Hey guys
i know you probably get alot of stuff about please tell me how to do this an that
but i thaught id ask n e way.
first let me say im not talking about tremelo picking, im talking about picking different frets and different strings but at the same speed as tremelo picking.

im a quite accomplished guitarist (with the ego to boot) but for some reason i just cant get this. i can pick one single note and string very fast moving once every four picks or what ever, and i can play most metal solos using a shit load of hammers and pulls, but it sounds weak cause after a while the note kinda dies. eg:
(this is the begining of the solo from domination, the p before the note is when i actually use the pick)

Ep13-12-13-16-13-12-13-12-p10-12-13-12-p13-12-10-12-10---------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------------------------13-12-10-p13-12-10-12----
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------p13~

so any way ill get to the point:
i tremelo pick using a very rigid finger grip and a fast wrist movement(a bit like how a stupid bitch on speed would jack you off) which ive been doing slowly an trying to coordinate my hands with it but it doesnt seem to get any faster.(this aint down to lack of practise)
ive also tried moving my fingers back and forth and keeping my wrist still and i can coordinate this alot better but cant seem to do it faster either because i found my fingers just wont move thier metaphorical butts.
so if any one has been bothered to read this far down this long and rather boring post i would appreciate some answers...
what should i do? carry on with my wrist movement, have faith that my fingers can be manipulated, or chop them off and become a drummer(worse case scenario)? also is there any other way? cheers

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all i can say is to do alternate picking. other than that it is just a matter of how fast you actually are.

you mean up down up down...... right?
yeah im already doing that
i guess no one can help me.


bugger.

cheers any way though

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i heard from someone that it helps if u turn ur pick at a 45 degree angle

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I was having the same problem until I turned my pick at an angle - 45 degrees was a little extreme for me, so I settled at like 25 or 30 degrees. It helped a lot!

ok cheers guys ill try it

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metronomes help. play through your stuff alternate picking at the tempo it goes and keep doing that while incresing the tempo till u come to a brick wall. then just practice practice it over and over till u get faster. after awhile u will start to play it very fast with good amount of speed cheers hope it helps

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Piper is right. Just keep doing it the fastest you can while still playing accurately, and you will after a while be able to play it faster.

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like with everything on guitar practice and determination my friend

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exactly.
practise very much and some day you will do speed picking skipping strings, like michael romeo from symphony X

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It isnt so much turning the pick a 45 degree angle, although it helps a little bit, but if you use a thicker pick then you can go a lot faster since the pick wont bend with hitting the strings.

I find thin picks to be horrible but I have alot of friends that use thin picks that are like paper. You can tremelo faster with them but you can't hit your chords as powerfully as you could with a stronger pick. It also has the tendency to flick other strings. Try a heavy pick (tortex are my favorite) with a very sharp end. You can pick more actuartly when you alternative pick with it, but then again some people hate that too.

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yeh i find it better to use thicker picks i rekon its easier to pick

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also they're better for sweep picking

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im not a big fan of using picks, but when i have totally fucked my fingers i use a thicker for solo's and yeah sweep picking

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I recommend thick picks as well. You should also find a solo that is at a moderate speed, and try playing that. A good example is the solo after the second chorus in Megadeth's Psychotron, from Countdown To Extinction. Here's the tab for the part I am talking about:



|-----------------------------9-------9-10----|-9-10-12-10-9----9--------|
|----9-10----9-10-12-9--10-12----10-12------12-|--------------12----------|
|-11------11----------------------------------|--------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|--------------------------|

Use straight alternate picking, and also try practicing with a metronome. Its about 130 b.p.m. so it should not be to hard. Anything by Marty Freidmen is good for speed picking.

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Besides a harder pick and besides turning the pick a little- the main goal to playing that solo would be to use all 4 fingers (pinky at the 16th).

and speed picking will get you nowhere if you try leads (unless your going for a tremelo type lead).

the trick is to start slowly by picking each note one at a time then eventually you build up speed but always try to hit each note once.

Accuracy before speed is ALWAYS a must. Speed will only get you frustrated in the long run. Trust me on this .

im teaching myself shred type soloing for a few months now, and ive found considerable progress when only focusing on building speed, then later working on accuracy.

my reasoning is this- why bother playing something accurately but slowly? youre only gonna end up with slow solos...

its gonna sound gay, so i worked on speed first.

also, i noticed it was my fingers slowing me down. so i built up speed there by trem picking everything and trying to make everything sound smooth.

eventually, i only did legatos and hammer ons and pulloffs, trying to make it all sound smooth.

then, i began picking more, and now i can play metallica and slayer solos without too much concern. well, using the tremolo arm and bending is still a bit of a hassle, but it wont be long till ive got under control.

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id have to say the comment made before about accuracy before speed is better, its no good playing a fast solo if its sounds shit so y not do accurate solos and as u get better speed them up a touch then after awhile u'll be pulling off solos dime would be proud of, everything thing with guitar is a about practice, time and determintaion

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with the tip pointing up or down?

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Posted by Andras



Really? Wow thats perceptive!

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