Changing My Picking Hand After 13 Years
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2024
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I still have a long way to go till this is fluid but I'm already happy with the results :)
Robert Baker close hand is the best?
wow, it's way tougher than I thought it would be :)
Your playing sounds way more fluid and your outstretched fingers are not plucking extra strings. It’s harder to unlearn incorrect information than it is to learn it correctly in the first place. Not that either way is correct or incorrect, but just some psychological ways that we learn. Rock on Bro!
I am going in just the opposite direction because my fingers of my picking hand drag across the strings above where I'm playing due to arthritic conditions not allowing me to close my hand tightly enough to avoid the issue... So I have to keep them splayed open to avoid the string drag and the possibility of unwanted noise coming across... It's kinda weird but all the complaints you are talking about, bouncing around on the strings, unrelaxed verses relaxed I'm finding those benefits by doing the opposite as well... I carried a huge amount of stress in my right hand and I can literally feel how little there is for me with the fingers open... And yes it is a BITCH trying to re-adjust after a long time of doing it as such...
Walt Bonczek Same here! Sucks!!!
I had this exact lesson with a new guitar teacher. Closed hand. Not an easy thing to change when you are not used to it but yes gives a better angle, cleaner sound and more control I find. I’m happy with the change but still having to think about it.
Chris Brooks’s book/video “the Yng-Way. Absolute game changer on this subject. The wrist motion is more of a “turning the keys” rolling motion than a up/down pivot at the wrist.
Also I bought that arrpegio book you recommened bro! I have noticed a massive improvement in your playing last few months (you were already awesome but your playing is getting to another level) which is super impressive and inspiring as I think a lot of us reach a point where we just settle for our skills (I have been way too guilty of that!) Ordered the sweep picking one as well as have ignored working on that for tooooooo long! \m/
Advanced Arpeggio Soloing for Guitar: Creative Arpeggio Studies for Modern Rock & Fusion Guitar@@Sometrixz
Thats awesome man its a fantastic book!
Karl Golden a
Yeah man I found this with my picking as well when I closed my hand it would be a lot better. It is really hard to get rid of old habits though!!
I'm finding the same except with fast metal down picking where I have to open my hand again.
@@suspicionofdeceit same problem, idk why but maybe its bcoz i need my wrist more 'bouncing' i guess, its hard to explain
Pick like Kirk Hammett and close your hand but stick out your middle finger.
I’ve seen people mentioning Troy Grady and I think that’s what it is. The closing of the hand is incidental. What’s making you feel different is you’re usually a Downward Pickslanter (switching strings after an upstroke) and now you’re playing as an Upward Pickslanter (switching strings on a downstroke).
You don’t have to only keep one pick slant while you play, as long as you find what you like and what’s comfortable for you and you’re able to play the lines you WANT to play.
The hard part is to use 2 way pick slanting
Really? I’ve recently begun to change from fanned to closed, and that’s mainly because now with the closed hand I find it much easier to change strings off of an upstroke than with an open hand. Especially while ascending the strings, to change strings off of an upstroke has always been the hardest for me, but now that I’m closing my picking hand it’s become easier and less tense for me. With the open hand, i always found changing strings off a downstroke to be the easiest, especially on ascending runs. Now with the closed, those runs are just as easy but changing strings off of an upstroke while ascending the strings has become easier too.
@@christopherharv Sounds like you’re changing your pickslanting to me. A rotation in your wrist is a give away.
I would say, as general advice, find the way you like to hold your pick and stick with it (this could be fingers out, fingers in, extended first finger, etc…).
If you look at the greats (say Guthrie Govan), you won’t see extraneous finger movement in his right hand. He fully adopts a closed hand, but for fast picking passages he anchors his pinky finger on the guitar; other than that, no finger movement.
This has helped my picking more in 5 minutes than anything I've tried in the last 5 years. Thanks Robert!
I've been playing for many decades, and only started really focusing on right hand in the past few years. It changes everything because it's the music delivery system. Watching that Danny Gatton video on his hybrid picking and esp the 'banjo rolls'.... huge!!!
I've been playing open handed for over 20 years. Recently I tried with the hand closed: much control and speed but I cannot mute properly and I always rub my knuckles against the strings. I'm probably doing it the wrong way I think. Anyone with the same issue?
Same here. I can't mute with closed hand, then I do booth ways depending on what I'm playing. In the most part of time I play solos with closed hand and riffs with opened.
