Best way to improve picking speed

Cliff Kane · Post by **Cliff Kane** » 25 Apr 2007 7:50 am

Can you recommend any particular courses or strategies for increasing picking speed or learning how to speed pick?

Thanks!
Cliff

Steve Stallings · Post by **Steve Stallings** » 25 Apr 2007 8:44 am

There are multiple courses on the market. I've seen a few of them and they seem to concentrate on repeated patterns from scales. Aside from that, the best way I've found to improve speed is practice with a metronome. As all of pedal steel playing, the key to improvement is not the newest course. The key is seat time. Yes, the amount of time your rear spends sitting on your pak-a-seat and practicing is the key.

Doodling is not practice. Set goals and measure your progress. Establish a practice routine. Yes, it's a lot of fun to just put the cd player on some great shuffle backing tracks, but that's not as productive as an organized approach to learning.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 25 Apr 2007 9:24 am

Cliff,

Here's some tab, sound files and ideas that may help you out:

Pick blocking speed primer!

Greg

Scott Swartz · Post by **Scott Swartz** » 25 Apr 2007 9:38 am

Yup Greg and Steve are dead on - seat time and a metronome.

I personally pick block mostly, but you can play very fast with other blocking techniques also.

Joe Wright's right hand courses will give you an excellent technical foundation.

Steve Stallings · Post by **Steve Stallings** » 25 Apr 2007 9:44 am

As all of pedal steel playing, the key to improvement is not the newest course.

And of course, you might note that I just purchased the Ralph Mooney/Bakersfield style DVD.

BTW.. Greg's stuff is quite good. Read through his instructions and then practice using a metronome. Start out slow until you can play the lick perfect at that speed. Then increase speed by several BPM. Repeat until you achieve your goal.

Colby Tipton · Post by **Colby Tipton** » 25 Apr 2007 1:29 pm

It happens with time and pratice. The faster you think you can play the faster you will get. Until you out run your mind and then you will get fast.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 25 Apr 2007 1:56 pm

start slow, alternate pick with thumb and first or second finger, practice routines up and across the fretboard very slowly..

Speed Pickin' starts with controlled right hand motor skill and it is NOT licks. It is a very good understanding of pocket/position playing up and down and across the fretboard.

IF you can't play clean slowly there will not be much hope of playing fast and clean...

Good luck

tp

ps: I have a program on my website which many have found useful..I know this becasue they told me !

www.tprior.com

Steve Alcott · Post by **Steve Alcott** » 25 Apr 2007 3:27 pm

Joe Wright's "Technique Bundle" is a great tool for training your right hand; his concept is to practise all variations of picking so your hand is prepared to play whatever comes up.

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 25 Apr 2007 6:38 pm

Tony said exactly what came to my mind. Practice slow at first, concentrating on getting clean sounds and even tempo. Speed will come.

Jim Bob Sedgwick · Post by **Jim Bob Sedgwick** » 25 Apr 2007 9:29 pm

What Bob said...in about 25 years!

A. J. Schobert · Post by **A. J. Schobert** » 25 Apr 2007 9:59 pm

Hey cliff get Tony Prior's Speed picking for hacks! You can't go wrong. I think all it was is $15 bucks, and you really get alot out of it. It is a very modern approach which is what we need. Also I have Jeff Newmans no speed limit it is very good as well. Keep an eye on your blocking! There are those notes that you can't avoid "bleeding" together, but the better you get at blocking the better speed picker you will be.

Bengt Erlandsen · Post by **Bengt Erlandsen** » 26 Apr 2007 1:57 am

Relaxing is essential. If you tense up the muscles in order to try to play fast it will just be harder to get up to speed and it will do more bad than good to your picking hand.
Bengt Erik

Jani Peter Sandvik · Post by **Jani Peter Sandvik** » 26 Apr 2007 2:17 am

also it takes time when the balance of the picking comes. so practise and pratice does the master and im not even close to that no way.

i had the same problem with my feet in drumming when i play double bass. get to a teqnicue and start slow and keep in balance, and a mater of time youll notice the improvement of speed and balance.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 26 Apr 2007 3:46 am

I really like what Bengt says, if you know where you are heading and are comfortable with the pace, it is and should be a very smooth flow...kinda like running down a path in the woods that you are very familar with..you know whats coming up and you just do it....no hesitiation or thought...

