Time to Restart (Scalpel / Thumb Flexxing)

Playing Technique
#1

For a year or so now, I’ve been having some wrist and picking arm issues. I’m sure its because I never ‘really’ worked on my picking technique and I definitely tense up when playing fast stuff, which being in a metal band…is often.

About a month ago, I was exploring various picking options and the one that felt most comfortable / natural to my was using the thumb in scalpel or ‘circular’ picking style. I find my arm is much easier to relax and I am already making reasonable progress.

Before I get to far down the rabbit hole, has anyone else practised this picking for a long time and can let me know of any pitfalls to avoid? The thumb muscle is quite small, so I’m being careful not to overwork it and taking plenty of rest days. I’m committed to this long term otherwise i fear it may lead to permanent injury (I’ll be arranging to see a physio soon too in case of other underlying issues).

And lastly, has anyone had some success using circular picking with economy picking? It seems quite a clunky movement but I’m just about getting there. From reading around the forum and some of the videos, the answer seems to be using the arm to move between strings. I’ve always preferred the sound and the ease of economy picking over strict alternate.

Thanks gang, and glad to finally be a member here (will be singing up soon and working through some content over winter).

PS - Here is a recent video. Picking hand not super clear, but you can see the stiffness and how I’m picking with full arm, instead of wrist or any other relaxed movement. Feel free to totally pull me apart, I’m ripping up my picking technique and starting from scratch.

#2

I can pick fast with thumb movement. I think the movement confers absolutely no advantage over other picking movements.

Also, it does very definitely have several distinct disadvantages. Power and range of motion are inferior to other movements. It is incompatible with hybrid picking. It also seems to be the most difficult movement for most people to learn to coordinate correctly, based on my experience teaching.

Your fast picking movement appears to be elbow driven. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, and you can learn to do it extremely well without excessive tension.

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#3

Hey man. That’s an interesting observation thanks. Yeah I’m under a lot of tension on the whole arm.
I’ve never really analysed my picking hand in 25 years of playing :smiley: :smiley: so its all quite new, but I definitely need to do something about it.

I would have assumed that picking from the elbow / arm is not a great idea, so I’m happy to hear I am wrong. Any ideas on the best CtC content to look for?

Cheers!

#4

I’d recommend working through the Primer in full and using the Technique Critique platform here for guidance by the team.

By the way, I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t experiment with picking with thumb/finger movement. It might well be the movement that “clicks” for you.

However, I have had a lot of students impede their own progress by trying to focus on one particular movement for some reason or another. In particular, focusing on thumb/finger movements often gives very little return on time invested. Especially when focusing on nonsense like “economy of motion.”

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#5

Interesting.
Okay man, thanks a lot for your help! I’ll get membership and work through the primer as the starting point.