Right hand technique and speed: How fast can you pick?

[204084]

I've been pre-occupied here lately trying to get my right hand picking speed as fast as I can get it. This ain't easy. (The inspiration to do this came from several places, including my brief brush with trying to learn to play mandolin and watching John Mclaughlin videos.) I seem to be hitting some barrier something like the sound barrier...ie...I can only get so many notes/second. I can do some tremolo sorta like a mando player would use but the technique's not quite the same. I'm using no pull-offs or hammer-ons;every note is fretted. But I am hitting what seems to be a wall physically as to how many times I can get the pic to strike the string cleanly. Any suggestions as to how to breach this barrier?

 

[West R Lee]

Yes sir.....repetition.....about the only way you'll get faster. Stretching your fingers might help a bit too, but to do it over and over and over is the only real way to get faster.

West

 

[taabru45]

Sometimes I use the softer curve corner of the pick...slides over the strings easier, I find...also try drilling a hole in the middle of the pick, about the diameter of a cigarette. Your thumb and finger kind of touch, the pick doesn't slip or drop...good luck Steffan

You could always try this, but I wouldn't recommend it :lol: :lol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZVpSzq6ibY

 

[204084]

also try drilling a hole in the middle of the pick, about the diameter of a cigarette. Your thumb and finger kind of touch, the pick doesn't slip or drop...

Yea I'm gonna try that. I'm surfin the net looking for this subject of speed and there seems to be some consensus on both a) choking down on the pick so there's not much pick sticking out and b) using really stiff picks. Heck, on the mandolin cafe site, I even saw them talking about picks that cost $40 or more per pick!

 

[stclrob]

also try drilling a hole in the middle of the pick, about the diameter of a cigarette. Your thumb and finger kind of touch, the pick doesn't slip or drop...

Yea I'm gonna try that. I'm surfin the net looking for this subject of speed and there seems to be some consensus on both a) choking down on the pick so there's not much pick sticking out and b) using really stiff picks. Heck, on the mandolin cafe site, I even saw them talking about picks that cost $40 or more per pick!

$40? Try dunlop jazz picks. These play very fast and are cheap. I use these for shred and pinch harmonics.
http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/pip&id=3&pmh=products/picks

 

[TonyT]

Imagine flipping water off the end of your pinkie finger. Hold your pick as loosely as you can. I was taught that if you don't drop your pick sometimes, you're holding on to tight, and tight = slow.

 

[killdeer43]

Sit a while at the feet of a master of the craft.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdUrg2Cqxdw

There are many others but Doc's always been my inspiration/motivation. :wink:

Joe

 

[204084]

Imagine flipping water off the end of your pinkie finger. Hold your pick as loosely as you can. I was taught that if you don't drop your pick sometimes, you're holding on to tight, and tight = slow.

Thats what some of the mando pickers say also. I've tried that and indeed the pic falls outta my hand or moves all over the place. But I'll try it some more.
It's weird how now my right arm hurts more than my left arm ever thought about hurting.

 

[killdeer43]

And then have a look at this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb14OVLNZf0&p=A52EBBBEEB572B65&playnext=1&index=8

Great view of the right hand and his great sound. :wink:

Enjoy,
Joe

 

[killdeer43]

And again....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KZJP6Ztvmc&feature=related

Fretkillr rocks! 8)

JOe

 

[AlohaJoe]

Your right arm hurts because you are working too hard. Tensing the arm & shoulder muscles is a sure-fire recipe for serious shoulder problems down the road. You get faster (and w better control) as your fulcrum gets closer to the pick/string contact. In other words, moving the pick from the wrist is faster than the elbow. Try not to use your shoulder. Jim Nunally (bluegrass speedster) hardly moves his wrist, making most of the movement for single-string work in his fingers! His hands hardly appear to move!

See what info you can search out on 'sweep picking' too.

Another place to get good info on picking speed is the Gypsy Jazz forums,
http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=09fd5ee1d11e25a1babf7e8c213442ea

...because those guys are crazy fast!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdL_LHKVIMo

What he's doing with his right hand is just like the mandolin tremolo you were working on. Get comfortable doing that on a single string and your left hand will have to work to catch up!

BTW, the Gypsies, Bluegrassers and Jazz guys all seem to agree on very stiff picks.

 

[taabru45]

If you spend some serious time watching Banjo Ben, you WILL pick up a lot of pointers, he's a serious professional and I've subscribed to his channel...and he is very generous in his teaching skills. Steffan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqXs0CvSpNk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXdO288Q ... re=related

 

[204084]

OK, my laptop is slowing down and will need a reboot (have ya'll ever noticed how youtube videos loads the RAM?) but before I do I found this. LOL:

Guitar picks review: Red Bear, Wegen, Pickboy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw2iDriyu5c

Thanks for all the replies. BBIAF.

 

[killdeer43]

You get started watching Doc, and then you're off for two or three tunes with Tony and Norman and Fretkillr and every flat picker on youtube and then it's time for dinner!
Youtube is one heck of a resource, not to mention a time killer!

Let's see, where was I..................? :roll:
Joe

 

[204084]

There are many others but Doc's always been my inspiration/motivation. Joe

Doc was my inspiration to start playing bluegrass 35 years ago. And when I started back playing this year I watched some of his videos and decided I would try a different right hand technique. All my flat picking in the past was done with my right hand anchored. I'm playing w/o an anchor now so I'm sure that's got something to do with everything.

 

[204084]

Another place to get good info on picking speed is the Gypsy Jazz forums,...because those guys are crazy fast!

AlohaJoe...the gypsy jazz players are exactly what's pushing this thirst for speed. Many thanks for that link.
And thanks Steffan for banjo ben. That's good stuff there.

 

[yettoblaster]

I used those Wegen Gypsy Jazz picks for awhile, but those guys really dig in on pretty light strings and kind of blow through the string to rest against the next.

I've had more luck with heavier strings, heavy (but not extra heavy) standard 351 usual size Fender picks, and minimizing movement. The more excursion: the more you have to come back.

John McGlaughlin has very little movement. It's always tempting to dig in for a solid individual note sound, but I find there must be a little compromise and some "floating" to get sustained speed more than a few note passage.

I've been playing fifty years, and speed work is a gradual acquisition: after accuracy: always. To play fast I must be relaxed, and that requires a lot of playing slowly and accurately until even little inconveniences don't throw me off.

I play jazz mostly, but Tony Rice is inspiring. I am more influenced by George Benson though, when it comes to speed work.

 

[killdeer43]

the gypsy jazz players are exactly what's pushing this thirst for speed.

Your "thirst for speed" makes me think of something Paul Simon said a good while back:

Slow down, you move too fast, gotta make the morning last....

Always something to think about, :wink:
Joe

 

[204084]

Your "thirst for speed" makes me think of something Paul Simon said a good while back:
Slow down, you move too fast, gotta make the morning last....
Always something to think about, :wink:
Joe

Yea Joe. I hear ya. I love a minimalist approach and I can do that well enough that I'm satisfied with that side of my ability, at least for now. But your point is well taken. On the flip side of that point: if you like Tony Rice or Doc Watson, how can you not lust after the speed those guys can use with such clarity? :roll:

 

[204084]

I've been playing fifty years, and speed work is a gradual acquisition: after accuracy: always. To play fast I must be relaxed, and that requires a lot of playing slowly and accurately until even little inconveniences don't throw me off.

yettoblaster: Do you anchor your right hand?