How low should my elbow be?

Technique Critique
#1

There is definitely something fundamentally wrong with my playing but I can’t figure out what it is. I’m a decent player and have been playing 20+ years with the last 10 being particularly focused on improvement. That said, I’m still having a ton of difficulty improving technique and feel. It’s hard to explain, but it just doesn’t feel right.

I’m wondering if maybe I keep my picking shoulder and thereby elbow too high? My arm comes across the guitar body at an ear 45 degree angle rather than coming across the strings more parallel. I’ve looked at pictures of other guitarists but it’s kind of hard to tell. Everyone is different.

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#2

Upload some pictures and videos? What does it look and feel like when you’re actually playing, and where would you ideally like your arm/elbow/hand to be situated instead?

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#3

I’ve posted some replies with pictures about this before, but yeah I keep my forearm as close to parallel as possible.

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#4

I’m going to post a video in a bit and I’ll make a new topic and include it. I’m at a very frustrated point in my playing where I should be seeing improvement and am not.

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#5

Hey @RyanMW, as the other have hinted at, this is a case where a video would be worth thousands of words per second (depending on framerate :smiley: ).

For example, it may be helpful if you showed us one example of riff/lick that feels “good”, and another that gives you trouble.

Another thing we ask everyone is to show us a short clip of their best tremolo picking on a single string.

Filming advice attached for best results, keep us posted :slight_smile:

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#6

Hey Tommo, here you go: