I would like to get some tips on this kind of alternate picking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG87ho2-QSo
I have uploaded a video and would appreciate if you guys could check this out and give me some advice.
I am studying Adrien Moignard's picking, and would like to know how to pick alternately.
Specifically, I have a hard time with alternate picking that moves between strings on the down-up. In particular, I am very bad at picking the 3rd string down and the 4th string up and back, as shown in the video.
Is there a method of picking technique that would solve this?
Please, everyone, thanks for reading this.
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Comments
That sounds pretty good already. What heavy metal people sometimes do to facilitate fast alternate picking is curl your wrist inside which gives your hand the angle where the hand naturally avoids the string on the way up.
But then you have people who do it incredibly well without being aware they're doing anything special. And they aren't using any specific techniques. Like Andy Wood on one of Troy Grady videos. Troy Grady has a lot of cool stuff on all kinds of picking.
Agreed with Buco. Experiment with slanting your pick and/or wrist in a way to overcome getting the pick 'trapped' between strings. Also definitely check out those Troy Grady videos Buco mentioned.
You also may find it helpful to work backwards with this kind of technique where you set the metronome high and just brute force your way along until the hands sync up and you can play in time, and then work backwards from there with gradually slower tempos. The opposite of the usual advice to start slow and work your way up.
A few more things now that I could try this with the guitar:
Make sure your practice flows. Keep the phrase you're practicing grooving in time. Whether it's at slow tempo or up tempo, a full phrase or a small piece of it, play with good timing. Don't jump slower to faster within a same phrase. Practice slow until you have a good flow in the phrasing, making sure you're using the same picking pattern as when playing fast. When you go up tempo play 2 or 3 notes at a time but play them as if they were a small fragment taken out of perfectly played line at high tempo. Avoid choppy playing. Whatever you do make sure it flows.
Have you ever thought about a flatpicking course? I did the Artistworks Bryan Sutton course and it was fantastic. While it's not specifically alternate, it can help you get into that mindset of being conscious of your right hand. What sets Bryan apart is his dedication to understanding groove and flow and it being a full body thing. I'd highly recommend it.
I am studying Adrien Moignard's picking, and would like to know how to pick alternately
One thing to know about Adrian's picking is he really isn't using alternate picking when he's switching from high strings to low (well, aside from sweeps). Certainly not with any great frequency. Also, if focusing on triplets or quick, consecutive 3 note runs when switching from lower-to-higher strings, a lot of players will hammer on the "middle" note so they end on an upstroke before the striking the next string. And for the really depressing news, the best players are just so good and quick at playing double downstrokes they can simply play 3 note phrases and jump so quickly between multiple strings simply due to practice and skill.
Speaking of both double downs and Adrian, skip to 2:10 in his famous/infamous arpeggio exercise vid and watch how quickly he use downstrokes on each arpeggio while descending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCr1Bjs9iAQ
You can see how he uses a combo of sweeps and picking while ascending, which is something I think most guitarists are able to better translate -- but all the rapid double downstrokes while descending?? That's something all the great GJ players have in common and is probably the most difficult picking skill for players who weren't raised playing rest stroke, like the majority of us on here. Personally, I've been practicing this arpeggio exercise for about 3 years now and even then, I'm still about 10 bpm below Adrian's fast tempo at the end...but holy man, is it a valuable exercise to improve your double downs, can't recommend enough.
Back to alternate picking, something I worked on for 20+ years before learning rest stroke, if speed is the goal, try focusing on 4 note runs, both ascending and descending. Also, make sure your wrist is loose - one of my main mistakes early on in learning this technique was focusing too much on the "bent wrist" aspect of rest stroke and to the point it led to excess tension without me realizing it. This is why I prefer the term "floating wrist" vs. bent because what really matters most for rest stroke is that your wrist isn't anchored to the guitar as opposed to maintaining a max bent wrist at all times. And if you really need to switch strings while ascending on the upstroke, try experimenting with different picks as some will be easier for this than others. That said, although I can do it, I never really do because even at fast tempos, you'll always lose a small amount of tone.