Jun 22, 2004 07:43 am Have you tried circle picking?
Instead of straight up-down picking, try moving your pick in tight circles. It might feel strange if you're just getting used to it but after a little practice you can really start to burn.
really fast italian-y guitar picking
Posted on Jun 22, 2004 04:11 am
flame
...bringing sexy back
Member Since: Jul 01, 2002
can anyone here do that really fast picking on a single string whilst playing a solo, that makes a kinda italian sounding sound? i wanna be able to do that, but just cant get the technique down...i simply cant pick fast enough...
theres a good example of it on radioheads 'airbag' if ya dont know what im talking about. i tried to replicate it with a tremolo vst but it doesnt work, theres no attack when the same note appears a few times...
any tips?
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Jun 22, 2004 07:43 am Have you tried circle picking?
Instead of straight up-down picking, try moving your pick in tight circles. It might feel strange if you're just getting used to it but after a little practice you can really start to burn.
Jun 22, 2004 09:00 am im just trying it now, it does feel weird though...
Jun 22, 2004 09:05 am ahh, thats more like it...im still far too slow, but thats the kinda sound that im after...ta sam!
Jun 22, 2004 09:18 am Flame,
Try holding your pick at a 45 to the strings, while still picking straight up and down. It has to be real tight though, dont go too far passed the strings on the down or up.
You should try dunlop stubbies 3mm picks also.
It takes a while to get used to the, but most people wont use anything else after they are comfortable with them. Its also important for speed to get most of your fast picking from your fingers, rather than wrist. There really is no dynamic control that way, and can cause hand problems later on. The only way to pick fast witht the wrist is tighten it up hard to achieve the speed also.
Try it cheeky tart!!!!!
Jun 22, 2004 09:33 am cheeky tart?
anyway, yeah, im gonna practise these...
Jun 22, 2004 09:06 pm Quick trills in the right key, can sound Italaian-esk... especially with the right delay settings... not sure if the attack would be what you're looking for, though .
Maybe a lighter pick, and some good, strong coffee 'll do it Flame ?! heh heh
Jun 22, 2004 10:31 pm It's all in the wrist. Watch a mandolin player do it and you'll see how. David Grisman/Jerry Garcia's Grateful Dawg has a ton of great examples of tremolo style picking.
Jun 22, 2004 11:45 pm Hmmm... Watch Michaelangelo... I dont care for his music, but he is the cleanest fastest picker around, its in the fingers. Wrist is a bad technique, In my opinion, plus it causes you to tense up your forearm, and that is very problematic down the road.
Jun 23, 2004 12:01 am Listen to Dick dale, king of surf guitar, amazing fast picking AND his music is awesome. I watched a video of michaelangelo once... impressive playing, but too show-offy, frankly it bored me to tears, but thats just my taste.
personally, i cant use a pick at all, i feel you get more control during fast picking (and in general) with your fingers, but thats me.
Also, playing with the wrist is VERY common, and if you do it right i dont think its harmful at all, it seems to be a pretty tried and true method. watch any dixieland banjo player or mandolin player like tadpui said.
Jun 23, 2004 01:31 am well we agree to disagree then. Anyway, I wasnt saying I liked his music, but you cant argue with the technique.( I stated that in my last post).. I love Surf Guitar, I teach it to students all the time, especially "miserlou", kids and audults love that song, and its a great picking excercise.
But cmon man, Dick Dale is a legend, and a great influence on musicians, but not a technique God by far. He flubs notes in his technique all the time. and as far as "tried and true", well thats an opinion. I have turned out many of students that I NEVER let use their wrist. And the ones that apply the circle/finger technique are incredible!!! and that IS tried and true for me anyway.
It is very "common" also for people to develop tendonitis (no, not carpal tunnel) in the right arm from using wrist technique, not to mention the fact that there is no dynamic control in using the wrist. It is a jackhammer technique that is default, instead of learned. So just because some people use it, doesnt mean it is good, or the best way.
