Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: Chris Jan 11 2007, 10:10 PM

Hi! I see in all of Kris' videos that he strums both up and down with his pik in guitar solos, but I cant get a feel for doing this and at the moment i just strum down. Should i desperately try and learn to strum both ways in solos, or is it not needed?

Posted by: Stålkonsum Jan 11 2007, 10:27 PM

You should most definatly learn how to do alternative picking (there are some lessons floating around here I think). Its absolutely crucial.. like you I did not do it at first and I found it extremly hard to do in the beginning. But after less than a week of playin I had doubled my speed. So yea, do go through the trouble of learning it..it pays off in large chumps of progress.

Posted by: moorkop Jan 11 2007, 10:32 PM

hope i understood you
the strumming Kris does
well its called alternate picking (strumming is used for chords or at least more than 1 note at a time)
Having watched pretty much all of Kris his tapes he repeats for more than 10 times, you need alternate picking (up-down-up-down), its essential, it's a guitar with 6 (or more) strings
of course it's possible without, but you'll never play fast solo's and never even approach kris' (or any great guitarplayer you like) speed and comford.

please try the up-down-up-down, it will save your life one day

I can hear Kris talking in my ear saying "please don't cheat on this, i did and i'm still recovering from it today, don't make my mistakes.

hope this answer is clear

Posted by: Pavel Jan 11 2007, 10:32 PM

Regular Picking is often called ALTERNATE Picking - that means that the moves ALTERNATE between UPSTROKES and DOWNSTROKES - that's the most important thing to learn if you are planning to play guitar.

So here is a short example:

e|----------------------------|
b|--12--10--8--12--10--8--|
g|----------------------------|


You start with picking 12th fret with DOWNSTROKE, next you pick 10th fret with UPSTROKE and 8th with DOWNSTROKE. Now you get back to 12th fret but this time - if you followed the moves of your hand you noticed that the next stroke is gonna be Upstroke.

I'll be doing some Alternate picking lessons for 4 notes per string patterns and you'll see how important it is to alternate Down-Up-Down-Up-Down-Up-Down-Up-Down-Up! It's the basic thing for playing.

Good luck!

Posted by: Chris Jan 11 2007, 10:43 PM

thanks guys i didnt realised how important this is and how much it can help......this is a real eye opener........ if ur soloing and u pull off or bend do you suggest keeping your pic below the string if it is below, or bring it back up in the time that it takes you to bend/po/etc???? also there are exercises like the one above that just get you practicing alternate picking on one string...but im sure it changes alot wen you move up or down strings??? how does your pic position change considering that you are moving between strings??? (if that makes ne sense)....i will try as hard as i can to nail alternate picking ...thanks guys

Posted by: Pavel Jan 11 2007, 10:51 PM

Alternate picking is all about DOWN-UP. Even if moving between strings!

e|----------------------------------------------------|
b|----------------10--12--14--12--10--------------|
g|--10--12--14--------------------------14--12----|

i'll just right the picking here:

10-D, 12-U, 14-D, 10-U, 12-D, 14-U, 12-D, 10-U, 14-D, 12-U

Play this exercise a few times in a row, now when you finish the lick you get to 12th fret with Upstroke - you play the lick from beginning and start again with 10th fret Downstroke.
You see? It's alternating!
Enjoy!

Posted by: Chris Jan 12 2007, 10:35 PM

thanks every one...iv started practicing now...and i have improved my speed already (well not speed that much, just the effort it takes to get speed; much less than b4) thanks

Posted by: Pavel Jan 13 2007, 12:03 AM

Thats great man! Keep on working and keep us informed on your progress!!

Posted by: Chris Jan 13 2007, 11:22 PM

Pavel. your exercise is great practice... injust one day my entire playing has improved....i hav found i can use alternate picing for almost ne thing!!!!! tha ks every one

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Jan 16 2007, 07:23 PM

Excellent things said here!