Help for picking in different styles

Technique Critique
#1

First 30sec ish are some rhythm parts
After that i have some 3nps exercises in alernative and a bit of down economy picking

My problems might start with the anchord, i cant stay on the bridge ( i think my hands are just to small) so i pivot on the strings , fact that make my way of keeping the pick and picking in a certain way, any advice/ opinion about that ? also idk where to keep my hand when hybrid open strings fast polyphia style (usually i just keep my hand in the air) or for country stuff i do some upstroke slanting(hope i use the term decently)

Also bcz of that, when i go lets say 2nps up and down, on the lower strings i tend to change the slant to be able to play the strings non muted, if i would stay on the bridge i could be able to keep almost the same one but …i end up playing bethween the bridge and middle pickup and idk about that…

Right now I don’t even know what to ask cuz i have a lot of question, maybe u guys can give some opinions that go from there ?

Thank u

1 Like
#2

This is great playing! I’m not sure what the problem is. If there’s something you think is not working, choose one issue and explain in the simplest terms that you can what it is. Otherwise, I think this all looks great.

2 Likes
#3

Thank u, that realls means a lot…tomorrow after i’ll ask my music teacher some stuff again I will come back as u said, one issue at a time, thanks againn.

#4

Your picking style is somewhat similar to Andy Wood. It is mainly wrist motion and you are capable of doing both types of “escapes”, upstroke and dowstroke. You are also able to do one-note-per-string phrases, like the Chili Peppers song. This combination of abilities is one of the main reasons people choose wrist motion. So it all appears to be working properly. I would just continue to play a wide variety of musical phrases that fit your interest where you find little parts that seem sloppy or difficult, and you try to make them cleaner. Over time all your playing should become a little smoother and cleaner, but it’s already pretty smooth and clean as it is.

2 Likes
#5

Thank u so much for this info sir ! Gonna keep playin and come back with questions if needed, but before that, on Cracking the Code, on the Eric Johnson course and the yngwie malmsteen one, do u have the right hand picking directions notated on the tabs? or is it easy to learn that from the video? I really wanna get into those but usually the right hand is forgotton in notation.

#6

Yes, not only do we include picking directions in the notation, but the entire focus of those lessons is about which picking motions to use, and why. The way that Yngwie and Eric play lines depends on having a certain type of picking motion, which we call “USX motion”. In USX motion, the last note on every string always has to be an upstroke. So these lines simply do not work when you change the picktroke directions.

More generally, if you’re interested in our stuff, I recommend starting with the Primer and not the Eric/Yngwie lessons. To watch the Primer lessons, you will need a membership, but you can apply for a scholarship if cost is an issue.

Also, we have created a Wikipedia-style overview of picking concepts in the Primer which is mostly free to read. You can find it here:

This covers the basics of what escape motion is, and why it matters. This is a good starting point for understanding the concepts.

Once again, your own playing looks great. And also, your primary picking motion does look like USX, so you would have no problem playing the Eric and Yngwie patterns. You can read the “Picking Motion” part of the Primer for more detail on those concepts, so you can become more familiar with why you do what you do.

Great work so far.

1 Like
#7

Firstly sorry for me taking so long to answer ! and thank you again for taking your time to educate me on our picking adventure : D . I will most probably make a membership and study here for a bit, also i checked out Andy Wood and I love his playing, and it does seem that i play similar to him, also im in love with his hybrid picking , that i also wish to get better at, probably gonna start with him and not Eric or Malmsteem.

One of these days i will probably share same short vids with some questions I have, mostly about the fact that, lets say, i play 3nps alternative from 6th string to the 1st one, starting downpicking it. I end up picking an upstroke every second string while downward pickslanting which i got very good at it before knowing pickslanting exists, and 2 years ago i started studyin with a friend, 3nps starting down and up, in both slats without knowing that it even a thing, just felt usefull to do,

The thing is, since then i’ve changed my guitar postion, the way i keep the pick ( i was having a lot of small details that causes hand pains and im glad i evolved them a bit in a way more comforable ones).
But, a prob i have now is:

  1. Sometimes i start (on 6h string) upward slanting but at like 4th string i change to downard slanting, would that be a problem ? the main thing is i dont want to mute any strings ( in this context) and if i start downstroking them , i end up starting with the hand in the air without an achor point, so i start with the hand on the body , which is either neutral slantign or upward slantign( sorry if i butcherd the terms im still getting used to them :))) )

  2. Becouse i go so adaptable at 3nps and not practicing 2nps runs without legato or any economy fragments, and getting back into some more basic blues/rock pentatonic alernative picking style licks, the fact that i change the slanting, i have a very hard time playing them.

I will make some videos on of these days, but i hope i kinda explained a bit of my situation in writing too
And im so grateful for having access to this forum and you guys (>^^)>

#8

You’re not really “changing the slant”, and you should not be changing your anchor position or arm position while you play. You and Andy are using wrist technique. The way this works is that you find one hand/arm position, and you leave it in that position at all times. All picking motions are accomplished by the hand moving back and forth.

In actual practice, there may be small changes in your arm position, or the appearance of the pick, but as a wrist player, but you should ignore this. In wrist technique you are learning to make tiny changes to the direction the hand is moving, so that the pick goes over the string without hitting it. This learning happens mostly at a subconscious level, so you shouldn’t need to think about individual motions. We can see from your clip that your motions are already working, so you don’t need to worry about that.

Instead, you should be playing a wide variety of musical phrases while making sure your motion feels like a smooth back and forth motion of the hand. As you encounter errors, you can try various techniques to fix them, like slowing down a small amount, or playing smaller segments of phrases where the mistake occurs. Your thinking should mainly be about “big picture” stuff like smoothness, sound, whether you can feel or hear errors, and if you can make them go away.

1 Like
#9

It really does help havin a bit of understanding of what’s actually going on! even just havin a name for things that help u describe and explain differences between angles, positions etc help a lot, and im very much enjoying all this hehe , even tho sometimes issss a bit frustrating :stuck_out_tongue: Playing a lot of 2-note-per-string stuff these days and see how it goes, in this moment it goes way better then the last time we spoke here :smiley: