Problems with increasing picking speed

[Vpod111z]

I've been practicing on improving my picking speed for months and not noticing any results. I've been stuck at 3 main tempos. 120, 130, and 140 BPM(playing 16ths BTW) I've literally searched around the Whole internet for a specific in depth video tutorial but haven't found one. I have specific questions that i either did'nt find or munderstood the answers to them. I have a pretty good Legato and Tapping technique(I don't want to say that its perfect) but id like to get a good picking technique for certain songs id like to cover. These are some specific questions i need to understand when picking. Sorry for all of the questions but id like to do everything I can to avoid relearning new methods or bad habits when picking up this technique

1. How tense am I? How relaxed am I? Am I too tense or too relaxed.
2. How should i rest my arm on the guitar. Should it be sitting on the guitar? or elevated in the air as i have my palm rested on the bridge for picking. What kind of angle should my elbow be in?
3. Does the pick need to stay straight at an angle at all times?(When i pick i tend to have my pick come up and down a little) its never in a flat position. When i pick down the pick slents up a little. When i pick up the pick slents down a little.
4. For how many minutes straight should i be picking on a certain tempo on the metronome and how for how long should i rest?
5. How should i move my picking across strings. Should my elbow be at rest or moving along with my wrist as i take it across strings?
6. Should i pick my hand up at all when moving to other strings?
7.How much of the pick should i use for picking and how much should i scoot my thumb back on it?

If anyone can answer or help me find the answers to some of these questions or make a video explaining them. I would be very thankful I apologize for some of my grammar BTW

[feilong29]

Originally Posted by Vpod111z

I've been practicing on improving my picking speed for months and not noticing any results. I've been stuck at 3 main tempos. 120, 130, and 140 BPM(playing 16ths BTW) I've literally searched around the Whole internet for a specific in depth video tutorial but haven't found one. I have specific questions that i either did'nt find or munderstood the answers to them. I have a pretty good Legato and Tapping technique(I don't want to say that its perfect) but id like to get a good picking technique for certain songs id like to cover. These are some specific questions i need to understand when picking. Sorry for all of the questions but id like to do everything I can to avoid relearning new methods or bad habits when picking up this technique

1. How tense am I? How relaxed am I? Am I too tense or too relaxed.
2. How should i rest my arm on the guitar. Should it be sitting on the guitar? or elevated in the air as i have my palm rested on the bridge for picking. What kind of angle should my elbow be in?
3. Does the pick need to stay straight at an angle at all times?(When i pick i tend to have my pick come up and down a little) its never in a flat position. When i pick down the pick slents up a little. When i pick up the pick slents down a little.
4. For how many minutes straight should i be picking on a certain tempo on the metronome and how for how long should i rest?
5. How should i move my picking across strings. Should my elbow be at rest or moving along with my wrist as i take it across strings?
6. Should i pick my hand up at all when moving to other strings?
7.How much of the pick should i use for picking and how much should i scoot my thumb back on it?

If anyone can answer or help me find the answers to some of these questions or make a video explaining them. I would be very thankful I apologize for some of my grammar BTW

I've asked the same questions and found answers and gotten some good results!

1. You want to be as relaxed as possible... most tension and relaxation starts in your head. If you are mindful of you tension, ease up, and focus on being as relaxed as possible. Don't try to monkey grip the fretboard. Have a firm grip on the pick though.

2. This is player preference, but, I rest my forearm area on the body of the guitar, and palm on or near the bridge. Too high up on the guitar (resting wise) will mute out your strings as you try to play. Feel it out!

3. This is player preference too. I think Marty Friedman, and his weird hold on the pick makes his parallel to the strings (don't quote me). I angle my, but it is because of the way I hold the pick b/t my thumb and index finger. Look up Paul Gilberts picking technique; he has a good perspective on holding the pick. You want to hold it so that it creates smooth and fluid transition. I angle mine.

4. This varies. If you are at a speed where, no matter how long you play at that tempo, you play it clean, increase the metronome by 2-4 bpms. If you are a spot where you are a little sloppy, bump it up 15 bpm and try it... you will fail, BUT, go back to the speed you had trouble at, and you will be playing it just fine. Play at the impossible speed a for about, 20-30 seconds. All in all, do tempos for a minute at the most (maybe a little longer for muscle memory) and increase bpms by 2-4, BAM!

