Some Guitar Picking Techniques

Guitar Pick

Guitar picking techniques falls under a big umbrella of topics; basic strumming on the guitar or strumming and finger picking styles. Then there is advanced, funky strumming and alternate picking a short riff, and the list goes on and on.

A place to start for beginners and moving towards advanced guitar players is to practice technique with your metronome or drum machine. I am sure you have heard this statement a million times. I have a different approach using the metronome or drum machine. It is my own self discovery. You must play in time with the metronome or rhythm machine during your practice sessions. When mastering a tempo while playing along with your metronome after you achieve playing accurate at that tempo, normally we adjusting the metronome up to the next speed. I advise to go down to the next slower speed. Amazing results can come from this technique. You are reinforcing your accuracy even more in a relaxed manner. If you're interested to learn more about this contact me please.

If you are talking about picking like Speedy Gonzales, not many players can just sit down and play smoking fast lead lines that tear up the fret board. It is not about how good you are. Every guitarist needs to warm up. You don't want to develop stress in the picking hand. Warming up at the beginning of all your practice sessions and live performances is a good habit. It takes method and goal setting to be a fast picker with good technique.

Alternate Picking

The rule of thumb when developing your picking technique is to first establish good alternate picking habits at a non-stressful tempo when starting out.

It is great to develop alternate picking at a consistent volume and tone. Pick down-up-down-up and so on. Picking in this way provides the building blocks for more complex picking techniques you will use in the future. Sweep picking, finger picking, speed picking, and a lot of amazing Blue Grass picking concepts are awesome. There are so many unique ways of picking.

Finger Picking, Alternate Picking, Sweep Picking and Speed Picking you can master with time. I can help you study all the techniques that will develop you to become a great picker. Some of the great Blue Grass pickers of today are extremely advanced in their picking methods. You should research all you can about them.

Alternate picking is when you pick down and then you pick up, and not stop that alternating down/up picking stroke. Listen very closely to the sound of your down pick stroke and your up pick stroke. You want to get your alternate picking to sound equal in tonal quality and volume when you are picking up or down. In the beginning it will be too loud of an upstroke and too soft on the down stroke or visa versa. The tone can also change on your up or down stroke. Tonal quality is the big part of your goal. Work enjoyably with making sure your up stroke and down stroke have the same tone and volume.

In the beginner's class of guitar study the notes will wander in time back and forth. The student will not keep perfect tempo. However, with practice this shortcoming will soon be corrected. Enjoy the time you spend on your alternate picking and get to know the different tones you will find behind in front or behind the guitar's sound hole. Keep in mind the way you hold the pick is also a very big contributing factor to finding a consistent tone. A lot of my Aurora guitar students seem to float out the door after a lesson with me teaching my methods on picking. I have so much to share and I enjoy doing it.

When you go to play a fast run or scale you want the outcome to have a smooth tone and consistent volume that has the pristine sound and attitude of a pro. When you feel comfortable that you can alternately pick every note clearly and perfectly at a consistent tempo, and volume with both up and down strokes it is time to move on.

Eric Johnson Guitar Pick Technique