Official retarded picking technique thread!

[KAMI]

So, I figured I'd be wrong in thinking I'm the only one who has an unusual/retarded picking technique.

(I'll post pics or maybe even a video of my technique when I have more time)

Strengths:
-greater "reach over all the strings
-pick doesn't roll around or slip very much
-easy to get power with very little effort

weakness:
-super fast "meedlee" playing is hard
-If your not careful, the pick can hit the body of the guitar


Share a picture of your technique and list it's strengths and/or weaknesses.

 

[rythmic_pulses]

I can't really get a picture right now but mine is similar to Fred Thordendal's, fingers curled under one another and it is really claustrophobic as you are constrained to the area you are playing in at the time.

Pro's:
-My wrist does most of the work F.E: faster palm muted power chords (Chugs)
-Pick never slips
-Better control over pick dynamics

Con's:
-Can get painful after several hours
-Sweeps are impossible
-Switching from pick to tap is quite difficult

 

[KAMI]

Mine technique is actually similar to Ola Englund. (just forgot to mention it!!!)

 

[tedtan]

Not the best video of it, but if you want to see what LOOKS like weird picking technique, check out Marty Friedman's right hand here. (I emphasize looks here because the guy is a bad ass player).

 

[DespoticOrder]

Instead of squeezing the pick between my thumb and the side of my index and pushing my hand forward/downward to pick (like I'm supposed to), I hold it between the tips of my finger and thumb and move my hand the oppisite way to pick. If its hard to picture how my hand is moving, it closely resembles masturbation. Oh yeah, and this is also with my second finger instead of index.

Pros:
-Super comfy for me
-Really sharp and tight "digada" bursts in the middle of riffing
-Palm mutes feel cleaner for tricky riffing
-Easier to use the side of the pick, which gives the best tone imo for fast palm muting

Cons:
-Pinch harmonics are a bitch if not on the lower strings
-Almost impossible to mute strings during sweeps (Hair bands help here! )
-Hard to keep a steady hand movment when fast alternate picking licks walk too far up strings
-All the kids stare at it

EDIT: Another pro - Sweep taps are really easy and smooth sounding this way, because my dominant finger is free to tap, tap, tap away!

 

[SirMyghin]

^^

What in the hell is a 'digada' burst.

(also I don't have a unique picking technique. I hold it similar to Maniacal in his videos but do a lot of hybrid picking because I am lazy)

I keep a relaxed hand, fingers slightly curled (see relaxed) but not a closed fist. It is not constraining in any way, palm mutes well, and allows my fingers to be free for hybrid picking (albeit I can hybrid pick from a closed fist too, this is just too constrained overall).

 

[TheOddGoat]

^^

What in the hell is a 'digada' burst.

(also I don't have a unique picking technique. I hold it similar to Maniacal in his videos but do a lot of hybrid picking because I am lazy)

 

[Metaljesus]

I hold the pick between my thumb and the tip of my middle finger, looks quite wierd but that's just what works for me.

Pro's:
-really easy to get powerfull chugs on palm mutes
-easy to mute strings while playing
-easy pinch harmonics

Con's:
-hard to alternate pick fast, especially on higher frets.
-thumb hurts after a while
-i slip further down the pick the longer i play wich means i have to make time to re-align the pick

 

[Duke318]

I used to hold the pick between the thumb and index finger pad, but when I switched to the traditional side of index and thumb, I noticed a significant improvement in everything within a few months. I sucked for the first month, but it was worth it. Less fatigue while playing rhythm. Paul Gilbert made a similar switch.

 

[InfinityCollision]

What in the hell is a 'digada' burst.

di-ga-da, so a quick three-note burst. Makes more sense if you think about it from a wind instrument perspective, where that grouping is a fairly common approach to triple-tonguing.

 

[fwd0120]

Sometimes I accidentally move my other 3 fingers out of the 'fist' shape, and it looks kinda awkward.

 

[SirMyghin]

di-ga-da, so a quick three-note burst. Makes more sense if you think about it from a wind instrument perspective, where that grouping is a fairly common approach to triple-tonguing.

Well, at least it wins most retarded sounding phonetic, sounds like something Timmy from South Park would yell.

 

[Manurack]

Not the best video of it, but if you want to see what LOOKS like weird picking technique, check out Marty Friedman's right hand here. (I emphasize looks here because the guy is a bad ass player)

I was going to post something about Marty Friedman's right hand technique but somebody already did lol Marty is GREAT!

 

[Dickicker]

lolz day late and a dollar short. I was gonna say, if marty friedman is not on here....lolz

 

[tedtan]

It looks like it would be physically painful to pick like Marty, but he makes it work for him, so more power to him.

 

[Adam Of Angels]

I don't really have a steady technique - for certain things I move my thumb and index more than my wrist to pick, and for other things I only move my wrist. I don't know for sure if any of it is unusual, but I did always wonder if it was incorrect:

 

[KAMI]

Thanks for the replies guys! there's more of us than I thought!

Keep 'em coming!

Things I forgot to mention about my technique:
-It's like Ola's but with my other three fingers pointing straight out
-Pinch harmonics are very hard
-easy to control pick dynamics
-Palm muting is clean
-can be painful after a few hours of playing

 

[JosephAOI]

Pros:
- Perfect control over my pick
- Feels good to me
- Makes for easy use of tapping with middle, ring fingers
- Chugs are super easy

Cons:
- I drop my pick easily
- My index finger hurts after a while
- Faster alt. picking is difficult
- I use two different positions that I switch between. One for chugs, the other for everything else.

Pics:

Video:



In case you can't tell, I hold my pick with the tip of my index finger.

 

[Aghasura]

Picking.....the fundamentals of everything, and thus, the thing I work on most. A lot of what I write is kind of tricky on the right hand because I use both inside, outside, alternate, and economy picking in my writing. It's never intentional. I write things SLOWLY and then my right hand figures out the most economical way to play it.

I have two approaches that I use, but for both approaches, I hold the pick in a fairly standard fashion between the thumb and side of inside finger. What varies is the degree of angle I use. Right now, I like the tone I get for many of my riffs using an almost flat picking style (I guess I just like the way the string is voiced), but when I am playing something that involves a lot of trem picking, for instance, I will angle the pick closer to 45 degrees.

I'm always experimenting and playing around, so I'm sure it'll change over time. From what I've read, many top players switch between different picking styles depending on the song or the individual parts of a song. For me it's just an ever-evolving thing.

 

[Ocara-Jacob]

I have a fairly interesting way of picking due to an... issue with my right hand. I'll post pics later, but I hold my pick with my pointer, middle, and thumb, and I tap with my pointer.

PROS: Everything
CONS: Nothing
For me anyways, I've just learned to work with what I have and it's ended up helping me in the long run.