Struggling with my picking skills

Hi there!

I’ve been trying to improve my alternate picking for a while but I’m not seeing too much improvement, and also feel I’m having issues even playing really simple stuff. I even struggle to play a single note with a constant rhythm for a couple of measures.

I’m practicing every day with metronome, starting slow and gradually speeding up by 5 bpm but I’m not really getting nowhere and my playing feels sloppy even at low tempos.

I recorded this video a minutes ago, maybe someone can give me some suggestion on how to practice or how to change my technique to see an improvement.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

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Hey Guido. Your playing isn’t bad. When you play, are you counting all the time? Too much mathematical thinking could trip you up. If so, you should maybe count until you get the SOUND in your head. Then play what you are hearing to the metronome. It’s easier to FEEL the time than to do it mathematically all the time. IMO.

If it’s a mechanic trip up, you could try different things. Maybe you could try to anchor more with your hand or fingers. It seems like your main anchor point is your forearm against the body. And, it seems like your main mechanic has elbow movement. This could be causing problems because you would be constantly moving your arm to pick but that is being held as a anchor point. Seems to me that a anchoring arm and a moving arm is a fight. Maybe try to stop the elbow from moving. This would make the picking come from your wrist, or forearm rotation. If you gotta use the elbow, maybe move anchor points around?

Experiment with different anchor points… Maybe your pick is snagging on the strings? Try different picks. It took me forever to find a pick that didn’t grab my strings but still had a sharp point.

:bear:

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Have you experimented with different mechanics? You might find that your playing improves when you try something different. That always helped me when I hit a plateau. Maybe try using forearm rotation, or try opening the hand, or adding a tiny bit of finger/thumb movement. You only need to try something new for a few days… and if you don’t like it… no biggie… at least you know.

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I think the seminar tomorrow will answer a lot of your questions and give you good advice.

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Thank you guys for your replies!

You are probably right about this. Do you have any advice on how to develop that feel?

I actually always thought my main mechanic was wrist deviation but you are right, it seems there are times when I also add elbow movement unintentionally. Probably more often than I realize. I’m gonna pay more attention to that and try to avoid it.

When I try a different mechanic I almost feel like I can play absolutely nothing. Like I’m learning to play again. So it’s kinda discouraging and I can’t stick to it. Does it also happen to you or you find switching between mechanics more natural?

It was really interesting and it shed some light on many aspects. I’m gonna watch it again now that is available and try to reproduce every mechanic to see how it feels.

I really appreciate your answers. Have a great year!

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You can try imagining the sound of a lick in your head while playing it. Then match the 2 to a metronome?

There is that uncomfortable ‘learning period’ for sure. But I swear that had I never switched mechanics or tried new mechanics… I’d be stuck with an awful messy technique. To me, its almost like a ‘cheat’… once you hit a plateau… don’t ‘fight through it’… try something new. All the mechanics have their value. I’ve even added mechanics that aren’t on Troys list. I even use lateral finger movement, kinda like doing a pretend scissor motion. Every little tweak has helped in certain ways.

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It looks to me as though your motion mechanics are a bit of a mish mash of all sorts of things - some wrist, some elbow, some forearm. There’s nothing wrong with a compound movement, but there doesn’t seem to be any consistency to yours.

I’d suggest getting hold of a mirror and trying each mechanic in 10 second bursts, watching in the mirror to make sure you’re doing it right. Decide which one feels best and stick with it. :).

Aslo, I know this sounds a little strange, but perhaps your movements are too small for now. A slightly bigger movement might give you a better connection with the pulse. As Troy rightly points out, a larger movement won’t ultimately slow you down (unless you want to pick at 250+, but you can address that later). A good place to start might be rest strokes.

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