Re: Does this guitar speed picking technique work for mando?
Originally Posted by
maxr
I'm getting a bit stuck with improving my picking speed for fast fiddle tunes etc. I've tried a number of conventional picking patterns, and find some logical and natural and some illogical and awkward. For example, 'jig picking' - I'm not sure why you'd attempt to play two fast downstrokes one after the other, with lots of wasted movement, when you could play a bar of 6/8 on the same string as down/up/down/up/down/up, and learn to accent an upstroke (note 4) when required? I just watched a guitar speed picking vid which suggests practising (initially slowly) like this:
* Picking on the same string is all done from the wrist, with a static hand shape (soft pick grip, no flexing the fingers).
* String changes are practised from the elbow with a static wrist position and no shoulder movement, mostly with glide strokes - i.e. picking twice (or maybe more?) consecutively in the same direction, which is towards the new string.
Does that work OK on mando?
I'm not sure that I completely understand the question, but, as a general rule, if you're having trouble getting fiddle tunes up to speed it's most likely an issue with pick direction. The general rule for 4/4 tunes is down strokes on the down beat and up strokes for everything else. Keep the pick swinging in this manner whether or not the notation calls for a note to be picked. If you're tapping your foot down on the down beat then you're pick is up in the air when your foot is off the ground. When first learning a fiddle tune I practice this very very slowly until I'm sure that I've got all the melody notes being played with the right pick direction. Only then do I try to bring it up to speed.
Having said that, in class last night, Matt Flinner, taught a Howard Armstrong picking technique for a ragtime tune that is similar to what you describe above. It's similar to the flat picking rest strokes that Gypsy Jazz pickers employ and is also similar to the speed picking technique employed by electric guitarists. I'm going to concentrate on learning the Howard Armstrong tune using both techniques so that my alternate picking habits stay strong but I really want to challenge myself with the Howard Armstrong picking technique because it just sounds so cool. Sometimes its good to break "the rules" so to speak.
-Scotty
Play that which you feel is groovy, get down with your bad self, and shake your money maker if it makes sense for you to do so.
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