RH String Skipping Exercise

[tiffany]

Hey everyone, this is my first post. I've been playing for quite a while before I started working with the Principles about a month ago. here's a video of me doing all three steps of the RH string skipping exercise at no tempo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oez8U6M4dFw

As you can see, my picking hand bounces around sometimes when I start to touch the string, and sometimes the string releases by itself when I'm putting pressure on it before I get the chance to "push through". Any advice on how to remedy these issues?

Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to Jamie and everyone in advance!

-TIffany

[Stan]

Overall - lloking good! If you can pick 3 out of 4 notes OK - jump into walking exercises, and just check your picking from time to time (Rotating attention).

But if you are looking for some advice... If the pick pushes thrugh the string before you really intend to... Couple of things to consider.

1) Is your pick strictly at right angle to the string - or is it ponting up or down?
2) Part of your practicing is finding the RIGHT amount of strength to apply to the string. The thing is - the tension of the string - and the amount of force required to produce a certain tone will change from string to string - and from fret to fret on the same string... Hence the string bounce exercises - they help you to get the feel for hou much force you need to apply to the string.
3) Check your pick grip. Hard to tell from the video, but somehow it did not look secure enough to me... If it's not secure enough - the pick will tilt when it encounters the resistance of the string. And it should tilt SOMEWHAT - but if it snaps through the string involuntarily - it may be tilting too much.

Cheers!

[chefrusso]

Hey Tiffany,

Welcome to the forum! You're well on your way to becoming a better guitarist.

These exercises are designed to give you the feel for the tactile sensations when your hand, fingers, and guitar pick interact with the strings. The bouncing sensations you are feeling have a lot to do with your inexperience with these motions and is to be expected in the beginning. Make sure you are using the gradual pressure technique slowly and deliberately. You will eventually gain control over these motions and your guitar playing will improve. These motions are way more complicated than people realize and you can spend your entire life studying the nuances of holding and using a guitar pick. Just ask Ney Mello! (I would recommend his DVD for further study)

Pick angle and attack are vitally important, like Stan said earlier. Your pick should not be held flat on the string, but should be at an angle. A flat pick builds up tension in your hands and in the string which leads to an "explosive" release of pressure, both in your hand and in the string. When your pick is held at an angle, it allows the string to slide around the pick and actually improves your tone overall. Make sure you review the section in the book relating to the recommended pick angle and use no tempo practice and posing to ensure you are maintaining that angle on the string when you play.

Overall, your video looked great and I can tell that you are practicing slowly and deliberately. Keep up the great work! I can't wait to see you take on the walking exercises.

[Stan]

[quote="chefrusso"]Your pick should not be held flat on the string, but should be at an angle. [quote]

In my rather limited understanding both techniques have their time and place. PLaying an upstroke and a down-stroke holding the pick at the same angle will procude two different accents. If you are looking for the same sound - you will need to either quickly change the pick angle - or have the plane of the pick parallel to the string (i.e. flat to the string).

I would say that in the beginning it's probably a good idea to get comfortable picking the string with the pick FLAT, then expand from there.

Note : These are my opinions on the pisk technique.. I am posting them half as advice based on my understanding - and half as checking if that understanding is correct...

[chefrusso]

Actually, in this case, we are both correct. I just reviewed the chapter on proper pick technique, and it says to place the pick so that the very tip is touching the first string, laying on top of it. It's important not to have too much of the pick on the string when you play which is what most beginners do wrong.

She goes on to say, however, that most players (myself included) do tilt the pick slightly toward the head of the guitar, so that the pick doesn't strike flat against the string. She says it's a good idea as it reduces the resistance of the pick as it strikes, and also gives better tone.

This must be the understanding I keyed in on when I was practicing this technique so I had it in my head that this was the proper way to perform this exercise. After watching Ney's DVD, I have also adopted more advanced approaches toward picking techniques, so my memory was a little fuzzy at to what was contained in Jamie's book.

[tiffany]

1) Is your pick strictly at right angle to the string - or is it ponting up or down?
2) Part of your practicing is finding the RIGHT amount of strength to apply to the string. The thing is - the tension of the string - and the amount of force required to produce a certain tone will change from string to string - and from fret to fret on the same string... Hence the string bounce exercises - they help you to get the feel for hou much force you need to apply to the string.
3) Check your pick grip. Hard to tell from the video, but somehow it did not look secure enough to me... If it's not secure enough - the pick will tilt when it encounters the resistance of the string. And it should tilt SOMEWHAT - but if it snaps through the string involuntarily - it may be tilting too much.