Use the side of your hand instead of your wrist.
I kind of rest the side of my hand on the guitar and angle a bit up.
I'll also mute with my left hand too. I primarily hit the strings with the side of my palm as I play. I mute differently depending on what I'm playing.
Same but I know it’s because I’m new at this technique. 20 years for me as well. I’ve been practicing my palm muting by playing old Killswitch Engage songs. It’s amazing how much better I’m playing otherwise.
Thanks, that's just what I needed to hear. I have never really payed attention to what I'm doing and I'm in a constant rut. I really need to get back to basics and what you said made me realise how important it is to get it right
By the way, how you described your difficulties before deciding to work on it is exactly what I struggle with
It's an old video, but I wanted to say thanks anyway. Rock on!
In the book "Guitar World presents: Metal Guitar Lessons" from Hal-Leonard, Dave Mustaine talks about that and how picking with your fingers extended slows you down.
Wow, such an epitome of humility. Anytime he catches himself say anthing that may be taken as self-praise or bragging, he doesn't hesitate quickly correcting himself by saying, "at least to me, it appears that way".
Very correct.. This is really good picking technique .. Vinnie Moore is using this technique from recently
Good tip. I've been playing since 1964 ish and used pull offs and hammer ons for fast playing. My technique does not work for fast "efficient" double picking (shredding) though. Bad habits are hard to break but this tip will really help. Thanks
- Dave
for me it's the opposite, if I close my fingers together my hand gets tense really fast, if I fan out my fingers I feel very relaxed and can play forever without getting tired.
Changing up to the open hand idea now because I also got very tense that way... arthritis doesn't help with a closed hand either...
I started with the closed hand but now sometimes switch between the 2 depending on what im playing!:
One guy told me that playing while holding the pick just with index and thumb (while having the rest straight) will be harmful in the long run. But only if you apply too much pressure on your grip, so I'm guessing a light and loose grip won't be bad though your pick might fall and disappear forever...
I don’t really make a fist. It’s how I used to play but then I cramped up. Now I sort of play with my fingers stretched out and slightly curled in. Using an open hand gives me a super loose grip and I don’t really get how people do it
all it means is your handicapped
I always wanted to pick fanned out because I always thought it looked cooler, but I picked better closed. Now I'll keep it that way lol
I'm the opposite.
I think closed fist looks cooler
@@MrMetalhorse haha right on. I'm digging it now
Great to come across this video. I'm currently doing the exact same thing. 17 years (on and off) of playing with "fanned fingers", and trying to clean up my technique. Thanks for the video!
My brain says pick with a closed hand, my heart says pick with an open hand.
EDIT: My brain now says to pick with an open hand.
I get you :( every legendary guitar player doest with the opended hand, but for Me is hard AF.. I hope it doesn't limit me in the future
Very accurate
You might want to learn from many sources but try to mould them all together and come out with something that you are comfortable with, ergonomically. Hand open will potentially cause unwanted string noise and so alternate picking isn't really your best bet. In my case, when I unnoticeably pick with my hand open, i tend to do economy picking naturally. Less picking, and inject some hammer ons/pull offs in between notes to prevent creating excessive string noises as possible as i could. Combining it with directional picking which technically means, do little "sweep" when moving across strings, you can get that other form of clean sound that you've missed with hand close picking. Other times when my mind is in control (with my fingers clenched), i would always get that tight, note-by-note precision kind of sound with alternate picking. I don't mind unintentionally "switching" between these two approaches back and forth. I'm not perfect but it'll help adding colours to my playing style in a good way. From my perspective, breaking my habit to fix some stuff is a big no since I don't really have time to reconstruct something that I've been hooked up to for many many years. But i try to improvise little things here and there as much as i could. Well, it's all subjective though and on top of all that, yea, i'm a lazy guy.
Nobody wants u to know it but always listen to what ur gall bladder says son
I pick with my pinky as an anchor. I'm trying really hard to unlearn it and pick with a closed hand. Another advantage of the closed hand is that your fingers are already in place to do some hybrid picking. But man is it hard to unlearn something you've been doing since the start. A good teacher at the start will probably save you years of practice.
I started by putting my thumb and index and middle finger on 1.3 pick size like a fist while anchoring my palm to guitar body starting with scales. It took getting used to because you think you're not going to be able to have balance, but it is the opposite after a while.
