Speed picking tips??

[BenEllerGuitars]

hey kiddos
i feel like i'm pretty proficient with most guitar techniques, but my super fast speed picking is lacking. i have no problem doing really fast alternate picked scalar runs in solos, it's just death metal-y trem picked stuff that gets me. my speed is only decent, and i have low endurance. i usually always pick from the wrist when i'm doing anything else, but with speed picking, i usually lock my wrist and let the elbow do the work. should i be using my wrist for speed picking???
any tips would be great. i listen to bands like Nile who speed pick constantly, and i have to wonder how they can play entire sets like that without their hands falling off. thanks!

 

[JBroll]

Practice and experience - assuming your technique is fine, it just takes a long time of playing stuff that kills you. Check out DNR by Testament and all of the Nile stuff for exercises, bring it up to speed as well as you can and work to get it consistent, and if you can pull it off try taking them 20bpm or so above the recorded tempo just to be safe. They've been doing it a long time, that's really all it comes down to, so pull out the metronome and keep at it.

EDIT: Misread the elbow part... wouldn't recommend elbow picking at all, as it requires a lot more strain than you need and limits your versatility. Don't change your picking technique as speed increases, it'll only lead to trouble. END EDIT.

Jeff

 

[Gilbucci]

Speed picking with the elbow can lead to SERIOUS problems. The wrist is the only thing you should be using. You can play alot longer with your wrist, and alot more fluid. It'll take time before you're off and picking like a maniac, dont get discouraged, man, it'll come. Good luck!

 

[Ancestor]

The tightening of everything like that is bad. I know, because I do it all the time. Just keep practicing and watching videos. You'll get it. Even when I used to do almost all my picking with the arm, eventually it loosened up (believe it or not). It's just a matter of doing it all the time. If you just spend five minutes every day, by the end of the year you'll see a big difference.

 

[distressed_romeo]

Speed picking with the elbow can lead to SERIOUS problems. The wrist is the only thing you should be using. You can play alot longer with your wrist, and alot more fluid. It'll take time before you're off and picking like a maniac, dont get discouraged, man, it'll come. Good luck!

Not totally true. There are guys who use their elbow a lot in their picking motion, and sound great, with no physical damage. The problem is when the elbow comes in due to your arm tensing up. Provided you keep your arm relaxed, any combination of wrist and elbow can work just fine.

 

[lordofthesewers]

Not totally true. There are guys who use their elbow a lot in their picking motion, and sound great, with no physical damage. The problem is when the elbow comes in due to your arm tensing up. Provided you keep your arm relaxed, and combination of wrist and elbow can work just fine.

that is exactly what steve smyth told me last lesson. Also for speed picking do not anchor, that is another thing he told me about speed picking

 

[distressed_romeo]

that is exactly what steve smyth told me last lesson. Also for speed picking do not anchor, that is another thing he told me about speed picking

Again, only partially true. Yngwie, Michael Angelo, John Petrucci, and Steve Morse all anchor one or all of their spare fingers on the guitar body...

I've always anchored my pinky on the guitar and never had a problem with speed picking either. I literally can't pick any other way to be honest, although I don't think it's really held me back, so I'm not too bothered.

Having said that, Steve Smyth is way more accomplished than me (massive understatement), so you should probably take his advice before mine...

 

[Cancer]

Possibly the best synopsis of picking techniques on the web.

It's funny that you mentioned Nile, as Karl and Dallas has totally different picking styles (Karl using circle picking, and Dallas using Standard style variation 2), yet achieve the same velocity, albeit with wildly different efficiencies (Dallas's picking hand is a blur, Karl's hand barely moves).

Picking, like tone, is a very personal thing, what works (or is taught) by one may not necessary work with another, so it really does pay to experiment, as your body will definitely give you clues as to what works and what doesn't.

 

[distressed_romeo]

Possibly the best synopsis of picking techniques on the web.

It's funny that you mentioned Nile, as Karl and Dallas has totally different picking styles (Karl using circle picking, and Dallas using Standard style variation 2), yet achieve the same velocity, albeit with wildly different efficiencies (Dallas's picking hand is a blur, Karl's hand barely moves).