5. Try not to use your wrist... most fast players (Andy James, Rob Marcello, Yngwie, so forth and so on) use their wrist, and it is smooth and barely any movement. Elbow movement is fine, but, it can also cause strain. Player preference. Also, watch Andy James' video on how to play Yngwie's song, far beyond the sun or something like that... when he does has single string licks and descending scale runs, note how slight the movement in his picking motion is... reeeeeeeeeeediculous! But try to mimic it. Small strokes coupled with usings as little surface of the pick as possible will help tremendously with speed!

6. Try to learn how to slightly brush your hands across the strings... don't lift up. Just move smooth across, almost like when you sweep pick.

7. You want as little of the pick contacting the strings as possible. A great guitarist (a fast one at that) said that, when you have the least bit of the pick moving, you don't have that much surface making contact with the strings, hence, you move faster. The more pick you have expose, the more likely you are to dig into the strings, and the slower you will become. I use Jazz IIIs and Dunlop Tortex (slightly larger than a Jazz III), and with those, you have NO choice but to use a little bit of the pic.

I hope that sorta helps. It helped me and also, and this is player preference... if you pick with your last three fingers extended, try to adapt to curling those piggies in... makes a world of difference after you get used to it!

[SirMyghin]

Only 7 someone else can help with really, the rest is up to you, as above, use as little of the pick as possible, how you hold it is up to you though. I use dunlop sharps (or more appropriately, I stole their shape), so something closer to traditional size, but no more then 1-2mm of the pick eats the string either way. You want stiffer picks too, more control, and you can actually vary your attack and go fast enough when using that little pick. My material of choice = agate.

[Vpod111z]

Originally Posted by SirMyghin

Only 7 someone else can help with really, the rest is up to you, as above, use as little of the pick as possible, how you hold it is up to you though. I use dunlop sharps (or more appropriately, I stole their shape), so something closer to traditional size, but no more then 1-2mm of the pick eats the string either way. You want stiffer picks too, more control, and you can actually vary your attack and go fast enough when using that little pick. My material of choice = agate.

Thanks I will take using some agate picks into consideration and see if it helps out with tone a little im currently using 1.0 mm Dunlop tortex picks ATM

[feilong29]

Originally Posted by SirMyghin

Only 7 someone else can help with really, the rest is up to you, as above, use as little of the pick as possible, how you hold it is up to you though. I use dunlop sharps (or more appropriately, I stole their shape), so something closer to traditional size, but no more then 1-2mm of the pick eats the string either way. You want stiffer picks too, more control, and you can actually vary your attack and go fast enough when using that little pick. My material of choice = agate.

Yes! Hard picks are awesome and make a huge difference!

[SirMyghin]

Originally Posted by Vpod111z

Thanks I will take using some agate picks into consideration and see if it helps out with tone a little im currently using 1.0 mm Dunlop tortex picks ATM

Acrylic ones are also very nice, the problem with most agate picks is they are not pointy enough. I had to find someone to make mine to the desired shapes. Acrylic isn't quite as sharp as agate, but both have their place. There are a whole lot of materials out there though, try em all

[Vpod111z]

Originally Posted by SirMyghin

Acrylic ones are also very nice, the problem with most agate picks is they are not pointy enough. I had to find someone to make mine to the desired shapes. Acrylic isn't quite as sharp as agate, but both have their place. There are a whole lot of materials out there though, try em all

lol my plastic tortex picks would eventually run out and get round after practice. Id eventually get a butter knife and sharpen those :P

[SirMyghin]

Pretty much, that is why I stopped using tortex, I love how the material feels in your hands.

[feilong29]

Originally Posted by Vpod111z

lol my plastic tortex picks would eventually run out and get round after practice. Id eventually get a butter knife and sharpen those :P

Ya I got thru them, atleast once a week!

[Solodini]

Originally Posted by feilong29

5. Try not to use your wrist...

Did you mean to say this? What you say afterward seems contradictory.

[eurolove]

i like to quote rusty when i comes to arm or wrist picking. he basically says that you can play fast using your arm or wrist or both and that several great guitarists have proven this. but what he warns against is using your thumb and finger to move the pick so id make sure to limit that.

[Maniacal]

The problem with elbow picking is string skipping smoothly and muting strings while string skipping.

[Konfyouzd]

Sometimes slowing down can help you to speed up. Perhaps focusing solely on speed has caused you to develop a block about being able to play faster than you currently do. You may just be plateauing temporarily. No matter what, don't let this discourage you.

BTW I tend to pick from the wrist for the most part. I pick from the elbow when I'm playing something that is out of my comfort zone speed-wise usually.

[Konfyouzd]

I forgot to address the topic of picks. I actually rather enjoy the Jazz III tortex picks as well as the Jazz III ultexes. Perhaps I pick lighter than some of you other folks, but I've found that these 2 picks seem to last me a good while. Acrylic picks on the other hand, I seem to grind right through...

