Best advice I got with picking is that dynamics come purely from gripping tighter. Your average grip should be loose enough that you can swipe the pick from your fingers at any time. And then practice that by picking softly ascending a scale, slam the highest note, then descending softly. And get the Dunlop Flow picks. They have the best grip, I’ve found.
Shawn you may not be one of the fastest alternate pickers, but you are definitely one of the most interesting players out there. Your lines and note choices always put a smile on my face
What a fascinating and timely topic. I've been playing for 46 years and at 20 years old, due to lessons I had at the time, I changed my right hand technique to a "drop wrist" picking hand method. Think Stanley Whitaker of Happy the Man, or more well known, Carlos Santana. I was also taught to use alternate picking , all the time. It was great improvement for speed and accuracy, for quit a while. Fast forward through my 50s and I developed arthritis in my right wrist and had Arthroplasty Interposition surgery*, which drastically reduced my picking hand strength and flexibility to the point I had to re-, re-learn right hand technique (again). No more drop wrist, just can't do it. Now in my 60s I find that for my best picking speed and accuracy and "least fatigue" when playing fast runs, is to split my picking hand (right) between the upper and lower half of the strings. On the upper half, EAD strings I have to keep a fist and stick with an "upward pick slant", but on the lower half GBE strings I relax my fingers and open them up and focus on downward pick slanting. This gives me the best speed, accuracy and least fatigue, across all six strings, given the fact that I'm old and have arthritis. So my right hand changes depending on where I am on the upper and lower half of the strings. It gets more complicated the older you get.. lol *Adding more surgery detail incase it helps others. The cartilage between my thumb metacarpal and trapezium was basically gone from arthritis. The result was incredible stinging, sharp burning pain with certain movements of my wrist and thumb. That missing cartilage was replaced by a "donor section" of tendon removed from my right fore arm. I lost approximately 50% of strength and flexibility of my thumb, index finger and wrist. Think of how you can easily reposition the pick between your thumb and index finger if it shifts while playing. I can't do that anymore. I have to stop, reposition the pick then start again. Now instead of alternate picking all the time, I've since embraced a mix of hybrid and economy picking, hammer on and pull offs and any hail marys that work. I'm happy to say I can still play ZZ Top level stuff, but figuring out Steve Morse licks are a thing of the past for me. I also have wrist fatigue issues and can't play for too long. About a year ago my left wrist started hurting exactly like my right wrist so I raised the strap an inch or two to reduce that wrist angle a bit and that pain stopped. I assume that helped buy me some time, I think? Believe me, I'm more than happy to still be able to play at all! I hope this helps others with arthritis.
When I started having wrist and shoulder pain from playing I changed grips and I also changed my pick. I went from a regular celluloid Fender Heavy pick to Chicken Picks 2.2mm pick. After a few weeks the pain went away and I went back to my usual but maintained the looser grip. Definitely helped me.
100% you have to consciously practice relaxing. I set up a metronome at a pretty slow speed, pick my exercise and then pay attention to weather or not I’m tensing up. When you do you gotta stop, shake it out and start again. It’s painfully hard to stay on track but the work pays off in the end.
After watching a video of Pete Thorn about loosing his grip when he had to gos faster and a video of Joe Bonamassa about changing his pick to a Jazz 3 after talking to Eric Johnson I told myself why not try both. It worked!! So Video like yours can make a big difference....
I tried those jazz III Dunlop's black, red, tortex. It seems to make that problem worse. Because they're smaller which doesn't leave much to hold on to. Plus they slide or glide off the string too much. I've gone back to standard size picks. But still not satisfied with the sound. There's a certain edge to the pick to string contact or texture that I find a lot of guitar picks are missing. I've always liked the picking or note articulation that Dan Huff always got. But there is nothing published anywhere mentioning what picks he used during his session player years. If you're asking him, he won't tell you either. I messaged a good friend of his guitar player Gordon Kennedy who asked Dann and Dann's reply was "whatever I could find." Like that really helped. 🙄 I need a guitar pick that helps get that edgy sound without me giving myself carpal tunnel from holding the pick too tight. I have no idea what kind of material I need and my guitar pick to get that. And believe me I have tried them all. Nothing to my ears sounds correct. Except whatever that is that Dann Huff used.
