Picking speed

[Searcher]

Sure it's doable.  I can max out the online metronome at four mouse-mat scratches per beat, but I only wish I could pick that fast, even on one repeated note.  I possibly don't pick as effectively as I could be, but the mouse-pad test just isn't a realistic gauge of picking speed.  Well, it's not for me.

EDIT: Maybe I need to fix how I pick.  Everyone else seems to be held back by the speed of their left hands, but my left hand can hit far more notes per second than my right can.  That's why I almost always do hammers and pulls for my fastest runs.  Hmm.

[sambo]

nah your right searcher... its not reliable at all....

[lepersmeesa]

I was never saying it was not do able, i know it is very do able. All i was saying is showing what you can do on a mouse mat is nowhere near what you can do on a guitar.

EDIT: Sorry late post.

[donovan.x]

Searcher ^, this is why I asked, My left hand can whip through stuff most of the time but I have found that my picking action is really holding me back, so to make up for it I am using to many hammers and pulls to get better speed. I have been messing around trying to sort this out and have started to tilt my pick, so as you are looking down at it the left hand side is tilted down slightly. This has helped no end ,I have also tried to limit how much my thumb and index finger are moving to help the pick and am trying to get more movement from the wrist. Another great help has been sweep picking and although I am not as fast as I want to be, I am getting there day by day.

[Searcher]

helpful stuff

Thanks, man!  I've tried those things myself.  In fact, I was holding my pick wrong for years!  It was so hard to break the habit.  Possibly part of my problem is that my hands are small.  So I find it hard to anchor anywhere and still be able to reach the strings properly.  I have to shift my hand around a bit in order to get to the strings.  That or tilt the pick the wrong way, which kills my accuracy.

As for slanting the pick down, I do that when I want extra speed, but I don't like the tone I get as much, so I'm trying to get faster without doing that, if I can.

I'm not positive that my picking hand is moving in the most efficient way, either.  Perhaps I need to find some local speed picker who can look at how I'm doing it and comment.  Or maybe I just need more practice and more sleep.  ;)

I saw a clip from a Paul Gilbert clinic where he describes his picking action as 'scratching the dog' and I've seriously tried to model my picking on that.  The only thing is that I tend to tense up when I do that and I don't think I sould be generating my speed through my arm vibrating from tension.  Gah!  Ah well.  It'll come eventually, I guess.

[indysmith]

EDIT: Maybe I need to fix how I pick.  Everyone else seems to be held back by the speed of their left hands, but my left hand can hit far more notes per second than my right can.  That's why I almost always do hammers and pulls for my fastest runs.  Hmm.

Same here actually - and i also have problems with fretting fast and picking fast at the same time, lol - sounds stupid huh?

[donovan.x]

Searcher ^. I have always anchored my little finger and my ring finger but I have found for speed picking it doesn't work. I have also been looking at Paul Gilberts style and he and a lot of other players dont do it when they are shredding. My speed, for me has been drasticly improved in about three days by combining these techniques, its just getting used to it. I have tried going back to the old way now and its like...What????
Good luck and I will see you at about 200bpm lol lol 8)

[genocidal tendencies]

At the moment I'm struggling to break 170 with 16th notes (with no left hand involved). I can go much faster for a few seconds, but I just can't keep it up.

[Dakine]

Funny exercise, but for some speed vs. some anchoring, I have been practicing "Sweet Child of Mine" with my hand "floating". It's a crazy riff with alot of string skipping and I find it good exercise.

[Searcher]

Oh, I hate the floating approach!  I tense up way too much whenever I try it that way.

donovanx, maybe you need to start your own website with this--

"Learn my SECRET technique for increasing speed in just three days!!!!!"

;)

Ya know, what I am doing sometimes, is to pick one note as fast as possible and then try to transfer that motion to picking multiple notes.  I found that when I pick slowly I move my right hand fingers more than I do when I know in advance I am going to pick as fast as possible.  That seems to have helped a little bit.  

What we need is a thread where everyone posts a webcam clip of how they pick so we can learn from each other!

[_tom_]

Oh, I hate the floating approach!  I tense up way too much whenever I try it that way.

Yeah I do that aswell. I always rest my little finger on the body whilst picking single note stuff otherwise it just feels wrong.

[donovan.x]

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:

[Searcher]

Hahahahahaaa!!!  :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Cattivo Ragazzo]

I can't put anything on the body of the guitar, just floating, although not floating, because my under thumb part is muting the bass strings, and when I play the bass strings my fist of the other fingers is kind of lightly resting on the g b e. I can pick fast, but if you can't, it's normally the sync is messed up, you need to work on that, normally, you're left hand will be quicker than you can pick, but if you tremolo pick, it should be faster than your left hand legato. the speed barrier is crossing the strings with ace control, keeping tiny pick movents, and holding the pick solid.

[donovan.x]

Following on from that, sweep picking is good to get to grips with as it really seems to assist communication between your hands.