I hate my right hand

[Unhorizon]

The past 2 days my right hand has been on lazy mode. Whenever I'm playing something fast my right hand gets tired really fast. So I'm taking the day off in hopes tomorow will be better.

Also, I am having so much trouble with inside picking. I play three notes per string descending like this:
High E- 15 13 12
B_____________15 13 12

As sextuplets. I can't get past 88 bpms cleanly and have been at this tempo for months. My outside picking is really moving along, I can play many sextuplet passages at 100 with outside picking. But inside picking is just terrible. Can you guys tell me what position your hands are in and how you hold your pick for fast cross string picking. (pictures would be nice). I hold mine with my thumb and pointer finger and rest my hand on the bridge. I really wanna learn Technical Difficulties by next year (guitar showcase at school) but know I am far from it. (The song is played at 125 bpms and there are tons of sextuplets in the main riff and the solo)

[salsainglesa]

Love your hand is the only one you have... ANd be patient, if you are in a hurry its better to slow down ;)

starting from teh tempo you are working on, and your anxiety to get better... things have to follow a natural process, if you love playin, and you work at it with constancy dexterity will come.

[Metalliska]

Inside and outside picking is that just what I think of as alternate picking?

[spooky_wooky]

i think by inside picking he means a downstroke on the e followed by an upstroke on the b. outside picking is the opposite.

i'm working a fair bit on this right now too. it's addressed in John Petrucci's instruction video "Rock Discipline". He shows you an etude to practice it, which is really quite good. It's mentioned in an article somewhere on this site.. i think the article is called "5 etudes" or something...

anyway, i have both of these (the one from this site, and i figured out petrucci's) in powertab. i dont know how to post .ptb on this site, but if you (or anyone) wants them email me at wacka4@hotmail.com - i dont come here much so you're gonna have to contact me! :).

- jack

[EricV]

Jack is correct, that´s what inside picking means. See the attached powertab-file for some basic examples of inside picking vs. outside picking...

Eric

[Metalliska]

Yeah, i think I do that more or less unconsiously when I'm alternate picking and picking between strings, though I've never really concentrated on it as a technique, i practiced using alt. picking up and down strings.

[Stranger]

mm okay :) I think I may come a little handy here (at least I hope) - the way I was tought to hold pick is: curve your pointer as like you're showing OK sign put your pick on a pointing finger side so the sharp edge looks in the direction where you're pointing.. let 2-3mm or .078" - .117"(im no good in US measures) ledge from finger... now put thumb on it.. and dont sqeeze :) the more you sqeeze the slower you play, relax..

and remember when you pick strings YOU MOVE ONLY FINGERS THAT HOLD PICK... rest is as good as dead. When you move only fingers of the right hand you waste less energy over moving whole wrist

then practice, practice, practice...

Hope it helps, excuse me my english :)

[Metalliska]

sounds kinka similar to the way I do it, tho when I make the okay sign that last inch or so of my finger over laps with at least and inch of my thumb, the pick then rests between the overlap and points out at roughly 90 degrees to the thumb and finger, the hand is held dead like that and the movement comes from the wrist.

[LuisSavesTheDay]

DAMN! i know eactly how you feel horizon. Myleft hand ismuh more defined then my right. I always tend to have a VERY SHORT pause when im playing 3nps. I dunno why, i think its because all i do is economy pick, i dont know how to alternate pick unless im decending. Its VERY frstrating, and im pretty much "stuck" I hae no choie but to work on my right hand now.

[oRg]

Practice makes perfect I say. Basically, don't rush it. Play it at a comfortable tempo where you make zero mistakes and work from there. Every time you think you can go an extra 5bpm go for it and try it. Just keep getting it faster and faster until you're playing at the actual speed.