Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: lepersmeesa on February 28, 2006, 11:27:01 PM
-
I have also really been looking at my picking technique. I have found that after about 204bpm at 16ths i start picking from the elbow rather then my wrist. With elbow picking i can get up to some ridiculous speeds, but not very controlled. So i have concentrated on picking from my wrist, which is really hard for me, because naturally i go to the elbow for when im going in to hyper mode. I know what to do, just going to take time.
Does anyone agree with this statement? Is elbow picking a bad thing, or is it just a person style?
-
dude i always elbow pick when doing anything remotely fast... (which for me probably isnt very fast compared to other people on here). my wrist itself is pretty damn weak and like you said you can get much faster speeds (but uncontrolled) from the elbow.
-
All from the wrist! My elbow isn't even a consideration..weird!!
-
that really is fu**ing weird.....
if i try n pick fast from my wrist i go all spasticated and look like an idiot...
-
Everything, speedy funk, metal, solos, trem picking the lot, from the wrist!
(Note..Am sat here with air guitar in hand, trying to examine my tech!!!) :D :D :oops:
-
lol so am i!
haha i cant believe that... you must have an awesome wrist lol... that could come in handy.... :roll: :oops:
anyway seriously lol, thats crazy i just CANNOT do that at all....im trying to hold my right arm still with my left hand and just imagine picking from my wrist... it feels so unnatural...
-
WHEN I started playing guitar, i played with the elbow moistly.
and i stroked down ONLY
i mean, pal, mute stuff.
now, i use stroke down/up and down. more hybryd strokes than just down.
and i play UP too.
stroke up
it prevents you to be tired with some Thrash/death in a ultra speed palm mute playing.
i´ll do a video of it LATER.
remember me.
J.P
I use my wristle and and a little little little part of the elbow. i didn´t move it, but my wrist moving , cause it to move a little.
-
yer its kinda hard to differentiate between my wrist movement causing my elbow to move and just moving my elbow.... still think that its a fair bit of elbow though... i mean im not waggling my arm about liek a maniac but its not a really neat action coming solely from the wrist- no way.
-
Picture in head of "waggling my arm about liek a maniac ", lol,lol, lol, tears, breath, lol, lol :lol: :lol:
-
hahahah :lol:
-
ALL my picking is from the elbow. My right arm might as well be a tree limb with a pick on the end from the elbow down.
-
Just check out... bill steer from carcass pick with his FINGERS. he almost didn´t move the elbow or the wrist too much.
andreass kisser from sepultura.. THIS ones uses solely the elbow to play.
just watch any sepultura video.
-
I pick from wrist and STRUM from elbow only.
I was taught that the wrist allows 110% more accuracy whereas moving the elbow negates this.
Basically it is all about "body memory"/"anchoring".
If you play with the hand in the same position all the time then it remembers the postion and then hitting the strings accurately is easier. This works whatever the speed you want.
However, for ferocious strumming (like thrash power chords) then an elbow action is very effective.
Again, it basically comes down to accuracy needed and anchoring.
I watched Slash other evening and he mostly anchors and uses his wrist till he starts playing some power melody stuff then he uses his elbow.
Takes all styles and none is right/wrong but I do think that taking the same position every time is beneficial and improves technique, i.e. anchoring pinky lets say and using wrist (or if hardtail can always rest palm on bridge).
-
(Note..Am sat here with air guitar in hand, trying to examine my tech!!!) :D :D :oops:
And how does your tech feel about this? :lol:
-
HHAHAH VERY FUNNY FROGLORD
daKINE, one question
how´s your teacher feels about people that play BOTH rhythm and lead using JUST the thumb and the 2 finger moving only them?
i guess thats weird, by a lot of lead players claim that THAT technique is the real one, the others are MASON WORKS
i get $%&#ing mad with that
Q:/
-
I pick from wrist and STRUM from elbow only.
I was taught that the wrist allows 110% more accuracy whereas moving the elbow negates this.
Basically it is all about "body memory"/"anchoring".
If you play with the hand in the same position all the time then it remembers the postion and then hitting the strings accurately is easier. This works whatever the speed you want.
However, for ferocious strumming (like thrash power chords) then an elbow action is very effective.
Again, it basically comes down to accuracy needed and anchoring.
I watched Slash other evening and he mostly anchors and uses his wrist till he starts playing some power melody stuff then he uses his elbow.
