Help with flat picking single string accuracy

Challenger · #1 10-07-2016, 01:59 PM

I've been playing for about 3 years. Started late in life at 55. I am pleased to a degree with my progress after having gone through some of the same struggles other due with needing to build fingertips etc. Also chord change frustration etc etc. I have the basic pretty well down but I'm getting bored with all the songs within my ability. It just seems like the YouTube.com songs are either for a beginner or advanced. The ones that are supposedly intermediate seem to all fall on one side of the fence or another meaning beginner or advanced. I'm sure it's just me being too lazy to take the steps needed to scratch my way out of the beginner skill level..
To stave off some boredom I want to start picking songs with a flat pick. Finger picking makes my *** ache for some reason. I really like the idea of using a flat pick to play individual strings. Mainly because I like the tone of a string that is picked as opposed to played with a finger.
What is the best way to improve my flat picking accuracy? I have real trouble hitting the same individual strings. Seems like the strings move around on the fretboard while I'm trying to play so where I think I hit the A string it is now the E string. The strings are far enough apart that I feel I should be able to get this easily but noooooo. I'm feeling like if I had a song and only had to use the 4,5 strings I'd regularly hit the 1 thru 6???
Thanks

Galaxy S4, Slimkat
If I wasn't married I'd quit fishing

Wyllys · #2 10-07-2016, 02:03 PM

Just relax and keep at it. The difference between "can't"and "can" will be instantaneous. You just have to keep pickin' until it happens.

Sometimes a beer helps...

rlb9682 · #3 10-07-2016, 02:08 PM

I found this to be helpful. Take a look and see what you think.

http://guitarcompass.com/free-lesson...w-to-flatpick/

Mr. Jelly · #4 10-07-2016, 04:13 PM

Just a couple of thoughts here. Use a thick pick. About a .88 or thicker. Touch the pick guard with the little finger as you play or come up with some way to telegraph your hand as to where it is at. Use an up down pick motion and learn/do the major pentatonic scale on the first three or four frets while playing G, C and D chords. Just noodle around. If you try this and your ear doesn't pick something up from this I don't know what to tell you.

HHP · #5 10-07-2016, 05:13 PM

Keep a consistent arm position and keep your wrist more or less straight. A heavier pick will also help in accuracy and control. Have a good locked in grip on the pick using your curled index finger and your thumb locking it in so your hand is basically parallel to the strings.Mostly, its just a matter of doing it enough that it becomes natural and you don't consciously think about it at all.

Wyllys · #6 10-07-2016, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

Just a couple of thoughts here. Use a thick pick. About a .88 or thicker. Touch the pick guard with the little finger as you play or come up with some way to telegraph your hand as to where it is at. Use an up down pick motion and learn/do the major pentatonic scale on the first three or four frets while playing G, C and D chords. Just noodle around. If you try this and your ear doesn't pick something up from this I don't know what to tell you.

I agree about using a thicker pick, but have a problem with having the finger contact the guitar part.

You want to get the weight of the forearm behind the pick. That can't happen using the little finger for a positioning reference. You end up trying to move the pick with the smaller muscles and cannot easily change pick angle or depth for tone and dynamic variation.

And without the forearm weight behind the pick you'll not get the projection and tone of which the guitar is capable.

TBman · #7 10-07-2016, 08:47 PM

Years ago when I was a flat picker I bridged (using the pinky) for speed and accuracy and when I wanted better tone I floated my hand. The only way to get better is to practice (relentlessly). Simple chromatic scales work and just practice hitting one string then the next (alternate) and the skip over one string like E then D. Check out www.homespun.com for downloadable lessons.

jomaynor · #8 10-08-2016, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wyllys

I agree about using a thicker pick, but have a problem with having the finger contact the guitar part.

You want to get the weight of the forearm behind the pick. That can't happen using the little finger for a positioning reference. You end up trying to move the pick with the smaller muscles and cannot easily change pick angle or depth for tone and dynamic variation.

And without the forearm weight behind the pick you'll not get the projection and tone of which the guitar is capable.

Many pickers, myself included, don't like an inflexible pick for flatpicking single note lines, except for arpeggios. A pick with some stiffness, sure - this isn't an electric with thin strings - but I prefer a pick that has some degree of flex, such as a 0.8mm or 1.0 mm, which gives the picking motion a nice springboard effect.

