Son of "How to increase picking speed?"
[WARNING: Marathon first post. And you thought Avatar was long and drawn out.... ]
I know, I know, this question's been done to death. But after lurking here for a year or so, I'm still not satisfied with the answers I've seen.
The standard response is elaborations on three themes: "Speed isn't everything," "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast," and "It takes many hours of woodshedding."
Yep, yep, and yep. I agree. I teach music for a living (fiddle, banjo, guitar, and some mandolin). And I know that logging off here and sitting down with my mando right now would be a better use of my time. Still, I'm hoping some of you kind folks can suggest some specific tools and methods for increasing picking speed (and with that, improving tremolo).
Just so's we don't reinvent the wheel:
(1) I'm putting in a couple of hours a day playing mandolin, 6-7 days a week.
(2) I've been flatpicking guitar for over 30 years, with a break in the middle after damaging my right ulnar nerve. Tests show full recovery--I have better than average nerve conduction, and normal use of my hand and fingers. I've played mandolin for about 4 years now (and for another 4 years about 25 years ago).
(3) I can pick up to about 112 bpm (four eighth notes per metronome click) and be relaxed and comfortable, but I'm used to playing fiddle in groups that commonly run reels at anywhere from 108 to 136 bpm. I want to go that fast--comfortably--on mando, too.
(4) Left hand isn't a problem--it can keep up with anything on fiddle, and so far, whatever my right hand is capable of.
(5) I play down on the beats, up on the "ands," and can pick with good fluency, rock solid timing, rhythm, and feel--at speeds 112 bpm and below.
(6) Yes, I use a metronome to check my pace and measure progress. I was stuck in the upper 90s for a while, then in the 104 to 108 bpm range. So I can see progress--it's just agonizingly slow. I'm 51. I'd like to ease up to, say, 126 bpm before I reach the Geritol/Depends stage.
(7) I use a Bluechip pick, play on GHS strings (11, 16, 26, 40), on a Weber Yellowstone professionally set up--low, clean action.
I really like the Dan Crary quote someone here has as part of their signature about learning to play well isn't a technique but a decision to make a commitment and do the work. And I've been doing that. Here's my approach so far.
I developed some picking warm ups to help loosen and relax my wrist. I do some standard cross picking on open strings, then onto some speed-smoothness-and-accuracy specific things, like:
Start on the G string and pick across the range of motion
GGGGGGGG|GDDDGDDD|GAAAGAAA|GEEEGEEE| and back down again
Flip that and pick
EEEEEEEE|EAAAEAAA|EDDDEDDD|EGGGEGGG| and back up again
Work on basic DUDU picking on single strings, and on basic adjacent-string crossings (e.g., DADADADA, where you're picking on the "outside" of each course of strings, and ADADADAD, where you're picking "inside" each course of strings).
Strum double, triple, and quad stops.
Focus my mind's eye and ear on Mike Compton's image of "rubbing" the strings, rather than just slapping at them.
Set aside time every day to just work on tremolo, right hand only, and also in some tunes (Midnight on the Water, Ookpik Waltz, Faded Love, etc.).
Play lots of tunes, just relaxing into them and playing as smoothly and cleanly as possible. (They sound fine, just too slow. ) Spend some time with the metronome and bump the speed up 2 or 4 bpm to push my comfort zone.
I've also quit anchoring my pinkie (a carry over from decades of playing 5-string banjo), and I've recently moved the pick a millimeter or two closer to under the knuckle of my right thumb, rather than out under the pad of the thumb. This seems to help. My right-hand fingers are relaxed, sometimes open and loose, sometimes curled and loose. I was pleasantly surprised to see Mike Marshall's right hand typically flux between these same two hand shapes.
If you're still reading, yes, "Picking above 140 bpm isn't a technique, it's a lifestyle" is true and pithy and brilliant. I love that quip. So what specifically makes up that lifestyle?
Thanks!
Oops! Did I say that out loud?
Once upon a time: fiddle, mandolin, OM, banjo, guitar, flute, whistle, beer
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