I might be able to post a picture at some time, but for now, anybody who can, please do.

I would like to see a few different picking forms. I tend to pick like Jason Becker, except my hand forms an even skinnier shape than his. Also, any shots of how( for those of you who do) you balance your picking with your fingers on the fretboard. Eric Johnson barely touches his small finger on the board, while John Petrucci takes a grip on his pick-up, and then people like Yngwie I can't really tell what he's doing.

So any quick pictures and brief descriptions would really help. I'm also going to my guitar teacher this Saturday, but I don't want to stop playing until then. To make sure this doesn't get too long and annoying, my main problem is the angle of my wrist; on the lower string I naturally start to bend my wrist way down, causing myself to play with my elbow a bit... and this I really want to avoid. thanks to any who attempt to help.

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You're going to get much better motion with wrist mechanics, versus moving your whole arm.

Try concentrating on your wrist, that is why Petrucci pivots off of his pinky. Yngwie does the same thing, execpt he doesn't pivot. Michael Angelo Batio pivots as well.

Try to concentrate on your plectrum hitting the strings very flush, with not much of an angle, and try to find a comfortable resting position for your arm so that you can do this, and practice SLOWLY so that you can build up your chops using this method.

I have seen all different types of players using all different methods, and it all depends on what is comfortable to you. But hitting the strings flush, smooth, and consolidated is what is going to build up your technique.

See this is where is gets complicated, because my guitar teacher is an absolutely incredible guitarist(really, he's really freakin' good, electric AND classical, everything) but he says to slant the pick. And my problem is mostly on the lower strings, it really does look like(this may sound weird) my forearm and wrist palm etc. structure is just built differently. I would definitely be classified as skinny, too. I do focus on my wrist, but it feels like I'm doing something wrong, especially on lower strings, it feels like maybe my hands jusdt can't copy what almost every guitarist I've seen does. Oh and btw I do have somewhat of an Idea what I'm doing, for any future posts, I've been playing for four years and am quite dedicated to the instrument. And some other thread is an age thread, so I'm too lazy to say it there, so I'm 16. But anyway, more help, even pictures(or detailed descriptions of minor position changes that have helped), would be great.

Edit: I see that you DID say with a slight angle, my bad. And while I'm at it, could having a smaller PALM than others make a big difference?

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i dont know...when i pcik with an angle i get more noise. like pick scraping against the the wrapping of the strings. i try to pick flat. but the pick doesnt slide across the string as smoothly. paul gilbert playes at an angle. maybe its becuase i guess i dont play straigh tdonw. if you play at an angle and dont play perpendicular to the strings you scrape them/. well, i do. bad pick noise.
hmm i guess this post diddnt help but actually asked more questions...oh well.

EDIT: POST NUMBER 666

thats alot of smilys

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I pick at an angle as well, and I do tend to get a lot of "pick scraping" noise. Especially playing decrepit birth shit where it's all palm muted tremolo picking. But I'm working on stopping the pick scraping and it's coming along fine Sometime's I'm able to play without any pick scraping at all! Well, no annoying pick scraping noises, the scraping is still there.

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i pick at an angle too, its really just a matter of preference, i like it because its easy pick fast that way

I was counting down to my 666,and when I looked at the post count it was already 667!

well i made a quick video of how i pick, since its easier to see then explain, but basically what i do is I use my thumb and index finger to pick (i've heard of this somewhere not sure who uses it and what its called)

The downstroke is bending your thumb down, and the upstroke comes from you pushing your index finger up, so it goes back to your original position

not sure how this compares to using your wrist though, my guitar teacher told me you can get very high tremelo speeds with this technique, but for me its harder than using wrist for tremelo

http://www.youtube.com/?v=-F559dc0F-8

edit: if it doesnt work then the video is still being processed, so check back again after lol

I used to actually pick like that for a while, and I think that's how Steve Morse picks, too.

I've noticed that for me after a while, the wrist is the best mechanism for getting ultra clean and fast picking. It takes a really long time to develop a comfortable technique that works, but everyone's bound to get their own at some point.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...757997&q=guitar

check out this vid, the guy with the red strat picks how you're describing, picking like that is fucking hard, but his runs are so fucking fast

lol yea it looks like the way i do it, but damn, hes fast, not anywhere close to that speed yet. but then again it looks kind of different to me, any idea what its called? My guitar teacher called it thumb wiggling

So much shredding yet so little music. It's very sad. Amazing technique, though. These guys are definitelly proof of some of the things said in the You Might Be A Shredder thread.

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Nice video! I tend to pick like that guy with the red strat, but i'm not near that speed though..gotta practise.

The guy with the red clothing is Syu from Galneryus,they own.But he doens't shred there all the time so you can't say so much shredding so little music...this is just a technical demonstration after all