Circular Picking: A Secret Weapon for Smooth Speed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Had many people ask about it after seeing my last video of me at age 13 trying (in vain) to play the Fade to Black solo. With Circular Picking I was finally able to make it happen, almost overnight.
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Thanks!!!
Oh yeah 2 am and I'm bout to learn a new guitar trick
Same here
Oh yeah 2 am and I'm bout to learn a new guitar trick with 20+ missing assignments
4 am for me
Same
Same here
Squidward: Who wants to learn about circular picking at 2 AM
Mike: OH BOY 2 AM
Haha 😂
Why did TH-cam recommend this vid at 2am right when I’d see this comment. It’s kismet
The way you started this video was completely solid. No intro, no backstory. From the very first second we’re in the tutorial, thanks for doing it that way! Some guitar videos are starting to feel like online cooking recipes, where the author felt it necessary to inform us about their neighbor’s vegan cat before anything else 🙄
I like finding his comments on random videos across the wide world of TH-cam. I once found an Art of guitar comment on a Shane maids DMT video lmao
N also on Troy Grady's cracking the code..lol....
Circular picking: the secret to the tornado of souls solo
Exactly.
I've always understood circular picking to involve extension and contraction of the thumb and index finger joint while picking. This can be part of alternate, sweep or economy picking. This seems to be just sweep picking.
Yeah same here. Guthrie Govan doesn't recommend circular picking though, he says its better to move the wrists.
Agree with you. Though I know it as circle picking rather than "circular picking". Loophole? I present to you - circle picking th-cam.com/video/jDd4lxCbw6s/w-d-xo.html
A little different yes? I have never been able to understand what is going on here.
Agree, circle picking / circular picking = moving your index finger and thumb very minimal, just minimal enough to achieve the next pick. Regardless of stroke direction. Play a lick on loop for hours, you will want to reduce your motion.
This video here shows economy picking, which typically in parts uses sweep picking (since sweeps are economical).
I stumbled on the circular picking technique while working on sweep picking, which led to me finally nailing the arpeggios in Sultans Of Swing.
but that’s fingerstyle no?
This is a great exercise. I have been playing for almost 10 years on and off and this is one of the best exercises to play even faster. Thank you!
At 2:29 another way to mute the 2nd string when you pull off is barely touching it with the tip of your index finger that's already fretting the E on the 1st string. That seems to work better for me.
Great explanation on this technique! First heard of economy picking from one of your videos years ago, so it's cool to see you revisiting this
This is the amazing type of video I have come to look for from Art-of-guitar! My soloing sucks because I can't get my speed up, this will help a lot. Thank you very much for the video Mike!
You had me searching for this technique after your last video. Thanks for demonstrating it.
Thank you so much for this! I always thought they called it “circular picking” because you had to move the pick in a circle, which felt and sounded terrible 😂
I thought the same thing as well! now with this, I wonder how many other licks/progressions I thought were harder to do may be easier. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Yngwie!
Yeah probably most of us :)
There is a different picking technique for rhythm that does follow a circular/oval pattern while tremolo picking moving up and down through multiple strings. If you're looking to create spooky black metal rhythms it's a fun technique.
Search "Isahn lesson #1", Isahn breaks it down in the first two minutes.
Well there is literal circular picking. Watch Stevie Ray Vaughan play pride and joy
Hey Mike, Thanks for this very cool lesson! I would've never thought to use that pattern nor would I have thought it would let me pick much faster. Wow!! Something that seems so simple yet so effective. I only recently have started to get into leads. I never dared to go near the 12th fret and beyond. It was intimidating to me, so I only played chords, every chord imaginable except "extension".lol. But here I am 35 yrs. later and somehow leads suddenly interest me in a way that I want to at least try to learn some. I can play some slow classic rock solos but I wanted to try my very best to learn the "Fade to Black" solo. It's one of my favorite solos. The really fast parts are hard so this circular picking exercise will hopefully get me to where I want to be with the solo. Your youtube channel is really "Spot On" my friend. Keep doing what you're doing. Thanks again and stay safe during this pandemic and have a "Happy New Year"!! Aloha from Hawaii.
A good one, Mike. Glad you're taking a little time away from live streams- dealing with all those crazy bastards (including me) might get a bit stressful!!