I learn as much as I can from good ol HRC,because Im still learning alot about recording. but when it comes to the fast picking thing, I probably wont budge, because I been playin fast, real fast for years.....
YEEE HAAA!!!!
(
Jun 23, 2004 01:46 am wait, in fact banjo players "hybrid pick" anyway... with thumb picks and/or finger picks...
they dont use their wrists at all!!! Unless he is a hack or something! Banjo strings are way too thin to jackhammer at them
Flatpickers on guitar often use wrist action. We may need to cut heads sometime, Ill use fingers and a pick.....LOL!!!!!!!!
Jun 24, 2004 12:03 am Have you ever seen the preservation hall jazz band? look at the wrist motion on the banjo player there for example. Yes, bluegrass banjo and is all finger picking, whatever, but in dixieland and more percussive playing, its often strummed.
I never said that Dale was a techincal god. all i said that he can pick very fast.
and if you do it right, its not really jackhammering at all.
Jun 24, 2004 12:53 am Yes the preservation blah blah band played at my last birthday party, and we all studied their picking techniques.
ok ..... I dont play much banjo, so I cant disagree, but what he was asking about here has deviated quite a bit from the original question, and I dont think Flame plays banjo. It was directed towards the guitar, not mandolin, and not banjo... sitar, bass, washboard, cardboard box, etc, etc,..
However, I am confused about the "strum" part you mentioned about the banjo technique....... we are talking single notes here, arent we??
agggghhhhhhh, nevermind, farghit.....peace out!
Jun 24, 2004 12:49 pm Quote:
It was directed towards the guitar, not mandolin, and not banjo... sitar, bass, washboard, cardboard box, etc, etc,..
that made me laugh...
hey, continue banjo talk at will!
Jun 24, 2004 05:31 pm i admit, i was off topic now that i think of it, i guess that didnt really help flame. so flame, my apologies for the hijacked thread.
Jun 24, 2004 06:54 pm flame is the king of thread hijacking, no need apologize to him!
Jun 25, 2004 12:56 pm so, whats anyones favourite banana based dessert?
oh ****, im hijacking my own thread here!
Jun 25, 2004 01:22 pm I like 'em plain, right off the bunch.
Just don't try peeling 'em with your wrist...
Jun 25, 2004 01:24 pm thats just for banjo players!
Jun 25, 2004 05:21 pm How fast should one pick bananas?
Jun 25, 2004 10:35 pm lickety-SPLIT!!!
Jun 26, 2004 07:57 pm yay! this is my specialty. tremolo picking is the one little trick of soloing that i can do well (i suck at everything else.) maybe i can finally be of some use around here...
first, i can't do it with a heavy pick. mediums are the absolute best for this, i find.
the key is in how you position your hand and the pick. you have the choice to palm-mute the strings or keep them open. if you're keeping them open, rest the pad of your hand below the bridge on the body of the guitar. if you want to palm mute, rest the pad on the strings as close to the bridge as you like.
the angle of the pick should be 45 degrees to the target string. visualize the pick and the string. if the pick is parallel to the string, that means youre holding it vertically so that the pick face is vertical to the string. perpendicular would be if--for some retarded reason--you were trying to jam the pick between the strings width-wise. somewhere between these two positions is the best posture. hold the pick above the string at that angel, and--
start going back and forth swiftly. make sure the only thing moving in your whole hand and arm is your wrist. the fulcrum of the motion is the pad of your hand, which remains solidly at rest on the body or on the strings if you're palm muting. that's the fulcrum and your entire hand works like a lever from that. you should be able to move very swiftly and lightly, with no effort or impediment.
Jun 26, 2004 07:58 pm oh yeah. the arc your pick will trace above the strings using this posture also works out to be about 45 degrees. that is, the pick sweeps down across the string and, on the near side of the string, it's a hair closer to the nut of the guitar. on the far side, its a bit closer to the bridge. the upsweep brings it back to home position more towards the nut again.
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