Pick aterantion - do you do it?

[PanteraFan]

I was just wonering, do any of you pick players constantly alternate your upstrokes with your downstrokes?

I personally only downstroke, then I'll do fast alternation when it is required. I feel that fretting should get a lot more attention than whether your hand is maintaining its correct alternation, especially when string skipping.

[CanadianBassGuy]

It all depends on the situation: for my bands stuff, it's mostly downstroking with some up, but if I'm playing some pretty fast stuff, I'll be doing lotsa alternating.

[JMX]

I adopted Frank Gambale's Speed Picking. It's much more efficient than rigid alternate picking because you do an uneven number of notes per string when ascending/descending e.g. in a c major scale and an even number when turning around.
So when you go e.g. from a to d string you can do the string skip with one pick motion.
Great for fast, even-sounding lines and especially for arpeggios. You can even do sweep arpeggios to annoy your guitarist

[ThePaste]

Hey JMX, how do you do that?

[JMX]

Let's say, you want to play a C major scale:


g:___________4 5
d:______3 5 7
a:_3 5 7
__d u d_d u d_d u = 6 strokes (speed picking)

__d u d u d u d u = 8 strokes (alternate picking)


save 25% !!!

d = downstroke

u = upstroke

[PanteraFan]

Yeah, I've heard of that, some people call it 'raking', where you continue with the direction that you're picking in when you skip strings. It's tricky to do when jumping from E to G though...

[ashton]

hi
i used to only pick UP but now i use both ways, but i organise them so i dont have to move around so much...if ya know what i mean. i also use my fingers sometimes but i cant get fast enough for most of the songs.
later
Lukas

[JMX]

Originally posted by PanteraFan
Yeah, I've heard of that, some people call it 'raking', where you continue with the direction that you're picking in when you skip strings. It's tricky to do when jumping from E to G though...

Hm, speed picking is just a more methodical approach than the occasional raking. And raking is a term normally used for playing more than one string in one finger motion when playing fingerstyle, and can only be done when descending from higher to lower strings.

[Lazy]

JMX, I also sweep pick on my bass cuz I originally learned it on guitar. It's funny how many guitarists seem me do that and say, "HEY! You can't do that on a bass!!!" And I'll reply with'"Whaddya mean? I just did it!!"

[AllodoX]

in my kind of music a full bass sounds is requred all the time, so i have the bass in front of my gut & balls / weewee, and i strike it with a pick up and down constantly ( not using the wrist, but the whole arm )

[godsmack]

i would say i go back and forth.

[Rockin John]

This is quite interesting. I've tended to avoid the pick, wanting to concentrate on plucking with the fingers. It's kinda silly I guess, but I've somehow associated plucking with being the more correct way to play the bass, with picking being the opposite.

There's no doubt about it, though, I can play faster with the pick than I can pluck: considerably faster, even though I don't regard speed as a prime concern.

Might be worth me trying the pick again. I really do prefer the sound of plucking, though, and have considered experimenting with something like a hard rubber pick to simulate the finger ends.

I wonder if anyone's tried different picking ideas.

John

[agyeman]

Originally posted by Rockin John


I wonder if anyone's tried different picking ideas.

John

I have tryed using a pick the wrong way round, and I got a wierd metallic like sound with it.

I have also heard of felt picks, but I can't find them anywhere.