Great convo starter. I think the fact that so many of us are now playing sitting down almost exclusively has caused issues. Compounded by spending time at the keyboard and mouse, editing videos and so on. Plus phone use. There are a lot of factors. Have you tried wearing wrist guards at night? The generic comfy ones they make for people with carpal tunnel. I haven’t ever had cps for real but those wrist guards are awesome.
I have to use a mouse ("right-clicking") a lot for my job, and I feel that it really cramps up my right hand and wrist. Typing as well, but especially the mouse.
You're such an amazing guitarist man. It's cool to see you open up about playing problems. You seem like the type that doesn't have them. As for advice I don't really know what I'm doing. I've just played guitar for a long time. But one thing is I try not to focus on any particular aspect of a song. When I play a song or anything I try to not try to play. Haha. Its kinda hard to explain but, if I focus on any one thing I tense up and screw up. Another tip I have is growing your index fingernail out and shape it like a pick. I used just my nail for three years. It helped with tension because I could relax my hand. Now when I hold a pick I don't even know it's there because my hand and arm relax naturally. Anyways I hope that helps coming from a player way less talented than yourself.
Shawn, I found that adding those stick on grip pads on my pick helped me reduce the pressure in my hand and forearm and allows me to keep my picking technique without the tension. Hope that helps.
One of my teachers made an observation about Bireli Lagrenes picking hand. He was saying after a phrase Bireli would take his thumb away from holding the pick as a kind of reset and a reminder that you don't have to grip all of the time. I also find speed bursts helpful. A lick 3 times slow and relaxed and then double tempo once trying to keep the same relaxation as the slower tempo
Try using a 3mm pick with a nice beveled edge or something. It’ll help you realize how hard you are really picking and have you soften your attack immensely but you’ll also get the same response you want
You need to take vitamin B12 - deficiency of vitamin B12 happens with age, take some good quality B12 Supplements for 6-8 weeks and you should notice a difference within 2 weeks, you may want to also take vitamin D3 at least once a week, consult your doctor though before you start.
40 years on and I definitely am spending more conscious time thinking about relaxing my grip and picking hand in general. I can feel the strain up my arm for days if I go too long playing without relaxing. As has been mention earlier in this chat, (Angus Clark, spot on!) the hours spent sitting down as opposed to playing standing up has increased which also becomes an issue with arm tension. WTF!! I can't help but laugh, never would have though I would be having this conversation when I was a spry 18 year older shredder in the 80s lol!! Great topic Shawn, lets evolve and play better notes with less pain!!
Hey Shawn ! I dropped picks several years ago and developed a finger/picking technique. It allows lots of flexibility, dynamics and of course using all the fingers, one gets the advantages of hybrid picking. It also changes the sound by plucking with the thumb. It feels weird now when I try to play with a pick…
I prefer playing with my fingers, but find that there are some attacks I just can't get without a pic. Playing mostly a mixure of classic rock and blues, I find that I have to keep using the pick even though I would rather not. I guess if I got to "Jeff Beck" it, I probably wouldn't ever use a pick again. Even with a pick, I use my fingers.
@@ShawnTubbs that sound is you not the amp only thats for sure.I like the reve amp but like you said in other videos you give me the same setup and Ill sound like a drunk marching band which is kind of impressive.
brother same problem that has gotten worse ...tried wrist wraps ....been losing feeling in my fingers ...arthritis is a pain in the ass....lighter gauge of strings
One thing I started doing a while back was only playing with a strap in the same position I play in standing. I found sitting I was more prone to develop a lot of weird habits that didn't transition to standing. I also went thru a kind of revival with guitar picks and over the course of a year went through a couple hundred different ones it seems like lol. It was a very cool experiment. :)
Shawn and all; in addition to what you are working on, consider your neck. When I got some strain from the computer mouse at work, 2 professionals immediately worked on my neck, not my wrist and fingers. There is a temptation for us to hang our heads forward to watch the fretboard, but you don't have to do that (except once in a while for a jump in position). Even changing position, I think like a diver - I visualize the move without looking down. Blind people play guitar. Also I noticed when you talked about stress, your body language had you move your chin forward. Hanging your head or sticking your chin forward are both bad. You want an elongated spinal chord most of your day, with head balanced, including the hours spent on guitar. Good luck with this _ or stop aging...
do you have the same tension issue when you play standing? I discover that when you sit and rest the guitar on your leg, the shoulder of the picking hand raises slightly and creates unwanted tension, at least for me.
