Picking issues

[Dan Shipway]

Hey dudes, ya miss me! It's been a while. Over the course of the past few months I have been practising a lot of technique, my sweeping and legato has become more fluid but one thing that seems to not improve is my alternate and economy picking, the main stumbling block is that everything feels quite clunky, the pick seems to get stuck on the string than moving through it and it's something that I have no clue how to fix. I have tried pick slanting both ways but to no avail.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[idssdi]

How do you hold your pick? At what angle do you pick? All these little details can affect how easy it is to alternate or economy pick.

 

[Dan Shipway]

I tend to have my pick slanted downwards 15 degrees or up 15 depending on which direction Im moving and its tilted 15 degrees so the edge of the pick makes contact with the string.

 

[idssdi]

How far does your pick tip show?

Also I probably do pick slanting but I've never been specifically conscious about it.

I'll show you what I do at some later point ok?

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Well Show us! We might be able to Help you better If we See you playing.

Maybe some Nickelback sweeps? They have so many!

 

[idssdi]

Well Show us! We might be able to Help you better If we See you playing.

Maybe some Nickelback sweeps? They have so many!

I would go for Abba sweeps tbh, they are ridiculously cool!

 

[Lucas Weiman]

Along with what the others said on here, something else to take into consideration is what type of pick you are using. Some just don't glide through the strings as well as others and you will definitely have a cap on how fast you can pick certain techniques.

 

[Dan Shipway]

I will definitely send a picture, I use 2mm picks but i will try experimenting with others. As for the amount of pick showing, its just under half since my thumb comes over the center of the pick

 

[Ben Grosskreuz]

I will definitely send a picture, I use 2mm picks but i will try experimenting with others. As for the amount of pick showing, its just under half since my thumb comes over the center of the pick

Video of you playing?

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Angling the pick upwards or downwards in my teachings and findings truly is essential ONLY for certain types of cross-string speed picking. In a nutshell, if you feel your pick is clunking around, I hate to say this, it's probably your technique or your 'attack'. If the pick is awkward to grip and makes playing uncomfortable because of the grip itself, it's the pick. But many well-adapted guitarists can play with ANY pick in their hand. But they'll still have their preferences. Economy picking is hard, and alternate picking for many people is difficult because you have to actually use more force to get it to come through and it can feel like you're fighting your strings. It's 100% natural. Also, when you get fast enough the motion comes from a different part of your muscles in your hand. If you're speed-picking on strings that are fairly adjacent to each other (eg D and G string) some guitarists will actually kind of anchor their hand down a little and only move their fingers, knuckles and VERY minimally their wrists. However, if it requires massive cross-string work, they get their whole wrist and even sometimes their arm into it. Try getting your attack harder and push through the fight. It may help I hope any of this made sense.

 

[Dan Shipway]

Sorry i haven't responded, i haven't been in a good place mentally for a long time now and its making it hard to come on here and really interact.

Yeah that makes sense, I think there has been a lot going wrong over the 9 years I've been playing, there have been times it has gotten to the point where guitar playing feels like the most unnatural thing in the world, my main issues i find are that when I pick I cant seem to find a grip that works, it either slips when i play or I hold it so tight that my movements feel really forced.

The only other issue is my arm position. I tend to anchor my hand on the strings but while playing scales I cant do that. My arm tends to relax when i have my hand anchored on the strings and my arm falls into place on the forearm contour but when i play scales its never touching the guitar which can cause discomfort after a while.
I think if i were to rectify these it may help with the picking issues but i dont really know how to go about changing these things since i know nothing else.

Photos to come

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Sorry i haven't responded, i haven't been in a good place mentally for a long time now and its making it hard to come on here and really interact.

Yeah that makes sense, I think there has been a lot going wrong over the 9 years I've been playing, there have been times it has gotten to the point where guitar playing feels like the most unnatural thing in the world, my main issues i find are that when I pick I cant seem to find a grip that works, it either slips when i play or I hold it so tight that my movements feel really forced.

The only other issue is my arm position. I tend to anchor my hand on the strings but while playing scales I cant do that. My arm tends to relax when i have my hand anchored on the strings and my arm falls into place on the forearm contour but when i play scales its never touching the guitar which can cause discomfort after a while.
I think if i were to rectify these it may help with the picking issues but i dont really know how to go about changing these things since i know nothing else.

Photos to come

Dan, are you ok? What's going on?

 

[Dan Shipway]

I've been battling with self hatred, depression and suicidal thoughts but i'm doing good and trying to keep my head up

 

[Ed Seith]

I've been battling with self hatred, depression and suicidal thoughts but i'm doing good and trying to keep my head up

Channel all that hate into Nickelback and reach out to me or any of your friends here if you need support. You're not alone!

 

[Dan Shipway]

Thanks so much Ed, it really means a lot!

 

[Chris Johnston]

How tight are you gripping your pick?

For alternate & eco picking you'll want quite a light grip on the pick to help it glide and not get stuck it should feel pretty effortless eventually if you get that down!

 

[Dan Shipway]

I usually have a fairly light grip and for sweeping it isnt too much of an issue but i find when doing econ or alternate that the pick can move around in my fingers when it hits the string

 

[Gabriel Perez]

Hey dan, we got your back. If you need anything we got you.

And I relate to that struggle with alternate and economy picking. Shit is HARD. I had to set up a whole practice routine around my habits and then go at like 60 BPM. No shame in starting from the beginning to get where you want though, right? Hope you're doing well. Keep up the good work

 

[Chris Johnston]

I usually have a fairly light grip and for sweeping it isnt too much of an issue but i find when doing econ or alternate that the pick can move around in my fingers when it hits the string

Gotcha man! Yeah I guess it's all about finding that happy medium that keeps your pick able to move but not too much. You'll find it eventually!

Also, just read your post further up about your MH - I hope you're doing okay man

 

[Dan Shipway]

I have a few pictures of an issue that i think needs to be sorted before anything else.

It’s not too much of an issue other than when im playing scales but due to a reason which im not too sure of, my thumb doesnt sit straight on the back of the neck. When reaching down to the lower strings i experience a lot of pain in my wrist.