Questions regarding string crossing.

[Zarathustra]

Wow I just wrote a bunch and then lost it when I got a "No forum specified" message. :( I'll be short this time around.

When crossing strings should I be using wrist movement or arm movement, and is there anything I can do to keep my wrist from pivoting upwards from the guitar instead of crossing to the next string when I play at higher speeds?

[phantom]

zaradude - welcome at ibreathe!

want to encourage you to introduce yourself in the new member zone!

about your question. hm.. :

if you play a scale, from bottom to top. imo there is no way to do this without a certain amount of arm movement. otherwise the pick / string angle will differ too much.

know what i mean? ;)

[EricV]

What I do is ( I explained this a couple of times ):
- The pick movement comes from the wrist
- The forearm moves the hand / wrist to the correct string
- That way, the picking motion stays pretty much the same the whole time, while the arm puts the hand into the correct position.
If you like abstract comparisons, I always liked to compare it to those robots that they use when they build cars... the robot does one certain movement ( i.e. cutting out a certain piece at different parts of the car ), and its arm puts that cutting part into the correct position.
Hope this helps ( the comparison prolly won´t ) =)
Eric

[Zarathustra]

Thanks for the explanations. I've just been in a rut for quite some time, and am starting to get worn by the teenage obsession of pushing my limits speedwise. I even made my own little variation of the PG lick you put in one of your articles so that it covered both inside and outside picking.



---------12----12-------------------
12-13-15----15----15-13-12----12----
---------------------------14----14-
------------------------------------
------------------------------------
------------------------------------

[phantom]

cool variation zaradudestra! do you play it in 16th notes?

be careful not to get obsessed by speed that much. ibreathe helps ;-).

[EricV]

Indeed, a cool variation.
Hey, don´t get frustrated or bitter, it will make improving even more difficult. There´s lots of other things to work on simultaneously, so if the speed isn´t increasing right now, try to work on something else at the same time, and try to learn something new and take a step ahead whenever possible.
Eric

[Zarathustra]

cool variation zaradudestra! do you play it in 16th notes?
Yeah, that last note doesn't need to be there.

Ever since I picked up Speed Mechanics in the summer I've been really bad when it came to practicing anything other than the chromatic scale on the guitar. :rolleyes: I should probably try doing something useful like be able to play through a whole song or spend more time on the material my guitar teacher gives me.

[Zarathustra]

Indeed, a cool variation.
Hey, don´t get frustrated or bitter, it will make improving even more difficult. There´s lots of other things to work on simultaneously, so if the speed isn´t increasing right now, try to work on something else at the same time, and try to learn something new and take a step ahead whenever possible.
Eric
Yeah definately, I set some other musical goals WAY long ago that I should throw back into the mix. Thanks to both of you.

[phantom]

I should probably try doing something useful like be able to play through a whole song or spend more time on the material my guitar teacher gives me

that's definately a better idea :-D.

hey, if you want a good summary of technique, speed and workout, i can recommend frank gambales chopbuilder dvd. it's like a one hour workoutprogramm and covers all the basic and advanced techniques plus chords and stuff. after going through that there should be time left for playing through songs and stuff.
only if you have the time and want something different then shredding the chromatics. ;-)

[Zarathustra]

that's definately a better idea :-D.

hey, if you want a good summary of technique, speed and workout, i can recommend frank gambales chopbuilder dvd. it's like a one hour workoutprogramm and covers all the basic and advanced techniques plus chords and stuff. after going through that there should be time left for playing through songs and stuff.
only if you have the time and want something different then shredding the chromatics. ;-)
I would get it but I'm scared to dish out the whopping 50 bucks for it on Amazon.

[phantom]

hm.. yeah..
maybe after christmas ;-).

[Dj Empty]

what fingers would you use to play that variation with? Would you need to use your pinky on one of those frets thanks.

[Zarathustra]

what fingers would you use to play that variation with? Would you need to use your pinky on one of those frets thanks.
I use my pinky, but since it's used to work on the right hand you could get away with using your big three fingers instead.