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Author Topic:  Pick blocking / speed picking
Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 5 May 2016 2:36 pm    
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I just acquired Jim Loessberg's Right Hand Technique Building For E9. There are some palm-blocking exercises followed by some pick-blocking exercises, the clear implication being that you need to master both.

And yes, that is a nice cat. I bet it can block a mouse quick enough.
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Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 5 May 2016 3:02 pm    
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To heck with all the courses and technique stuff, I'm just going to get a cat and be done with it.
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Jeff Harbour


From:
Western Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 11 May 2016 3:43 am    
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Dale Rottacker wrote:
I believe I read someplace, sometime, where Paul said he couldn’t get the hang of palm blocking...


In Tommy's DVD, he pretty much said the same thing about Pick-Blocking not working for him.

Also, somewhere I read Paul say that he thought he WAS Palm-Blocking for several years... until a student he was teaching pointed out that his palm was never touching the strings.
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Russell Adkins

 

From:
Louisiana, USA
Post  Posted 12 May 2016 8:24 am    
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i talked to herby wallace once and he told me he hardly ever blocks a note , he played so fast anyway probly didnt make any difference.
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John Scanlon


From:
Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Post  Posted 17 May 2016 8:10 am     Re: Pick blocking / speed picking
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Dan Klotz wrote:
I want to work on pick blocking and also try to improve my speed picking chops for uptempo tunes. Is there a particular course that you would recommend?


Yes! Try these:

BEX1: A+B Repetitious Excercise, Major Key
BEX-1B BLOCKING Techniques 101/102
Pick Blocking Dexterity Excercise 1
BEX2 Pick Blocking Dexterity Excercise II
BEX6A-Pick Blocking Exercise B+C, F
BEX17: Pick-Blocking 101, Beginner Steel Guitar

and this one, too:

BEX7 Speedpicking Lesson 1 Revision 1
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b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 17 May 2016 11:28 am    
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I notice when pick-blocking: often the string above the one I'm picking will automatically be blocked by the fingernail of the picking finger. I never made a conscious effort to do this - it just happens. I don't know if others use this technique or not.
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Georg Sørtun


From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
Post  Posted 17 May 2016 11:48 am    
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b0b wrote:
I notice when pick-blocking: often the string above the one I'm picking will automatically be blocked by the fingernail of the picking finger. I never made a conscious effort to do this - it just happens. I don't know if others use this technique or not.

With my short and straight picks, I more or less automatically use the fingertip - not the nail - for blocking neighboring string. Only have to (kind of) think about it when I do not want to block the upper string with the fingertip, as I then have to change the picking angle slightly.
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James Flaherty

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 13 May 2017 6:47 pm     Pick Sizzle
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I've tried pick blocking in the past but there always seems to be some pick sizzle when the pick goes back down on the string. Is there some way to stop that?
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 14 May 2017 8:14 am    
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Pick blocking is an optical illusion. It doesn't exist and is a "skill" invented to torture players.

Well - at least me!

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John Sluszny

 

From:
Brussels, Belgium
Post  Posted 14 May 2017 10:02 am    
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Johan Forsman wrote:
My cat agrees to use whatever means necessary, he is a good blocker I would say. Never fast but gets notes blocked. Shocked


Nice cat indeed ! But what brand and model is the guitar he is sitting on ? Thanks !
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Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 14 May 2017 11:43 am    
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looks like a Mullen Discovery to me.

What brand and model is the cat?
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Dale Rivard

 

From:
Ontario, Canada
Post  Posted 14 May 2017 4:28 pm     Pick Sizzle
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James, What I find helps lessen pick sizzle for me is, as aggressively as I pick the strings, I put the picks back into the strings. That is, don't ease them back in. Also, play with the meat of the picks, deep into the strings, not with the tips. This helps with tone as well. This is with the bar on the strings. Sometimes it's difficult to eliminate pick sizzle dealing with open strings.
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James Flaherty

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 14 May 2017 4:51 pm    
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Thanks Dale. One more question pleas. When you are in a studio and recording how is the sizzle handled? Is it audible in the headphones and/or on playback? Thanks.
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Dale Rivard

 

From:
Ontario, Canada
Post  Posted 14 May 2017 5:06 pm    
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When recording and live, sometimes the sizzle can be lessened through EQ by slightly cutting the presence or highs. Generally, if you can hear the sizzle in the studio or live, it's there. While recording, if you can hear it in the headphones, you will hear it during playback.
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Tim Russell


From:
Pennsylvania, USA
Post  Posted 14 May 2017 5:20 pm    
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I concur with what Dale stated.

Since we are picking fast, we are playing forcefully anyway, and that is enough of a "dig" into the strings for me that I don't get any sizzle.
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