[Maniacal]

If you are having problems picking, get some Stylus picks and do both endurance and speed exercises. Problem solved.

[Konfyouzd]

^ +1

Endurance is a big one. You might technically be able to play at a certain speed, but not have the endurance to keep it up long enough to sound good if that makes any sense. It's kind of like lifting weights... You may have the strength to push up a particular amount of weight one time but not the endurance to rep it.

[bey0ndreaz0n]

So what happens when you reach 140bpm and beyond? Do you start to tense up? Do you hit strings by accident? Do the miss fret notes? My point is in order to get past this you need to identify the specific problem(s) that's holding you back, and then work on that. With me everything falls apart at a certain speed because my left hand looses sync with the right hand, and so the quicker I go the less actual notes you hear!

I know it's been said a million times but practicing something slow first actually really helps. For me and my sync problems I practice stupid slow, like I have it so slow that there is an uncomfortable-amount-of-time between each note (like playing quarter notes at 60bpm) and focusing on each hand being on and off at exactly the same time, with a minmal amount of movement and effort. The idea is that your brain is in complete control over your muscles, (and not relying on your muscle memory), in order for you to develop new muscle memory, which you can only do at a slow speed. I'll play at around 60bpm for about 10-15 minutes, and it does much more for my overall touch and technique, than just letting rip and hoping for the best (which is what I used to do)! It's only since working specifically this way that I've made any real honest improvement.

I recommend you find out what it is that's holding you back and then work on that specifically. If that's hard to pinpoint, then maybe post up and vid of you playing or something?

You may also want to check out this little program called Guitar Speed:
Guitar Speed Trainer - Home

[Konfyouzd]

^ +1

Going as slow as possible is almost jsut as hard as going as fast as possible.

It also seems to take less effort when you speed back up once you've played something at 60bpm for an extended period of time.

I do this when trying to learn riffs up to speed as well.

Some riffs are "busier" than others and if I find I'm having trouble playing a riff up to speed I'll first slow it way down. If I'm still having trouble with it I start removing embellishments from it until I have something still representative of the riff I'm learning but simplified. Once that becomes comfortable I'll slowly add in the parts that were giving me trouble before.

I'm not sure if that approach to riff learning will help you any as it doesn't sound like you were talking about riffs in the OP but you might be able to find some parallel.

[Vpod111z]

thx for all the support and help guys i appreciate it I started practicing this at 80 BPM and i'am going up by 4s each time. As i practice I'am staring at the mirror to make sure my wrist is moving and not my thumb and index. I seem to progressing decently at it for now

[SirMyghin]

Originally Posted by Vpod111z

thx for all the support and help guys i appreciate it I started practicing this at 80 BPM and i'am going up by 4s each time. As i practice I'am staring at the mirror to make sure my wrist is moving and not my thumb and index. I seem to progressing decently at it for now

Something I picked up from Troy Stetinas books was recursive practicing, not linear practicing. You play something ,ramp it up say 6 bpm, ramp it down 3, then up 6 again, and so forth. Gives you bursts of easier and harder, and you 'recover' on the 'easier' ones. Not to mention it doubles the practice time I found that useful overall. As you get second chances so to speak, when it starts getting tough.

[Maniacal]

Pick for long periods of time too. Get a timer and spend at least 2 minutes at each tempo, aim for 5 minutes.

[Solodini]

Yep, endurance is a much overlooked factor. Consistency and endurance go hand in hand. You may only be playing uberfast for 10 secs at a time in songs but if you're playing a whole set then your muscles will tire out. If you're trained to play fast for 5 minutes then 10 seconds will feel like nothing.

[Maniacal]

Exactly!

[XIII]

I have recently been looking to change some habits picking wise, I tried Paul's idea with holding the pick (and watching him pick in general) between the thumb and forefinger and the angle he uses to produce the sound he likes. I found it incredibly helpful! I like him cause his picking is so damn fast and clean, a positive influence in building pick speed.

Paul Gilbert Alt Picking The first minute is literally like watching him pleasure himself, but with a guitar in his hands haha

[Lagtastic]

Great recommendations here. I tend to listen to anything Rusty Cooley says involving picking as he is my favorite alternate picker.

I have one small thought to add. Apply this simple thought to your practice, minimize your movements. The less you have to move your pick and fingers on your fretting hand to reach the destination, the faster you will get there. Simple but quite a few people don't think about it that way. Minimize your movements when you want to achieve speed.