Picking Practise

[Ianf180]

Hi,

Playing now just over 18 months, really struggling to get to grips with picking, ( striking other strings ), any advice, practise routines ?, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Gosh, I'm terrible at giving advice on this. I just don't know what practice routines are a help vs. a hinderance. Regardless, I will say your best ally is slowing everything down to the point of almost total boredom...for instance, if you are given a practice routine, probably do it 20 BPM slower than you're told to. I swear, practicing things super slow with a metronome is awesome. It's much easier for assessing your dynamics, your imperfections, and your tone. And for establishing good time, of course. I wish I had better ideas for exercises, but I was never given any and I never practiced anyway tbh, so I'm a terrible example.

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Hi,

Playing now just over 18 months, really struggling to get to grips with picking, ( striking other strings ), any advice, practise routines ?, any help would be greatly appreciated.

One other note: one particular aspect of picking that I'd venture to say I've gotten good at is attaining a very even tone and dynamic between my upstroke and downstroke; getting to that point to which they are essentially indiscernible. It's a key area, and I find that too few players focus on it. Nothing but time and trial and error can smooth this out. But once you do, it adds a new layer of capability and sophistication to your picking.

J