Hello all,
I've been trying to really work on my right hand for a couple of months now with a metronome. Im a lefty playing right handed, so my right hand is the one giving me grief. I recently switched to the floating wrist technique because I felt that anchoring with my pinky / ring was causing lots of tension in my wrist.
I've got the floating picking hand down and the motion is strickly coming from my wrist now, as if I was waving to someone. This took a couple of weeks to switch and I could barely pick at all in the process. I can now pick cleanly with this technique and with no tension as my hand is curled in a really loose fist shape.
The problem is I can't get any real speed, I have a bunch of good alternate picking exercises that I do (Like the Paul Gilbert string crossing ones), but I'm unsure of how to rebuild my picking technique. Does starting with 16ths at 60bpm and being really patient and increasing the metronome by 2 bmp a day pay off? Or should I push myself to my max bmp and work from there? I know that speed takes a very long time to develop, I just want to make sure I'm on the right track.
Thanks,
Dustin
I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.
- Jimi Hendrix
It's a good strategy to be working with. Starting at full speed is doomed to failure, so stick to the exercises and build up the speed slowly. Even Paul Gilbert didn't start at 200 bpm.
What I would suggest is that you don't increase the speed until you nail the slower speeds. Also, when you get to 80 bpm and think you've got it nailed, start again at 70 bpm and build up to 90 before starting again at 80 bpm and so on.
Best,
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
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