Wow, I think you are right on all three counts there haha. Actually, I don't think I've really thought about what perpendicular to the string means... somehow in my mind perpendicular meant parallel Well now that I know, 1 and 3 seem pretty straightforward, but 2 seems like I gotta wait it out until I get a better feel for these things. So since the amount of tension is different at all places that means playing at the neck pickup will require different force than playing at the bridge pickup right?

Now I'm confused about where to go from here. I was going to work on the RH exercise using the BPA before doing the walking exercises, should I do the walking exercises first?

1) These exercises are designed to give you the feel for the tactile sensations when your hand, fingers, and guitar pick interact with the strings. The bouncing sensations you are feeling have a lot to do with your inexperience with these motions and is to be expected in the beginning.

That's a relief... I was sure I was doing something wrong, but I guess it's a feel thing that comes with time and experience. I do angle the pick toward the neck of the guitar, but my pick seems to make up its own angeles as I'm playing so that probably goes back to 3. pick grip, and yea, the movements sure feel complicated!

Thanks Stan and chef! that really helps a lot

[chefrusso]

Once you get a good handle the crutch and the butterfly, you can start to work on the walking exercises. Don't work yourself up too much in the beginning with these exercises because no matter what, you'll need to focus on them in order to do them well and it takes some time before you can do that. The most important thing you can do here is work on them slowly and deliberately, through no-tempo, posing, and then slow-tempo in order to be able to bring them up to speed later on. In the beginning, you must focus on controlling those wild muscles in your fingers, hand, wrist, arm and shoulder because they will want to goof off alot until you get them in control - much like trying to control a classroom of kindergarteners! When you see tension rear its ugly head, you'll need to be able to relax it away and regain control. Most people, and I was definitely guilty of this in the beginning, actually practice these moves too quickly (tempo-wise) so keep that in mind while you're practicing them.

These exercises will be practiced often throughout your guitar-playing journey and you will re-visit areas you thought were already under control. That's just part of the process. As you glean new understandings, old ones must be re-visited and modified, and you will learn how to practice "from the bottom up". Once you can do the walking exercises at 60 BPM for 16ths then you should look into going beyond the walking exercises with the supplemental courses and literature in the site (Beyond the BPA, Beyond the Walking Exercises - Toward the Mastery of Scales). You can work on the Path: Chords & Rhythm book now though and I would highly recommend it. As I'm playing more and more now, I'm realizing just how important rhythm is in music. The instruction you'll find there is invaluable in that regard, but will also help you change chords smoothly and efficiently.

[tiffany]

Thanks for the advice chef, I think I will keep working on this no-tempo until I'm really comfortable with it. I can already notice greater control in practicing this exercise from utilizing the feedback I got on the video!

[Stan]

So since the amount of tension is different at all places that means playing at the neck pickup will require different force than playing at the bridge pickup right?

Yes and no.

"No" because my point was - even if you pick at the same exact spot (say, bridge pickup) - the same string will need a different attack strength whether it's open or fretted at 12th fret. It's more prominent on an acoustic, but something to keep in mind on an electric too.

"Yes" because sound definitely changes depending on where you pick the string (assuming the same attack strength).

In terms of "where to pick" and "how hard" - there's really no right or wrong - just depends on the sound you're looking for.

However for practice I would recommend finding one spot where your arm is the most relaxed so that you can spend more time concentrating on the left hand (but still check the right side for tension at regular intervals).

[N E Y]

Hey everyone, this is my first post. I've been playing for quite a while before I started working with the Principles about a month ago. here's a video of me doing all three steps of the RH string skipping exercise at no tempo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oez8U6M4dFw

As you can see, my picking hand bounces around sometimes when I start to touch the string,

Start approaching and touching the string very slowly..much slower than you are doing on this video, like putting a thread through a needle. Approach the string slowly and touch it just as slowly.You should barely feel physically the moment of touch..It has to be that slow. If you do that it won't bounce. Then flex the string just as slowly.




and sometimes the string releases by itself when I'm putting pressure on it before I get the chance to "push through".

Push through very slowly like you do when you are removing the fuse from and explosive device with the intent of disarming it. If you think that way you will do it slow enough....Reduce yourself to the size of a doll and imagine her small hands doing what you are doing while you are doing it. Imagine yourself shrinking to about 3 inches tall and observing your hands from that vantage point. In this way you will pay enough attention to the subtle level of motion necessary and focus with enough precision.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ney_mello
http://www.youtube.com/user/NeyMelloOfficial?
http://bit.ly/aSUSw6
http://www.musicarts.com/Stores/Store.a ... 320&mode=1
http://www.facebook.com/pages/NEY-MELLO/8702485599
http://www.myspace.com/neymello
http://www.twitter.com/NeyMelloGuitar