Got 9, not sure what I missed but hey, better than nothing 0:20 String Bending 1:12 Holding the pick 2:25 Arpeggios 3:50 Thumb position 5:20 Excess tension 6:13 The guitar pick 8:50 Picking hand position 9:20 Getting hands in sync 10:03 Scale Sequence Exercise
And just like that after 10 minutes of practice your tricks: the way to hold your pick and how to relax and you solved a 20 years problem for me! You are incredible. I can’t believe it. Finally my wrist works. Somehow I don’t get stuck when I pick. Thank you. Unbelievable. My tremolo picking got hyper speed too. How it’s even possible. Not Kiko Loureiro’s lessons no nothing worked for me and you solved it for me in a few minutes. You are a master.
Are you serious or just sarcastic? It’s so hard to tell these days when almost everyone is sarcastic. No offense intended. I hope you are serious because that sounds amazing and I would love to get the same results.
Hey Mike, I'm not sure yet, but there's a chance that you just saved my life as a guitar player. A lot of info in this video is useful and surprisingly fresh (never-heard-before) to me, but it is your new, tighter pick holding position that helps me regain my hope of becoming the guitarist I want to be. It's no easy fix, but I found my long lost joy of practising hours and hours a day - it actually might work. Damn, I'll subscribe to this channel - RESPECT!
#1 Angling my hand to keep good Thumb position #2 moving my pick past the first finger joint for speed #3 Plant scales on the 5th.and 6 th strings. These hacks are the ones I got the most usr out of. Keep this up and.I will be a super shredder in no time ! ..lol Thanks
Dude you should get into 2 way pick slanting. You do it I think but lots of teachers talk about inside and outside picking and that won't do anything. 2 way pick slanting is a blessing in disguise.
Awesome video for self taught players that have never had another guitarist to show them the little things like these. I’m only halfway through the video and have already found multiple solutions to problems I’ve had with my playing. Thank you !
This is the best advice ever. Wish I knew this 40 yr ago! Without a doubt , the tense/relax move is a total game changer. Could have saved me years of pain
I always angle my hand, both for beds and what you showed for scales on the high strings. I watch videos of people with their hands straight and wonder how they can play that way! You get move leverage with your hand angled and thumb anchored on the top of the fretboard for bends. I guess it’s just how I figured out how to play. For that “inside” picking (agree that’s a dumb name), if I’m picking the higher string first, like G and D, I use an upstroke to start. That’s way easier. I actually use an up stroke at the start of almost every run I play. I also almost always practice unplugged. Pick hard!
The bend tip bent my mind. Simple, yet elusive. This reminds me of the major difference between experienced trades craftsmen and home DIYers. The former know tons of little things which add up to top quality work and products.
Similar to your tip on playing unplugged I’ve been focusing on 2 things. 1 if you can play it acoustic or on the clean channel it’ll sound much better when you add gain because it forces you to focus on your playing because there isn’t a bunch of gain to hide your mistakes. 2 when it comes to picking play like you mean it. I’ve noticed I make a lot less mistakes when I play hard than worrying about playing light and fast
The tension exercise is commonly and effectively used to help people relax before sleep. Lay on your back in bed, clench your body, starting in your core and out to your extremities and hold it as long as you can before gradually releasing the clench in reverse. Take 10 or 20 seconds of rest and deep breathing. Do that a few times. It works for me.
I can't believe the trick with holding the pick closers to the joint. Its so obvious from a physics viewpoint but its just opened up my picking ability so much! I can pick so much faster and clearer now.
I’ve been many places on my pick journey. I started with a .73 tortex, then progressively got thicker (as thick as 3). But I keep going thinner the more I play, and now I play a .60 tortex t3. My right hand technique is now far better on top of chording/strumming being way easier. It shouldn’t make sense but every aspect of my playing has improved, even at high speeds.
This is a great run down of tips for playing. I was particularly interested to see where you place your thumb on the neck of the guitar, over the top or somewhere in between depending on what your playing. You brought up the name Paul Gilbert, who teaches to always anchor your thumb over the neck. And there are many guitarist who do this. My approach is like what you do here for most of these tips. The over the top anchor just doesn't work for me and doesn't take in to account the finger length reach of each person. Which is another topic. Most teach it doesn't matter if your fingers are short, Shawn Lane had small hands like mine... Or very long like Paul Gibert, Steve Vai and many others.
its very late so I cant try any of these out now but the arpeggio rolling thing has been a huge problem for me! not as big a problem as right hand tension though. that is the biggest thorn in my side. I'm left handed but play righty which makes it an even bigger challenge...or so it seems. thanks for these great tips!