When I really started getting serious about guitar, I used to practice every morning with a metronome and just go over scales non-stop. But I still can't play like you Shawn so don't take my advice 😉🤣
Like one shouldn't white knuckle drive, don't white knuckle pick? How do you pray and play and the same time? Or is it just before and "Praise the Lord" after? :-)
Best advice I got with picking is that dynamics come purely from gripping tighter. Your average grip should be loose enough that you can swipe the pick from your fingers at any time. And then practice that by picking softly ascending a scale, slam the highest note, then descending softly.
And get the Dunlop Flow picks. They have the best grip, I’ve found.
Awwww Shawn, stop PICKing on yourself! Love you man.
Haha, thanks, Jerry!
Shawn you may not be one of the fastest alternate pickers, but you are definitely one of the most interesting players out there. Your lines and note choices always put a smile on my face
Thanks very much! That means a lot!
Wish I could play/pick as "slow" as Shawn Tubbs!
@@jakollee me too
Everyone’s touch is unique and that’s the beauty of electric guitar! But yours is so dynamic that you can feel it even from the internet!
You're very kind. Thank you.
What a fascinating and timely topic. I've been playing for 46 years and at 20 years old, due to lessons I had at the time, I changed my right hand technique to a "drop wrist" picking hand method. Think Stanley Whitaker of Happy the Man, or more well known, Carlos Santana. I was also taught to use alternate picking , all the time. It was great improvement for speed and accuracy, for quit a while. Fast forward through my 50s and I developed arthritis in my right wrist and had Arthroplasty Interposition surgery*, which drastically reduced my picking hand strength and flexibility to the point I had to re-, re-learn right hand technique (again). No more drop wrist, just can't do it. Now in my 60s I find that for my best picking speed and accuracy and "least fatigue" when playing fast runs, is to split my picking hand (right) between the upper and lower half of the strings. On the upper half, EAD strings I have to keep a fist and stick with an "upward pick slant", but on the lower half GBE strings I relax my fingers and open them up and focus on downward pick slanting. This gives me the best speed, accuracy and least fatigue, across all six strings, given the fact that I'm old and have arthritis. So my right hand changes depending on where I am on the upper and lower half of the strings. It gets more complicated the older you get.. lol
*Adding more surgery detail incase it helps others. The cartilage between my thumb metacarpal and trapezium was basically gone from arthritis. The result was incredible stinging, sharp burning pain with certain movements of my wrist and thumb. That missing cartilage was replaced by a "donor section" of tendon removed from my right fore arm. I lost approximately 50% of strength and flexibility of my thumb, index finger and wrist. Think of how you can easily reposition the pick between your thumb and index finger if it shifts while playing. I can't do that anymore. I have to stop, reposition the pick then start again. Now instead of alternate picking all the time, I've since embraced a mix of hybrid and economy picking, hammer on and pull offs and any hail marys that work. I'm happy to say I can still play ZZ Top level stuff, but figuring out Steve Morse licks are a thing of the past for me. I also have wrist fatigue issues and can't play for too long. About a year ago my left wrist started hurting exactly like my right wrist so I raised the strap an inch or two to reduce that wrist angle a bit and that pain stopped. I assume that helped buy me some time, I think? Believe me, I'm more than happy to still be able to play at all! I hope this helps others with arthritis.
Thanks so much for sharing so much wisdom Scott. I'm so glad you're able to carry on playing guitar.
When I started having wrist and shoulder pain from playing I changed grips and I also changed my pick. I went from a regular celluloid Fender Heavy pick to Chicken Picks 2.2mm pick. After a few weeks the pain went away and I went back to my usual but maintained the looser grip. Definitely helped me.
That's great Mike!! Thanks for the tip!
100% you have to consciously practice relaxing. I set up a metronome at a pretty slow speed, pick my exercise and then pay attention to weather or not I’m tensing up. When you do you gotta stop, shake it out and start again. It’s painfully hard to stay on track but the work pays off in the end.
