Speed Picking......

[Skullkrusher]

I need some help with speed picking. Can any of you point me in the right direction for some good info on how to learn speed picking properly. I really, really want to improve my speed. Thanks all.


Also, do you all know of any good instructional videos for speed building? I've got a birthday coming up and that will make the perfect gift from my wife.

 

[jmcorey]

Re: Speed Picking......

The Hal Leonard website should have some good instructional videos on VHS or DVD. Look up the website on google, check through for metal instruction, then order through Amazon for cheaper prices.

 

[led zep fan]

Re: Speed Picking......

Alternate pick EVERYTHING! No sweep picking, none of that stuff. This is the secret to Steve Morse's ability, it'll work for you too.

 

[led zep fan]

Re: Speed Picking......

practice, practice, practice...

 

[led zep fan]

Re: Speed Picking......

Come to think of it, I use my pick and fingers at the same time a lot, it's like having two or three picks going at once.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Speed Picking......

Go and sweep your backyard
Let's hear a shredder do some country then

 

[led zep fan]

Re: Speed Picking......

I'm tellin' ya man, do the alternate picking thing with EVERYTHING you play, it will make you a better guitarist.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Speed Picking......

Yeah hear some Albert Lee and Steve Morse...they pick and they cook up great things.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Speed Picking......

sorry, no, sweep picking uses less of a motion. It is physics- you move less, you work less, you can use less of a motion. From a physical standpoint, you can get faster with a lot less work.
Don't think 'this guy uses it, and he is fast, therefore if I do it, I will be fast too'- this logic doesn't work.
Morse gets those speeds *despite* his picking- for us mortals, we need all the help we can get. His picking is strange (although he is one of my favs!), and the alternate picking part is just a tiny fraction of the weirdness.

Check out Holdsworth, Yngwie, Frank Gambale, John McLaughlin for some seriously fast sweep picking.
Economy of motion is the key. And lots and lots of practice, with a metronome.

 

[led zep fan]

Re: Speed Picking......

Amen to that!! The whole sweep thing is like cheating, you know, like using a whammy bar instead of finger vibrato, or using a volume pedal to do swells instead of your vol. knob... just my 2 cents.

 

[stratobastard]

Re: Speed Picking......

get any Paul Gilbert video!

practice every single scale & exercise you know, REPEATEDLY!, (with both picking styles) every time you pick up the guitar

 

[Mincer]

Re: Speed Picking......

cheating? kinda like saying riding a bike instead of walking is cheating. it is just a more efficient way of doing the same thing. It will most likely sound cleaner too, with less wrist motion, so you can relax your picking hand more.

 

[Skullkrusher]

Re: Speed Picking......

Thanks guys. As far as I know, the only kind of picking I know how to do is Up Down, Up Down.........you get the idea? I want a good video to get me started on other picking styles. I've got a pretty fast pick hand, but I need to learn PROPER technique. Thanks again everybody.

 

[led zep fan]

Re: Speed Picking......

Sorry, I'm stuck in the seventies, I guess.

 

[stratobastard]

Re: Speed Picking......

ahem....Paul Gilbert

 

[Kac]

Re: Speed Picking......

John Petrucci's 'Rock Discipline' is an essential buy.

My advice for speed picking is try to make your movement more economic. Make sure the strings don't catch too much of the pick... only a fraction of an inch is needed, and make sure your hands don't come too far off the fretboard after a note has been played. You know, just things that slightly increase the time it takes to 'recover' from the previous note, you need to cut it all down.

+1, Great video
You could check out Yngwie's videos too... He doesn't make it as easy to understand as petrucci though, but I find Malmsteen more intertaining :laugh2:
Rock On :smoker:

 

[y2stevo]

Re: Speed Picking......

ahem....Paul Gilbert

Lol.

Enough Said

But i'd definitly recommend Petrucci's DVD.

 

[y2stevo]

Re: Speed Picking......

And Listen to Eugene's Trick Bag by Vai and just listen at how fast one can Alternate Pick Arpeggios :laugh2:

yes yes i know he's from a different planet but still

 

[tone4days]

Re: Speed Picking......

i liked the 'moster licks and sweep picking' video by frank gambale .. very useful in developing sweep picking as part of my playing .. i say 'part' because i also use alternate picking when appropriate ... none of the 'sweep' guys are 100% sweepers .. it's just another tool in the toolbox ... also, you have to have your LEFT hand chops in top shape to sweep AT LEAST as much as your right hand in order to sweep well ... it's all about fretboard palcement for the notes you choose

good luck
t4d

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: Speed Picking......

Economy (sweep) and alternate picking both get the job done in different ways. While alternate picking has machine gun accuracy, you also have to work much harder. Economy won't sound as accurate or percussive, but you work less. It all depends on what feel/tone you're going for.

To compare, Steve Vai uses alternate picking, while Satch uses economy picking.