more picking

Hey, question about hand position. i use economy picking and am wondering if what im doing is goin to work, at the moment its a bit all over the place and i dont wanna waste time doin bad practice. when i sweep down the pick is angled towards the floor, and when i sweep up its angled slightly towards the ceiling, and when picking on one string its straight out and i use a wrist motion. Im just wonderin if these angles are correct because when i see others pick they seem to be angled slightly towards the floor all the time. any help greatly appreciated :)

I sweep just like you, though i kinda suck, but it seems like the only way that works

I forget where I heard this (prolly another forum) but do what is comfortable for you -- there is no clear cut "right way" to do it, if everyone adhered to the same rules we would never get the break out players like EVH, SRV, Jimi, et al.

D>

Originally Posted by: sithgt6I forget where I heard this (prolly another forum) but do what is comfortable for you -- there is no clear cut "right way" to do it, if everyone adhered to the same rules we would never get the break out players like EVH, SRV, Jimi, et al.

D>

I get that but unfortunately im not a natural picker so nothin like that is comfortable untill i put the work in, i just wanna get the mechanics of it right so i dont waste time practicing something that wont work later on. know what i mean?

What you said earlier is right. When sweeping, it the right way to angle your pick in the direction. It kind of defines it differently than strumming.

I'm an economy picker, and I found it easy for me. With these techniques you just have to do trial and error. Angling the pick works just fine. I sometimes try to keep the pick straight, and this helps me a bit. But otherwise, if economy picking is not working for you (I'm talking about the whole technuqie of economy picking, not sweep picking, althoug sweeping is part of it) don't do it. Just wdo what feels more natural to you. John Petrucci alternate picks, frank Gambale economy picks and joe satriani plays legato. Is one technique better than the other? No, they just did what felt best to them.

Hey, thanks for the replys guys.
another thing i was wonder though, when playin a 3 note per string scale pattern, some one told me i should always move the pick directly onto each new string, but does that rule apply when about to change direction. this is extremely hard to describe! im sorry!
i mean lets say youve sweeped through two strings, g and b lets say, and on the b string you play 3 notes, im just wondering when you sweep through the g and b, should the pick rest on the e string? before playing the other two notes on the b.
I apologise for this post! but its just one of those pickin mechanic questions

the answer to your question is no. first off let's try something blatantly obvious and simple. Just pick one string, say the high e string. What's the fastest way to do it? Obviousy it's by keeping the pick as close as you can to the string. That's why the word "economy" is in economy picking, keeping the pick close to the strings is the most economcal way to pick the strings. So when you pick from the g string to the b string, the pick should be kept close to the string. Don't rest the pick on the e string. Coninue the picking motion to the next notes on the b string. hope I'm making sense here. Not resting the pick on the e string is the fastest most economical way to pick. i hope i didn't confuse you.

Hey, thanks!! that makes perfect sense. ill work on that and see what happens. thanks again :)