Unique Picking Difficulties

[magpie74]

For as long as I have been aware of proper guitar technique, I have suffered extreme difficulty in building speed and clarity in my picking hand. Despite years of earnest practice, countless method books and correspondence with professional musicians, I have yet to advance my right hand technique beyond the intermediate level. Before I pursue other, more costly options, I would like the opinions of fellow guitarists and technicians.



First, some background. I have been playing guitar for 23 years, and been teaching guitar professionally for the past 16 years. Stylistically, I am more Hendrix than Malmsteen, and my technique supports the vast majority of my writing and performance repertoire. Unfortunately, my students are a touch more demanding, and in order to provide them the best possible instruction I feel it necessary to overcome these few technical obstacles.



After experimenting with various picking styles, I have settled on a traditional approach: pick held firmly between the pad of the thumb and the side of the first finger, with picking motion isolated to the wrist as much as possible. Generally, I keep the pick perpendicular to the surface of the guitar and parallel to the strings during the attack. I tend to favor a side-to-side wrist motion, though after learning that most experts recommend a twisting motion similar to turning a key in a lock, I modified my technique to fall in-line with the conventional wisdom.



How can I ensure I am performing the above technique correctly? After years of practice, I have noticed no appreciable gains in speed or precision. Palm muting slows the technique even more, and playing while standing feels absolutely awkward. Worse still, I have become hyper-sensitive to my right hand, which is doubtlessly hindered by years of anticipation and frustration. These factors lead me to believe that I have overlooked a crucial flaw in my technique.



The only measure of success I enjoy comes when I rest the flat of my wrist on the strings above the one I am picking, or, in the case of the fifth and sixth strings, on the body of the guitar itself. I discount this method for a number of reasons: it inhibits range of motion, makes palm muting difficult, is difficult to perform on a Tune-O-Matic bridge, and is extremely difficult to manage while standing. I restrict use of this technique to tremolo picking, and that solely out of necessity.



Some methods of troubleshooting I already use include: removing left hand motion while working picking technique; single-string exercises to remove the issue of string changes; extensive repetition of scale, arpeggio and sequencing exercises; practicing in front of a mirror to monitor technique from a different perspective; lowering the guitar strap to reduce undesirable elbow movement, or raising the strap to provide greater comfort; using a rubber band across my thumb and index finger to secure the pick and allow greater concentration on wrist motion.



I should mention that my right hand issues are not restricted to guitar. I am told on a weekly basis that I hold a pen differently than most people, and have a general lack of coordination with right-handed activities such as fishing, throwing darts, bowling and tennis. I have considered seeking a medical opinion to rule out any physical limitation, but have been unable to find anyone specializing in music-related injuries in my area.



Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[chrismatson]

Hey there,

I'm a lot less experienced that you are, but let me try to give this a go. For the most part, I think conventional wisdom is a waste of time. Certainly you should definitely definitely acknowledge the 'convention', but its really upto you to figure things out for yourself, keeping in mind that efficiency is the key.

Not because some classical guitar instucter is telling you to pick a certain way or whatever. For example, you said that you held the pick perpendicular to the body, and parallel to the strings. For me, this doesn't work very well on quick sentences. Its just impossible for me to play at any desirable rate if I picked this way; rather, I like having my pick angled a bit.

But it also depends on attack and tonality. If I want particular notes to stand out, or accented, I tend to straighten out my pick a bit more. Certainly, this technique isn't anything conventional, but it works for me, and I like it. Ohh, and purely using my wrists for picking doesn't work for me either: its a combination of wrist and forearm, for me.

2ndly, a lot of what it takes to develop depends on repetetion, regardless of how uncoordinated someone might be. HEY, this applies for all guitar players. And its also a lot about how you practice and what you practice it. Definitely use your left hand too, while working on your alternate picking or whatever. That really helps with coordination. uhmmm.... Get a metronome, and start somewhere extremely slow, and work on the HARDEST POSSIBLE piece of work you've seen on the guitar, and get at it at a rate you're comfortable.

It just really helps. Hope I helped. Goodluck.

[warlock]

Hi,

I noticed you said your picking comes mostly from your wrist. Getting to those blinding speeds with accuracy comes from the motion of the elbow acting as a fulcrum of sorts and and it looks as if the arm vibrates when picking at high speeds.....watch a Malmsteen video ...his elbow does the work when picking fast and the pick is not parallel to the strings. I hope this helps......

[magpie74]

Maybe I didn't phrase my original question correctly. I'll try again.

I understand the basic mechanics of pick motion, and that no one approach will work for every player. That said, I would like to make sure I am performing the technique I have selected correctly, before I abandon it in favor of another. Has anyone heard of any exercises or methods, pertaining to the guitar or otherwise, that strengthen and reinforce the physical motion involved in right hand picking?

For example, I enrolled my kids in swimming lessons earlier this summer. One of the first things the instructor had my kids do was blow bubbles through their noses. When she realized that they didn't understand what she meant, she had them instead stick their noses underwater and hum. Voila! Bubbles.

On the surface, swimming and humming seem like two unrelated activites. But in this instance, the instructor used the latter to solve an inability to perform a particular technique. I wonder if there are any such solutions that might help my particular situation? Or am I performing the technique correctly, but am physically incapable of progresing beyond a certain point?