Thanks for watching and chiming in!
After watching a video of Pete Thorn about loosing his grip when he had to gos faster and a video of Joe Bonamassa about changing his pick to a Jazz 3 after talking to Eric Johnson I told myself why not try both. It worked!! So Video like yours can make a big difference....
Awesome!! So glad you got that sorted out. Thanks so much for watching!
@@ShawnTubbs You are the best!!
I tried those jazz III Dunlop's black, red, tortex. It seems to make that problem worse. Because they're smaller which doesn't leave much to hold on to. Plus they slide or glide off the string too much.
I've gone back to standard size picks. But still not satisfied with the sound. There's a certain edge to the pick to string contact or texture that I find a lot of guitar picks are missing.
I've always liked the picking or note articulation that Dan Huff always got. But there is nothing published anywhere mentioning what picks he used during his session player years. If you're asking him, he won't tell you either. I messaged a good friend of his guitar player Gordon Kennedy who asked Dann and Dann's reply was "whatever I could find."
Like that really helped. 🙄
I need a guitar pick that helps get that edgy sound without me giving myself carpal tunnel from holding the pick too tight. I have no idea what kind of material I need and my guitar pick to get that. And believe me I have tried them all. Nothing to my ears sounds correct. Except whatever that is that Dann Huff used.
Great convo starter. I think the fact that so many of us are now playing sitting down almost exclusively has caused issues. Compounded by spending time at the keyboard and mouse, editing videos and so on. Plus phone use. There are a lot of factors. Have you tried wearing wrist guards at night? The generic comfy ones they make for people with carpal tunnel. I haven’t ever had cps for real but those wrist guards are awesome.
My daughter is an artist and she wears guards when she sleeps and has had quite a bit of success from it. Thanks for watching and for chiming in!
I have to use a mouse ("right-clicking") a lot for my job, and I feel that it really cramps up my right hand and wrist. Typing as well, but especially the mouse.
@@jakollee check out those wrist guards for when you sleep, they really helped me. They have em at most drug stores.
You're such an amazing guitarist man. It's cool to see you open up about playing problems. You seem like the type that doesn't have them. As for advice I don't really know what I'm doing. I've just played guitar for a long time. But one thing is I try not to focus on any particular aspect of a song. When I play a song or anything I try to not try to play. Haha. Its kinda hard to explain but, if I focus on any one thing I tense up and screw up. Another tip I have is growing your index fingernail out and shape it like a pick. I used just my nail for three years. It helped with tension because I could relax my hand. Now when I hold a pick I don't even know it's there because my hand and arm relax naturally. Anyways I hope that helps coming from a player way less talented than yourself.
Shawn, I found that adding those stick on grip pads on my pick helped me reduce the pressure in my hand and forearm and allows me to keep my picking technique without the tension. Hope that helps.
I know some players that have done that. It's a great idea.
I need that REVV Hat!!
One of my teachers made an observation about Bireli Lagrenes picking hand. He was saying after a phrase Bireli would take his thumb away from holding the pick as a kind of reset and a reminder that you don't have to grip all of the time. I also find speed bursts helpful. A lick 3 times slow and relaxed and then double tempo once trying to keep the same relaxation as the slower tempo
Awesome! I'm a Bireli fan and I've seen that and adapted it to my playing. It does make a difference!
Try using a 3mm pick with a nice beveled edge or something. It’ll help you realize how hard you are really picking and have you soften your attack immensely but you’ll also get the same response you want
Thanks! I use picks like that when I play Gypsy style guitar.
Great advice!
You need to take vitamin B12 - deficiency of vitamin B12 happens with age, take some good quality B12 Supplements for 6-8 weeks and you should notice a difference within 2 weeks, you may want to also take vitamin D3 at least once a week, consult your doctor though before you start.
40 years on and I definitely am spending more conscious time thinking about relaxing my grip and picking hand in general. I can feel the strain up my arm for days if I go too long playing without relaxing. As has been mention earlier in this chat, (Angus Clark, spot on!) the hours spent sitting down as opposed to playing standing up has increased which also becomes an issue with arm tension. WTF!! I can't help but laugh, never would have though I would be having this conversation when I was a spry 18 year older shredder in the 80s lol!! Great topic Shawn, lets evolve and play better notes with less pain!!