Jason Richardson has a different approach to sweeps that use finger rolling. He actually uses different fingers so he doesn't need to use one finger to roll. It makes everything a lot smoother after some practice :) This just came to my mind so I decided to comment.
Thanks for this. I adjust my pick grip the way you stated in the video, and I have a lot less getting "stuck" on or between strings. It's a bit wierd to get use to but I do notice that my pick hand is much more relaxed, and I don't have a death grip to try and keep the pick from rotating.
I disagree with the pick holding technique, as I do with Bernth's similar technique. While both of you guys are outstanding players and super duper fast, there are many players from Yngwie to Vai to Michael Angelo Batio who don't use that technique at all and are monster players and super duper fast as well. I prefer a more open handed approach (like Yngwie, Gilbert and Vai) because I believe you can pick just as fast as you and Bernth but have much greater flexibility to do the crazy things that Vai, Gilbert and others can do, much more easily than with your technique. Just my own little criticism. I have yet to see where the pick holding technique has held anyone back from fast picking actually. You can look at many many tremendous players (Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, etc) who can pick just as fast as anyone but have much different pick holding techniques. Aside from Michael Angelo Batio, who is just a freak, the biggest driver appears to be in the wrist and how it is used. The one common denominator in every single player I have analyzed (aside from Michael Angelo Batio) they all utilize their wrist as the hinge point and have perfected that control. I also slightly disagree with your pick distance from your wrist. Physics would tell you that actually increasing the distance (like Paul Gilbert) from your wrist to your pick would actually allow you to pick faster. Just like in golf the longer the golf club, the higher the clubhead speed (called a swing arc). Your hinge point in your wrist is synonymous with the hinge point of your wrist in the golf swing. The longer the distance from that hinge point to your contact point, the faster the contact (clubhead speed, or pick speed). Additionally, the longer that distance the less hinge movement necessary and the less effort required to move the pick. It's physics man!
I've been suffering with hand cramps and any advice is appreciated. Tried magnesium, potassium,salt, water and they still show up after an hour or so. Tried playing lightly,not digging in as much but it's not leads as much as chords that causes the lock up. I'm cutting leads short just to be safe and doling out notes with a teaspoon. It's not just guitar I get leg cramps at night too. I have the habit of looking at the fretboard which is bad for my neck and wrist. Watching you I'm thinking about wrist position and angles. Thanks. Think of Michael J Fox in Back to the Future when his hand fades combined with the possessed hand of Evil Dead and feel my pain. Help me Obi Wan you're my only hope.
Any recommendations for fretboard radius for small hands? Any guitar model choice? My thumb can’t cover half the neck like Kiko Loureiro can and other great players. I bet thin neck can make a player better if he has small hands.
Fretboard radius is irrelevant when it comes to the size your hands. Neck shape is important. I'd look for a guitar with a thin C neck. They're usually narrow and thin (varies from manufacturer to manufacturer).
Got 9, not sure what I missed but hey, better than nothing
0:20 String Bending
1:12 Holding the pick
2:25 Arpeggios
3:50 Thumb position
5:20 Excess tension
6:13 The guitar pick
8:50 Picking hand position
9:20 Getting hands in sync
10:03 Scale Sequence Exercise
Inside picking / Pickslanting @7:14)
Try it out, it works
And just like that after 10 minutes of practice your tricks: the way to hold your pick and how to relax and you solved a 20 years problem for me! You are incredible. I can’t believe it. Finally my wrist works. Somehow I don’t get stuck when I pick. Thank you. Unbelievable. My tremolo picking got hyper speed too. How it’s even possible. Not Kiko Loureiro’s lessons no nothing worked for me and you solved it for me in a few minutes. You are a master.
Are you serious or just sarcastic? It’s so hard to tell these days when almost everyone is sarcastic. No offense intended. I hope you are serious because that sounds amazing and I would love to get the same results.
That angling of the hand on the first and second string was a game changer.
Hey Mike, I'm not sure yet, but there's a chance that you just saved my life as a guitar player. A lot of info in this video is useful and surprisingly fresh (never-heard-before) to me, but it is your new, tighter pick holding position that helps me regain my hope of becoming the guitarist I want to be. It's no easy fix, but I found my long lost joy of practising hours and hours a day - it actually might work. Damn, I'll subscribe to this channel - RESPECT!
