Tremlo Picking

RossFixxxed

Hi Guys,

Little help! I've been playing guitar on and off for 14 years. However, the last 'break' for me was about 4 years so i'm bloody pants all over again.

What I've found is that my picking hand is now slower than my fingers for fretting. Usually the hard bit was remembering the notes, the chords etc, but my brain still seems to have a handle on them.. I can't pick the songs fast enough.

I'm mostly having issue with the Metallica style, big open E string, trebles etc, then power chords (see master of puppets and how angry it makes me).

Anyone found any good exercises for speeding this up. Palm muting strings and playing fast is killing me and really is my major hurdle at the moment (see also my lack of rythm, timing etc lol).

I've googled around, and obviously I'll practice regularly! But if anyone knows a good place to start?!

Thanks!
R

Guitareaxe

Hi man, by the sounds of it you may be holding the pick and attacking the string all wrong.

Do you play with your fingers, arm or wrist as the main source of movement when trying to trem pick?

It should take very little effort to trem pick, if you find your arm is getting sore or tense then your doing it all wrong.

nyarlothothep

are you alternate picking? watch for how many down strokes you're playing

Dangerous Man

Right hand speed is all about technique (hell, what isn't, right?) If you want to increase your speed a good place to start is to examine how you hold the pick. There actually isn't a right and wrong way to do this but it's generally accepted that holding the pick between the thumb and forefinger alone allows the most control. The fatter end of the pick should rest under your thumb and on top of your index finger at the first joint. The tip of of the pick should face outwards and extend roughly a centimetre or so from the edge of your first joint. That's how you hold the pick. Also, you should try to use small picks such as the Dunlop Jazz II or stubbies - the smaler surface area of the pics grant a far higher level of control than standard plecs. As for picking technique, downward picking alone will not cut it obviously. Some differ on what is the best technique (circular v alernate) but I personally favour alternate picking.

The best way to build up picking speed is to run practice drills every day. A good drill is to practice simply picking an open string to begin with; this will loosen up your arm nicely and give you a feel for the technique. It is vital to begin slowly - speed will develop itself with practice. It's more important to focus on playing correctly, hitting the notes cleanly and in time - in this last regard a metronome is a fantastic asset. You should use one whenever possible. Another good drill is to practice alternate picking along the low e string - 1, 2, 3 , 4 (down, up, down, up.) When you feel you have a good grasp of the techique along one string you can switch from one string to the next 1, 2, 3, 4, on the low e moving straight to 1, 2, 3, 4 - on the a string. And, again, when you feel you have this techique down you can try jumping strings - e to d, for example. If you can move at about 150bpm you're doing seriously well. Best of luck with it!

Guitareaxe

Good advice there. I learned to trem pick by playing trash/speed metal when I was a teen way before I began actually studying theory. The 1234 drill is a really good one. Personally I use alt picking myself and switch into economy picking when shredding. I use normal size picks as opposed to stubbys but one tings for sure, the picks gotta be rock hard to trem pick propely. I use my pick at an angel when playing the drone notes in metal, as if Im using the thin side of the pick in a direct downward motion, and obviously the same coming back up. But for everything else trem I use the plectrum between my thumb and forfinger, If you make a fist and lay the plec on the side of your curled up index finger, then pgrab the other side with your thumb thats it, you can then extend the other fingers or whatever you want. Its the way I've seen Gary Moore hold it.

Its also good to practice different numbers of trem bursts ala slayer or metalica. like try triplets and keep upping the tempo, but also try 2's, 4's, 5's 6's and 8's for instance low E --0000---0000---0000 would be 4's. then throw in the occasional chord like a B, for instance --0000-0000-0000-B-0000-0000-0000.

Been a while since i've wrote in tab but I'm sure you get the idea. Its also very important to consider the axis of movement. Michaelangelo Batio (Spell?) insists that all movement must come from the wrist. This involves having and anchor or fulcrum somewhere to use as an axis. Some people use their palm on the bridge, some use their little fingers under the High E. Then you have the zack wildes of this world who seem to use no anchor. Either way it's something thats allot easier to show someone then to describe.