Takes all styles and none is right/wrong but I do think that taking the same position every time is beneficial and improves technique, i.e. anchoring pinky lets say and using wrist (or if hardtail can always rest palm on bridge).
Very interesting stuff.
i´m gonna post a video about that.
-
I use both techniques. It depends on what goes best with the song.
-
With Full,
not absolutely sure what you mean.
My teacher actually did not teach me to do this, although he advocates it.
When I played bass I anchored my thumb. This allowed my fingers (admittedly have long fingers) to trill,pick,pluck whatever and know EXACTLY where the strings were every time.
The same principal applies to guitar.
Although (if using) a pick is basically "one finger" as it where, you know where every string is every time by keeping a standard anchor point.
I use my fingers to play at times as well as a pick and also use my elbow when I strum chords at times. But mostly I anchor my pinky to a certain point on the guitar.
On my Axis it is on the body by the bridge pup (it has a trem so anchoring on the bridge is a no no). I used to rest my palm on the bridge of my Les Paul but now, to keep my hand used to the same position every time, I anchor my pinky again on the bridge pup surround.
It just makes sense to me and allows me to concentrate more on my left hand as my right knows exactly where the strings are every single time.
Hope this makes sense. Sorry could'nt understand your question fully :)
Nick
-
If i'm playing something really fast then usually from the elbow. If I tried to play War Ensemble for example using only my wrist then it would probably sound like a snail on vallium... :?
-
no problem man, i apologize too for my english.
I´m gonna show a video.
Q:p
-
OK cool.
If you mean thumb/two fingers gripping the pick? then it's same thing.
A certain anchor point which you use every time will only make "memory" for the picking hand easier and therefore smoother/faster IMO
-
I use the thumb 2 finger with elbow method for a heavy sound that does not use palm muting.
For palm muting and all other stuff i use the thumb and index finger and wrist.
for song with solo's or a lot of single notes i place my pinky on the top of the bridge pickup and leave it there so i have better control and know where to go easier with the pick. doing this with my warpig bridge has made the camo color come off of the corner where my pinky rests. the corner is bare nickel now. I have toxic sweat i guess...lol...
this is what works best for me....i think everyone has their own little thing that is different....that is why each person sounds different when playing the same guitar...
-
I know the picking technique you are talking about WFD, the other guitarist in my band uses that and he can get up to some ridiculous speeds.
The cleanest picking i know is John Petrucci's who picks completely from the wrist. The main reason i want to try to pick from my wrist at higher speeds is for string skipping.
WFD, if you can get your video up i would be very interested.
Thank you for so many people replying, i found this very interesting.
-
I can get over 200bpm picking from my elbow, but I realised a few months ago that the lack of control I had was just ridiculous. It was fine for sleyer-esque -0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0- 'riffs', but if I wanted to involve my left hand it just went to hell, so I decided to concentrate on my wrist. I'm getting the speed back, I can reach about 180 now and it's a lot more controlled. I'd much rather play well and slow than badly and fast. I also use the thumb and 2 fingers for practically everything. Not because it's more comfortable, but because it's more flexible (index finger tapping and tapped harmonics are a lot easier for me), and I don't want to try and learn 2 ways of holding the thing when I still have difficulty keeping one consistent.
For anchoring, I rest my palm on the bridge usually, or on the bass strings when I'm not using them, to keep them silent. I do sometimes do the pinky on pickup thing, but not too much because I tend to accidentally strike the high e with it when I try to move it.
-
WHEN I started playing guitar, i played with the elbow moistly.
Ewwwwwwwwwwww - i think i use my wrist on each individual string, and the elbow when going from string to string. I'm not sure tho - i'l check it out
-
haha moistly... thats a good one
-
Until recently I used to play almost exclusively with fingers - thumb, forefinger, middle and ring finger. It's a really underrated way of playing. I feel I've got so much more control and I'm much more in contact with the guitar this way, and, hey, if it's good enough for Jeff Beck...
However, I've been trying to train myself to use a pick - doing okay with rhythm playing, but lead is so difficult!
What I'm a bit worried about is RSI. There's a school of thought that reckons picking from the elbow can put unnecessary strain on your arm muscles, but I'm not sure anyone's ever proved this. Given that I've got quite a lot of right arm shoulder pain at the moment (more from laptop use, I think, than guitar playing), I'd be interested in anyone else's experience...
