question about alternate picking

[jo jo]

when you alternate pick are you suposed to do it all in the wrist or what because it seems when i dont use my wrist i tend to do it really sloppy.
edit hey i thought i put this in the musicians corner

 

[Anonymous]

I only know one person who uses his fingers to alternate pick, and it seems very difficult. In my opinion it's all in the wrist.

 

[Tubbs]

Yep. the wrist. I can alternate pick VERY fast because I use my wrist for lots of things...................... What are you thinking? Hmm? With all the poor quality laughter aside, I think some wrist exercises will do the trick. (let's not turn my post into something inappropriate, now!) But seriously, I used to suck at alternate picking because I held the plectrum the wrong way, too.

 

[jo jo]

he he he. its all in the wrist.

 

[Horus]

Yes, just like many other things..... What? Who told you? You don't know me!!! I said GET OUT!!! Wait. What? Oh yeah. I forgot where I was going with this, so yeah.

 

[jo jo]

huh?

 

[Horus]

I was being really stupid. Tough time, needed a good laugh, so I just said the first thing that came to my head. (It was originally supposed to be a masturbation joke.)

 

[Tubbs]

 

[jo jo]

ya i figured that it was a masturbation joke

 

[Anonymous]

Hahahaha! Potty humour! Good one!

 

[bball_1523]

do you guys feel tension when going at high speeds or are you perfectly comfortable going over 200 bpm for long periods of time?

 

[Horus]

I used to have some trouble going fast, but when I started worling on my right hand speed on drums, it helped alot. If you get that tension, just find something that's a big workout for your wrist and do it alot.

 

[Valgeir]

Tension in and of itself isn't a bad thing. Pain is though. If you've ever ran a mile or had a good workout you'd know what a "good" burn is. When I pick fast (sixteenths at 160+) for more than a minute straight, my arm tenses up quite a bit. The trick is to keep going, staying as relaxed as possible (which gradually becomes less and less) until your arm starts to burn (not like, fire burn, though). Then take a break. Do some left hand work or something. Keep doing that a few times a day and I'd say by the end of the week, if not much sooner, you'll be able to pick for longer periods of time and faster, before you start getting tired.

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

There is definitely a difference in pains. When playing drums, certain things make my muscles burn after a while (good pain), but recently, my right arm has been hurting in the elbow and wrist. The wrist is due to a skateboarding bail, done over a year ago. I guess it never healed properly. The elbow must be from bad technique, and it is definitely not a good pain.

 

[Jaen]

when you alternate pick are you suposed to do it all in the wrist or what because it seems when i dont use my wrist i tend to do it really sloppy.
edit hey i thought i put this in the musicians corner

i can do both

 

[jo jo]

i can do both

arent you cool!

 

[Horus]

I can only alternate pick with my arm rather than my wrist, when it's a long ass power chord progression or something like that. Even then, I still use my wrist.

 

[Anonymous]

In order for me to pick fast I just try to keep up the same tempo by stomping my foot or nodding my head at certain intervals like every four notes depending on the speed. I'm not sure why its hard to explain.

 

[Horus]

It's hard to explain, because the Gods of Heavy Metal cast a curse upon mankind that he/ she who hath figured out thine picking technique divine, shalt forever have their tongues twisted for to prevent thine secret from spreading.
In other words, the Gods of Heavy Metal decreed that if you figure out their picking technique, you'll be cursed to not be able to explain it.

And that's where babies come from.

 

[Eternal Dragon]

You can't really have one without the other. Either way your wrist will move, and your fingers will definately move. I do it by moving my fingers more, but that's just so that I can keep my palm still to keep stuff muted (like unused strings etc). Don't worry about it too much. My picking has been kind of an evolution since I started playing cos I never had lessons and never really knew how I should hold the pick. Just experiment and if something isnt working then just change your style to accomodate it. At one stage of my evolution I just tilted the pick a few degrees forward and it made a HUGE difference to whatever it was that I was trying to fix. So yeh just experiment and do whatever is right for you.