Any good videos or advice on how to pick?

[Jimmy Jazz]

I've been playing for 10+ years and I got into the bad habit of down picking. I'm just starting to pick up and down like you supposed to. Any fine details that could help me pick better?

 

[Simian Raticus]

You wanna develop the habit of alternate picking as opposed to always picking down, if I understand correctly?

Just do some basic dexterity exercises using alternate picking.

Real basic chromatic stuff. The kind of patterns you can do while watching tv, or play them along to music with guitar turned down.

That was my meat and potatoes as far as developing strength in my fretting hand, but it also habituated me to alternate picking.

 

[Crimson Glory]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xYcl6mKTwdnuMV76lb_vQ

Mr Grady has it all figured out.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xYcl6mKTwdnuMV76lb_vQ

Mr Grady has it all figured out.

Thank you bro!

 

[Crimson Glory]

One big thing, if you want to have good timing, use a metronome!

 

[Satanical Eve]

You wanna develop the habit of alternate picking as opposed to always picking down, if I understand correctly?

Just do some basic dexterity exercises using alternate picking.

Real basic chromatic stuff. The kind of patterns you can do while watching tv, or play them along to music with guitar turned down.

That was my meat and potatoes as far as developing strength in my fretting hand, but it also habituated me to alternate picking.

I started out only down picking and it was because James Hetfield of Metallica is notorious for being one of the best down pickers ever. I thought since James was great downpicking and some of the greatest metal songs featured him I wouldn't need to learn how to alternate pick. I learned the hard way when it became much harder to play more intricate material. I ended up learning how to alternate and it both made it easier to play most all music it made it so I could play faster.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

One big thing, if you want to have good timing, use a metronome!

thanks man, I can't believe that didnt occur to me in all my years of playing. I like to think i have good timing but it could allways be better.

 

[Crimson Glory]

thanks man, I can't believe that didnt occur to me in all my years of playing. I like to think i have good timing but it could allways be better.

It's important, you can get decent with it by practicing along to records, but when it comes to techniques that take genuine work and time, using one of those to make sure you're doing it properly is important, it also allows you to measure your progress and not get too ahead of yourself and develop bad muscle memory(this is something I've done aswell, impatience is a big thing to look out for).

 

[Satanical Eve]

I've also said if you truly want to be a versatile guitarist that you learn how to play different style of songs and not stick to one genre. When I first got into playing guitar it was all just learning how to play thrash metal because that is what I wanted to play. Once I branched out and started learning other styles I noticed my playing wasn't so one dimensional anymore. Just look at my favorite guitarists, Chuck Schuldiner, Frank Zappa and David Gilmour all are from different genres and have different playing styles. I guess what I'm getting at is that you should immerse yourself in all the different guitar playing styles because it'll help to improve your playing.