I've been watching a lot of your video recently and really wanted to thank you for such clear and insightful explanations. I've just got back into playing recently and am finding your instruction so useful for doing it right this time! Please keep it up :-)
Hahaha the second you played the Simpson's I started laughing
Very interesting how this same pattern of DDU also works for triple tonguing with a brass instrument, TTK syllables!
I love super focused lessons like this.
Great lesson Mike!
Finally! After years of searching!
lol, and here i was thinking i was all special because i could FINALLY put my 3 count picking pattern on autopilot by improving my hand-separation skills. I have been learning boogie woogie on piano which is all about hand separation, and playing those constant bass patterns has really helped fret hand coordination, speed and strength. and boogie has swing so all that "1-a-and-a crap goes right out the window. If it is straight time it is called ragtime or rock-n-roll. if it has swing, it is boogie or blues.
C->G->-Amin-> sounds like beginning of canon in ...?C. when you hit the F, i was thinking "noooo, lowerrrrrr low -errrrr" haha. i actually think i do this circular picking at times.
Have you ever tried the "rotate your wrist" tremolo picking technique? i havent practiced enough to make that NOT feel really weird, so i gave up. it is super efficient and i imagine black metal players who tremolo for minutes straight could put that to good use.
Excellent tip Mike
Going to practice that right now!
Thanks man. Great lesson as always. What clean sounds.
What most people call "pull offs", and what you call "pluck offs", I call "flick offs", because you're giving the string a light "flick" as you pull off.
Thank you for the tip. Blues On....💙
Super cool, definitely going to use this!
enjoying your lessons . good content and you explain things very well
Dang, if I only knew this "circular picking" 20 years ago,when I was learning the fade to black , that solo at the end just ppissed me off,I tried all kinds of ways..Lol....fs ..
Thats frigging excellent !! Thank you so kindly!!
Great little lesson on economy picking, but I wouldn't call this an example of circular picking. .at least by what most instructors would classify as circular picking, which is much more focused on what the picking hand is doing.
Obla di
Obla da
Obla da, daaaa
La La La La
Shred goes on...
This is useful for the Zakk Wylde's solos with Ozzy. Miracle Man for sure uses this technique.
Awesome! Thanks, Mike! Very helpful!
Watched this video, my circular picking still sucks but I finally figured it how to consistently do pinch harmonics so thanks.
Very Helpful!!!
Start with an upstroke on the C instead of an downstroke, follow up with a downstroke then finish with an upstroke. You'll play it far faster, be cleaner and have more control that way.
Thanks a lot! You're my Hero :')
Thanks Mike!
Zakk's solo on Miracle Man.
I really enjoy these exercises and tips. Do you have anything (or plan on making something) that specifically focuses on bends? I've always struggled with bends and how to do them properly.
Thanks Bro...
when he got to speed I was sure that he was going to play still dre
Wow crazy been doing this my whole time really but now I know the name of it
Great lesson!
I could never get those circular Michael Schenker/Gary Moore licks down, it has to be either the pull-offs or I'm just messing up the order of the motions to make it work
I have problem on the outro solo of fade to black on lick G 9b |E 7 | B 10^7 and someone said that needs circular picking. but is difficult to play ddu ddu etc. because u need to surpass B string. is there a trick?
Just pick it like this: Down Up Down, Down Up Down.
4:30 actually kirk hammett picks this kind of licks live, and sounds sloppy
Hammeth!!!
@@HeathenwoodOfficial haammeetthh
He does the same thing with the arpeggios at the end of the ride the lightning solo and at the beginning of Leper Messiah solo. They’re much easier to play with this method of picking and sweeping, respectively
Why is Jhon Cusack Mark Knopfler in this video
Gonna spend a few hours on fade to black today 👍
4:30 _BOOM_
Nice lesson. But I’m falling back to DUU pattern when not concentrating really hard.
Btw what’s that infinity symbol on that nice guitar? Means anything?
This is not circular picking but economy picking.
With circualr picking you make circular movements mostly using thumb and index finger.
Haha, I am learning this to play sultans of swing solos with only a pick.
If I leave my first finger on, won't that make noise?
i’m trying this out and liking it a lot but i can’t seem to get it when i start doing those kirk hammett like double pull offs could you upload a video on how to work on that?
Thank you for this video. By the way, what is the difference between economy picking and circular picking?
I am also wondering this - I think this is more economy picking rather that circular picking from everything I’ve seen. Hopefully somebody see’s this and can clarify!
