Benson Picking

[FWB]

Has anyone messed around with this? It's like holding the pick with the "OK" gesture, and inverting the thumb joint. It reverses the angle of the pick with relation to the standard style of holding a pick, with the pad of the thumb and side of the index finger.

The Tuck and Patti article, which I'm sure many here have seen, claims it allows easier use of oscillation when picking from the wrists, and can be sped up to 20 NPS with minimal tension. I think it does help a little with tremolo picking like this, but whenever I change strings, it seems to immediately get caught on a string and stop. Not cool.

Shawn Lane apparently picks like this, and he didn't seem to have any trouble

 

[darbdavys]

If that's what I think you're talking about, then Bulb picks this way. and, as we all know, he pwns

 

[ShadyDavey]

I can't do it - SO very uncomfortable as the flexibility of my thumb simply does not allow me to position the pick appropriately. I wish I could but hey, there are plenty of other rapid pickers who don't pick that way so there's hope yet I guess

 

[Keytarist]

I have read it on the Tuck and Patti site, but I can't get it. Would you like to explain it easily?. I wish that I could see a picture or video.
Seems very interesting, it is new for me.

 

[damigu]

i've tried it, but it doesn't feel good on my thumb knuckle.

 

[SevenStringSam]

i do it naturally. it is just so fluid feeling

 

[FWB]

I have read it on the Tuck and Patti site, but I can't get it. Would you like to explain it easily?. I wish that I could see a picture or video.
Seems very interesting, it is new for me.

The best description I can think of is to keep your fingers like this picture, except you invert the first knuckle joint so that is points toward the palm, instead of away from the palm. This should reverse the angle of the pick with respect to the standard way of holding a pick.

 

[Keytarist]

Thanks a lot for your description. I found a thread that can be very useful for you (from this forum).http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/music-theory-lessons-and-techniques/17135-shawn-lane-tone.html

 

[splinter8451]

Man I tried picking like that for a few minutes and it did feel good on the strings but it killed my thumb

I think Ill stick to the way I normally pick

 

[Keytarist]

I have a problem with this. My pick slips so easily!. Do you know what I'm doing wrong?. Picking feels better, and smoother than standard picking, but playing normally I have much more grip.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Perhaps if I had leaned this 6 or 7 years prior it would be worth the learning curve. It's certainly interesting, and I can see how it's mastery would be great, but it's too late for me to relearn how to pick.

 

[Hollowway]

Perhaps if I had leaned this 6 or 7 years prior it would be worth the learning curve. It's certainly interesting, and I can see how it's mastery would be great, but it's too late for me to relearn how to pick.

Totally. I got waaaay too many other things I royally suck at to start relearning my picking style.

 

[xtrustisyoursx]

Tosin holds the pick this way. It does help to have what I've heard called a "hitchhiker's thumb"

 

[includao]

i have normal thumbs and i can do the same benson picking technique without any undue tension.


the problem is not with the THUMB. the pick position changes the ATTACK ANGLE. the attack angle make you concentrate yourself from movements of the wrist

 

[Keytarist]

How do you manage to keep the pick without it sliping?. That was the first issue I had with this technique after reading this thread.
And, for the players that already achieved this technique, does it really let you play faster and better?.

 

[xtrustisyoursx]

i've always played this way most of the time, esp for rhythm stuff.

 

[MF_Kitten]

i´m trying to change the way i pick, and the way i hold the actual pick. not comfortable!

i´ve been using the "pinch" grip on the pick, and picking flat onto the strings. i´m trying to change my grip and picking style so it´s at an angle, so i can go through the strings easier and with less resistance. my hand wants to hold the pick in the way i´ve done it from the beginning, but i´m trying to override it. not easy.

this pick holding style looks painful though. i´ve got some weird tremolo picking techniques that just sorta resulted from me not being very good. Dendroaspis said i tremolo pick almost like marty friedman, but not exactly the same. i had to check it on youtube, and indeed it´s kinda similar

it´s hard to explain, and i´ll have to show it in a vid sometime...

 

[etiam]

I'm wondering whether the grip itself or the angle of the pick attack is the more important variable here. Since it seems that a number of the guys given as examples are double-jointed--and since guys like Paul Gilbert can shred all day long with a relatively normal grip (albeit, once again, at an angle)--the grip is not quite as important as the attack angle.

 

[Cancer]

I'm wondering whether the grip itself or the angle of the pick attack is the more important variable here. Since it seems that a number of the guys given as examples are double-jointed--and since guys like Paul Gilbert can shred all day long with a relatively normal grip (albeit, once again, at an angle)--the grip is not quite as important as the attack angle.

According to Gilbert, he used to pick this way, and loved it, he only moved to his current way after going to GIT. The few players I've seen using this get great clarity and speed, they also seem to "naturally gravitate" toward it. I also found that alot of female players gravitate toward this picking style (more efficient use of lesser muscle mass ????). I used this for a bit, it's awesome, but I worried about the longevity of my thumb joint, so I stopped.

 

[AVWIII]

This is how I've always picked. Glad someone else approves haha. It helps that I have double jointed thumbs that can bend back farther than forward.
Someone mentioned the pick getting caught on strings when trying to play like this. That's what happens to me when I try to pick "normally".