I do the same thing it isnt really a problem shredding is easier for me when i use my pinky
@@NMMShred agreed. Imo using a finger as an anchor actually makes you more accurate as it adds a stability point
jkinthewind Yngwie & Steve Morse both anchor, just saying.
@@MrIkesimba plus in my opinion hybrid picking sounds ghastly. The difference in attack of the notes just isn't nice to me. It should be reserved for clean playing rather than with gain
The Troy Grady effect.
I don't know what my playing would be without Troy.
I owe all my shred abilities to that man.
@gamesandguitars003 LMFAO
Troy Grady rules!
I actually have always picked the way that he said he did(edge picking, he talks about it in episode 8) basically the reverse of how Yngwie Malmsteen does it. Can't wait til I get great at pick slanting! I've already become pretty comfortable with holding the pick how Yngwie does.
I’m doing the same thing but I guess I’m 5 years behind you. I grew up on Mel Bay and keeping your little finger on the pick guard which fans your fingers out. Closed hand felt weird at first but I’m getting the hang of it.
This is just what I was looking for! Thank you so much! I really needed to know if I was picking the right way.
Unlearning my openhand-technique for three weeks now and it works perfectly. Thanks for your advice! I could pick much faster now and it improves my hybridpicking a lot! 😀🎸
I just broke my old habbit of holding the pick the exact same way you did. 3 days ago I decided to hold the pick with my hand closed, all fingers closed and I noticed a huge difference right away on speed, control and attack.
And then today I found this video proving what i discovered by just experimenting.
I’m glad this vid came up. Changing my picking for the better after a long time. It’s a whip but glad others have shared this experience. Thx Robert
I do the same type of thing. I plant my little finger on the Guitar allot of the time. When I was a kid I saw Randy Rhodes picking with his fingers fanned out so that's what I strove to do. Now days I know I could pick faster with my hand being closed. It makes since it would be faster to me. I also do this up and down thing over the strings. Trying to change how I pick now is so hard. But I'm trying. Nice to see their are other people out there running into my problem to.
I went through a similar transition several years ago where I went to sort of a more closed hand picking. Lately I've kind of turned it around a little bit to not entirely fanned hand picking but keeping my pinky softly rested and anchored on the body of the guitar below the high E string... it's a little bit more comfortable for me. I noticed with the closed hand picking, that my hand and my arm seemed really stiff when I was playing...
I found myself doing this too, far more attack also with greater grip on the plectrum which also helps.
This grip might not be for everyone but worth a try. It's also beneficial for pickslanting.
I thought this was going to be about nose picking, and I was ready for a huge debate! oh well. But in all seriousness very interesting! It reminds me of watching Ian Thornley picking. I will check it out and try it. great video!
maybe you should do a video on nose picking then! lol
Don’t give me ideas :P
Just get in there and SCRAPE
There's no such thing as wrong picking techniques.
If there was, Marty Friedman would be one of the worst guitar players ever
true dat
You can pick however you want but it limits you.
There is a right and wrong way.
But many times guitar players will find a way to make wrong technique work.
Marty's technique is very limiting believe it or not.
He can play insanely fast with his technique but he can't play everything.
Btw I love Marty, I'm just saying.
@@MrMetalhorse which also makes you sound unique because of the limit factor.
@@fragment7 I can agree with that.
Marty does have a unique style and he's great.
@@MrMetalhorse i haven't been playing guitar for awhile as i lean towards piano these days, but i mainly switch from thumb/index to thumb/other fingers to pinky. rhythm wise and/or lead. its fun and they tend to sound horrible or horrible good. experiment is the key!
Honestly the thing I'm looking at most is your left hand and how your divisions feel/sound, and I think it's more on that hand than it is your right. You get so much lift distance from the string that you kinda neuter your speed/rhythmic accuracy potential, if you'd get your fingers closer to the fretboard and minimize your lift you achieve two things;
A: Minimize finger travel time for speed sake, path of least resistance, economy of motion and all that.
B: Rhythmically speaking, every time you lift your fingers well in excess of the string height, you're compensating (without realizing likely) in small measures of time to make sure the rhythm you're trying to represent actually comes out as intended, throwing your finger faster/harder to make up, or a number of other things to try and balance this loose symmetry going on. Fingers closer to the fretboard tightens that compensation.
I dunno, just spitballing.
Ya well I just moved the pick from between my middle finger and thumb about 2 days ago after many years, its the 3rd or 4th time I've tried to change over a year and finally, I can pick with the pick between my index and thumb.
