Picking Technique

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Picking Technique; I need some pointers
Topic Started: Jan 19 2010, 04:15 PM (381 Views)
Minomol	Jan 19 2010, 04:15 PM Post #1
Newbie Posts: 2 Group: Members Member #9,294 Joined: January 19, 2010	Hi there folks, i am a newb to electric guitar, I did not have any proper training, so i'm learning by myself and the internets ;] http://www.st.fmph.uniba.sk/~vrskovy1/picking_tech.wmv In this link you will find a video file, if you find the time please check it out. There i show you two picking techniques, and i need to know which one is the better one. The first, i hold the pick between the thumb pad and in the middle between the pad and the side of my index finger, which is only slightly curled. The pinkey rests on the pickups, which gives me more stability. This technique is the first I used and I find it very natural, there is next to no tension, it's great for picking single notes, for power chord downstrokes too. The second one is different, the wrist motion is different, all fingers are curled more and the hand rests on the bridge. I find this technique very unnatural and it builds up tension. BUT! I think this technique has a greater speed potential, that's why I'm trying it. Could someone please tell me what I do wrong, what I could do better, which technique to use, and please, Could someone tell me how to properly do alternate picking of power-chords? That is a big issue for me. Thanks.



mynameisDavid	Jan 19 2010, 09:19 PM Post #2
Member Posts: 1,102 Group: Moderator Member #294 Joined: March 2, 2007	Well I find neither of those an orthodox way of picking.. I suggest to try and pinch the guitar pick like you would a grain of salt, then juts rest your middle finger on the pick. I also suggest to not have your hand resting on the guitar at all because it will slow you down. I'll put up a video of me doing this later to show you a good way.
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areyouthefarmer	Feb 1 2010, 05:19 AM Post #3
Newbie Posts: 19 Group: Members Member #8,698 Joined: July 31, 2008	There is no one technique that is the perfect way of picking but it is a good idea to learn the reasons why one technique might be preferable to another. If you learn to play in a variety of styles then that it is advantageous, although there is good reason to learn to play in an orthodox style so as to understand and avoid the difficulties you may experience with other techniques.



Pierino	Jun 30 2011, 11:22 AM Post #4
Newbie Posts: 3 Group: Members Member #9,538 Joined: June 25, 2011	Our hands on approach will have you mastering the guitar and developing your own style faster than you can imagine. -------------------------- <snip> Edited by roast, Jun 30 2011, 09:11 PM.



Mark Wingfield	Nov 24 2011, 07:18 PM Post #5
Newbie Posts: 3 Group: Members Member #9,608 Joined: November 24, 2011	mynameisDavid Jan 19 2010, 09:19 PM I also suggest to not have your hand resting on the guitar at all because it will slow you down. Actually that's not the case. Its ok to rest your hand on the guitar two examples of guitarists that do are Steve Vai and Al DiMeola and both I think you'll agree, are great pickers. But there are many other examples of great pickers that rest part of their hand or fingers on the guitar while picking, in fact I'd say the majority of them do. What's more important is what movement you use to move the pick. The best way for most people is to use the movement of the wrist and not use the fingers or entire arm to move the pick. How to hold the pick varies a lot amongst great players, find a position that is comfortable for you and allows you to keep good control of the pick. I've got an article on picking which you might find useful here: http://www.markwingfield.com/teaching_pages/articles/pic.html
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