[Joe Pass Jr]

As you can see everybody has an opinion on the subject. I can only agree with the point that you should simply sit with what ever is most comfortable to you. I disagree with using anything beyond your wrist to create momentum. Such as using your forearm or elbow, personally I think it stunts certain aspects of playing and demands that you change your technique depending on the style your playing. Where as the wrist or focused finger movements can be applied to all styles. This is up to you though.

So far as your students I think the best thing you can teach them is discipline and a healthy mentality. Techniques are a dime a dozen and if they aren't comfortable with what you show them then they will not succeed. For example, I often argue with my teacher about using a pick V's fingerstyle. He plays fingerstyle as I do, but since I'm learning under him as part of a music course the curriculum demands I use a pick (don't ask why) which he is also proficient with.

What I'm getting at is that If they are with you to really learn to play guitar then share your wisdom and experience. But if all they are after is to play fast technical stuff like petrucci or Malmsteen (and clearly your neither of these men) then this is something they are going to have to persue on their own.

'Practice makes better' if you have been playing for 23 years and are still not satisfied with your performance I wouldn't worry. For one it means your an artist. Secondly, unless you play for 8+ hours a day then you have a fair excuse for not being a virtuoso . As long as you enjoy yourself and the progress your making thats enough. Same goes for your students.

I hope this answered at least part of your query.

[hairballxavier]

As you can see everybody has an opinion on the subject. I can only agree with the point that you should simply sit with what ever is most comfortable to you. I disagree with using anything beyond your wrist to create momentum. Such as using your forearm or elbow, personally I think it stunts certain aspects of playing and demands that you change your technique depending on the style your playing. Tell that to Pete Townsend...

As he prepares to play a power chord with an up-stroke...

Notice how close he holds the pick to the strings. Easily within 5 feet.

http://www.codellaudio.com/images/pete-townsend-windmill-lrg.jpg

I'm seeing a bit of shoulder action there too (to multiply momentum)...

Apparently there is more to guitar playing than your wrist.

I'd say it involves your entire body, heart, mind, soul and balls.
Not just your wrist and fingers.

If you are not willing to put everything into it then why bother?

[forgottenking2]

lol Here I was going to talk seriously about picking exercises and then that picture just stopped me cold lol.

Anyways, I'd say work on picking exercises or etudes which involve picking alternate strings once, twice, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine times each. It can be something extremely simple like a C power chord alternating between the root and the 5th or a whole etude going through different progressions and key changes (I have a few etudes like that). Start out slow and then build back up.

I am sorry if this is something you have heard before (I am sure you have since you've been a guitarist for almost as long as I've been alive), but really this is the only way I know.

The way you hold your pick is fine by me and I would dare to say that to continue to change approaches would cause more harm than good. Just stick to what you are doing and concentrate on the motions that are giving you trouble.

I hope this helps.

-Jorge

[magpie74]

Thanks for everyone's input. If I were my own student, I'd give myself the same advice. Unfortunately, I'm still missing some critical bit of know-how in my right hand, so all the years of practice have likely reinforced a faulty technique. Well, that and the fact that I'm a klutz, in general. So I thought some examples of what I can- and cannot-yet-do might help with the diagnosis.

Bear in mind, none of these examples are what I would consider "guitar god" material. In my opinion, any player of my experience should be able to master these within his first few years of study.

Short bursts of speed give me little problem, particularly where no string changes are involved. For example, I learned to perform this segment of Racer X's "Technical Difficulties" with almost zero difficulty:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/rjpost/technical_difficulties.jpg


Likewise, this segment of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" gave me few problems, especially once I began with an upstroke, rather than the traditional D-U-D-D method:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/rjpost/stairway_to_heaven.jpg


Sustaining speed, especially coupled with string changes, has proven more difficult. I started this lick from Yngwie Malmsteen's "Far Beyond The Sun" twenty years ago, and have seen no improvement for the last nineteen. I nail it about once every five tries:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/rjpost/far_beyond_the_sun.jpg


Now, my nemesis, Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark At The Moon." Note how easy this ought to be -- I can play the downstrokes with perfect comfort, but the minute I add the upstrokes it all falls apart. Frustrating, because to continue downstroking, one must also upstroke -- the latter should be a reflexive action.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/rjpost/bark_at_the_moon.jpg


My latest challenge caught me off-guard. Like I said earlier, I'm not particularly interested in shredding, but even a guitarist with the simplist of appetites is occasionally asked to flex a little muscle. So when I agreed to join a friend's new R&B project, I had expected to strum a few groovy rhythms and fill-in with the odd tasty lick or two. What I got was this, from Wild Cherry's "The Lady Wants Your Money." Remember, simple pentatonic licks, should be kid's stuff:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/rjpost/the_lady_wants_your_money.jpg


Granted, I'm not interested in playing covers the rest of my life. My chops have always been good enough keep up with my creative side, and I have so many other concepts to teach a student that the well isn't going to run dry anytime soon. That said, I don't like being told -- by my own body, no less -- that I can't do something, hence the determination (and desperation) in all of this.

Oh, and hairballxavier, I love the Pete Townsend illustration. Ironically, if I could keep-up with the first few bars of "Pinball Wizard," I don't think we'd be having this conversation.