Help with Picking Speed?

Fred Glave · From: McHenry, Illinois, USA

Can anyone recommend lessons and/or excersises to increase/improve picking speed?
I think I'm starting to develop bad habits in this area. I find myself using just my thumb and index finger more than I want. And my speed and coordination isn't improving the way I'd like. Any tips would help. Thanks.

Bengt Erlandsen · From: Brekstad, NORWAY

You have to use the thumb & index/middle finger to pick so when you say you use them to much I am kind of confused. Best way get things coordinated properly is to start sloooooooooooooooooooooooooow and get a metronome so you can be sure you are playing at the same tempo until everything flows naturally.
The R-hand fingers have to be programmed so they will do the same picking movement when you speed things up. Best way to do that is by playing real slowly. All coordination trouble comes from playin too fast and tryin to think about what is supposed to happen instead of knowing that the fingers have already done that kind of movement and know how to move around and pick the strings you need and then it is just to speed everything up. Simple exersizes like alternating thumb/index or thumb/middle on the same string and on different strings is necessary to get everything up to speed. There is a certain rhythm/flow everything has to move within, pedals/levers/picking patterns/bar movement. You have to learn it slow and then speed it up until you loose control and then slow it down a little bit until you can play it correctly. Soon things will be possible to perform faster than the day/week before.

Metronome&practise&patience = speed picking

Bengt Erlandsen

[This message was edited by Bengt Erlandsen on 19 January 2004 at 07:50 AM.]

Fred Glave · From: McHenry, Illinois, USA

I'm sorry, I should've specified that I find myself using only the index finger and thumb. The middle finger gets a lot of rest, except when used for chord grips, and arpeggios. I could use the middle finger and thumb for picking instead of the index finger, but then again the index finger will then be resting. I would like to implement all three fingers.

Rick Schmidt · From: Prescott AZ, USA

I've heard Paul Franklin state over & over that there is really no secret greater than really knowing the neck on your steel. If you really know where youre going, youre able to get there faster! Learn to play phrases that youre already confident with in as many other places on the fretboard and various pedal combinations as you can. That works for me. It's amazing how the lightbulb can come on sometimes by doing familiar things in other ways!

I think that is more important than the actual mechanics of right hand technique.

I also think Bengt's advice about the metronome (or maybe try a drum machine) is right on!

Ti...ming is....ev...every..everything!

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

If you can't play it slow, you can't play it fast.

I know that sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many folks try to start practicing at tempo, not realizing that's a dead end street.

1. GET A METRONOME
2. Take a short passage you want to play fast and work through it until you can play it VERY SLOWLY WITHOUT PAUSING.
3. Use the metronome to find a tempo where you can play the passage perfectly. Play it several times to ensure you can do it TWICE IN A ROW WITH NO MISTAKES. Be tough on yourself -- NO CHEATING.
4. Gradually increase the metronome speed -- maybe 5 or 10 bpm at a time -- until you find your limit, that is, when you start making mistakes because it's too fast.
5. Back off a bit and see if you can increase that limit. IF NOT, you need to think about how you're fingering the passage. If a 'roll' rather than a 'crossover' will help you increase your speed, TRY IT.

You will learn some interesting lessons by evaluating your own technique as it relates to speed. Look hard for the easiest/cleanest way to play. Don't always accept someone else's analysis -- what works for you is not necessarily what works for someone else. It's really easy to measure your results. Just DO IT.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

A great set of exercises to do to build dexterity is Joe Wright's "Technique Bundle". If I do even 10 minutes a day of those exercises, my dexterity is noticeably improved. Highly recommended!

Travis Bernhardt · From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Remember to pick hard. Go slow, and really dig in with the picks. For some reason I find this helps to get my muscles used to the motions.

As for the middle finger, don't lots of people only use two fingers for their speed picking? Either thumb/index or thumb/middle? Then they just learn to cross over really fast, and/or do fast double hits with the thumb, rather than introduce a third finger. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought lots of people did it that way...

If you want to add the third finger, an easy way to start would be to practice rolls. Take any three strings and just go thumb-index-middle over and over again. Then try it backwards, middle-index-thumb. Try some other patterns, like T-I-M-T-I-M-T-I, which works over a 4/4 beat. Think of different ways of mixing it up, i.e. start on different fingers, pick strings that are farther apart, do crossovers, try T-I-T-M on four different strings, etc.

Eventually your middle finger will come up to speed, and you'll be able to add it in to more of your playing.

Personally, I use four fingers, but I'm trying to learn to play with just two, for that clean palm blocked sound. Then I can use pick or palm blocking depending on whether I want a more legato or stacatto sound.

-Travis

Scott Henderson · From: Camdenton, Missouri, USA

My take on the whole speed thing is very similar to other threads on this post. start slow and work your way up...but i do have some othyer input to offer. first of all always keep the thumb pick flush to the strings this just natuarlly puts the hand in the correct position (for me anyway) also there arfe three main components to speed. the neck the pedals the hands...and how you work them all together. if you try to play 90mph straight ahead you'll crash. but by knowing the tricks of the neck combined with the pedals it takes a little strain of the right hand. to many to get into now I'll just say the nore you know the faster you'll go!!!

