speed picking with strings 8,7,6 on E9

George Biner · From: Los Angeles, CA

I've been playing E9 for about 2.5 years and there's something I'm still not clear about.

I see these guys out there doing the really fast picking -- as far as I know, if you're playing strings 8,7,6 (say you're in E and playing these upward as the first 3 notes of Emaj scale), the only way to play these is 8-thumb 7-thumb 6-finger to hope of getting any pick blocking going. So therefore, you are limited by how fast you can get your thumb to the next string, which is slow -- not nearly as fast as alternating finger-thumb like you would in the "chromatic" strings. I see this as a drawback to this neighborhood of the tuning.

1. do speed pickers avoid this area?
2. how would y'all pick it? how am I deluded?

many many thanks
_________________
Guacamole Mafia - acoustic harmony duo
Electrical engineer / amp tech in West Los Angeles -- I fix Peaveys
"Now there is a snappy sounding instrument. That f****r really sings." - Jerry Garcia

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

I can't speak about pick blocking because I don't do it. But I can say that a lot of the speed found in those lower strings comes from that fact that you only have to move the bar one or two frets to link together usable notes, plus the B floor pedal has a short throw and expands the possibilities even further.
_________________
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I'd guess (I'm no genius at this stuff) the most popular methods for fast-picking 8-7-6 would probably be as below. As to how you'd mute each, that would probably depend on the player. Keep in mind that pick blocking sometimes works best, and other right hand methods sometimes actually work faster/better in some situations. Learn both, use both!

T-T-2 (pro-style?)
T-2-T (cross picking)
T-1-2 (simple forward roll)
T-1-T (least popular cross pick?)

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Iâ€™m fairly new to pedal steel, but not to fingerpicking, which is not all that different on guitar. Donnyâ€™s forward roll example is what you would do for pick-blocking. And keep in mind that a roll can start with any finger ( T12, 12T, 2T1).

The â€œpro styleâ€ TT2(or 1) is the hardest to play in time, and technique-wise too, IMO. Instead of two individual thumb strokes, where you pick-lift-place-pick, it is all done with one motion pushing through the first string with the thumb and landing on the next string without lifting and placing, then picking that string in perfect time. Rock guitarists would call this a â€œsweepâ€ pick, for playing extended arpeggios. But on steel, with palm muting, it can produce a very distinctive chicken-picking sound.

The other right hand sequences, which are straight alternating T2 or T1, are well suited for palm-blocking, although Paul Franklin will use one or more of the other RH fingertips to block when alternate picking single note lines. And donâ€™t forget about bar-hand blocking too. Since these licks you are talking about involve only playing one string at a time, you can also tilt the bar so the nose of it is only touching one or two strings in your 8-7-6 pattern, and block the rest with left hand fingers behind the bar.

Now this is the part where Mr. Franklin usually shows up and gives us all the real deal, so Iâ€™m putting my seat belt on. ðŸ¤

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

Jeff Newman used to show a fast arpegio style lick where you play triple-ettes on strings 8-7-6, and you move from Open position, to A+F position, to AB position, then on up to the next ocatve. You can finish the lick in the AB position and continue up to strings 6,5,4 to add an AB pedal twang.
I play it using Thumb, Index, Middle, - Thumb, Index, Middle, etc...
In the key of G it would be:
Fret-3 Open - Strings 8,7,6
Fret-6 A+F - Strings 8,7,6
Fret-10 AB - Strings 8,7,6
Fret-15 Open - Strings 8,7,6
Fret-18 A+F - Strings 8,7,6
Fret-22 AB - Strings 8,7,6

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Pete, even though the picking sequence on that lick is ideally suited for pick blocking, Iâ€™m pretty sure Jeff Newman would have insisted on palm blocking. Which way do you do it?

I see the term â€œspeed pickingâ€ used a lot on the forum, but never clearly defined. I just assume it means something like 16th notes played cleanly at a tempo of 100bpm or faster.

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

It's a matter of feel..
If you want to give it a Buddy Cage feel, then Hard Palm Blocking with a very bouncy chickin-pickin right hand.
If you want it fast and smooth like more modern speed-pickin, then just fly through it with the pick blocking method.
I kick off the Intro and Solo to the song, "You Ain't Goin' No Where" with a very close version of that lick that goes from fret-3-Open, to fret-6AF, to fret-10AB, then into the Theme Lick of the song.

I know another fast 8,7,6 lick that I play Thumb-Index-Middle, that basically allows you to play "Doe, a Deer...", on 8,7,6, up and down the neck, but you need to have the string-6 G#-to-G lower for the 2minor to make it work right. It allows you to fly up and down the neck while you play out of the Major Scale, and you can extrapolate from any Scale Degree from there.

G = String-6 G#-to-G Lower (if you don't have it just move the bar back one fret for that note).

George Biner · From: Los Angeles, CA

Appreciate the responses, I need to study and try them out!
_________________
Guacamole Mafia - acoustic harmony duo
Electrical engineer / amp tech in West Los Angeles -- I fix Peaveys
"Now there is a snappy sounding instrument. That f****r really sings." - Jerry Garcia

Dick Sexton · From: Greenville, Ohio

In "G".. Play the first part then the second part. Can be played pretty quick.

B means B pedal
L means lower string 1/2 tone
/ means activate pedal
1-----------------------------------------------------
2-----------------------------------------------------
3-----------------------------------------------------
4-----------------------------------------------------
5------------------------------------10--------------
6-----3-----5B-----8------10/10B------------------
7---3-----5------8------10--------------------------
8-3-----5------8L----10-----------------------------
9-----------------------------------------------------
10----------------------------------------------------
--T-1-2-T-1-2--T-1-2--T--1--2------T---------------

~ means release pedal
\ means slide down
1----------------------------------------------------
2----------------------------------------------------
3----------------------------------------------------
4----------------------------------------------------
5----------------------------------------------------
6--10B~10----10\8---8\6---6---------------------
7-----------10-------8-----6---6\5---5\3---3------
8------------------------------------5------3--------
9----------------------------------------------------
10---------------------------------------------------
-----2-------T--2-----T-2----T-2-T---T-2---T-2-----

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