How long would it take to pick up speed at that level starting from scratch
I'm 48. I started at 14.
I still can't play fast.
@@mattgilbert7347 did you practice these types of exercises?
Simpsons theme song..
"Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on...."
Woody Wood Pecker
Alphaville - Forever Young solo
Lot's of things sounding like other things today :D
Now to unlearn 25 years of muscle memory. Any tips?
Been doing this for about 40 years ..Didn't even know it had a name. If I analyze my playing I would call it "economy picking, circular picking and a bit of alternate picking and sweep picking. I just called it guitar playing....
I came up with this naturally and I searched youtube to see if anyone else got it damn it
cool
Like it
haha i tought i was the only one here at 2 a.m, let's go baby!!
Dude, can you read my mind? I'm just learning this
That Woody Woodpecker reference just made me damn near drop my guitar lok
Lol those simpsons and woody woodpecker moments are exactly why I can't learn anything on the guitar, I just randomly find things that sound like things and I completely go off the rails (not on a crazy train unfortunately) and forget what I'm actually doing and then it's ADD city all night.
That's how I am when trying to write riffs half the time, I start playing a riff but then it sounds vaguely like another riff so that's where my mind goes
Wait, I thought I invented this 😂😂
This is very useful if you want to play the Sultans Of Swing solo with a pick instead of your fingers.
And... Thank you
Who the heck calls them "front pickup" and "treble pickup"? What? First time ever hearing something like that.
Is this the way the final countdown solo was played?
This is a great lesson on circle picking. You do a great job also breaking down different licks that are hard to breakdown. I've wondered if Zakk is circle picking at the end of his solo and what he is picking exactly...if you're up to it. I'd like to hear your thoughts on how this might apply th-cam.com/video/V2JKIv58hjg/w-d-xo.html
Ahhh dude I can down-pick all the solos in Fade. Definitely not easy.
I actually shot a video almost 2 years ago
Hey Mike, im really struggling to mute that C when coming off it. Anyone got any tips for me?
I’ve struggled with that. I’ve had success in dragging my palm down with the picking motion
2:45 where did the low C come from? Unless its just an edit. I dont see you picking the first strings at all, and even if you did theres no open C so whats going on? Am I stupid?
I mean, youre muting the low strings anyway so I guess its just a looper or something and Im dumb
It’s an overdub so you can hear the lick over a chord.
Great site glad I subscribed
Sounded like Pachabel's canon to me.
Why isn’t this just called economy picking?
Uhm...Are you sure about this as an advice? I watched a Michael Angelo Batio stream 2 days ago & he was strongly advising against ''circular motion'' picking & was saying that it constituted unnecessary movement detrimental to developing speed. Whatever you, I or anyone think about Batio's compositions, there's little argument about the mastery he has on picking. The guy plays clean at breakneck tempos. I've also never seen Dave Mustaine, nor Alexi Laiho pick in circle either...Of course, opinions are like a**holes. Everybody has one, but for people who want to play speed Metal/power Metal/Trash, I think it's a bad habit to work-on. Fade To Black is a slow Metal tune, but have you tried that method on Ride The Lightning or Trapped Under Ice from the same album? :P
2:58 "Keeping those strings in check by keeping them quiet, by touching them...just a bit"
Funny, my priest says something similar
oh yeah 8 am its time to learn a secret weapon
Isnt this just economy picking? Circular picking is when you use your thumb joint to initiate picking motion.
tryin to teach the ride the lightning solo lol
Marty Friedman does this alway
Hey Beavis...Mike likes to downstroke a lot
Uh huh huh uh huh uh huh
Heh eh eh heh heh eh Umm...Ya
Gold!
This is Rising Force arps, right?
how rude!!! telling me the pluck off.....!!!! savage
It is Woody Woodpecker!
Simpsons then woody woodpecker. 👍😁
Aint that the guitar that got stolen?
No you’re thinking about my poor white Jackson.
@@TheArtofGuitar oh no, the one with the Sakura sticker??
Well, I didn't learn circle pick, but I did learn the simpsons theme song
Similar to economy picking in some ways.
Isn't this usually called "economy picking"?
Guess this is a form of economy picking. It's the special case with those three notes.
Same thing i was thinking.
So it's economy picking.
do i still keep the index finger on the note during the pull of method? doesn't the pulled of note ring together with the picked note on the b string then?