Dynamics in Picking (Andy Wood Example)

Playing Technique
#1

I was hoping someone could help me with some insight on how one can dynamically pick a chord on acoustic guitar.

An example of what I’m looking for is Andy Woods take on Jerusalem Ridge: https://troygrady.com/interviews/andy-wood-acoustic/clips-guitar/jerusalem-ridge/

The opening Am chord he plays the A, D, and G strings loudly by noticiably putting power into his strum. He then picks the B and E string softly such that they can be heard but do not come close to how loud the initial strum is.

When I try this, even at a slow pace, my B and high E ring out at (lets say) a regular volume so that there is not much seperation in volume from the initial strum of the A, D and G and the next strums of the B and E. Is there a way to strum with a pick quietly?

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#2

This sounds like a question for… Andy Wood!

He’ll be stopping by the studio tomorrow and Thursday and we’re going to do some live broadcast Q&A type sessions for subscribers, and also a couple YouTube live broadcasts. I’ll make a mental note to talk about this, because Andy’s a boss at strumming! But you can also chime in once the events are live as enter questions through the platform, if you’re available.

We’ll put some times up on the calendar shortly so you can see the events on the homepage.

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#3

That’s great to hear, Troy. Andy Woods interviews and your Cracking the Code series on youtube were enough for me to sign up. Like you said, Andy’s a boss at strumming.

I almost forgot to ask, will these live sessions be posted in case I miss them?

I’ll try to chime in in case you forget to ask.

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#4

Awesome! We’ve got the events listed on the site now, and just made a forum thread. Email coming shortly too.

Yes we will be recording the live events — most likely won’t leave them up as rewatchable as-is, because we want to edit more polished versions, incorporate Magnet footage etc. We’ll get the material on the site just may not be right away :smiley:

#5

Thats great, thanks for the replies guys

#6

do the live studio sessions get uploaded to the site? i was out teaching and missed it :sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob:

#7

See the other thread (linked above) for more detail!

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