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I have never been concerned too much about speed in my guitar journey and the result is that I’m not that good at speed. Funny how that works. So I have recently realized that all the music theory in the world is not going to help me play any faster or up to those desired higher tempo’s that make playing music really fun. So I need to shift my focus to physical technique skills.
In the past few months, I noticed that my picking technique sucks. I analyzed it and can clearly see that I have some misconceptions on how to most effectively use the plectrum to it’s greatest advantage. How do the players that pick fast and efficiently do what they do? If I could just figure that out, maybe I have a chance at reaching that next level of awesomeness.
So today, I was going through the Reddit discussions on this topic and the name Troy Grady popped up. I have seen some of his video’s in the past, but I brushed it away as something I didn’t really need to learn or take seriously. Well, I’m changing my tune as of today. My current limitations are all related to speed and efficiency of picking motion. So I absolutely need more knowledge in this area to break out of my sloppy slow picking.
I understand this is not a topic that many will really need to dig into, but if you ever feel that something is holding you back speed wise, there is a some really good information available from Troy. But for now, here is a really good video and exercise for learning how to pick more efficiently and ultimately faster. This is Ben Eller’s take on the two very basic pick techniques. I immediately understood that I fell into the same upward string escape camp just like Ben. I also realized how changing directions requires an extra note (odd number of notes) to keep using the same technique. If you don’t add in that extra note like in the exercise in the video, you have to change to the opposite technique to efficiently maneuver the note sequence!!!
And that is my lightbulb moment today. I plan on applying what I have learned to the EP404 Dickey Betts lesson that Wayne has reminded me about with his rendition of it. Clearly, many of us probably struggled with playing those triplets at any speed close to what Brian played, and I don’t want that limitation anymore. So my own person challenge to myself is playing that lesson up to speed without any issue or stress using my new found knowledge.
So to address that particular lick in the lesson with the knowledge of the two techniques in the above video, let’s apply it to that first run of triplets in the Dickey Betts lesson. You can see the indicated down/up picking symbols that I added to the tab. Notice that we do not have to do anything special in this particular case, because there are three (odd number) notes on the 2nd string where the pattern reverses. So the only key to playing this fast run of notes is playing on the proper UP ESCAPE angle as described in the above video. This is what I naturally did anyway, but now I understand the exact mechanics that makes it work. I can use either technique, but the downward angle that allows the pick to escape the strings on the up stroke is the one I’ll use in this case. The angle remains the same and the whole wrist moves slightly to the next string DURING THE UPSTROKE! This is what confused me in the past and causes that awful bouncing V shaped type of picking that slows us all down. The picking angle must remain constant. That means that you cannot pick one single note on a string without changing technique, or using economy picking.
That V shaped bouncing up and down away from the strings is misconception of needed motion that many of us have and play with for years, not knowing that it’s really an easy fix to change your intention of the picking motion and play much faster without wasted motion. The natural urge to pull away from the strings like that is pretty strong, so it’s going to take a very conscious effort to stay in the strings if you will. Hopefully, you will start to see a marked improvement in my picking in the coming months. This is going to be a big focus along with my normal routine of practice.
One parting word of picking wisdom. If you do a descending run that starts with one single note (let’s say on the high E string) using your index finger, then use an up stroke to start the run. This prevents that trapped feeling and need to lift your whole hand away from the strings.
Chances are, if something feels awkward in your picking sequence, it is due to not starting the sequence off correctly, or and odd number of notes shows up on one string in the sequence that you do not wish to reverse directions on. In those cases, there are other techniques that I have not learned yet, but the other option is to simple reverse the technique from picking down into the strings to picking down and away from the strings (opposite technique).
And John (charjo), I found this video from your post back in March of 2022 that addressed another member about picking speed. I’m still on the fence about going any deeper than this into it, but Troy does have some specialized training on this subject.
Root note patterns >>> CAGED shapes >>> TRIAD'S. Just put in the work and watch your guitar skills soar.
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Hi Mike,
Speed is still my Achilles heel. I don’t want to shred but as I have discovered, interesting phrases involve not only note choice but also rhythm. To be able to play a phrase containing eighth notes, eighth note triplets and then 16th notes at about 120 bpm is a beautiful thing. Speed is also great for building intensity in a solo.
I have heard YouTuber Ross Campbell discuss his picking as all downward pick slant and he has adapted the phrases he plays to accomodate his picking style. The keys also seem to be minimal motion through the string and relaxation in the grip and all the way up to the shoulder.
John -
Yes sir, most of the advice is to pick one of the styles that suits you the best, and really work on that style. You can always add an extra note or take one away to adjust for the reversals. It’s nice to at least understand the concept as it applies to various licks that are sped up and know why they can and will break down if we are not aware of the physics involved with the motion.
Even though I know my pick and hand should stay close to the strings, it’s going to take me a fair amount of effort to change my bad habit of pulling away into that undesirable V shape type picking motion. That way of picking is impossible to pick fast with. So it is now time to make the ultimate correction and move past the brick wall I’m hitting. I’m not happy being behind the wall anymore.
Like you, I’m not interested in shredding as an end goal either, but the ability to play fast phrases is an essential part of playing many guitar parts, and that is missing in my playing at the moment. For right now I’ll be happy to play a decent clip of triplets and transition in and out of them with eighth or sixteenth notes. I had to work on that in the drumming world all the time, but in that instance, the problem was too much speed. So speed was never really an issue with drums. With guitar, there is definitely a certain fundamental technique that must be learned before it’s even possible to get to that point of over speeding.
Anyway, here is another simple approach to solving the problem once you have the correct pick slant technique understood. The idea is to completely do away with the more comfortable and natural way we pick when going slow and replace it with a slow but more correct technique for fast picking. If you cannot pick super fast on one single string, then you have a massive technique problem that needs to be corrected. It should be very easy to pick fast on one single string ala tremolo style picking. So this might even be goal number one to get down well.
The other speed picking genius is Bernth. But his method takes an incredible amount of skill IMO, so I must discount that method as unrealistic for most of us. He suggests that the picking angle remains level such that the pick stroke barely misses each string above and below the one you are picking. That’s too fine of a motor skill for most of us, so not going to even go there. There is no room for error. Using a pick slant, has varying degree’s of margin for error that is very attractive to me and that’s why I’ll stick to using a pick slant method going forward.
Root note patterns >>> CAGED shapes >>> TRIAD'S. Just put in the work and watch your guitar skills soar.
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A very helpful video on the topic of speed, which I think we all struggle with to some extent.
I’m currently working on a similar one, focusing on bluegrass and, accordingly, picking from chord shapes.
Basically, once I reach a certain point, I just hit a wall.
I always practice these kinds of things with a metronome, gradually increasing the tempo and then gradually decreasing it back to the starting point.
That way, I can pinpoint exactly where my confidence runs out. When in doubt, I opt for a musical solution rather than the optimal tempo.Dieter
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