How I learned to alternate pick

Playing Technique
#1

This is a spin off thread to “Reasons why pick is getting caught on the upstroke.” I thought it might better for this to have it’s own thread since it not just about “lean”.

I was asked about my technique and thought it might be beneficial for people to hear the path I took to learning how to alternate pick. In the video I talk about the process I took to learning and break it down for anyone who wants to copy my approach. Apologies about the length of the video, I tried my best to condense it but hopefully there is info in there people will find useful.

Practice notes (BPM):

21/9 - High = 115, Drill = 100
22/9 - High = 110, Drill = 100
24/9 - HIgh = 130, Drill = 100
25/9 - High = 145, Drill = 120
27/9 - High = 150, Drill = 120
29/9 - High = 135, Drill = 110
30/9 - High = 145, Drill = N/A

Something I forgot to mention in the video was that once I had nailed the 6 note pattern, I injured my hand. This because once I realised I could play fast I started practicing 2-3 hours per night on fast material. Quickly I developed pain in my fretting hand along the lines of the day after you hit the gym too hard. This led to having to take a couple of weeks off of playing to recover, so if you do see heaps of improvement from this, please don’t over do it like I did :slight_smile:

If anyone wants something similar for cross picking just shout. I’m no master of these techniques, i’m still refining my technique - in particular hand sync. But I do feel I have enough of a grasp of them to be able to tackle any picking passage that crosses my path.

Any questions just shout!

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Advice: Reasons why pick is getting stuck on the upstroke?
Looking for help to develop a practice routine
#2

This was really interesting. I always love hearing about other people’s thoughts and experiments with picking technique.

If you’re going to make the crosspicking video, I will certainly watch it. For some reason I still can’t get crosspicking to work, even after all the info that has been put here recently.

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#3

Thanks @mr_fisch93 !

I had never actively thought about lean before? After watching your video I realized that my lean angle is constantly changing during my practice sessions. It sometimes would slowly rotate over time and get so awkward I would notably change it back. Which makes me wonder, why I was seeing this inconsistency, and not fixing it. thanks

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#4

Upward pickslanter here who want’s to say thank you).
This instantly fixed my dwps although I never could make it work. Half way through the video I just tried adding this lean angle and felt so much potencial in the picking movement speed. Also thanks to you I noticed that this is probably what made my upws work because I did it unconsciously. Going to spend a few days practicing this and hopefuly I will share some positive results.
Upd: I added a some degrees to my upws ps lean and I feel like a beast.

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#5

King Fisch thanks so much for this. Real eye opener and I loved the giant cardboard pick. I’d trademark that ASAP :slight_smile: ha…

Everything was clear, looks like I need to get back to that 6 note pattern and give it a go. By the way your BPM’s from your notes, were these triplet notes? Curious if you chunked the Yngwie lick into 6 notes per chunk, etc.? I’ll post the Yngwie lick or a similar one I can find on the Primer video over the weekend. Also great advice on the metronome. Start at 60bpm and work up every 5bpm to your limit and then back off. My new (and awesome) guitar teacher also shares such strategies too.

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#6

Glad it’s working for you! :smiley:

@BullseyeBrewtality The BPMs are for sextuplets, chunking in 6’s. I can’t take credit for the metronome tip, Mile High Shred made me aware of that method!

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#7

Mile High (John) is the man! I believe you also purchased the Pickslanting Primer as did I. Which few licks do you recommend to start out on from that awesome series? Thx

#8

King Fisch! Hope all is well for you… Meant to follow up (and I will follow up with video soon) re: swiping/string tracking. Did you have any comments as to how you are able to go from E to A and sound so clean? I keep swiping myself between those two strings. Good news is, I’ve made some good success on my lean picking using the techniques you posted #1. & moving my picking hand more towards the middle of the pickups #2. I find this gives me more clarity in my notes and most importantly my right hand is forced to stay ON THE guitar when palm muting lol.

Thanks as always- Bullseye

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Advice: Reasons why pick is getting stuck on the upstroke?
#9

Hi there! I know it’s been a while since someone replied to this post, but i just found it and watched your video, @mr_fisch93. It was really helpful for me, and I was wondering if you could make another one regarding crosspicking just as you mention in this first video.

Thank you very much!

#10

Glad the video was helpful for you. Troy posted a video that basically summarised what I was going to talk about in my own video. I essentially did systematic trial and error on a one note per string lick with the aim of finding a movement that felt smooth and effortless.

I’m not really sure what i can say in a video about the subject now. There’s not much to be said about what the problem solving process was like, because I’m not sure what I ended up changing for the cross picking to work! Learning to cross pick didn’t have the same linear process as learning to alternate pick instead it went from not feeling right, to finding something that felt right, loosing that feeling, finding it again, and then repeating that (frustrating) process until it stuck. The whole thing took a month of daily sessions, but I think because I knew what smooth felt like before I started it was easier than learning to alternate pick.

Check out this thread, Advice: Reasons why pick is getting stuck on the upstroke?, in the post I talk about what the trial and error process is like and Troys video is in his reply a bit further down.

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#11

Thank you for your reply! I’ll check everything you said!