The Dude
04-11-2006, 05:16 PM
Hi, it's been along time since I posted on here, but I was looking for some help with my picking technique. For a long time I have used a modified version of the technique similar to George Benson or Santana where by you hold the pick on the pad of the index finger with the first joint of the index finger arched and the thumb flat on the pick with the joint locked.
For the most part this technique seemed to work wonders and allowed me to slice through the strings, but I have recently realised that this might not be working so well for me, for example - it makes palm muting a nightmare and as such I changed my picking style back to having the pick rest over the side of the index finger pointing towards the fingertip - although this seems to cause problems picking up the way during sweeps as you need to rotate the entire wrist which seems uneconomical to me, this alongside the fact that this method of picking seems to slow me down in numerous other ways.
As a result I've spent the day noodling with different techniques - thus far I've been paying attention to Frank Gambale - and noticed that he has the pick facing out over the side of the last joint on the index finger. Now - this as Ive found allows you to slice through the strings more effectively than any other technique Ive come across and allows you to achieve incredible speed and control - sadly it seems completely useless for playing rhythm or at least makes it very awkward.
I know this has been a long post, and for anyone who has been kind enough to suffer it, could you please suggest a few other methods of picking for me to try or at least give me a suggestion about ammending some of the techniques mentioned so that they are more effective. In specific the problem of picking up the way on sweeps - it's never been a problem until recently when I realised that by rotating my wrist for the up stroke ( slicing through the strings using the opposite side of the pick ) I was being slowed down.
Thanks alot.
For the most part this technique seemed to work wonders and allowed me to slice through the strings, but I have recently realised that this might not be working so well for me, for example - it makes palm muting a nightmare and as such I changed my picking style back to having the pick rest over the side of the index finger pointing towards the fingertip - although this seems to cause problems picking up the way during sweeps as you need to rotate the entire wrist which seems uneconomical to me, this alongside the fact that this method of picking seems to slow me down in numerous other ways.
As a result I've spent the day noodling with different techniques - thus far I've been paying attention to Frank Gambale - and noticed that he has the pick facing out over the side of the last joint on the index finger. Now - this as Ive found allows you to slice through the strings more effectively than any other technique Ive come across and allows you to achieve incredible speed and control - sadly it seems completely useless for playing rhythm or at least makes it very awkward.
I know this has been a long post, and for anyone who has been kind enough to suffer it, could you please suggest a few other methods of picking for me to try or at least give me a suggestion about ammending some of the techniques mentioned so that they are more effective. In specific the problem of picking up the way on sweeps - it's never been a problem until recently when I realised that by rotating my wrist for the up stroke ( slicing through the strings using the opposite side of the pick ) I was being slowed down.
Thanks alot.