Why is my picking so sloppy?

Technique Critique
#1

I apologize for the angle. I had some trouble with the magnet. It kept falling off my neck, couldn’t get phone to stay in properly, etc.

I’ve been playing for about 30 years but have only seriously worked on my lead playing for the last 10 or so. I play left-handed and am entirely self taught so there are definitely technical mistakes I’m making. Watching this back in slow-mo I can tell the picking is very far from economically efficient but I’m struggling to figure out why or what to do instead. All help very much appreciated!

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#2

Everybody’s different, but I use a lot more arm motion.

#3

Hey, this is far from bad!

You’re basically a RDT DSX/DBX, very similar to what I do . So you should start with that:

Try doing a tremolo at medium-high speed and try to always internalize the same motion. This motion, which you feel flows better, smoother, and more consistently, should be your main one and occasionally your most confidence.
It doesn’t matter if your single-string tremolo has a single escape or trapped, what matters is that you need to apply this main motion whenever you want with the same consistency.

I don’t recommend practicing burst because it won’t give you the true sensation of playing fast and consistently.

Just because you have an RDT DSX/DBX form doesn’t mean you can’t do USX. Some of these licks you’re trying will work better if you just do a sequence of different escapes (USX), like the first lick and the other, which I think is Shawn Lane’s 5s at the end of the video.

This specific lick will work best if you do four USXs and one DSX, immediately returning to USX. Then just repeat the sequence, and you’ll notice that you only need to worry about one “complex” string change. Once you apply this at a slightly higher speed, this will decrease.

You could start with an upstroke to do most of the DSX, but the furthest string change would be inside. Although it’s easier than outside, the error rate is higher when it comes to stringskipping, especially with one note per string at the end of the lick. That’s why outside is a bit more reliable for medium and long stringskipping.

But to be honest, if you can do a TC with us, it will be even easier for us to answer your questions, and of course, we’ll be happy to help you in any way.
If you’re interested, just open one on the platform and we’ll take a look.

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#4

Thanks for the response Joao! I’m going to read through this more carefully and work on applying it to my playing. Good to know what my form would qualify as at present.

I actually did open a TC but am going to work on posting a few more vids to it soon.

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#5

You might be having problems with your fretting hand. Make sure you are keeping your hands relaxed even as the tempo picks up. I also heard Jeff Berlin say this once. One of the smarter things he’s ever said. “You don’t get better technique by going faster. You get better technique by slowing down and specifying.” Whatever you’re learning to play, you have to learn it slower and develop the muscle memory for it before you try to play it faster. The funny thing is, Jeff Berlin has been on a crusade against the use of a metronome in practicing since before I ever even heard of him. Ignore that. Use the metronome. Figure out what tempo you can play it at consistently and work from there. Learn to play it accurately in time.

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#6

I would offer some suggestions which may help: I would start by lifting the hand up off the guitar, do not use as a rest. I know its tempting to do, and its what I do when I hybrid pick, because the angle helps with picking in that style, but if you are aiming for all out picking attack using alt picking then you need to have your hand relaxed and free, which brings me to my other point. with your wrist off the guitar, the motion of the wrist done properly will be very small, and tight You do seem to have have the correct motion from what I can see, but I did notice some tension. So the way I would approach it is to totally relax, and rebuild your technique by using small wrist movements that are ultra relaxed, think Perry Como, but with the wrist. the motion should be so subtle at high speeds that you will barely see it moving. watch guys like Anton Oparin, and Paul Gilbert to give you an idea of the motion needed. its incredibly short oscillations. The more relaxed the wrist is, the better its going to be and the faster you can play with ease. Tension is the killer in most peoples technique from what I can tell. Hope that helps. best/Doug

#7

Debunking “you have to make small motions” is one of the first things Troy did.

In fact, I’ve found in my own playing (and I’m fairly sure Troy’s said something similar) that the reverse is true: if your motion can’t be big, it can’t go fast.

#8

I’m not sure I quite agree with that as a sweeping statement. The definition of what big and small is can be pretty relative.

#9

@eric_divers I would disagree, I have effective picking technique which ill upload soon. I use small wrist movements. Guys like Michael Angelo Batio, Anton Oparin(probably the best Alternate picker to ever string them up), Paul Gilbert, Trey Hensley, disprove the “large motion” fallacy. what those players have done, is to start practicing large motions, then tighten them up. The wrist movements are almost micro movements, and I would be willing to bet that Troy would clarify that the movement is quite small, when playing fast. Its the same thing as keeping your fingers close to the fretboard when you play, less movement = more efficiency. But I also say you should practice however you like, if larger movements work for you, then awesome. Ill stick with my efficient small movement picking style.

#10
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#12

I think the most important thing to consider in all of this isn’t so much a debate over the supremacy of large vs smaller movements, this is all anecdotal, even if you brought statistics into the shuffle. It would only suggest what was effective for a subset of the sample size at a narrow focus. Looking at this from a broader perspective is likely more important.

A lot of these debates showing clips of two players negates some very important factors like the amount of control each person has with the movements they are using when they are using them, or dynamically choosing to. Over time, you may prove one over the other is statistically faster than another in a larger size of people, but what use is that really if it is only practical for a narrow use case, only statistically relevant, or sounds like absolute trash.

In both videos above each player has a lot of control with what they are choosing to use for what they are using them for - big or small - at any given time and with both hands. Anton isn’t just sticking to small movements, and Troy isn’t to large. To me after a certain speed level, the amount control the player has with the approach they choose, far outweighs what ever statistical increase could be gained with any other approach.

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#13

In the end you can probably make either work, DOP.( depending on practice) I think its the players right, to find his own truth on the instrument. I do believe Anton makes a very compelling argument (as does Troy) for a universal guitar technique as we have in violin pedagogy. But maybe we aren’t there yet. All I can say is that subjectively, and objectively, minimal movement works best for my body. I still use the ideas presented by Troy but have adapted them for my own unique skillset. best/Doug

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#14

I think that’s absolutely the best you or anyone can do! And I don’t believe there is a universal pedagogically correct method for everyone or everything in the realm of guitar playing or even music, nor would I ever want there to be.

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