To the OP, the best advice I've ever gotten was this: Practice smart. Don't practice new material of any kind at normal speed - practice at a very slow speed, and keep at that slow speed until you have the lick down.

Next, practice it again at a slightly less slow tempo. Repeat this process incrementally until you can play the lick at normal tempo.

The same goes for practicing picking single notes "free handed," without using the palm or pinkie as an anchoring post. This is a difficult technique to master, but if you can negotiate this anchor-free technique, then this is an ideal way to play single note runs very fluidly.

srick · #9 10-08-2016, 06:41 AM

Challenger - Like many of us, you are likely pressing too hard on the strings, holding the pick too hard, and when fingerpicking, trying too hard. A light touch cannot be emphasized enough (I am probably the worst player in the world to give that advice). As I have gotten better, my touch has improved. Lately, I realize that when I am really into the music, I'm not concentrating on the pressure and finger position, but I'm concentrating on the sound. It's that zen-like state that you might have achieved in college (ahem, ahem) where your mind is perched six inches above your physical head.

The flatpicking essential series is fabulous : http://www.flatpick.com/category_s/1844.htm (I'll repeat that: fabulous!). Just the first book may be all you need.

And, I have picked up this Homespun video. It may seem a little advanced, but you can grow into it.

https://www.homespun.com/shop/product/pick-power/

Here's the sample:

I started playing at age 53 and I am ten years in. I'm just starting to get to the point where I am confident enough to try an open-mike. I probably have been hampered by not taking lessons, but there have been WAY too many more important matters of life to take care of in my spare time.

Keep playing, keep trying - if you can get away for a weekend workshop, you may be amazed at the results. I took one with Toby Walker last April (fingerstyle and blues) and what a difference that made in my skill level. Steve Kaufmann's workshops may fit your bill.

best,

Rick

jomaynor · #10 10-08-2016, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by srick

Challenger - Like many of us, you are likely pressing too hard on the strings, holding the pick too hard, and when fingerpicking, trying too hard. A light touch cannot be emphasized enough....

Very good point, srick.

Challenger, try to keep the picking hand relaxed. Don't vise-grip the fingering hand, either.

Think of shaking water off your hands, where your wrist muscles are relaxed but rapidly moving. You want your picking hand so relaxed as to be almost wobbly - this is the opposite of "muscling through it," when you have a firm grip and a tight wrist.

Fluidity vs struggle.

srick · #11 10-08-2016, 03:26 PM

A couple of other thoughts: correct posture when playing goes a long way in relieving tension. For me, that means a stool and guitar strap. If the guitar is hanging, you don't have to support it at the same time you are trying to play it. The stool lets your arms hang more vertically and also relieves tension in your shoulders. Needless to say, standing also achieves this.

Challenger · #12 10-08-2016, 04:01 PM

Wow! Thanks for all these great tips. I'll be going over them all and giving them a try. I know frustration is my worst enemy but I also know that when I get past the frustration I have progressed.

Galaxy S4, Slimkat
If I wasn't married I'd quit fishing

Riverwolf · #13 10-08-2016, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBman

The only way to get better is to practice (relentlessly). Simple chromatic scales work and just practice hitting one string then the next (alternate) and the skip over one string like E then D.

This, and use google for melodies for guitar.
I have a bunch in a notebook including the Star Spangled Banner = 104 notes on four strings.
Learn some Carter style songs and some rock/country songs that have bass or melody type runs. Wish You Were Here, My My, Hey Hey, etc...
I also use this guy - https://musicwithryan.com/

innocent75 · #14 10-08-2016, 05:46 PM

What helped me is Bryan Sutton's course. Particularly his "Etude in G Major"

It is an exercise that is built to speed up and make more accurate string changes. You may want to look for a similar "exercise" type method. I started this ridiculously slow (20bpm) and built up to around 60-80BPM depending on how much I practiced it in the leading days.

You may want to look at some very elementary cross picking exercises. Not to necessarily cross pick but to just jump strings.

Also, a big thing that lit a light for me is to try to keep your arm "pumping" downs on the "numbers" and ups on the "ands". This takes out the guessing (which way is my pick supposed to be going). By having the timing and motion, you can clear your brain to only think of the string change.

mikerofone · #15 10-15-2016, 10:59 AM

Just start sloooooow and steady. Use a metronome. It's human nature to try and speed things up faster than you're ready to. Go really slow with a metronome and pick up/down/up/down/up/down over and over and over again even on a single string.

It just takes ad nauseum repetition and patience.