Alternate picking - wrist rotate or side to side?

axisus · October 2015

I have no idea how I do it, I'll have to pick up a guitar and see what happens. Alt picking was a weird one for me, I just grabbed a guitar and could do it instantly with no effort or thought. Sadly nothing else about learning was remotely like that.

thomasross20 · October 2015

You natural, you!

thomasross20 · October 2015

Side to side is quickly becoming dominant for me. There always needs to be some slight wrist turning so you can switch between up- and down-slanting but I find if I bring the heel of my thumb joint closer to the bridge (not wandering in mid-air) my up-picks are a lot more controlled - my hand isn't jumping away from the guitar body and the motion is a lot more fluid. A few times I've been like "did I really just play that" lol - just need to get that more consistent!

musteatbrain · November 2015

Thought this linked nicely with the theme of this thread.

thomasross20 · November 2015

Yeah seen that, good stuff.

I'm making leaps and bounds here... in my mind's eye now the picking is coming from the big fleshy part of the thumb. I'm pushing through with that and pulling back with that... largely side-to-side and not pulling away from the guitar during up-picks. Sometimes I'm amazed at the lines I'm pulling out of the bag lol. I guess it makes sense.... no point focusing on the finger tips or the flat of the thumb... get to the MAJOR organ (or part of the thumb)

thomasross20 · November 2015

My picking is now halfway between 3 & 4 in that vid now. Great vid!

In 5 & 6 the thumb heel is too far off the bridge. I used to do this and also pull the hand away from the body of the guitar slightly when doing up picks - not the correct technique.

I apply the same level of analysis to legato - it's a shame Troy doesn't!

musteatbrain · November 2015

I'm hoping my kids will have a nap so I can work on this. I get about 20 mins every other day. I've got the picking up to about the speed of the Drill Song solo, but the lack of hours on my left hand is staring to show and it's now the weak link. It usually trips me up in the last few notes. At least it's an easy fix when I get more time

PolarityMan · November 2015

That VH thing is almost like a strum, I might do something like this if im playing a fast aggressive rhythm part that had no muting (so in my case rarely) in it (like say on an coustic) but i find it impossible to control enough for single strings.

It definitely feels more related to a strum to me thant a pick if that makes sense.

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Alternate picking - wrist rotate or side to side?

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