EricV I NEED YOUR HELP.... I TOTALLY LOST IT....

[nat_louie]

Hi Everyone...

i really am desperate for your help on picking... its been almost a year ive been playing like hell... and playing guitar in my case gets really frustrating...
back in 2002-2004 i can play riffs and solos like slayer tempos and metallica stuff, and since starting to play classical fingerstyle guitar and electric at the same time ive began to lose my picking technique... i already quit classical because i think its causing me serious picking problems when i shift back to playing electric again... now i cant even relax when picking for crying out loud...

i need your help on my picking and posure, when ever i pick alternately VERY SLOW( a 40bpm tempo, quarter notes) using a metronome, my picking hand tends to get "shakey" in hose situations and i cant even go down to the g,b and e strings when i do chromatics because i think theres a problem in my posture or somthing... i cant even do a simple ascending, descending major scale coz i feel that something is strained on either my elbow or my shoulders or my picking hand.

I really am starting to feel like a loser or something about this and i dont want to quit playing but i really am having a hard time playing metal guitar...
please help me, i would really be glad if you could give me exercises, tips and techniques on my posture, relaxation, picking motion, and control..

i would really be glad, im back to a begginner again and am still want to strive so that i could play what i could play before and hopefully improve.
even some tips, i would apprecieate even if you could give me beggining exercises and tips like how to hold the pick right and how to do a downstroke... everything... please help me just to imporve my picking again...

im totally desperate and in need of help.
help me please.

thanks
-Louie

[curiousgeorge]

Why don't you try one of Eric's 1001 articles on picking? I'm sure your problems can be addressed there or in one of the many many many picking threads in the forums...

[Len H]

I have an idea that might help out. If you have any pictures, or better yet any video clips of you playing when you were at your picking best, go back and look at how you held your guitar, your posture, your hand positions, whatever. Now start playing and stand in front of a mirror and see what, if anything has changed. I am guessing that you altered something in your mechanics when you switched over to fingerstyle.

[newamerikangosp]

Dude, you just need to do excercises for your picking hand. I am sure that there are enough articles about how to "pick" up good picking speed/composure to choke a horse. But it will come back if you work on it

[October Flower]

I dont know what the hecks going on...but maybe youve damaged yourself in such a way that your slowly falling apart?

Or maybe theres anti-matter in your dishsoap...that would explain it.

[smallbusrider]

I think I know what it may be....

Are you practicing strict classical technique when playing the nylon string? This is important. Relaxation is the key. If you are not relaxing you could be "contorting" your hand into positions that will give your it (for the lack of a better term) "new sensations" that will be programmed into the muscle memory of your hand. When you go back to standard picking it will be noticeable after a while. There are two solutions
1)If you haven't learned correct classical technique already, do so.
2) You can continue performing classical "incorrectly", switching back and forth from electric, and eventually you will get over this "plateau" (everyone knows a plateau can be frustrating).

I personally recommend the former, if applicable...I'm a victim of the latter...:)
Hope this helps.

[Bizarro]

There's no reason you can't play both styles. You may have something wrong and a doctor visit may be in order. Do you have any numbness or other strange sensations? I'd go to the doctor just to be safe.

[JailHouseRock]

Relax... don't tense up.. don't forget to have fun while playing.
Check out these articles --> http://www.ibreathemusic.com/subcat/12

[Padawan]

Just have a break and then go back to practice. There are those horrible frustrating days when practising but just don't stop and it will get better sooner or later.

[nat_louie]

I think I know what it may be....

Are you practicing strict classical technique when playing the nylon string? This is important. Relaxation is the key. If you are not relaxing you could be "contorting" your hand into positions that will give your it (for the lack of a better term) "new sensations" that will be programmed into the muscle memory of your hand. When you go back to standard picking it will be noticeable after a while. There are two solutions
1)If you haven't learned correct classical technique already, do so.
2) You can continue performing classical "incorrectly", switching back and forth from electric, and eventually you will get over this "plateau" (everyone knows a plateau can be frustrating).

I personally recommend the former, if applicable...I'm a victim of the latter...:)
Hope this helps.

First and foremost i would really like to thank everyone who replied... i really appreciate the time for helping me.

yup, i play the correct technique classical guitar, but i really dont know whats happening to me... when i play electric(particularly metal style) it doesnt hurt like before, but now its just im like stuck in a rut and cant even control my picking...

ive tried eric v's picking articles before, those were very good articles but i really need something more specific like how to hold the pick, what angle from the birds eye view should the pick be hitting the strings, what kind of wrist motion should i use, and the proper way to downstroke... and stuff like that...

well, i guess i never payed attention before to my picking i just started to play songs then months later i was off playing the whole MoP song... now i cant even do a correct downstroke and im having problems holding the pick and controlling it... when ever i do a downstroke( example: Through The Never by: Metallica), when your looking at a birds eye view of the pick, whenever i hit the strings with a downstroke, the pick turns counterclockwise because of the friction, and wehn i try to grip the pick tight my elbow and my arms starts to hurt. because of that i get that smudgy sound with the pick and occasionally i hit a pinch harmonic coz of the skin that's hitting the string caused by the angle change of the pick...

and whenever i do Alternate picking, whenever i do the down up motion, when im going for the upstroke my hand goes high up the strings, is like a driving a steering wheel happily... and i really dont know why does that happen, i try to play with the help of a metronome and this still happens.

im sorry for my poor english im giving my best to explain these stuff... im a Filipino...

i guess it would really help me if you guys can spare a little time posting some kind of exercises and things to look out for when i pick.. like the motion of picking, and picking palm muted open strings alternately and downstroking consistently and stuff like that....

i already asked a doctor before and he told me that nothing's wrong with my hand... its just that i feel that my left hand is much lighter than my right hand when it comes to the feel...

anyways i really need your help with this peeps, its a really big deal for me...

[Poparad]

If you're having trouble with the pick slipping out of your fingers, don't grip it harder, just grip more of it.

Grip it so that only a little bit of the tip is exposed and touching the strings. It sounds to me like you're gripping it at the very edge, thus everytime you pick it begins to move around in your hand because you don't have enough control over it. Just move your fingers over more of the pick.