Gottta hand it to you, these are some stellar tips. Can't believe I never thought of the bend technique before..
#1 Angling my hand to keep good Thumb position
#2 moving my pick past the first finger joint for speed
#3 Plant scales on the 5th.and 6 th strings.
These hacks are the ones I got the most usr out of. Keep this up and.I will be a super shredder in no time ! ..lol Thanks
Dude you should get into 2 way pick slanting. You do it I think but lots of teachers talk about inside and outside picking and that won't do anything. 2 way pick slanting is a blessing in disguise.
Awesome video for self taught players that have never had another guitarist to show them the little things like these. I’m only halfway through the video and have already found multiple solutions to problems I’ve had with my playing. Thank you !
This is the best advice ever. Wish I knew this 40 yr ago! Without a doubt , the tense/relax move is a total game changer. Could have saved me years of pain
I always angle my hand, both for beds and what you showed for scales on the high strings. I watch videos of people with their hands straight and wonder how they can play that way! You get move leverage with your hand angled and thumb anchored on the top of the fretboard for bends. I guess it’s just how I figured out how to play.
For that “inside” picking (agree that’s a dumb name), if I’m picking the higher string first, like G and D, I use an upstroke to start. That’s way easier. I actually use an up stroke at the start of almost every run I play.
I also almost always practice unplugged. Pick hard!
You have a great way of explaining stuff Mike.
This is pure GOLD. Thank you sir.
The bend tip bent my mind. Simple, yet elusive. This reminds me of the major difference between experienced trades craftsmen and home DIYers. The former know tons of little things which add up to top quality work and products.
Similar to your tip on playing unplugged I’ve been focusing on 2 things. 1 if you can play it acoustic or on the clean channel it’ll sound much better when you add gain because it forces you to focus on your playing because there isn’t a bunch of gain to hide your mistakes. 2 when it comes to picking play like you mean it. I’ve noticed I make a lot less mistakes when I play hard than worrying about playing light and fast
You’re the best. Thank you!!!
Great stuff 🤘, I particularly like the playing with out the Amp on, picking has improved 10 fold 👍
The tension exercise is commonly and effectively used to help people relax before sleep. Lay on your back in bed, clench your body, starting in your core and out to your extremities and hold it as long as you can before gradually releasing the clench in reverse. Take 10 or 20 seconds of rest and deep breathing. Do that a few times. It works for me.
Forgot about that hack! nice one
I can't believe the trick with holding the pick closers to the joint. Its so obvious from a physics viewpoint but its just opened up my picking ability so much! I can pick so much faster and clearer now.
holy fuck, you literally blew my mind with the angled thumb.
Finger roll tip is great
Great Video!
I’ve been many places on my pick journey. I started with a .73 tortex, then progressively got thicker (as thick as 3). But I keep going thinner the more I play, and now I play a .60 tortex t3. My right hand technique is now far better on top of chording/strumming being way easier. It shouldn’t make sense but every aspect of my playing has improved, even at high speeds.
Nice, Thx!!!!
Sweeping with more clarity already thank you.
Dude! The finger rolling tip is the answer I needed many many years ago! Thanks a ton!
Thanks very much👏🙏
Good stuff - very insightful
Great tips, many of which I never considered with year's of playing..
You had me on the bending tip.
This is a great run down of tips for playing. I was particularly interested to see where you place your thumb on the neck of the guitar, over the top or somewhere in between depending on what your playing. You brought up the name Paul Gilbert, who teaches to always anchor your thumb over the neck. And there are many guitarist who do this. My approach is like what you do here for most of these tips. The over the top anchor just doesn't work for me and doesn't take in to account the finger length reach of each person. Which is another topic. Most teach it doesn't matter if your fingers are short, Shawn Lane had small hands like mine... Or very long like Paul Gibert, Steve Vai and many others.
One of my favourite guitar education videos I have seen to date. And trust me I've seen em all.
its very late so I cant try any of these out now but the arpeggio rolling thing has been a huge problem for me! not as big a problem as right hand tension though. that is the biggest thorn in my side. I'm left handed but play righty which makes it an even bigger challenge...or so it seems. thanks for these great tips!
Jason Richardson has a different approach to sweeps that use finger rolling. He actually uses different fingers so he doesn't need to use one finger to roll. It makes everything a lot smoother after some practice :) This just came to my mind so I decided to comment.
