Does it have to do with the speed at which the pick hits the string? And is it only a matter of endurance of the muscled whether you can keep hitting the strings with a decent attack at higher speeds?

And do you need the same attack at very high speeds (200 BPM) that you have when you play slower? I mean, is it a sign of control if you are able to do it?
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