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Steelin' away in the ozarks and life,
Scott
www.scottyhenderson.com

George Kimery · From: Limestone, TN, USA

There was some lady psychologist from England that wrote an article many, many years ago on the subject of training the brain to do complex tasks fast. The gist of it was that you just go real slow at first and don't think about speed, only in doing it correctly. Speed would come with practice once your brain understands how to do it correctly. She never heard of a steel guitar I am sure, but perhaps she was right in her thinking.

Ken Williams · From: Arkansas

I believe if I could just get my right hand to relax more, that I could play faster. I also feel that if I could shorten my finger stroke on the string, that would improve my speed. When I look at my right hand while playing speed licks, it appears to have too much wasted motion. Seems like any motion other than what is the minimum requirement to play the string cleanly would be wasted, and slowing me down. This may not be true for everyone, but I know that I can play my quickest stuff easily if my right hand and forearm is completely relaxed.

Ken
http://home.ipa.net/~kenwill

Winnie Winston · From: Tawa, Wellington, NZ * R.I.P.

As my friend Ken bloom said, "Get the dance down."
He refers to the dance that the fingers do. If you can do it slow, you'll trip doing it fast.
Just saw a special about making LOTR-- all those fight sequences were coreographed VERY slowly-- until each person knbew what his exact moves were. Then they took it a little faster until they were up to speed.
So "get the dance down"

JW

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

Short motions are best, but do practice picking hard - it's a twitchy motion. At some point you just have to DECIDE if playing rolls across 4 or more strings works better for you as T-I-T-I (or T-M-T-M) or as T-I-M-T. Then work on what you decide is best. Obviously you eventually want to be able to do either, but as Jeff Newman has pointed out, the more choices you try to make at full speed the more you'll muff notes.

Randy Beavers · From: Lebanon,TN 37090

A bunch of good ideas here. The most obvious, can you play slowly what it is you want to play fast? When I was doing some teaching, most of the time the answer was no.

If the fingers don't feel as if they can move that fast, you do need to get more flexability in them. Something I still do, I take 2 golf balls and rotate them around in the palm of my right hand using the thumb and "pick" fingers. You may notice a slight decrease in speed at first if you do this for very long. The muscles in your forearm will be fatigued, and these muscles are what control your fingers.

If the hand itself feels stiff, use a golf ball to deep massage between the joints to help break up deposits and get the circulation going in them.

You can do all these things, and countless others, but the fingers will not work fast if you don't relax the forearm muscles, no matter how well conditioned they are. Tight muscles are rigid! So relax. Alot of the time this is easier said than done, especially when someone like Doug Jernigan is setting next to you.

[This message was edited by Randy Beavers on 20 January 2004 at 05:20 AM.]

Fred Glave · From: McHenry, Illinois, USA

Maybe I'm just too new and geeky, but I just figured that for some of that fast complex stuff, using all 3 fingers was needed. Now don't get me wrong, I'm trying not to play stuff that is way too beyond my ability, but when I try to push myself, it seems like I stumble easy. I like what you all have suggested, like taking it slow, and building up speed, using a metronome or speed adjustable drum machine. When I dig in and attack the string I seem to have more confidence. I think I'm going to look for some speed roll excercises to use too. Thanks a ton guys.

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

Hey Fred,
I'm a guitar player 1st and a steel player second but I do play both with thumb and finger pick. My favorite guitarist for speed is Brent Mason who plays with a thumb pick and fingers. His approach is to alternate between thumb/middle/thumb/ring/thumb/middle/thumb/
ring/ etc. I watched an old video of an American Music Shop featuring both Brent and Paul Franklin doing some very fast playing with Mark O'Connor and Paul was also using the thumb and index and middle fingers. If you watch Doug Jernigan, he uses both index and middle fingers too and it don't get no quicker than him or Paul. They're tops!!

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Gord Cole · From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Fred:
When taking drum lessons I was taught :

Start your exercises from very very slow and gradually increase the speed to your limit ... AND THEN GRADUALLY SLOW DOWN to the original slow motion speed. You'll find that you can stumble just as easily slowing down as speeding up -- until you have CONTROL.
Cheers--Gord

John Lacey · From: Black Diamond, Alberta, Canada

"but when I try to push myself, it seems like I stumble easy." Fred, this will pass in time. I bet you it took me 5 years to feel like I wasn't skating on dull skates.

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

ha fred,

this is paul wade give me a call buddy so we i can come over to help you out.
am free this sat ... 847-566-6337

paul wade

mundelein,ill

Dr. Hugh Jeffreys · From: Southaven, MS, USA

For Ken Williams: You are right Ken. Your picking muscles are located primarily within your forearm with associated tendens coursing through to your fingers. Your fingers have no muscles, only fat pads. When your hand and forearm are relaxed, that part of your body is free of tension; you, therefore, can execute passages much better. Your m, r, and c fingers share tendons while i, and m share a tendon. This helps to explain why one can play faster using the thumb and i or m alternately. Hugh

Leonard Bick · From: Washington Court House, OH USA

All of these ideas have some form of logic, but practice is the only logical thing I've found for a solution. The more time I practice, the better my technique. Just wish I had more time to devote.

Leonard Bick · From: Washington Court House, OH USA

All of these ideas have some form of logic, but practice is the only logical thing I've found for a solution. The more time I practice, the better my technique. Just wish I had more time to devote.

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