Hi, I have a question: it seems as if my pick gets stucked even doing tremolo picking.
I’m starting to fear that the issue is how deep my pick goes in the between the strings.
My question is not related on “how much of the pick goes out if the thumb”, but more like “what should be the feeling of the pick hitting the string?”. Should it be like gliding/gracing the string or like “snapping” the string when I hit it?
Thanks a lot.
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I cannot go fast if I feel a “snap,” but perhaps other people can! In my case I mostly skim the string and don’t displace it much, but that’s just one data point.
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For me, it definitely feels like “gliding” when I get it right. Two parameters I fine-tune when I’m getting my tremolo picking just right is the rotational angle of the pick relative to the string and then how much pick-slanting I use. With the right amount of rotation the pick-shoulder will glide over the string as opposed to smacking right into it.
Perhaps somewhat counter-intuitively, the pick-slanting is how I control how deep the pick goes into the plane of the strings. I use a kind of modified EVH tremolo style with a slightly bent wrist. If I use zero pick-slant the pick tends to go a little too deep. With a little bit of downward slant the pick comes up (relative to the plane of the strings) and I seem to get just the right amount of resistance.
There’s nothing wrong with the more perpendicular, “snapping” approach. It’s just a tool and a sound to be used when appropriate. For speed the gliding definitely helps, but I will say that too much glide tends to soften the pick attack quite a bit. Again, not necessarily bad, just different. So for me, I’m also paying attention to the tone as much as the feel when I muck around with the pick-angle and rotation.
Hope that helps!
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This happens to me from time to time. For me the pick feels stuck regardless of how deep it goes. I’ve tried many things, different angles, different movements… and the only thing that seems to work is slowing down and paying attention to how each pick stroke feels, then slowly increase the speed to bring that feel up to the high speeds.
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The two sound very different to me, and it’s a purely esthetic choice between them. I like snap, myself. But I’d suggest you practice dialing in the amount of it you want to hear on any particular note or run. It’s a musical parameter that I continually manipulate while I’m playing, just like picking force or muting. Some players prefer more consistency than others. It’s totally up to you.
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If you can’t find your movement analytically I suggest to let your body find it itself. Pick some movie or TV-show, grab your guitar and watch it while playing some short passages or doing short tremolo runs. Don’t think about angles or whatever. In fact you have to not to think about your playing. The only thing you should worry about is tensing. Your arm and your hand must be totally relaxed. Like totally. Even if you lose your pick couple of times. Once you feel tense, relax your body and your hands. Speed doesn’t matter, it must be confortable for you to play, so if it’s 80bpm so be it. After some number of such evenings you may get that ‘Aha’ feeling… or not )) Lazy training doesn’t work for everybody.
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When you get the mechanics down, it feels effortless.
Its a bit different on each string due to the diameter of the strings and you adjust for each to get the same effortless feeling.
Most people discuss “getting stuck” - I can address a very common problem that causes this in many cases. Everyone’s mechanics are different however and this may apply to you and may not depending on the mechanics you use.
1st - do you know where you are getting stuck?
If you don’t know, you need to slow down and analyze this.
A very common place is getting stuck on the upstroke.
If you are routinely getting stuck on the upstroke, analyze the direction of motion relative to the plane of the strings.
What I’ve seen many do that get stuck on the upstroke is sort of a slight shift in the direction of motion. Ideally you should be traveling relatively along the plane of the strings to some degree.
When the pick gets stuck, it does so by taking an angle to the plane.
Lets say the plane of the strings is a vertical line.
That angle that comes in to play for many is one that goes from your head and outward past your feet.
Mind this angle as you play - what commonly happens on the upstroke is you start pulling the pick in toward your body instead of lifting it straight up along the plane of the strings.
As soon as the motion of the upstroke starts to travel toward the body of the guitar - you will instantly get stuck.
Note - these motions & angles are next to “microscopic” so you can think of them in your head as large motions to understand them.
Actual pick to strings however - they are extremely small.
If you think is may apply to you, start by exaggerating the upstroke as kind of an outward movement. Another way to think about this is your thumbnail - on the upstroke are you moving your thumbnail toward your body? Try a movement with the thumbnail going away from your body and see if that helps, refine as needed so you are not exaggerating any longer and it coincides with the downstroke.
Other areas to focus on are using only the tip of the pick and supporting it enough (especially on the bottom of the pick) without gripping it too hard. “Support” and “Grip” (strength/tension) are 2 entirely different things.
Again - this is a common problem that has en easy fix but if you are using different mechanics, may not apply to you.
Hope this helps!
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I think you’ve nailed it. I am aware if something weird about the upstroke. I’ll follow your advice!
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