This eight minute video has helped me tremendously - I definitely notice a difference thank you Robert!
Cool video Robert! I, too, around 4 months ago, changed my picking hand to same as you presented in your video. I happened naturally while trying to improve my technique. I had a started a short daily routine that was concentrating on my right hand and at one point, I tried holding my pick just as in your video and I felt easier that way. After +30 years of playing, it has been a serious challenge to change my picking grip. I'm yet far from your speedy playing but I feel I have more control. Rock on!
Yes it’s a game changer. I am learning to do the same picking technique now with positive results. Thanks for the confirmation.
I been doing the same thing Rob.
Y used to touch the body of the guitar with my fingers as reference and it works great for downward pickslanting but not for upward.
It's so painfully difficult to relearn your technique but I finally got it to work yesterday and holy s*** I felt like Paul Gilbert for a second. Lol.
I alternate picked a full scale insanely fast. Thanks Troy Grady!
That zipper threatening the finish of that guitar is making my eye twitch. 😂😂😂
I love that Blue Tele in the background and have been cringing the entire video at how its sitting. But thanks for the video. I've been trying to keep my pick hand closed and I've been pretty tense but will keep at it to get that wrist motion down. Thanks again.
I can't believe you put this video out. This is exactly the bad habit I want to try and break this new year! I've been playing "fan fingered" for 18 years, sometimes even anchoring my little finger on the high E or the pickguard, using it to help with accuracy when skipping strings. But I also noticed the difficulties you pointed out. It was preventing me from getting faster/better/learning new techniques, or at least making them much harder. I figured breaking this bad habit would be a good goal towards becoming a better guitarist. But I wondered if it was worth it after 18 years. Now I know it is. Good to know I wasn't the only one and that it's possible to improve.
Thanks!
I pick with my thumb and middle finger with my index out ready to tap and I have never seen anybody else do it. No clue if its good or bad but it feels natural for most things.
thats actually how EVH does it :)
Thanks for the video Rob. I’ve actually been noticing the exact same problem with my technique and noticed the same things you pointed out. I’m going to put the work in and change to the closed hand method.
This is also an issue with me. Now I'm going to fix it! Thanks for the push I needed .
I have recently started to play like this after watching the Bernth videos. I also changed from a 3mm stubby plectrum to a jazz III as well. My lead is faster but I do catch my knuckles a lot when I am playing rhythm
Robert, I just wanted to let you know that I tried taking a very close look at my picking hand and I've been having similar results. I figured out that when I was using a "open" picking hand I'd actually have my hand at an angle and I was using more energy and moving my hand/arm muscles more vs closed picking hand. With closed picking hand my hand is more flat against the guitar and I'm actually moving my hand much less. So in my case, I'm using less energy and my picking is much more consistent.
The sad news is that I now need to practice my picking a lot but after doing a few excersizes it already feels better and more natural.
Thanks for sharing this man and I might make a video about it, would love to hear your feedback.
Going to try this myself. I'm sure all the greats took the approach of evaluating their techniques to a level that made them what they were.
I used to anchor my fingers on the body while holding the pick with just thumb and index. But then I heard that it's much faster to just use a closed fist grip. Plus, your fingers will naturally provide support to the index so the accuracy isn't lost while having much more balance and control.
I definitely appreciate this video. I have been changing my picking technique. It just so happens to be the new way you are picking.
There’s only one way and that’s what’s right for you!
Thanks for the tip. At 50 yrs old I'm picking up the guitar after 30ish years. I played some in high school but life happened and I stopped. I have found it is not like riding a bike so I feel like I am starting from brand new. I've tried to get in some lessons but can't seem to find anyone available in my area so I am relying on YT for help. One thing I am trying hard not to do is start out learning bad habits. So thank you very much for your videos!!
I used to pick with hand closed when I started playing at the age of 10, saw slash's picking technique and I thought it looked cool and badass, now it's a habit I've had for 10 years that's really annoying, my picking hand really does bounce! Thank you for the video, now I know what to do about it!
So now yoy play with the opended hand? Is there any improvement?
I've picked that way from the beginning, but I can see how it gives you better control.
I noticed a long time ago that my old jazz guitar teacher always picked with his fingers curled on his right hand, and I started doing it more consciously. Nowadays, I sometimes play with them fanned out, but for certain passages they’re curled up. Interesting to see others having this same experience!
