Loved the video Ben, perfect, I was keeping my wrist so flat against the strings causing that extra friction and small range of motion. Almost immediately improved my overall strumming just seeing the angle of attack. Thank you!!!
Can you give any tips on how to build speed and stamina on gallop picking like the early Iced Earth records (songs like Stormrider, The Path I Choose, etc)
@@Kerriben Cool thank you! the technique you demo here is great, but I am not sure this is the exact technique that Guthrie uses in his famous "32nd note strumming" instructional video. If you look at that video in slow motion, he seems to use 2 different postures and motions for the "normal 16th notes" strums and the fast muted fills. For the fast stuff, he pronates the forearm, changes his pick grip a little (more edge picking, I think), and does a sort of tremolo picking on 2-3 strings that seems to have a very "vertical" path -- or at least not as tilted as the one you show here. The method you show in this lesson is still totally awesome and works. It may just not be exactly the same technique that GG uses.
Check the video "Should speed picking take you months?", he briefly covers that the way you hold it is up to personal preference, granted one that gives you the most loose, relaxed feeling without any forearm tension.
@@bre4dfishthank you, I’ll check that out.. there’s a video by Brandon D’eon, about how to hold a pick, and I’ve learn by accident to hold it like his first demonstration, but the second way, just feels so weird to me, but that’s better for speed supposedly?!
@@TheJML1975 I'll cut through the confusion hopefully, as I'm a lefty who's self taught with a right handed guitar, and having the pick in my non-dominant hand growing up really lead to a lot of confusion & unnecessary tension. If you can find a comfortable grip yourself, where the pick actually has enough "play" to it when you strike the string, not choked with a death grip tightening up your picking hand. That seems to be the most important thing, not how it looks - but rather, how it "feels". The biggest thing though, what Ben covered briefly in that alternate picking video, is your "starting" position of the wrist when picking. Holding your arm out infront of you horizontally, and letting your wrist "fall" into the most relaxed position, and designating that as your "starting point" was the most helpful advice I've found on this. Try it yourself, raise your wrist up straight like you're hitting an upstroke, then hold it there. You can feel the muscle in your forearm tensing up trying to keep your wrist up at that angle. I never noticed it myself, because it became habit, but now go the opposite direction, with your wrist all the way down like a deep down-stroke. Even maxxed out, there is no forearm tension, unbelievably eye opening if you now use that extra space from relaxed loose to all the way "down". That's your new range of motion, and regardless of how I hold the pick, it's immediately made my playing better.
@@bre4dfish hey thanks for this great reply, and I’m also a lefty, who learnt to play on a right handed guitar… and it sounds like I had the exact same issues! I’ll certainly try, and use that method, and see if it works for me.
you are good. very good. but sometimes I think you maybe are excellent teacher. literally before watching each one of your videos, I found myself where the problem was. but I'm a downwards slanting pick guy and it's very hard for me how to correct my wrist angle to like you picking in upwards.
It’s not a matter of correcting it - they are different techniques and you can be very good at either! Although I can demonstrate how all these mechanics work, I also have a preference and tend to point the pick more towards the floor when improvising.
@@Kerriben i appreciate if you make a video about it. Beacuse that is pain in the ass when it becomes ascending in outside string picking and descending in inside string picking.
Woke up, got my coffee, saw this on my front page. Thank you friend.
Loved the video Ben, perfect, I was keeping my wrist so flat against the strings causing that extra friction and small range of motion. Almost immediately improved my overall strumming just seeing the angle of attack. Thank you!!!
@@bre4dfishGood to hear, glad it worked!
Nc vid man helps me a lot in fast strumming burst and tremolo picking
Can you give any tips on how to build speed and stamina on gallop picking like the early Iced Earth records (songs like Stormrider, The Path I Choose, etc)
And downpicking (motion and movement of the pick) it will be great . Thanks for all you vids
Thank you!
Very interesting! So your upstroke grabs fewer strings than the downstroke?
Exactly - it’s very common to do this in a lot of funk rhythm styles!
@@Kerriben Cool thank you! the technique you demo here is great, but I am not sure this is the exact technique that Guthrie uses in his famous "32nd note strumming" instructional video. If you look at that video in slow motion, he seems to use 2 different postures and motions for the "normal 16th notes" strums and the fast muted fills. For the fast stuff, he pronates the forearm, changes his pick grip a little (more edge picking, I think), and does a sort of tremolo picking on 2-3 strings that seems to have a very "vertical" path -- or at least not as tilted as the one you show here.
The method you show in this lesson is still totally awesome and works. It may just not be exactly the same technique that GG uses.
Do you have a video where you cover, how to hold the pick? I don’t see one titled so, but wondered if you cover it, in a video?!
Check the video "Should speed picking take you months?", he briefly covers that the way you hold it is up to personal preference, granted one that gives you the most loose, relaxed feeling without any forearm tension.
@@bre4dfishthank you, I’ll check that out.. there’s a video by Brandon D’eon, about how to hold a pick, and I’ve learn by accident to hold it like his first demonstration, but the second way, just feels so weird to me, but that’s better for speed supposedly?!
@@TheJML1975 I'll cut through the confusion hopefully, as I'm a lefty who's self taught with a right handed guitar, and having the pick in my non-dominant hand growing up really lead to a lot of confusion & unnecessary tension.
If you can find a comfortable grip yourself, where the pick actually has enough "play" to it when you strike the string, not choked with a death grip tightening up your picking hand. That seems to be the most important thing, not how it looks - but rather, how it "feels".
The biggest thing though, what Ben covered briefly in that alternate picking video, is your "starting" position of the wrist when picking. Holding your arm out infront of you horizontally, and letting your wrist "fall" into the most relaxed position, and designating that as your "starting point" was the most helpful advice I've found on this.
Try it yourself, raise your wrist up straight like you're hitting an upstroke, then hold it there. You can feel the muscle in your forearm tensing up trying to keep your wrist up at that angle. I never noticed it myself, because it became habit, but now go the opposite direction, with your wrist all the way down like a deep down-stroke. Even maxxed out, there is no forearm tension, unbelievably eye opening if you now use that extra space from relaxed loose to all the way "down". That's your new range of motion, and regardless of how I hold the pick, it's immediately made my playing better.
@@bre4dfish hey thanks for this great reply, and I’m also a lefty, who learnt to play on a right handed guitar… and it sounds like I had the exact same issues! I’ll certainly try, and use that method, and see if it works for me.
you are good. very good. but sometimes I think you maybe are excellent teacher. literally before watching each one of your videos, I found myself where the problem was. but I'm a downwards slanting pick guy and it's very hard for me how to correct my wrist angle to like you picking in upwards.
It’s not a matter of correcting it - they are different techniques and you can be very good at either! Although I can demonstrate how all these mechanics work, I also have a preference and tend to point the pick more towards the floor when improvising.
@@Kerriben i appreciate if you make a video about it. Beacuse that is pain in the ass when it becomes ascending in outside string picking and descending in inside string picking.