Picking every single note

After years of playing, I am picking every single note now. I am only half as fast, or maybe less, than I used to be. Like a lot of guys, I did a lot of hammer-ons and pull-offs for a long time. I have been picking every note for two or three weeks now, to a metronome. It is amazing how much more fun it is, how clear the attack is, and the tone sounds so much better when every note is picked. It is just like starting the guitar all over, but I am not going back to my cheating ways. This time I am going to stick with it. I can already tell an improvement in my picking speed and tone. I should have done this years ago. It just seems like it will take me a very long time to get up to my previous, hammer-on pull-off, speed, maybe months or years. Maybe Never?

Got to admit to being a noob guitar player but not to music. I am just guessing but the fact that a great many songs call for both techniques it's not so much cheating as changing the delivery of the note for a desired result. I would venture to say that working on clear note picking is not going to hurt you but to entirely replace hammer ons and pull offs would limit your tonal possibilities. Balance the techniques and find the balance that feels right to you. Now if I could play as well as all that sounded.

Here is a little video of my improvment over the past couple of weeks. I am picking most of the notes now, but not all of them yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmXrVTq5NZU

There is nothing wrong with hammer ons and pull offs. They just give it a different sound. There are times to use those and times to use alternate picking. Don't just limit yourself to picking every note.

I am thinking that I might stick firm to it for 1 year using a metronome every day. Then I can mix my chicken picking, straight picking, hammer-ons and pull-offs together. I will record some videos on how I pick now, and in about a year from now, I will check them out to see and hear the difference in technique and tone.

Here is a little video that I recorded today.

It is a mixture of straight picking and Hammer-ons and pull-offs. I really need to work on my alternate picking. My right hand just can't keep up with the left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_98MS9IpDZc

Cool. Nice to work towards a goal.

Originally Posted by: hunter1801There is nothing wrong with hammer ons and pull offs. They just give it a different sound. There are times to use those and times to use alternate picking. Don't just limit yourself to picking every note.

I have to agree with Hunter on this one. In your original post, you make hammer-ons and pull-offs sound like something really bad, but they're really a very useful technique for getting a smooth sound you can't get with picked notes. I can understand the desire to improve your picking technique, but there are better methods than neglecting your legato technique.

I firmly believe both techniques are useful, and honestly to me what's important is that you use whatever works best for what is being played. There are times where hammer-ons, pull-offs, and legato playing are more of what the song calls for. Simply alternate-picking those things for the sake of it I feel is unnecessary. Sure, we can all always stand to work on technique in every avenue and this is not to be ignored. But, work with what best suites the song and don't consider something cheating if it sounds the best. You honestly want to be proficient at all aspects of picking and your technique. That way, you can really recall about anything you need too to best suite the musical situation you are in.

Keep up the practicing, and don't feel like your cheating my friend. :eek:

Originally Posted by: TwangerdangerAfter years of playing, I am picking every single note now. I am only half as fast, or maybe less, than I used to be. Like a lot of guys, I did a lot of hammer-ons and pull-offs for a long time. I have been picking every note for two or three weeks now, to a metronome. It is amazing how much more fun it is, how clear the attack is, and the tone sounds so much better when every note is picked. It is just like starting the guitar all over, but I am not going back to my cheating ways. This time I am going to stick with it. I can already tell an improvement in my picking speed and tone. I should have done this years ago. It just seems like it will take me a very long time to get up to my previous, hammer-on pull-off, speed, maybe months or years. Maybe Never?

What kind of guitar are you playing, what kind of music are you in to?

I don't recommend ditching all your other techniques for a year. Just use them less and your picked notes more than usual. Somewhere in there you'll find a balance of what sounds best articulated however you see fit in the moment. That will be your style ultimately.