That guitar is certainly my favourite that you own. It sounds great! Big and fat!
I found myself coming to the same conclusion a few years back. I can especially relate to what you say about feeling your hand bouncing. When you fan your fingers out. The length of the straightened out fingers act like a fulcrum, so when you're picking fast in one direction the inertia and leverage created by your outstretched fingers seem to affect your ability to quickly reverse and pick the other direction. Or at least that's how I perceive it. I still like to switch it up especially when playing on the lower strings, I will still straighten out the fingers on my picking hand to aid in muting the higher strings. I don't believe there are any hard-and-fast rules but this is something that definitely helped my picking as well.
i also used to picking with open hand last year..n then i see synyster change his picking hand..so im also chnge my picking style exactly like this...and its really work better just like this..its really accurate..
Hi ..Good to see.. i already thought u were one of the better newer players....I know what its like to change styles..having done it about 25 times..i still do it from time to time..your sounding real good..keep it up////Thanks..Dave
Sounds great as always, Robert! I did the same transition years ago. In my case it was because I started having tendinitis in my right arm and I actually went to physiotherapy for a year. However, switching technique fixed that problem much better. I also had problems with my left hand and worked a lot on reducing unnecessary movement especially in my left pinky. That might be a good advise for you as well from what I can see from the video (no trolling, just my friendly observation). All the best, love your videos!
What has always been a problem for me is that my picking is very different for playing blues rock classic stuff like Angus or Page etc than it is for three note per string alternate picking stuff. My three note per string legato is different again. I can not switch so easily between the styles. If I only play blues based stuff for a while my picking gets shoddy to the point that I can not do the shred stuff. I found a solo to practice that helps because it uses both styles. Gary Moore Shape of Things. Blues style licks mixed with fast muted alternate picking stuff. I guess practicing playing a blues lick and then a shred lick alternately might help, rather than just noodling for hours in one style or the other. I have always wanted to bring the three styles together in a way I can draw from them all on the fly.
I've tried doing this, but I like to anchor my pinky finger either on the High E or bottom of the bridge pickup. It feels weird for my right hand to be floating. I'll give it another shot though, can't make any promises that I'll be good at it :P
I'm the same way
@@mrk4510 I tried this technique again yesterday - it doesn't feel bad if I strum full chords but my single string picking accuracy isn't as good (tried Deep Purple's Speed King). I need a lot more practice for it to feel natural.
I can’t believe people put this much thought into this. I just picked up my guitar to see which way I hold it and I realized I switch between fingers out and closed every second or two. It all depends on how you want to attack the strings, but I don’t over analyze it, it happens intuitively.
the fanned out fingers always reminds me of george lynch.
i did that early on too.
probably because i thought it was the proper way.
but i noticed a few years ago i had started closing my hand little bit.
nothing i worked on; just naturally happened over time.
🤘🏽🎸🤘🏽
Doing this right now, played for 18 years with open hand picking. Wish me luck!
If ya' just went all Rick Graham, you wouldn't even NEED a picking hand. BAZINGA !!
This is because you are making the center of gravity with you hand is closer.
Think of spinning in a chair with you legs out, versus having your knees tucked into your chest while spinning.
Same thing with you fingers fanned out.
Have you ever tried to make your hand talk as if it had a mouth? That’s how I hold my pick with the closed grip. But when I strum my knuckles hit the strings. Alternate picking is tough for me and I’ve been fingerpicking for 2 1/2 years.
The reason why it's easier is because of angular momentum conservation and change. Notice when picking that your hands move in a small portion (or "arc") of a larger, imaginary circle (centered at your wrist). The "radius" of this "circle" extends from your wrist to the end of your picking hand, which ends up being longer if your fingers are extended out. Now angular momentum is equal to r*(mv), and so having a longer "radius" (ie having your fingers out) increases the angular momentum going at the same speed v (which is pretty much constant, the speed of shredding isn't how fast you actually pick, but how frequently you do that action of picking; also m is constant, since your hand doesn't change mass). While shredding, you have to quickly change direction of your picking, and this means you have to oppose the old angular momentum, and so if you have your fingers sticking out, increasing r and thus angular momentum, it will require more work for you to change direction, and when you are trying to do this while shredding fast passages, the necessity to change angular momentum so frequently can be too much for your arm. Hence switching to a "closed fist" shred pick style feeling much tighter, easier to control, and clean. Using the open finger method could theoretically be good if you wanted large angular momentum - ie hitting a chord or note "extra hard" with the same amount of work as if you used the closed hand form. But I doubt this is as useful as conserving energy while shredding. Edit: I imagine that various strange hand positions you find yourself with while shredding with the open hand position is your body trying to accomodate for the high work demanded of it, but that is just a guess. It could also do with actual different positioning of the hand resulting from closed vs open, which requires different hand positions, rather than a consequence of mechanical demands
I've started a similar change recently, mostly because I noticed that the volume tone on my Strat would get in the way if I kept my hand open. Also, noticed the same thing you say about hybrid picking. The posture change I have to do to change to hybrid picking is much bigger with my hand open.
