Right Hand Technique

[lostylost]

Please excuse the detour from the usual silliness here...

Being a bit burned out on IT stuff lately I'm finding myself spend a fair bit of my spare time on guitar.

For the last week or so I've been practicing a gridbox to a metronome etc a few little 2 minute blocks a day.

I'm completely self taught from tablature and never really thought much about technique other than what felt comfortable but seeing as though I'm doing all this focused practice I figure I may as well do it correctly.


Any special tips for holding a pick? Firm but not tight? As loose as possible?

I anchor my hand with my pinky. Is that a bad habit?

I see a lot of speed pickers seem to have a clenched fist?


I'm thinking of buying a copy of this software: http://www.guitarscalesmethod.com/gsm/about.asp

Any one experienced with it? Comments? Looks bleep etc?

[Pecodellico]

If you are getting into playing lots of scales this link may interest you you can even change tuneings and it shows you where all the notes are its a really great help!

http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/guitar/index_rb.html

[cwight]

As Mark Knopfler might say....'what's a pick?'. I don't use one that much. I have been using one recently trying to learn how to sweep pick. Best advice I can give you is get a 'heavy pick' . I use the big stubby (purple). I too sometimes anchor with my pinky; I don't think it can be great technique, but I've seen some great players do it (Yngwie J. Malmsteen). Speed pickers have a clenched fist for preparation because some jerk (mostly me) is gonna say something like...'my you can play your scales fast, can you make that into music'.

Other things to do. Make sure you can alternate pick really nice and clean, and practice it (lots). Start slow and then build up speed, and use a metronome, both to get your timing right, but also so you can track your progress (when you have something really down, notch the bpm up 5). Also Practice string skipping with alternate picking. There's loads of exercises out there to help develop good right hand technique.

Don't know the program, but before you go shelling money out, try this site, will pretty much do what that program does, but it's free....

http://www.scalerator.com/

[lostylost]

Cheers Colin & P

Don't get me wrong, I'm not into the super fast all the time stuff. I'd just like to be able to let it rip once in a while though... without a tonne of distortion to hide the crud lol.

String skipping! That sounds a good one.

[trikloretylen]

Any special tips for holding a pick? Firm but not tight? As loose as possible?

I anchor my hand with my pinky. Is that a bad habit?

how to hold the pick depends on what you are playing .
you have to find a technique that works for you.
i have two types off picks, one purple really heavy as colin.
and a grey medium one deppending on what im playing.


and for anchoring the hand with the pinky.
i do that to when i have a floating bridge.
otherwise i rest my "wrist" on the bridge !

[Pecodellico]

If you never tried it before Pinch Harmonics!
A pinch harmonic is produced when the thumb of the picking hand lightly touches against the string immediately after it is picked. This action is sufficient to silence the fundamental and all overtones except those which have a node at that location. This is generally accomplished by holding the guitar pick so that very little of its tip protrudes between the thumb and forefinger (roughly 3-5 mm), allowing the thumb to brush the string immediately after it is picked. The technique must be performed at one of the appropriate harmonic nodes for the note to sound.

[pooterpatty]

Right hand technique is something most guitarists struggle with. There's no one "proper" way to hold a pick. Whatever way is comfortable to you is the right way. Some will hold the pick with two fingers, the other three spread out, others like James Hetfield and Steve Morse actually hold the pick with three fingers, which I just can't get the hang of.

If you spend any time watching folks who are playing fast, you'll notice it seems effortless. This is how you want it to be for you too. In other words, if it starts to hurt, you're doing it wrong. Take Colin's suggestions for practicing and getting up to speed, but while you're doing that, make sure that you're not cramping up at any time. It takes a little while to isolate the best muscle groups in the right arm for speed picking, and unfortunately they're not the ones you'd immediately think about using for the purpose - you have to train yourself to use those muscles that allow for fast picking but don't fatigue easily.

[Wedgebill]

As with most things, I do it all wrong, I use a Jim Dunlop Nylon 20 thou (.46mm) pick, held between thumb and forefinger and then bend it between forefinger and second finger to stiffen it when I wanna get louder. Having said that, like Cwighty, I don't use a pick all the time anyway

[solone1]

I'm shocked! Not a single funny about "Right Hand" technique.. Seriously, though, the right hand technique takes a much as the left.

Have you looked at picking, inside-out and outside-in? Fun stuff for picking.

Cheers

[yahsteck1]

Great advice from my bros! Hey losty, you said you like the idea of a somewhat clean and clear as well as string skiping. I very much recomend and i think others would agree that Eric Johnson dose thes extreemly well. He has instructional vids too. He is a shreder in a clean and different kind of way. Youtube him if you havent heard him! Rock on Bro!

[pooterpatty]

Great advice solone1! Hybrid picking (using the pick and the other 3 fingers on your right hand in tandem) is a good way to achieve a decent level of speed.

Let's not overlook the left hand though. A lot of folks spend a lot of time working on the right hand, when in reality the left hand needs just as much work. In other words, the reason your hands aren't syncing up may be because your left hand is lagging behind the right, instead of the other way around. Legato exercises where you don't use your right hand at all are a great way to build dexterity in the left hand. Of course, nothing beats playing with both hands, using a metronome. Probably the most boring thing about playing guitar, but worth every minute spent doing it.

And, just for Chris...........you said "right hand technique"......hehehehehe

Happy now?

[atalwar]

after a long time, some nice discussion going on here.

i am keen on knowing about bettering the fretting hand as well, as for me that is laggard.

btw, i don't believe short and heavy fingers would matter too much. or do they?

[lostylost]

I noticed I tend to pick right right with the very end of the pick and hold it really loose ( I sometimes have to readjust my grip when it floats about )

After some experimentation I found that picking a few more millimetres in seems to yield cleaner results.

All the increased awareness made me realize my left hand pinky is always curling away which really slows me down.

Damn bad habits!

Thanks for all the tips guys. I'll definitely do a bit of metronome practice. I've never really had the discipline or patience before. A few 5 minute sessions a day at the least. I'm sure it would pay off.

[lostylost]

Anyone got any excercise for improving rhythm/timing other than the obvious one of playing with a metronome?

[atalwar]

Try to learn a some iron maiden riffs/songs, that's one exercise that helped me quite a bit.