#70: The Exercise That SOLVED My Biggest Picking Problem
Added 2020-03-20 13:02:59 +0000 UTCThis time we check out a very important exercise that helped with solving my personal biggest picking frustrations! Don't forget to download the files for this lesson below :) You can also think of the backing tracks in double time in case you want to try and push it further.
I was always very focused on playing fast since I love the sound of those alternate picking shred licks. At the beginning of my career, I thought that my overall technique will get better and better by focusing on these challenging licks - but that was the wrong mindset, of course, you also have to work on a tight and reliable motion with slower tempos!
This exercise combined my 2 weak spots (mid-tempo picking and 2 note per string phrases) and helped me a lot with overcoming these problems. I hope it will help you too :)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/926vqlizsgi04ph/AACjeScDAdgMGQlgTWt2eNUAa?dl=0
Comments
Hi Bernth when I was making notes from this lesson, I noticed that in shape Ebmaj7 (1:43) there should be B flat instead of A flat. Apart from that, I want to thank you for what you are doing because I think your tutorials are the best to build perfect technique and i feel a lot of passion going from you and this gives extra motivation to work. Moreover, you are a great composer, your tracks (especially with your "special" guitars) are truly amazing. Peace and love from Poland!
Jackob
2023-09-03 17:36:46 +0000 UTCAhhh Thanks Bernth. That just solved quite a significant piece of the jigsaw for me.
David
2021-10-01 07:04:49 +0000 UTCHey David, these fingerings are created with each chord voicing in mind (how you would actually play the chord if you want all notes to overlap) - for the purpose of solos, you can also change the fingerings to your liking if you want to :)
Bernd Brodträger
2021-10-01 05:11:58 +0000 UTCWhat are the best fingerings people are using? That second arpeggio looks a little confusing for me using the pinky finger?
David
2021-09-30 16:46:03 +0000 UTCI'd recommend always working with the Guitar Pro files to adjust the tempo to your own needs :) If you don't have Guitar Pro, the free/shareware Tuxguitar can also open these files!
Bernd Brodträger
2021-08-12 05:38:43 +0000 UTCI noticed this too.
Rocktopuss
2021-08-11 22:06:48 +0000 UTCHi, I just joined and I'm practicing this lesson. In your video you keep referering to 120bpm, but the backing tracks for download is only up to 70bpm. Are there other bpms available or was the purpose of the excercise to limit to 70bpm? Thanks in advance.
Chanel Azemia
2021-01-19 04:28:01 +0000 UTCWhat is the tempo range for this exercise? What is considered mid tempo picking? I can do well up to 100bpm, anything after 100bpm is a struggle.
Samuel Ortiz
2020-12-16 20:55:31 +0000 UTCHi Bernth, i'm really confused/frustrated about the angle of the right hand. What should I do to know I'm in the correct position? I would be super appriciate if you dedicate a video on that especific theme. Thanks 4 All
LemonsSs
2020-10-28 11:53:28 +0000 UTCThanks for sharing that! Yes, I agree - I also work with an angle here, it immediately feels like there's less resistance coming from the motion/strings :) I never cared for extreme picking attack so that is fine for me personally! That way, it still sounds nice and articulated when you play fast with a clean sound or acoustic guitar!
Bernd Brodträger
2020-08-25 04:55:25 +0000 UTCHi, I know that the picking technique consider a wrist's movement in the right hand. But , the pick must attack the string strictly parallel to the string,? or is there some angle of inclination? Because if I do strictly parallel I get stuck sometimes and it sounds strong, meanwhile if I attack with an angle of inclination, it sounds less strong.
jean-pierre rojas
2020-08-24 17:42:42 +0000 UTCHey Brandon, that's some great input! To practice the other picking angle, you could start the exercise with only one downstroke (just one note on the lowest string), then immediately going into alternate picking for the rest of the notes (upstroke, downstroke for the rest of the strings). That is a great variation of the exercise and it was suggested by one of our students on here :)
Bernd Brodträger
2020-07-14 03:39:35 +0000 UTCAround the 4:00 mark you talk about downward pick slanting. If you started the exercise on an upstroke and switched the orientation, downward slat to upward slant, do you think the exercise would help improve overall picking as you would likely become fluent in both modes of traversing the strings?
Brandon Roth
2020-07-14 00:37:03 +0000 UTCGreat to hear that you are working that much with this exercise Oliver! You are right by saying that these movements are so small that it gets difficult to determine what's actually going on at faster tempos. String muting is also not something that I practiced actively, it's a passive skill that evolved over time (and I'm sure that I can still improve it, it's a never-ending journey with technique) - so by working on this over and over again, I got better results over time concerning the overlapping notes (not blocking the strings) and reducing the noise coming from string transitions with both hands! I don't dampen the strings I'm not playing on with my fingers though, I just played through the exercise again and get the same sound when I really focus on using one finger at a time for each string! I'm sure you will get the same result if you keep working on it :) I also use a pretty small amount of distortion for this, that also always helps to minimize the amount of dirt!
