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Old 07-22-2008, 09:04 PM
marshallrocks80 marshallrocks80 is offline
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Default speed picking and trying to go lefty on guitar

Ok so I am left handed and I play guitar right handed. I started out about fourteen years ago and have been playing ever since. About three years ago I decided to build my electric chops up. I started practicing fours hours a day, and while my left hand got faster my right hand did not. I can tremolo pick sixteenth notes at about 104 bpm, this is after years of hard practicing. I was goofing around and turned my guitar upside down and tried to pick with my left hand and noticed it was so much faster. I've never played lefty before so I practiced for like fifteen minutes and turned the metronome on just to see how fast I could go. I sustained sixteenth notes at 185 bpm and could push it to 200 bpm for a few seconds. This is without me tensing up or anything. I played snare drum in high school and college and used the same basic motion with my left hand, so I'm guessing that's where the speed came from.

My question is two fold. Is it possible to increase your maximum picking speed or have I hit the ceiling with my right hand. Also Michael Angelo Batio talks about potential picking speed. Is the fastest you can go from day one the fastest you will ever be able to go? It seems this way with my right hand.
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Old 07-23-2008, 05:29 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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Hi, Ryan,

I'm a lefty playing as rightie as well. As a lefty, you are going to find the right-hand technique to be the biggest challenge. If you look around at lefties playing rightie, you will often see a very well developed left-hand technique coupled with a less-developed-right hand technique. A favorite example is Duane Allman. In my opinion, his entire technique was built to take advantage of his excellent left-hand fretboard articulation. Even his slide technique was built off this offset.

My picking speed has increased slowly over time, basically directly in proportion to the amount of brute force practice put in to develop it. It will never be as fast or dependable as that of a right-hander playing rightie. Classical "tremelo" (repeated, rhythmic picking of a single string) is very difficult to me as well. On balance, my vibrato technique, my bends, and my left-hand articulation, have always been ahead of my mates.

I would suspect that if you were to invert and go leftie, you'd simply be trading one set of frustrations for another. Of course, that is a very personal decision that you'll have to make for yourself.

Good luck,

Bob
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Old 07-23-2008, 06:43 AM
Juan_Banjovy Juan_Banjovy is offline
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Another leftie here playing right-handed. I'm mostly a Travis picker & my flat picking is rather speed-limited, because the pick hangs up on the string or completely misses it if I try to speed pick. Oddly enough, I've picked up left handed guitars & actually played them. My fingers know where to go already, as if my brain just does a 180. Without more practice though, I still play best right handed. Speaking of speed, check this guy's clip out. 320 notes per minute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlylY2OTKz8

Not my style of "music", but maybe interesting to watch for some.
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Old 07-23-2008, 07:13 AM
marshallrocks80 marshallrocks80 is offline
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ok that guy is insanely fast!!!! I restrung the first electric guitar I ever bought to lefty and I took some vacation time this week. I'm practicing somewhere between eight and ten hours per day this week and then getting back on my four hour routine next week. I'll try it for about six months and see if the difference is worth unloading my right handed guitars for lefties. I don't think I would restring them all backwards because as of right now the volume knob is really irritating me. It's in the way and I can't palm mute anything. I'll probably still play acoustic right handed because I have a couple of nice ones and all I really use them for is accompaniment when I lead worship. No fancy stuff there. Plus if I play electric left handed then my right hand should get more nimble on the fretboard and I can only imagine that it would greatly improve my fingerpicking skills on the acoustic.
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Taylor 414ce Fall Limited Rosewood (2007)
Taylor 414ce SL Koa (2007)
Gibson Les Paul standard (2005)
Fender Am. Fat Strat Texas Special (2003)

Last edited by marshallrocks80; 07-23-2008 at 07:19 AM.
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