Alternate picking hand position

Technique Critique
#1

Hello Troy, Brendan, Adam, and fellow Cracking the Code viewers,

First and foremost, here is the video of my alternate picking technique:

In the video I play the Yngwie six-note pattern, and also descending sixes both using upward pickslanting. The tempo is 110 bpm, six notes to the click. I shot from three camera angles, both on my PGM miKro, which is a small-scale guitar I absolutely love playing, and my trusty, full-scale, Ibanez GIO. I put the Maxon OD808 in front of my amp just for fun.

Next, onto the main question/concern I have about my picking technique:

Picking hand position

In that video, Troy outlines exactly the hand positions I have questions about. The first hand position Troy mentions, where he says he’s “attacking the strings a little lower” and “using less edge picking”, is the hand position I think I’m using in my video. Some elite players that I think use the hand position “attacking the strings a little lower”, include Frank Gambale, Marshall Harrison, and Andy Wood. The second hand position Troy mentions, where he say if “I attack now from the top”, is something I occasionally use for rhythm playing when I need a chunky palm mute, but not for alternate picked leads. Some elite players I think use the hand position involving “attacking from the top”, include Malmsteen, Petrucci, and Gilbert. Do you guys think my assessment of my hand position is correct, and if so, is it an acceptable hand position to use? Is my hand position a bad habit that I need to change? I really feel like the majority of guitar players have a position where they attack from the top, rather than the way I position my hand.

Additional Concerns

  • Am I picking to hard or aggressively?!?! I am very concerned about this, partly because i just recently switched from the .6 mm orange tortex pick to the red jazz iii xl nylon pick and I am still getting used to the attack of the jazz iii
  • Do i look generally relaxed while I play or am I too tense?
  • Was the audio and video quality sufficient, or should I redo the video with better audio and a better camera? I was hoping the quality would be sufficient just to show my hand position and general alternate picking technque. I do have any interface I could run directly into if that would be a better alternative.

I apologize if this post was way too long. I was just trying to make sure my question was clear. Also, I won’t bug you guys with more videos for a while. Maybe I’ll post a video in the spring or summer when I have the magnet to show my alternate picking progress.

Happy Picking!
Calvin

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Alternate Picking Critique
#2

Hey Calvin! Great to see more people on here. I am only a fellow viewer, but hopefully some of the things I have collected from others can be helpful. As far as picking too hard or aggressively, you have a significantly milder attack compared to Gilbert or Troy.

I do see some tension right above the elbow on your picking hand that you can get rid of if it bothers you. Practice this by trying to be completely aware of your posture and body while playing. Rick Graham is a player who is very into tension control and he helped me a lot.

Also, make sure you keep an eye on your hand synchronization!

I don’t see anything that is wrong with your picking. Really what seems to matter is do you find it comfortable and is it working. When I was asking about my picking Troy recommended that I look for my most comfortable and natural tremolo technique on one string. So not even using a sequence I just held down one note on the high E string and experimented with a bunch of different things. I found that before I did this I was making all sorts of crazy motions and didn’t have a plan in my head for how to pick. Now, I know that I like to use a bit of rotation and deviation in my picking and it is a lot easier to think about picking fast runs. I would recommend that you experiment around and see if this really is the most comfortable way for you!

It will probably be better for you to get answer from a team member about camera quality stuff. For future videos that may require more detail I would use a better camera. If you do not have one then just using more light will significantly improve the quality! Natural light (the sun) will help the most.

Good luck!

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#3

@Troy in the above video, what is the mechanic at 0:20? What is it mostly? Wrist deviation?

and 2:27, that’s all wrist deviation right? If this is mostly forearm rotation I must be retarded. Because I don’t see it, or get it. lol.

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#4

Hi Calvin! I think this all looks great.

There is really no such thing as “appearing too tense”. Rusty Cooley looks tense when he plays. But he can play that way for hours, at frightening speeds. If there is tension, it certainly isn’t stopping him, or he has figured out that it actually works for him. @milehighshred has spoken about this a lot. A certain amount of arm tension seems to be required for his super fast technique to work.

In general, it just depends on feel, and you need to test that yourself. If you pick less aggressively, does it get easier? If so, then you are picking too hard. If you get a massage and then pick up a guitar, do you play better? Then maybe you are too tense. I wouldn’t worry about that things looks like, only what you can actually test.

What you’re referring to about arm position is what I call “approach angle”. It is the result of many factors - how high you wear your guitar, which direction you point the headstock (i.e. toward the ceiling, or more level), and so on. It does affect edge picking, but so does the position of your wrist, and so do your fingers. All these variables come together to influence how your hand approaches the strings.

All I was saying in that video is that this is something you can experiment with that you might not realize you can experiment with. There is huge variety in how players approach this. Rusty Cooley again approaches almost level, right over the bridge. He can’t play certain bridges because of this because his wrist hits the hardware. I tend to approach more vertically. There are a hundred gradations in between and none are right or wrong. Again, the only thing that matters is what you can test. If you like, write down every one of these variables and test them all. Whichever one feels easiest - I’d go with that one.

As to your playing itself, it looks great. You’ve got a pronated / uwps deviation setup and it seems to be working for you. So I’d certainly keep doing it. If you enjoy filming your playing, I highly recommend a phone with slow motion capability. The frame rate will be much better so you will get a clearer view of what’s going on, even when you only watch at normal speed. You will need a lot of light for this, but open windows are cheap!

In short, anything you are unsure about - test it and choose whichever works best.

Looks good, keep it up!

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#5

Yes this is entirely deviation. You totally know your stuff Hank, there’s no reason to second guess yourself. Your comments on the Hetfield video were on point as well as to what he was doing and when. The force is strong in you.

Deviation is super common and as we can see here it doesn’t really require any (substantial) forearm rotation at all. Not that we can see anyway.

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#6

I’m just asking to make sure. I wasn’t trying to be mocking or confrontational. I want to be able to pick like that one day. So I’m just looking for confirmation that what I’m seeing is what I’m seeing. You do know that technique kicks total ass right?

#7

I didn’t take it that way at all - I know you’re concerned about getting things right and I’m just saying, in general, I think you are.

Re: these picking movements, the more time goes on, the less difference in sound or effort or general capability I sense between them. I cannot say definitively that there is any reason to choose one over the other aside from whatever works. Except for maybe elbow which feels like it might be faster. But that’s really it. The better you get at them, the less preference you will likely have over time.

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#8

Yup! Try sprinting with relaxed legs. Probably not going to happen.

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#9

@Sguitar

Thank you for watching my video and giving me feedback! It is so good to hear
that my pick attack isn’t too aggressive. I was so worried and nervous about that when I
posted my video. Also, I did notice my hands getting out of sync when I watched the video again.
I will make sure to keep an eye on this during my practice sessions

@Troy

Thank you for your kind words and your feedback! It is truly an honor for one of my guitar heroes to listen to my playing and give me advice. Your feedback was very helpful for me. Thank you for all the info on approach angle, and also thanks for sharing the insights on tension and pick attack. Cracking the Code inspired me and gave me hope with my alternate picking technique, after struggling with picking for many years.

Well I best get back to practicing my picking technique :slight_smile: As I mentioned before in my original post, I hope to work hard on my alternate picking technique and post another video when spring or summer rolls around. For the next video, I hope to use the magnet, with slow motion clips of multiple alternate picking licks. I will also share some of my analysis of my own playing that has helped me develop my technique. I’ll see all you guys around on the forum for now.

Lastly, anyone else is more than welcome to give me more feedback, advice, and tips on my technique for the video I posted in this topic.

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