That article's amazing. It made me rethink a lot of aspects of my picking when I first saw it a couple of years ago. Tuck should really publish a book at some point...

 

[Cancer]

Again, only partially true. Yngwie, Michael Angelo, John Petrucci, and Steve Morse all anchor one or all of their spare fingers on the guitar body...

Having said that, Steve Smyth is way more accomplished than me (massive understatement), so you should probably take his advice before mine...

...or at least understand the context, as Yngwie and Batio have a completely different picking style (a circular, Gambale variant) from Petrucci or Morse (strict, from the wrist, alternate).

It's been mentioned already, but videos are your best friend here.

[action=Cancer] wishes Troy Grady would release his film on picking already, as he believes it will serve to be film equivalent of the Tuck Andress site. [/action]

 

[distressed_romeo]

^What he said.

 

[HotRodded7321]

Asesino...it makes no fucking sense what he's playing, but it will give you popeye forearms like a bitch! lol

 

[Gilbucci]

Not totally true. There are guys who use their elbow a lot in their picking motion, and sound great, with no physical damage. The problem is when the elbow comes in due to your arm tensing up. Provided you keep your arm relaxed, any combination of wrist and elbow can work just fine.

I forgot to mention the tension part. Thanks tom.

 

[Jongpil Yun]

If I had to choose people to pick like, it'd be Shawn Lane, Buckethead, PG, and Rusty Cooley.

I read that article but frankly I have no idea what the hell it is I just read. Also, I'd rather trust a kinesiologist than Tuck Andress, AKA Random McJazz player.

Speaking of which, I wonder if there have been any major studies on picking technique?

 

[DDDorian]

You can get away with plenty of elbow, as long as you recognise which sensations are caused by stress on the tendons and which are simply muscle fatigue. I've found that the angle my arm is tilted and the distance my elbow is flexed are vitally important in avoiding tendon injury. Basically, the more outstretched my arm is (sich as when picking with a fairly low-hanging guitar while standing) the more elbow I can get away with. Either way, a combination of wrist and elbow is what I recommend. That and the first Annihilator record, heh.

 

[Cancer]

I just thought of this, but emulating those who are where you want to be helps to. Like when I started I played death metal, so emulating what other death metal players really helped.

 

[Aghorasilat]

SLOW work with Alternate & Economypicking & metronome pick 3 note sequences, 4 notes, 5 notes, 6 notes etc.

play 16 notes subdivisions at 60 bpm, then switch to 16 note triplet at 60 bpms, then switch to 32note subdivisions at 60 bpm...

then amp up the metronome up to 65 and work your way up to 100bpms with those subdivisions.

Practice with RELAXED muscles let the hands "Melt"

Use the wrist and 1st thumb joint to develop the picking.

Watch Gilbert, Gambale, Maclaughlin & Vai pick....I hold my pick like them I don't care for anchoring or using Elbow.



Peace

Santiago Dobles
Official Aghora Website

 

[Gilbucci]

You would practice Economy picking and alternate picking? Why is that? I always thought it was one or the other.

 

[Nomad]

hey kiddos
i feel like i'm pretty proficient with most guitar techniques, but my super fast speed picking is lacking. i have no problem doing really fast alternate picked scalar runs in solos, it's just death metal-y trem picked stuff that gets me. my speed is only decent, and i have low endurance. i usually always pick from the wrist when i'm doing anything else, but with speed picking, i usually lock my wrist and let the elbow do the work. should i be using my wrist for speed picking???
any tips would be great. i listen to bands like Nile who speed pick constantly, and i have to wonder how they can play entire sets like that without their hands falling off. thanks!

FWIW, I also find it easier to tremolo from the elbow as opposed to the wrist.

Answer to Nile question: They simply are inhuman.

Edit: I must disagree with the "never any elbow" views expressed above. IMO, tremolo picking is best accomplished from a loose elbow, while keeping the wrist relatively straight. For strumming or regular alternate picking I use a wrist motion but to try and sweep or change strings the elbow has got to move.

 

[Cancer]

You would practice Economy picking and alternate picking? Why is that? I always thought it was one or the other.

One helps reinforce the other.