Yes, standing will ultimately change your wrist angles on both hands. That would make sense!
„It‘s makin me meeeaad.“ 😂
Some suggest angling the pick, I tried but it feels weird. Also I mostly use the big side of the pick for tone but it slows me down.
Love that strat! Always great content!!
Thanks very much Adam!
Do you play with the rounded side of a standard pick?? Your sound is so smooth and expressive!!!
Hey Shawn ! I dropped picks several years ago and developed a finger/picking technique. It allows lots of flexibility, dynamics and of course using all the fingers, one gets the advantages of hybrid picking. It also changes the sound by plucking with the thumb. It feels weird now when I try to play with a pick…
Nice! I've seen a few players that play that way now and it's very interesting!
I prefer playing with my fingers, but find that there are some attacks I just can't get without a pic. Playing mostly a mixure of classic rock and blues, I find that I have to keep using the pick even though I would rather not. I guess if I got to "Jeff Beck" it, I probably wouldn't ever use a pick again. Even with a pick, I use my fingers.
man that sound is so good!
Thanks! That's a REVV G20 direct into PT.
@@ShawnTubbs that sound is you not the amp only thats for sure.I like the reve amp but like you said in other videos you give me the same setup and Ill sound like a drunk marching band which is kind of impressive.
brother same problem that has gotten worse ...tried wrist wraps ....been losing feeling in my fingers ...arthritis is a pain in the ass....lighter gauge of strings
Oh, man...Yeah, I've noticed that my hands are not what they used to be. It's a struggle for sure. Gotta keep playing though!! "EVH"
One thing I started doing a while back was only playing with a strap in the same position I play in standing. I found sitting I was more prone to develop a lot of weird habits that didn't transition to standing. I also went thru a kind of revival with guitar picks and over the course of a year went through a couple hundred different ones it seems like lol. It was a very cool experiment. :)
Right on! Glad you got it sorted. Yeah, it's a booger to sort out but it can be done with some study in awareness.
I relieve tension by resolving to the root, lol. Sorry, I had to 👍
🤣🤘🏽
Haha!! Well, that would do it.
hhaha good one man!
Where did you learn the (for lack of a better description) the scale runs you use. Too cool.
Thanks very much. Just listened to a lot of different music. From Coltrane to Robben Ford.
Thank you for the info.
Is the what strandberg guitars are meant to help with?
Hmph...Maybe? ;)
Think mellow, shake it out and stay loose ( but stay in the pocket)
That should be a daily mantra, even if you don't play guitar!!
Shawn and all; in addition to what you are working on, consider your neck. When I got some strain from the computer mouse at work, 2 professionals immediately worked on my neck, not my wrist and fingers. There is a temptation for us to hang our heads forward to watch the fretboard, but you don't have to do that (except once in a while for a jump in position). Even changing position, I think like a diver - I visualize the move without looking down. Blind people play guitar. Also I noticed when you talked about stress, your body language had you move your chin forward. Hanging your head or sticking your chin forward are both bad. You want an elongated spinal chord most of your day, with head balanced, including the hours spent on guitar. Good luck with this _ or stop aging...
do you have the same tension issue when you play standing? I discover that when you sit and rest the guitar on your leg, the shoulder of the picking hand raises slightly and creates unwanted tension, at least for me.
I think we need to talk about where you got that hat. I mean I did a search and it literally doesn't exist. Do I have to be Shawn Tubbs to get one? ;)
I didn't know they weren't available from the REVV online store. I'll see what's up with that!! Thanks for watching!
@@ShawnTubbs Thanks Shawn! Love the channel and all you do!
When I really started getting serious about guitar, I used to practice every morning with a metronome and just go over scales non-stop. But I still can't play like you Shawn so don't take my advice 😉🤣
Like one shouldn't white knuckle drive, don't white knuckle pick?
How do you pray and play and the same time? Or is it just before and "Praise the Lord" after? :-)
Yeah, I think it's truly staying in a state of awareness that helps. Sometimes that state is interpreted as prayer.
@@ShawnTubbs Ah, so like life in 2020?
Lord help me's and Hail Marys 😄
It's how I live my life!! ;)
@@ShawnTubbs right there with ya buddy! 😜🤘