Old habits die hard. My biggest issue was that my fret hand would be at an almost 45 degree angle from the frets. Now my fingers are almost parallel with the frets.
It was a hard change and sometimes I still do angle without thinking. But, it helped my playing immensely to get parallel with the frets... 👍✋👏
After 22 years of playing, I too have started to change my picking hand the same way you have, from "open fingers" to more fist like. Takes time to get used to, but in the old way I have too much tension on my picking hand and it feels umcomfortable when I play faster. I started playing that way all those years ago because Nuno Bettencourt plays like that.
yeah that started to change as i changed styles a bit so much of my core guitar playing has shifted over the past year
when you close the fingers, the muting improves over keeping them open or resting on the body, cause when theyre resting on it, you creating a bridge and it raises the hand
Nice video, thanks. I use to do open hand picking them I did closed for years, but it made sweeping harder for me (not that great at sweeping to begin with lol) I ended up going back to open handed. Also I change my pick holding/positioning a lot to trying to find what works lol. Been playing for 18 years. Always trying to find something new to improve.
The nearer the tip of my thumb the pick is the more open my hand, the further into my thumb the more of a fist is required. I think Vai is correct, it really depends on the tone we're going for.
Yeah when I first started I was doing the same thing, but somehow through just playing I noticed my hand would naturally play closed on certain things a few months ago so I was like ok whatever its natural I'll just roll with it. I feel its definitely providing more accuracy and great for speed as well.
After 20 years I'm finding it beyond brutal to change to this
First thing my teacher told me after I was was picking my first notes during my first session with him! 😂 Also had to relearn my picking from scratch after a couple of years, but it's absolutely worth it imho! So much better!
I'm trying to solve - exactly- the same problem right now, after 15 years. I realised I must change because the old posture clearly hindered my sweep and economy picking, and forced me to bend my thumb and and keep it stiff. I think the 'correct' way beneficts in terms of resonance of the strings too, cause there's no (unwanted) plucking-thumb effect.
Awesome video!!! I find that my hand bounces a lot less across the strings when I close my hand versus resting my pinky, ring and middle fingers on the body of the guitar. I'm also using my wrist properly... finally!!!
Hi Robert- Thanks for this awesome video. I was thinking about changing my hand position and this is exactly what I needed! \m/
i learned this only for 3 months i switched from anchoring actualy and now i could say my picking is way way really better
Yeah, Troy Grady along with Andy Wood whom Uncle Ben plays with at a Suhr factory party real brought this to my attention. I used to ancor my pinky thinking it was helping, but now realize it was hurting me with speed and fluid movement.
Same here.
I think it's fair to say Andy's technique is basically perfect and it should be the standard picking technique taught everywhere.
Troy's videos literally changed my life.
@@MrMetalhorse Another good video is Martin Miller giving a lesson to his student on building speed with a metronome where he shows the student that he already has speed of 180 bpm by using Martin's techniques where you use different parts of the brain for speed and how it is scientifically different and that starting slow to build speed is an absolute myth. I just picked real fast not really letting the pick leave the string and It opens my eyes. It was not about perfect notes,but only right hand speed. For years I would alternate pick slow runs and speed never came from it, but after trying Martin's it did open up possibility with repeated use of the technique just like the closed fist technique did.
@@dianadidiego2150 yeah I've seen the video.
He calls the concept "chunking".
But yeah, slow practice never helped me either. It's better to play fast and sloppy and later get it clean than practicing a scale super slowly for hours.
