Plectrum's edge

thomasross20

Troy says a lot of these pro players are unaware they're using pick slanting to the degree he is teaching, that they've developed it naturally. I'd agree with that!
There is a review of his course on reddit. Basically apart from pick slanting, the rest is filler material? It does look interesting but if all you want is the meat on the bone then is it worth it ..... ?

musteatbrain

Unusually for me, I paid out and bought the course. It goes in to extreme detail and has helped a lot in a short time. There are maybe 5 or 6 key points that are really useful and the rest is a comprehensive explanation of how he arrived at his conclusions. It introduces the concept of pick swiping which is like a muted sweep that guitarists unknowingly use in certain circumstances to get to the appropriate side of a string It is only noticable when played in very slow motion, but is useful to know how it works

thomasross20

Any thoughts on fingerstyle using the thumb's tip rather than flat bit?

thomasross20

Has the cost been worth it? How much do you reckon you've spent on it?

musteatbrain

About £40 Expensive for a simple concept, but for me it was worth it as it got me over a 10 year sticking point.

thomasross20

This is the level of detail I delve into.. R.g for legato how much force comes from the tip of the finger and how much from the core of the finger? What drives the force and holds it in place?

thomasross20

Fair enough! The vids on YouTube I saw were very entertaining

thomasross20

Just looked at my hand in the mirror in the new position and looks funny, unnatural for me. I might keep it this way it is but slant it less and have more thumb contact.

I also angle my wrist... So the thumb side of the wrist is off the bridge. That came naturally and I see players like nalmsteen have it that way.

Saying that, players like Guthrie and petrucci seem to have theirs flat across the whole bridge, and grip it how richardhomer does.

Megii

I stopped using a pick at all for years, then a few years ago started again, and figured I may as well start with a blank sheet of paper as it were, and copy someone with very good technique. As such, I found this Guthrie video very useful:

It did really help me a heck of a lot, although I don't use a very pointy pick like him, and it has taken me quite a while to get to the point where things feel natural. But I can definitely pick a lot faster/cleaner than I could the first time around. More than one way to get results though I know, just throwing this one out there FWIW.

thomasross20

Here's the real weakness. I can't tremolo pick one string at speed for a great length of time. When I do, it's sort of like how van halen tremolo picks due to thevangle of my wrist, but I always end up moving my forearm which I hate doing

thomasross20

Also noticed that while richardhomer angles his finger in toward the palm... My index finger tip goes the opposite way and pushes against the plectrum

thomasross20

Wow, my picking is a lot more confident now that I'm using more of the thumb - lots more "contact" which feels good (I've done some clean blistering runs and I hope it continues). The angle hasn't change too much. I am questioning how I press the pick with my index finger pad instead of holding it side-on like richardhomer, Guthrie, Petrucci etc. I think there's more tension there than needs be. 

Troy Grady - turns out I've done the dual pick slanting for years, my problem has just been a dodgy connection due to how I hold the pick. 

thomasross20

Just realised this should maybe be in the Technique section? 

Anyway this vid is cool. Clearly the guy has benefited from Troy's course. Interesting to note he bends his thumb the way I do, but does the side/rolling index finger as has been previously mentioned:

Honestly, putting it up to the side looks like the thing to do - as your hand moves up for an upstroke, the hand should move through the plan in which the side of the index finger points. I just find it a tad uncomfortable. 

mark_atdi

From your first picture Thomas it looks like you may have a bendy thumb like me. Basically my thumb can bend back at a right angle which caused some problems with my technique (both on my fretting hand and picking hand).

I was doing something similar to you for a while because holding a pick “normally” felt a little bit unnatural to me. Ended up just forcing myself into more of a traditional technique though and eventually got used to it.

Here is a picture of my horrible thumb, it can actually bend back further than in the pic.

http://i.imgur.com/JYtoegN.jpg

thomasross20

I can do exactly the same thing with my thumb and people think it's weird!

So.... is holding it conventionally helping you now?
I see some people do angle the pick down with the thumb like I do (viz says Al di Meola does it, I see some other players do, too).

Big thing I'm wondering now is how the forefinger connects to the pick. Which part should be holding it.

mark_atdi

Yeah tell me about it haha, people think I've dislocated it if they've not seen it before!

Definitely it's helping, everything sounds a lot cleaner. I hold it a bit like this picture now, feels right and keeps a good angle to the strings:

I guess it's just about what's working for you. Before my playing sounded pretty messy / scratchy so I knew it wasn't right...

thomasross20

Mine is hit and miss.
Oh MAN, does it not feel feel to tuck the index finger up like that?
Basically the index finger is now in line with the thumb, pointing back to the thumb joint, right?

I've gigs to get ready for, might be dangerous to change technique now... wondering if I should change to the way you're showing above. Seems to work for Guthrie/Petrucci etc.

ElectroDan

Everyone will have their own slight variation on picking, the pro's are no exception to this. Gambale's Economy picking and sweeping, Steve Morse and Guthrie who have amazing alternate picking, hybrid picking (where the fingers are used in addition to the pick), and even more legato based styles.

After my own fumblings with each of these methods, I came up with my own mix of them all that works for me. Certain types of licks, I play with certain picking styles. The trick is instantly knowing which one you are going to use, and this comes with consistently practicing them.

I came up with a way of avoiding the inside picking you get when playing 3 note per string scales, by picking down, up and then a hammer on or pull off (depending whether I am ascending or descending). I thought I'd genuinely created something new and bordering on genius, until I watched Troy Grady's vid and realised Yngwie had been doing it since I was a kid! 

:-S

mark_atdi

Yeah that's right. It did take some getting used to but it creates a lot of surface area to secure and angle the pick to get the cleanest sound (for me anyway).

But you're right, it probably would be a bit risky to change if you've got gigs coming up! No harm in giving some of the other techniques a go when you're practicing though.

thomasross20

I think for now I'm going to stick with the increased thumb area and see if I really need to do this thing regarding the forefinger...