single string picking

[itzfast]

i notice i pick 30 bpm faster when i play 3 notes per string scales on multiple strings than when i try to pick fast on one string and this drives me crazy.

my picking method is anchored with my pinky and i hold my pick between the inside nuckle of my thumb and the tip of my index finger so as to insure that my wrist does the moving and not my fingers. my wrist and my whole right arm for that matter is relaxed. i don't strike the string with the pointy part of the pick but rather the corner instead.

i also notice that my picking attack when i am playing fast is very light. too light as far as i am concerned. the actual picking of the notes are clean and accurate but not enough attack as if the pick was grazing the string. could it be from not striking the string with the point? help!

[TheJeffinator]

I had the same problem with my picking. What I did to fix it was a bit weird, but it seems to have worked - instead of using the whole 3NPS scale, I picked fragments of the shapes (for example, F#, G, & A at the 4, 5, & 7 frets on the D string) and played that at the same speed I maxed out with scales, but just using F#, G, A, F#, G, A on that one string. Once I had the two on par, I stopped playing the other two notes and just trem picked the F# until I got it to where I had the 3NPS scales before.

Using a pointier pick will help the light picking attack - you have to put less pick into the string to get the same effect. Anything sharp and thick will help. The problem probably is that with the corner there is more pick hitting the string over the same amount of time, so less 'punch' is there when you first hit it. You probably remember from physics that pressure = force * area. If you didn't pay attention, that's the way it goes, just try not to get too confused. If there is less area over which the same amount of force is applied, the string will react more violently (i. e. be louder) and the problem will go away. Your choices from here are (1) pick harder or (2) use a sharper surface for picking. I'd recommend the second.

Rock On,
The Jeffinator

[itzfast]

yeah that makes sense the corner of my pick surface is wider than the point. i never thought it would produce less attack and i was concerned that it had more to do with me not picking hard enough which is also a concern for me because i don't want exert too much force in my picking as it will jeopordize the whole relaxed technique i've worked so hard to develop. thanks for the reply. i'll try using the point but keep it from going too far down between the strings, meaning just use the very tip.