@@CommodoreGrayum Yeah, he does. I guess there isn't a right or wrong way. Can't deny John P. at all. I haven't compared Andy to John, because that probably wouldn't be fair of me to do since they are at a level I would love to be at. Might not be techniques, but I think Andy is more melodic with included speed where John has his style and technical knowhow of keep one with those progressive time signatures of Dreams Theatre. Andy can't compete with Dream Theatre, nor should he though. Sorry for the long reply.
@gamesandguitars003 So we all just think we are feeling a difference from different techniques, but really it's just wanting to believe there is a difference? Do you play through sold state amps only ? :)
Well for some raw playing (think Pete Townshend) those fingers-out-style gives the extra energy to your pick because they work like a flywheel. I think you need to be able to use both ways when they are needed.
After 10 years of playing way back lol, It took me two years to start using my pinky finger because I was only using three fingers forever at that point, but I wanted to make my playing more efficient and open up more avenues of possibilities and it worked, but very hard to change for me at the time.
I've been having this problem as well. Been playing for 18 years now, and only realized this a few months ago.
This is how I was feeling,.... I'll definitely use the close one now N onwards....
Hey Robert Baker, can you please do a video about the stop tailpiece on a Gibson style bridge and how it is adjusted?
Picking an unorthodox way can also be the element in your sound and style of playing(not always bad). That being said I forced to change the way I hold my pick, it sucked at first but I feel like I progressed more as a player now that I’m used to it. Used to hold a pick with 3 fingers now I’m at the standard 2. Everything about guitar is in the details. Picking is always overlooked. Good video.
Physics ... because the radius of the moving mass is smaller the force required is less so more control ... i think
Great idea, I actually have been playing the same way for EVER. Lately I have trying to change to closed hand picking , man it is not easy. By the way your neck pickup tone is sick!
I'm doing the same but reverse... lol I've been picking with my hand closed for some 25 plus years and now feel like i pick my fluently with my hand open , I seem to pick more accurately with more control ...just me though . Great videos !
yeah after watching the video I noticed I brace my hand to the guitar while playing been trying to adjust that after watching that is gonna take some time but I already notice a difference!
For years I've been trying to hold my picking hand like Petrucci does. It never worked for me, too stiff to rigid. Then I went back to what I really liked, that percussive, funky style of Nuno. It gives me that explosive first few notes that you need to execute longer licks with speed. It was what I was missing from Petruccis style. I still have to work on some details, but it's getting pretty fast, extremely quickly. Just listen to yourself and experiment with minor {or major} details till you find, what you can work with. Also try everything at speed (doesn't matter if its sloppy). It can well be, that the technique you are using is not suitable for speeds past certain bpm.
same problem here!! but with the open hand i’ll keep my pinky rooted on the pick guard so when i play with my hand closed i don’t know where to keep my hand rooted! feels like i’m floating in space
I ran into this problem a couple of years ago. Now whenever I play single note/slash lead stuff I play with my hand closed and I find that the pick is more parallel with the strings. However for Rhythm work I prefer the open hand technique as I feel like it sounds more percussive. What is causing this effect is the pick scratching against the strings more when in hits them at an angle which causes a slightly more messy effect that isn’t the best for playing multiple notes at higher speeds.
Michael Angelo is the king of speed and plays open hand. Its whatever works best for the individual
When you watch all the fast guitarists on this planet they all close their fists when they tremolo pick. I don't close my fist but I'm experiencing the same issues he explained this video. I might change it as well. Who knows.
@@chrisking6695 yea for a lot of people. I guess my point is different strokes.. unfortunately i cant close my hand all the way without scraping my pinky because my hands are humoungous my advice.. close it if you can. I have tried it and it does help somehow mechanics wise for a lot of people and even made me more consistent
Yeah i'm still learning to differentiate from my kinda funk-strumming hand, which is very loose and open, to my picking hand (which still lacks a lot, seriously i need to kind of exercises) which needs to be more closed
Ergonomics are key. Repetitive stress injuries are a serious concern over the long term.
Check out the old RUclips videos by Old7stringguy.
Dude - you are a BEAST guitar player man!! You could play with your feet & shred cheese brother! LMAO!! I've changed things up with the way I hold my pick & rotating from the wrist & it has been a major pain in the arse unlearning years & years. But if Neil Peart changed up his drumming style because he said it was too mechanical & wanted to be more fluid & completely relearned his playing style, I guess we're always gonna be trying to perfect our playing. Now if I can just find my pick.........Loved the video!! Keep doing the good stuff!!!!!! 🤘😁🤘✋
I play closed hand on electric, open with acoustic.