The blasted pick

[Andrea_FI]

Thanks! These are great advices. I’m trying to relax my hand more when I play with a pick. I probably unconsciously get tense. The pick still didn’t fall, but that probably means my hand is tense.

[Rob5589]

When I stopped gripping the pick so tightly things got much easier. The pick used to hang up on the strings now it “slides” over, if that makes sense.

[Wombat-metal]

You might try holding your pick at a 45 degree angle to the strings. It slides over much easier that way

[Andrea_FI]

Thanks! I appreciate all the advice! I’ll try a thinner pick, 45 degree angle and a more relaxed grip. And a lot of practice.

[Gloucestre]

@DirkTungsten

did the last cover I recorded (Lucretia My Reflection)

I endorse this choice- look at my shirt in the profile pic

[sadexpunk]

@faydout

We all suck at it until we get comfortable doing it. I still suck at it. Love will tear us apart is a hard song to get right. Keep finding songs (easier than that one) and work up to it. She’s Lost Control is a good one, also the one I just posted over the weekend,

ive pretty much got the fingerings sorted for LWTUA and can play it roughly using all downstrokes. i say roughly because i just cant make the drone sound effective with my strumming. id love to be able to play it with both down and upstrokes a la hooky, but my upstrokes just sound sh1te so i default to faster downstrokes. (would a chorus pedal help? i just swap to full J and no P for this one.)

i had a quick go at SLC and it seems an easy enough pattern, the difficulty for me seems to be hand positions that high up the fretboard on the G and D strings, especially when playing standing.

any tips for more effective alternating up and down strumming with a pick, so the ups sound the same as the downs and dont get ‘caught’ on the G string as i strum up?

thanks

[faydout]

@sadexpunk

my upstrokes just sound sh1te so i default to faster downstrokes. (would a chorus pedal help? i just swap to full J and no P for this one.)

Dee Dee Ramone became a legend using all downstrokes at warp speed… nothing at all wrong with playing that way. The best way to get better at something you suck at is to spend hundreds of hours doing it. I found learning guitar has really helped me with bass. This is one I used to get my strumming to be half decent. It’s for guitar but the mechanics will translate.

@Andrea_FI This should help you also

Why Pick Angle & Strumming Mechanics are CRUCIAL! Guitar for Beginners

Edit: Peter used a chorus pedal for LWTUA

[howard]

@faydout

Edit: Peter used a chorus pedal for LWTUA

EHX Small Clone to be specific, which their current Bass Clone is based on. It’s my favorite bass chorus pedal (by a lot, even over things like the otherwise excellent Julia)

[myowlhasantlers]

@faydout

Totally personal. For me, I like a somewhat thinner pick (.7) for playing “chords” with. It’s just a bit easier for me to strum. I play those somewhere between flat and 45 degrees. Play around with it and find where it sounds good to you.

This was incredibly helpful! Doing warmup tonight I decided to more systematically test all the picks I have. Found for me using the .75 at 45ish on single notes and a .5 at 45ish on chords with standard tuning feels and sounds the most natural. Thanks!

[sadexpunk]

@myowlhasantlers

Found for me using the .75 at 45ish on single notes and a .5 at 45ish on chords with standard tuning feels and sounds the most natural.

thanks. could you just expand on that a little please. im assuming (rightly or wrongly) that you mean angling the pick with the tip up when strumming down, and the tip down when strumming back up. at an angle of around 45 degrees, 90 being perpendicular(?) to the strings yes?

what about the other plane? by that i mean a leading edge? do you just have a slight edge to it? so it leads with one side going down and the other going up? or do you twist your hand when fully down so its always the same leading edge?

hard to describe in words but i hope you know what i mean

thanks

[myowlhasantlers]

Please ignore how I completely forgot to put on lotion today, but a couple quick photos seemed like they might be more helpful?

I’m sure the position varies of course but the line in pink is approximately how my hand moved. I should also add the caveat that have hyper mobility in my joints which is part of the reason I use a pinch grip instead of the standard one.

[BeerBaron]

@Andrea_FI

For instance the song in this video. It is an “easy song”, and I can see how he’s playing, and mostly it is 2 strings played at once, and sometimes one open string is picked, followed by 2 strings being strummed. I can’t get the technique right. When I try, I hear more the lower string, which means I’m not strumming both evenly. I can’t get them both to sound right.

Short version - Get used to moving your whole arm more, rather than just your hand or fingers. Using larger muscles is easier and will give more consistency. But it takes more practice to build that control.

If you look at this video, note how he mostly plucks from the wrist with his hand staying completely static, slides his whole arm to reach new strings, and does a hybrid of those two motions when strumming multiple strings (mowing wrist AND arm).

Full…

If you can get video of your playing this will help, but I think I know what’s going on, because I had a similar issue. This was one of the things that an in-person instructor helped me with.