-
Until recently I used to play almost exclusively with fingers - thumb, forefinger, middle and ring finger. It's a really underrated way of playing. I feel I've got so much more control and I'm much more in contact with the guitar this way, and, hey, if it's good enough for Jeff Beck...
However, I've been trying to train myself to use a pick - doing okay with rhythm playing, but lead is so difficult!
What I'm a bit worried about is RSI. There's a school of thought that reckons picking from the elbow can put unnecessary strain on your arm muscles, but I'm not sure anyone's ever proved this. Given that I've got quite a lot of right arm shoulder pain at the moment (more from laptop use, I think, than guitar playing), I'd be interested in anyone else's experience...
-
froglord- thats interesting what you said about lead work with a pic being difficult- i find the exact same thing but for finger-picking- i can do basic stuff with my fingers but i dont see how your supposed to do a medium/fast solo using them....
-
Use the Force Sambo, Don't fight it, concentrate :lol:
Just takes practice.
If you ever took "Spanish" guitar or maybe "Classical" lessons, or played the Bass (not with pick of course) it would come much easier.
-
well maybe i shall do that nicholas me old chum-bean...
im having normal guitar lessons every fortnight so a spanish one in between would be kool
-
*Warning*
Unless you are actually my Mum and then unless I am in Trouble DO NOT
use the full christened name I was given :evil:
Or strings will get lost intransit :twisted:
LOL
-
hahaha :lol:
-
And BTW, had NOT touched the NEW hardtail Axis I had bought. I guess cos it is new and limited etc. and was having fun with the used one. Anyway, got gas and thought about trying to off it. Well, NEVER probably get good enough money for it here. So, just re-strung it (strings were ernie balls as new from factory) with some of the DR Black Beauties. All I can say is Totally different guitar in looks now and plays gorgeous!
Still prefer rosewood fingerboards I think but variety is good.
Sambo, ya gonna dig these strings. Just be careful stringing them as Texas is along way if ya break one putting em on ;)
-
hahaha lol....
ohhhh i cant wait now..... AHHH i want them....
-
This will get ya impatient Sambo :twisted:
-
better I reckon
-
ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!! they're so kool..... i just want to be able to seem them in real life... grrrrrr!!!
-
than this
-
than this
-
should be there at weekend or by monday I think
-
ok serious overkill on the pictures thats just cruel.... lol....
yer monday should be the latest they should arrive.... serious GAS (well theyre not really 'gear' as such) now... for strings!?!?!? cant believe im so desperate for them.... yer i think monday should be the latest they'll come.
-
No prizes for guessing whats going on the Ovation Flame job soon as I get it ;)
-
lol
-
ok serious overkill on the pictures thats just cruel.... lol....
Yeh, rub it in - i was DELIGHTED the day I saw an EBMM for the first time! And it was the gay Benji Madden one! (Not including when I saw Steve Morse live :D:D:D:D:D )
Anyway, I pick entirely with my wrist, but look at Rusty Cooley, he is 100% elbow, and he's possibly the fastest guitarist to ever walk the Earth! But personally, i find that control is a zillion times better with wrist, and with wrist picking, you can rest your pinky on the guitar, which makes control another zillion times better.
-
I tend to do it mainly from the wrist, and angle my pick a little.
It gives me alot of control over what I am doing. But for songs like "Knockin' On Heavens Door" in the chorus, elbow picking is just better IMO.
-
As I get faster I tend to use my Elbow more.
-
it's not actually ur elbow thats just a by product of your arm movement it's the muscles that rotate your hand being forced to drive ur hand up and down because your tensing up slightly.
and yea getting picking speeds above say 138bpm accurate can be a bar-steward but it just takes lots of practice.
-
Definatley the wrist for me. Elbow only gets used for real fast stuff.
-
What are we talking about here.......oh right, well thats ok, I was getting a bit worried there for a moment.
-
What are we talking about here.......oh right, well thats ok, I was getting a bit worried there for a moment.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Very funny 38th!
But extremely disturbing... :wink:
-
:lol:
-
Yeah, I guess i am in the camp with the finger pickers but I use the pick too. To get the speed it's all elbow, to get the nice string skipping it's all wrist, but alas I am just a novice so what the hell do I know. :?