Anton Oparin Talks Picking

Playing Technique
#22

What makes you say that? Has anybody tried?

Just a quick and dirty in Logic, but the tempo of that clip appears to vary somewhere between about 145bpm and 160bpm sixteenths, in 3/4 time. That’s a credible tempo for one-note-per-string playing. I don’t know that the “distance” between the strings is really that much of a factor. One of the nice things about the wrist is that it already operates in the plane you would need to travel between the strings with relatively little help from other joints. We’ve seen Molly Tuttle do three string rolls, including inside picking, in that tempo range, while singing, at 10 in the morning with no warmup. Unclear whether or not she had any coffee beforehand!

Amazing players like Anton and Molly show us what is possible on the instrument and expand our minds in the process. I will admit that I do have a bit of an aversion to breathless deification of these skills, mainly because I like to think of everything as doable by everyone with the right knowledge. It’s kind of why we exist in the world. There’s a quote from Victor Wooten about how he likes to think of techniques as “easy” because it gets you one step closer to doing it. Words to live by.

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#23

I said, i have never seen anyone do those big jumps at that tempo.
Don’t know if anybody tried of course. Well, i did and can’t do it.

I beleive those big string skips make a big difference.
I can play sitxteenth at that tempo but not between low and high B string, no way!

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#24

What do I need to watch to get caught up with these new picking discoveries/names/terms? The last 2 crosspicking live events?

:bear:

#25

Pretty much. It’ll all make its way into more core instructional stuff, hopefully soon. So we can stop confusing people. But for now those are our best presentations.

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#26

There used to be a home improvement TV show in Canada that aimed to challenge women’s preconceptions about being “handy”. The host was a woman who approached each DIY tutorial with the catchphrase “How hard can it be?”

#27

@Troy, interesting. From 11:22 Anton shows his different angeling of the pick depending on whether he is playing the lower or higher strings.
More angle on the lower strings less angle on the higher strings in order to keep the pick to string angle the same with a stationairy wrist.

#28

Hey man, did you already translated the vid?

#29

To be clear, this is edge picking you’re referring to. Some adjustment of this is common, most players do it. Personally I allow edge picking to flatten out on the lower strings because it’s more of a match with the tone of the higher strings. If you use the same edge picking on every string, things get pretty scratchy by the time you get to the bottom, especially with a clean tone.

#30

Yes, edge picking i mean. More edge on the lower string less edge on the higher strings.
It indeed can sound very scratchy on the lower strings (which i also don’t like) depending on what pick you use. Paul Gilbert talks about this, and he wants that sound. But i don’t see him change the angle when going to the higher strings.
I am going to expiriment with this.

Can’t wait till you get Anton in front of the cam!

#31

He’s not using more angle on the lower strings, per se, he’s just keeping the same angle he has on the top strings. Back in the day, guitar teachers used to tell you your form has to be the same on all the strings - probably just because it seemed logical. This is one of those things that turns out just not to be true when you film what players actually do. If you leave the thumb alone, you will naturally have less edge picking as you get to the lower strings, and the tone will be more similar across all strings. You will still have some edge picking on the bass, so you can still get across the strings - you’ll just have a little bit less.

#32

Yes, that is what i ment to say in the first post: to keep the pick angle to the strings the same with a stationairy wrist ( the wrist will make an angle itself this way ) you have to change the amount of edge bij getting your thumb more or less over the indexfinger going from low to high.

I am more of a stringtracking player and therefore hold the pick the same on every string but i want to give this a go.