Guitar picking

[Genius Gone Insane]

I know there's no set rule as far as how to play metal guitar. I'm curious about your styles if you are axe-wielders as I am. I love to play hard and really dig into the strings with my pick. I've noticed, however, that I play a lot tighter if I play soft, to the point where the pick might not even break the invisible plane that the strings rest on (in other words, if you have the guitar on your lap, in playing position, with the guitar parallel to your body so that you really only see the lowest string, then you'd wouldn't see the pick penetrating into the space between the pickup and the strings--sorry if that's confusing). When I am really jamming on the guitar and digging in, I'd say that you could see maybe almost 1 cm of the pick penetrating that area, however I'm no good with the metric system so I could be off on that guess. But if I want to play tighter, you would hardly even see the pick come through at all.

The thing is when I play tight like that, I have to turn up the distortion a little bit to get a heavy enough sound. This makes me feel like I'm playing like a pussy. And we can't have that . I've tried to get tight when I'm digging deep into the strings but I've never been able to do that as well as I like...Should I continue to play like a pussy or learn to dig in and play tight? Any input?

 

[Fragle]

dude, just go with whatever works for you. if i were you i'd try to learn how to stay tight while playing hard (it must be possible, guys like steve smyth are beating the crap out of the strings and aren't sloppy at all), but that's just my $0.2

i have a more controlled attack, as it feels more natural to me. i tried the hard picking thing and while i did notice a certain increase in punch and brutality, i also couln't play complicated rhythms if my life depended on it

 

[sorceron]

it depends on the part i guess for me. I never play very light i guess unless its like a super fast tremolo picking part i guess and even then im not sure if its lighter or just much shorter strokes to get the speed. i like to play hard though, i wouldnt describe it as digging. what gauge strings do you use? I use 13-56.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I use 9s because a while back my other guitarist bought a crapload of 'em at cost. Like a 2 year supply of them. Thing is, we're tuned to drop-B, Burn my eyes-style, and I've been thinking for a while that maybe we should get some thicker ones.

 

[DNW]

I use 9s because a while back my other guitarist bought a crapload of 'em at cost. Like a 2 year supply of them. Thing is, we're tuned to drop-B, Burn my eyes-style, and I've been thinking for a while that maybe we should get some thicker ones.

9s in drop B?! Sweet Jesus, man!

9s in standard E are almost too slack for me, I can't imagine what they'd be like in drop B.

 

[Benny H]

I think BME is mostly drop C, with a few songs in standard D.

Anyway, what if you just backed of a little and work on your control a bit? Find the middle ground.
I dunno... you've gotta work things out to suit yourself.
Experiment with different picks and string gauges maybe.

Gotta say, I don't see any point in being overally aggressive with the picking hand. Not sure if you're doing that or not, but just thought I'd add that.

 

[pharrell]

I play with my fingers no pick - sounds great really messy and muddy

 

[Razorjack]

I use 9s because a while back my other guitarist bought a crapload of 'em at cost. Like a 2 year supply of them. Thing is, we're tuned to drop-B, Burn my eyes-style, and I've been thinking for a while that maybe we should get some thicker ones.

I use 12's when tuned to C!! 9's in B would be a nightmare for me!!

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

uke:

 

[James Murphy]

GGI... i don't see how you could possibly play in tune with 9's tuned that low.. that's just crazy.. you'd have to play lighter than a feather just to not got way out... craziness.

 

[DNW]

Yeah, I dunno.... I'm still confused as to how you could possibly play like that. To me I wouldn't even really be able to feel much of a difference between playing light and digging in, coz there'd be no resistance from the strings.

I've always been somewhat of a light player, I guess as a result of my lack of confidence in anything really. But I have noticed that there's a certain chunkiness that comes from digging in with the pick more. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to put a good 1cm of pick below the string and lose a lot of control though. I've learned to play a bit harder now, but I still only put the very tip of the pick (Jazz III) against the string. As with everything, it's just a matter of practice really.

You can pick hard without having to have a wide, exaggerated picking motion, it's just a matter of training yourself to do so.

I think one place where "less gain, harder picking" really shines is in distorted chord playing. IMO the sound is so much bigger, and the chords have so much more clarity, compared to if you just played lightly with more gain dialed in.

 

[Ravenous Enemy]

1) Sell your supply of 9's
2) Get some thicker strings (12's or maybe try Zack Wylde boomers 10 - 60)
3) Find a compromise between 'playing like a pussy' and digging in.
(although with lots and lots of gain it doesn't make too much difference)

just my £0.2.

 

[sorceron]

yea man those 9's have got to sound like crap that low. i play those 13-56 in standard c and i wich they were thicker alot of times. they feel best in standard d to me. wow 9's in b. crazy.

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

it's funny, i knwo some of you guys like entombed... and they played in B with 9's and to my knowledge did until recently.

 

[Fragle]

....and sound like crap doing it.
seriously, i saw them live a few months ago, and they were boring as hell imho. AND they managed to have the worst guitar sound of the whole festival (even though there played two black metal bands )

 

[sorceron]

it's funny, i knwo some of you guys like entombed... and they played in B with 9's and to my knowledge did until recently.

holy crap man.

 

[marcust]

hi,
i tried 11s and 12s in drop b
not possible at least for me you'll have to tune after each riff you play
i now have 13s and that works fine ...

 

[guitarguru777]

Yea the 9s in B are WAYYYYY to slack. I know cause when Heartwork Came out i tuned a my guitar down jsut to learn the songs. I was too impatient to go and buy a new set and restring it .... It was a nightmare.

These days im using a set of EB 12's for tuning a 6 to B.

9s in B are just nuts.

Da Fukn Guru

 

[commandante]

....and sound like crap doing it.

No.

Definitely one of the best bands I have ever seen live, not to mention their legendary discography. Long live Entombed!

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Wow! Hey thanks guys for the input, much appreciated. I've definitely had difficulties staying in tune. I'll test out some 12s and see what happens. I think I used to play with 10s before. Fuck me, I feel like a jackass, definitely not the Genius that I am. haha thanx