Bernd Brodträger
2020-05-15 04:50:06 +0000 UTCGreat question Roger! Understanding those 2 picking angles is very important, great to hear that you are spending time on that :) I'm sure you're familiar with Troy Grady's work, he did a great job with showing and explaining the difference. One easy way to turn this into a different exercise is to start with only one stroke for the lowest string of the exercise, then you work with 2 strokes for each note. That means you have a downstroke, then you already move to an upstroke on the next string!
Bernd Brodträger
2020-05-15 04:38:45 +0000 UTCthis is a great exercise. Is there one that will deal with upward pick slanting and when to use that?
Roger C
2020-05-14 17:41:54 +0000 UTCme again, because this Excercise made me dizzy but i think i'm getting the Details more and more. Am i right, that your Finger remains damping on a string until you need it again? I'm pretty sure you do this and yor movements are just really small. And Thats why you cannot use flat fingers to damp the disturbing noises because you block the string below. Thats the only way i manage to minimize disturbing noise by my left hand.
Oliver Richter
2020-05-14 17:38:45 +0000 UTCThanks a lot for taking the time to share that Oliver, input like that is really helpful for all students on here!
Bernd Brodträger
2020-05-12 04:40:26 +0000 UTCMaybe my experience is interesting for others: i found out "pull off" that wasn't my primary problem: i just didn't do 2 strokes, often there was a 3rd touch at the string. I tested it on playing 2 hits fast, stopped, then next string and so on. I hate my guitar. Sorry guitar i dont really hate you
Oliver Richter
2020-05-11 17:43:51 +0000 UTCHey Oliver, the muting can be tough here, that's correct - we don't want any overlapping notes! The noise often comes from an uncontrolled pull-off motion that is performed when you are done on one string and move to the next! To get a feeling for that, I'd make the exercise a bit smaller and only work with 2-3 strings before working with the full chord voicing :) Focus on a clean transition with your fingers, after a while you will get a feeling for it!
Bernd Brodträger
2020-05-11 03:03:46 +0000 UTChow do you mute in this exercise, i have a lot of disturbing noise when not flatten a finger?
Oliver Richter
2020-05-10 15:49:28 +0000 UTCThanks so much for this Bernth. I'm finding this exercise challenging and motivating.
Giorgio Pasqualin
2020-05-05 18:00:31 +0000 UTCHappy you enjoy all the content Nicholas, great to hear that :)
Bernd Brodträger
2020-04-15 10:47:38 +0000 UTCThanks for this lesson. I just begun your patreon ...and damn ...all these useful informations ! Thanks
Nicholas Duff
2020-04-15 07:39:36 +0000 UTCGuthrie is amazing, great reference for sure :)
Bernd Brodträger
2020-03-23 05:28:05 +0000 UTCWorks now! Thanks for fixing this so quickly!
Paul Ribka
2020-03-22 11:55:36 +0000 UTCIf I fold my index finger back so the tip of my finger and my thumb are parallel and the space between index and thumb is very small I have much better control at 120 bpm and higher and there is no finger tip ever touching string. I see G Goven use this grip when picking super fast. I would like to learn to pick fast without going into this tighter position so I'll keep playing with pulling my index finger back farther.
Jim McCall
2020-03-21 17:41:20 +0000 UTCHey Paul, thanks so much for letting me know - I think there was a problem with the time track in Cubase! I just exchanged the files, please let me know if everything works correctly now :)
Bernd Brodträger
2020-03-21 16:36:38 +0000 UTCHi Bernd, this is really cool stuff! Super effective addition to my practice routine. For this exercise, can you check the 60BPM and 70BPM backing tracks? Both of them seem to start at 70BPM and then slow down to 60BPM. Many thanks, Paul
Paul Ribka
2020-03-21 14:41:32 +0000 UTCThat's a great question! It never occurred to me that my index finger might brush the strings a bit when I'm picking, that's something I have to pay attention to in the next days :) When I tried it out with different licks/riffs right now it did not happen in any way but if you don't get any unwanted noise from that it should be OK, especially for blues rock - some additional 'dirt' and liveliness is always welcome there I think, a different approach from the technical shredding we often look at on here!
Bernd Brodträger
2020-03-21 06:14:02 +0000 UTCI fully agree, it's a real challenge to keep purely mechanical exercises musical - sometimes a simple trick like working in a key (playing the arpeggios on the scale degrees in this example) does the trick :) It immediately becomes less abstract and actually sounds like something you could use in a song!
Bernd Brodträger
2020-03-21 06:08:56 +0000 UTCSo happy to hear about your progress Jim, it means a lot to me to assist you with reaching your goals concerning technique :) Thanks for sharing that!
Bernd Brodträger
2020-03-21 06:07:05 +0000 UTCFor some reason this exercise reveals that my right index finger tip very lightly brushes the strings when picking some of the time and definitely does when Im playing blues rock. Does your finger ever brush the string or would you recommend that I pull the finger back so that never happens? Thanks
Jim McCall
2020-03-21 02:34:29 +0000 UTCCan't wait to try this one out! 😄 I especially like exercises that are as musical as possible but know they can't always be like that.
Erykah
2020-03-20 23:08:23 +0000 UTCBernth, these videos and your two courses are EXACTLY what I need and are the core of my daily technique practice. My technique is notably and consistently improving after months of being at a plateau. Thanks. Jim
Jim McCall
2020-03-20 17:14:07 +0000 UTC