My picks were naturally bevelled over time. That's what made me realize this. Playing without the amp does work👍
Thanks for this. I adjust my pick grip the way you stated in the video, and I have a lot less getting "stuck" on or between strings. It's a bit wierd to get use to but I do notice that my pick hand is much more relaxed, and I don't have a death grip to try and keep the pick from rotating.
It was really helpful thank you
Almost all of the hacks were really insightfull and I think helpfull, once I'll try incorporating them. Thank you! 😊😊
I disagree with the pick holding technique, as I do with Bernth's similar technique. While both of you guys are outstanding players and super duper fast, there are many players from Yngwie to Vai to Michael Angelo Batio who don't use that technique at all and are monster players and super duper fast as well. I prefer a more open handed approach (like Yngwie, Gilbert and Vai) because I believe you can pick just as fast as you and Bernth but have much greater flexibility to do the crazy things that Vai, Gilbert and others can do, much more easily than with your technique. Just my own little criticism. I have yet to see where the pick holding technique has held anyone back from fast picking actually. You can look at many many tremendous players (Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, etc) who can pick just as fast as anyone but have much different pick holding techniques. Aside from Michael Angelo Batio, who is just a freak, the biggest driver appears to be in the wrist and how it is used. The one common denominator in every single player I have analyzed (aside from Michael Angelo Batio) they all utilize their wrist as the hinge point and have perfected that control. I also slightly disagree with your pick distance from your wrist. Physics would tell you that actually increasing the distance (like Paul Gilbert) from your wrist to your pick would actually allow you to pick faster. Just like in golf the longer the golf club, the higher the clubhead speed (called a swing arc). Your hinge point in your wrist is synonymous with the hinge point of your wrist in the golf swing. The longer the distance from that hinge point to your contact point, the faster the contact (clubhead speed, or pick speed). Additionally, the longer that distance the less hinge movement necessary and the less effort required to move the pick. It's physics man!
It's just picking man, it ain't that complex.
I need to try this "inside" the string picking advice
They really work. Thanks a lot 😍
I love it Mike! Learn a lot! Thank you
I've been suffering with hand cramps and any advice is appreciated.
Tried magnesium, potassium,salt, water and they still show up after an hour or so.
Tried playing lightly,not digging in as much but it's not leads as much as chords that causes the lock up.
I'm cutting leads short just to be safe and doling out notes with a teaspoon.
It's not just guitar I get leg cramps at night too.
I have the habit of looking at the fretboard which is bad for my neck and wrist.
Watching you I'm thinking about wrist position and angles.
Thanks.
Think of Michael J Fox in Back to the Future when his hand fades combined with the possessed hand of Evil Dead and feel my pain.
Help me Obi Wan you're my only hope.
First time here,I've your tutor style, all ten hacks get a thumbs up from me.
Any recommendations for fretboard radius for small hands? Any guitar model choice? My thumb can’t cover half the neck like Kiko Loureiro can and other great players. I bet thin neck can make a player better if he has small hands.
Fretboard radius is irrelevant when it comes to the size your hands. Neck shape is important. I'd look for a guitar with a thin C neck. They're usually narrow and thin (varies from manufacturer to manufacturer).
This is fantastic!
First time seeing you today. Lots of good ideas here!
thx gonna apply em all
Great tips,cheers.
great really helpful , width of fretboard in comparison to ibanez and fender so which has more width ?
Great vid ..Thanks!
you are amazing!!
Cool tips
Tip number one. What? The string doesn't ring out when I place my fingers in between.
Very good 👍
good stuff
Is it Ibanez RGT42?
Man you cover a lot of ground fast. Thanks!
Thank you so much, this is really eye opening. You saved me from so much trouble!
Wow!
Loved the finger roll tip.
But you'll make yourself dispensable and put yourself out of business if you keep dishing these out. :)=
Doubt it :)
Wack. I'm going to try that technique about the bends. I ALWAYS have string noise when I bend. I always found it frustrating
Excessive tension like when talking to a girl out of your league
Remember it works
👏👏👏
I wish I'd known the importance of muting when I started.
🎸
Just eat an edible and you'll feel VEERRRY relaxed 🤣
Me currently watching this 🤣
thx now i can play 2400 bpm 4/32
Holy shit these are great! Hey TH-cam creators! This is how you earn a sub. ;))
1st comment
Your videos are great. It would be nice if you speak a little slower for your non speaking followers
Great info, terrible camera angles.
1:09
It doesn't work on every guitar.
STOP SHOUTING!!
Picks are for posers.
is this AI?
Dude talk less, play more.
Dude. Play more comment less