Here's the issue: while I find fast downstroke palm muted picking rather easy, I just can't fucking alternate it well I just kinda lock-up in the middle of everything, or miss alot, like if my hand doesn't have enough space to do what it must. So, any tips, techniques, advice, whatever...?

Practise

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dont tense up

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practise practise practise, thats the only way you'll get better
theres no real tips except to start it off slow and progress when you can get a speed that doesn't allow you to fuck up while playing

Yeah, just keep on practicing. Get a good feel of the guitar and practice alternate picking with a metronome playing just the open 6th string. Keep on doing that and up the metronome building speed.

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I also have problems with this. If you haven't already, you might want to try using a very thin pick. For me, this realy helps, as I use a thick Jazz 3 pick for most playing.

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really? i find that the thinner the pick, the harder it is to play well quickly. all that flexibility seems to screw things up for me.. i need something that never bends so that i can just keep doing the same motion over and over. also, the very sharp point of the jazz IIIs kick ass for anything quick.

yeah I recently found out that thicker picks - Dunlop 1.5 mm or 2.0 big stubby - are better for fast playing, in particular solo's and melodies (for rhythm it doesn't matter much). They don't bend, have a better attack on the strings and just go faster. that's how I got the hang of basic sweeps this month.

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Yay! Someone can spell practice This calls for a brew or three

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Oh yeah. Practice playing something simple like |--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-o-0-o-0-o-o-o-o-0-o-0--| over and over and over on the low E til its fast, consistant and palm muted. But start slow. Also try and use way less forearm, a little less wrist and more finger movement while you pick. It'll enable you to pick for a long time real fast.

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I use Dunlop Big Stubby 2.0 mm , they rock.

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Yeah, relax, don't try too hard. I use a Dunlop Jazz III and I love it.

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actually, practise and practice are both acceptable forms of how to spell the word, its just the region you live in. such as "color" and "colour"

Everything goes between cookies and biscuits

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you find any reason to drink
and i find thicker picks much better too

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Jazz IIIs are the best picks ever!

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fo shizzle

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No, fingernails are.

Practice= USA.
Practise= Anywhere else English is spoken.

Don't let grammatical and spelling errors bother you too much... I've rarely met more than 3 or 4 people on a single message board who either know or bother how to spell things right and compose decent sentences. It's no big deal. Or maybe that's just because I'm

I hope you're joking?

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fingernails powdered with graphite and some glue on that, hmm might work....

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BTW, when i play guitar standing i have a bit of a problem. When i rest my forearm on the guitar while playing at the place marked 1 in the pic, its pretty comfortable and i can alt pick pretty well but i get tired quickly while palm muting. When i rest my forearm on the guitar while playing at the place marked 2, i can alt pick better and i dont get tired too quickly when palm muting, but its not very comfortable and its hard to keep the neck in place etc. plz help, is it just practice practice practice or what in position 1 so i dont get tired when palm muting or the same way around so i can keep the neck steady in pos 2?

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Just do wat u feel is comfortable, i dont realy have any set place to rest my forearm. but its usually just above and before the bridge

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