I learned that what I was doing was mostly trying to pluck the strings by using mostly finger motion to change the angle of the pick (sort of catching the tip under the string, especially on up-strokes), rather than moving the pick through the string at a constant angle and using larger wrist/arm muscles.

This sounds like what may be happening to you.

Mostly it takes recognizing what you’re doing, and then just practice. Just time to develop the muscle memory to hold the pick more loosely and to control how much of the pick is biting the string.

This is still something I work on though. I was having trouble with hand cramping on “Come Together”, because you quickly rake through THREE strings. I realized I was using more finger and wrist, moving up the strings by changing wrist angle. And have been practicing moving up strings by pushing my whole hand down, sliding the heel of my hand along the bridge. Getting comfortable with a more floating anchor.

Pick thickness is personal. I use 1.0mm or a bit thicker. Usually a Dunlop Flow 1.0mm (which is a stiffer material that gives good "snap”), or a big Robert Trujillo triangle, but also like the Dunlop Ultex 1.14.

[Andrea_FI]

@faydout

She’s Lost Control is a good one

I gave this song a go now. It was challenging at the start, mainly because I was trying to figure all out. When fretting the higher notes on the G string, there’s a difference of height between the fretted string and the open D string, and this is what caused the most difficulty. I wasn’t picking both strings when trying to strum.

But I kept trying and trying, and now I can say I’m making progress!

I was playing with my headphone amp, but my husband could hear from the other room, and he later asked “are you playing Joy Division?“ He recognised the song from the other room, so I count this as a small victory!

I still have to play a lot of attention to the way I’m strumming. Otherwise, when I move to the 12th fret, suddenly I’m not hitting the open D anymore.

I’m learning to use more of my hand and arm. Kind of letting my hand go down loosely. It started to work once I found a good angle.

I’m stoked! If feels like I’m started to get it. I managed to play with some speed, not the right tempo yet, but close. I didn’t play the whole song, just the first part, several times.

I wanted to keep doing it, but better to take a break before something starts to hurt tomorrow. My shoulder feels a little tired, so that’s a hint to stop and continue later.

Thank you all for the advices!

[howard]

@BeerBaron

Pick thickness is personal. I use 1.0mm or a bit thicker. Usually a Dunlop Flow 1.0mm (which is a stiffer material that gives good "snap”), or a big Robert Trujillo triangle, but also like the Dunlop Ultex 1.14.

Yep. The more you gain skill at it most people trend towards liking thicker, stiffer picks. Ultex 1.0 is my favorite, Tortex 1.0 or 1.14 a close second. Under 0.8 is too thin for me for bass, but 0.6 and 0.7 are perfect for guitar.

That said, it’s easier to learn on thinner picks.

Best bet is to just get a combo pack and try a bunch.

[howard]

@Andrea_FI

@faydout

She’s Lost Control is a good one

I gave this song a go now. It was challenging at the start, mainly because I was trying to figure all out. When fretting the higher notes on the G string, there’s a difference of height between the fretted string and the open D string, and this is what caused the most difficulty. I wasn’t picking both strings when trying to strum.

But I kept trying and trying, and now I can say I’m making progress!

I would recommend trying Disorder, it’s easy conceptually and not so high on the neck. And it also has a big but not terribly hard string crossing that will force getting good at it.

Disorder also highlights the effective use of open strings. If any tab for it shows you fretting the fifth fret for any string except the descending part on the A string, ignore the tab and play the corresponding open string - it’s easier, works and sounds better, and is how both Hooky and Jack Bates play it.

The ultimate string crossing workout for songs I like to play is Disintegration by The Cure.

[faydout]

@howard

I would recommend trying Disorder

I was trying to help with playing dyads, thinking of some songs that were easier than trying to start off with Love Will Tear Us Apart (the goal).

The original question:

@Andrea_FI

For instance the song in this video. It is an “easy song”, and I can see how he’s playing, and mostly it is 2 strings played at once, and sometimes one open string is picked, followed by 2 strings being strummed. I can’t get the technique right. When I try, I hear more the lower string, which means I’m not strumming both evenly. I can’t get them both to sound right.

[howard]

Yeah for dyads it is a good choice. Another might be Garlands by Cocteau Twins

[Andrea_FI]

All great suggestions! I added them to my list.

[Andrea_FI]

@howard

The ultimate string crossing workout for songs I like to play is Disintegration by The Cure

Do you play the G as an open G, as opposed to a fretted G on the D string? I tend to think it should be an open G, but have seen tabs with a fretted G.

If you play it as an open G, should the G string be left ringing, instead of muting it? I think I hear it ringing between the other notes, but I’m not sure. How do you play it?

And do you use alternate picking?

[howard]

for post-punk, always play open strings. Especially with bass chorus, it usually both works and sounds better

@Andrea_FI

And do you use alternate picking?

Yes absolutely