I asked Paul Franklin about his thought process once and he said.."well if I have to think about it it's too late" !

Carroll Hale · Post by **Carroll Hale** » 26 Apr 2007 4:30 am

the old saying " practice makes perfect"....
not necessarily true.........
"perfect practice makes perfect"....true..true...

as someone said earlier....doodling...messing around...not ways to really get better......

Bengt Erlandsen · Post by **Bengt Erlandsen** » 26 Apr 2007 4:32 am

Jani mentioned the other thing I forgot to put in my post. Balance is very important and something often overlooked when playing a musical instrument. I played many years before realizing how balance had an effect on my playing. All the pieces came together when I trained martial arts and got a grip on how balance effects your performance.
Without balance you are not free to do whatever move in whatever direction. Music will flow more easily from your fingertips the more in balance/relaxed you are when you perform on stage or practise at home.
I noticed a big improvement once I started to pay attention to being "in balance"

Bengt Erik

Cliff Kane · Post by **Cliff Kane** » 26 Apr 2007 11:14 am

Wow--thanks everyone for these awesome, constructive ideas. Yesterday I started work with a metronome and Greg's tabs, and I can see what you guys are saying about using the metronome to build speed. Thanks, Greg! I've never really used a metronome before, but it seems to be helping already. Thanks again, this is a lot of good info.

Cliff

Bob Doran · Post by **Bob Doran** » 27 Apr 2007 8:03 am

The easiest way to increase speed is to learn to barely stroke the strings with the lightest touch imaginable. Especially many people hit the strings with the thumb too hard.
Instant speed guaranteed.
Bob

Jerry Hayes R.I.P. · Post by **Jerry Hayes R.I.P.** » 28 Apr 2007 9:15 am

I'm no great speed picker for sure but my abilities at playing much faster was enhanced by wearing my picks a different way. I noticed that Doug Jernigan wore his thumb pick almost up to the knuckle on his thumb and his fingerpicks all the way on. I believe Paul Franklin does the same thing. I tried it and some things I'd been trying to accomplish started to open up. I used to stumble around and play mostly glisses and such when given a break on an uptempo tune but now I have a much easier time at it and have been learning some bluegrass instrumentals. This is by no means true for everyone as I've seen other players such as Herbie Wallace who wear their picks far out on the fingers and we all know how fast Herbie can play. I just find it's much cleaner for me and pick blocking's much easier this way.....JH in Va.

Reece Anderson · Post by **Reece Anderson** » 28 Apr 2007 9:48 am

"Practice does not make perfect....perfect practice makes perfect".

The correct mental approach of "how" to practice while connected to an organization plan, are the keys to success.

To play faster one needs to think farther ahead of what they are actually playing, so as to provide time for the mind to issue the command to the hands feet and knees. This in itself can produce amazing results quickly.

Howard Tate · Post by **Howard Tate** » 29 Apr 2007 10:03 am

Roy Nichols said speed comes with knowledge. That explains why I'm so slow, I guess. As everyone said, the more familiar you are with a technique the faster and cleaner you can play it.

Ken Williams · Post by **Ken Williams** » 29 Apr 2007 7:33 pm

Reece, I can relate to what you are saying about thinking ahead. Sometimes on up tempo stuff I seem to paint myself in a corner, so to speak, when playing an ad lib solo or fills. I know this comes not from the lack of speed but lack of "on the fly" planning. I can do fine on moderately fast tempos, it's the really fast ones that eat my lunch. I can move my fingers fast enough to keep up but my old brain just can't cut it sometimes.
Can you suggest an exercise that would help? Should I maybe start with slower tempo, thinking ahead a lick or two, training my brain to think ahead? Then maybe over a period of weeks I could gradually increase the tempo.
When a person has been playing for many years(30), I think we tend to think that we have reached our limit as far as speed goes. Your post got me to thinking maybe I can squeeze out an other mph or two.

Ken

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