The Steel Guitar Forum

I gotta be honest; As a guitar player turned steel many years ago, I have always struggled with finger picks. I miss strings a lot of the time. Recently, I've had arthritis in my right thumb and have been more aware of it and have noticed than when I play, my thumb moves up and down a lot after picking a string. Obviously this slows you down and messes with accuracy.

It's probably dumb to ask for advice when the answer is "don't do it" but it seems very instinctive now and hard to break!


thx


bob

Since Joe Wright isn't around much these days I'll channel him a bit.

Divide the moves into segments of two or three notes each. TURN ON YOUR METRONOME.

Begin slowly with the first logical group of notes. For example, you begin with a backward roll on 6,7,8. Practice those three at a slow tempo OVER AND OVER at HALF SPEED. Slowly increase the tempo, making sure you can do it perfectly before speeding up. Once those three notes are up to speed, add the next group of notes -- say, a forward roll back up on 7,6, then 6B.

You've probably heard this before but IF YOU CAN'T PLAY IT SLOWLY YOU CAN NEVER PLAY IT FAST. Developing muscle memory and dexterity is a stepwise process. There are other ways to work on accuracy too -- all involving the metronome to keep you honest. Choose a chord grip -- a major triad works fine. Ply 10 8 6, then 8,6,5, then 6,5,4, then 5,4,3. Play it at the 3rd fret, then backwards (starting with 5,4,3 and descending) at the 4th fret, and so on up the neck. Before you know it you will be changing grips faster and more accurately than before.

Something simple like practicing little forward and backward roll patterns:
10,9,8 / 9,8,7 / 8,7,6 / 7,6,5 / 6,5,4 / 5,4,3
in time with the metronome, keeping it perfect and speeding up as appropriate

You will be shocked how much just making yourself do these little nitpicky exercises can improve your accuracy. Design your own -- whatever you tend to stumble over.
* SLOW IT DOWN
* TAKE IT APART
* SPEED IT UP
* REASSEMBLE IT IN SEGMENTS
until you can play it at the desired tempo

As far as the thumb motion goes, minimize it at slow speed as much as you can but don't obsess over it. Some players (Joe Wright, Paul Franklin) waste very little motion but others (Jernigan comes to mind) palm block with much more up and down motion.

My take on it.

I've been using Mickey Adams' BEX2 Pick Blocking Dexterity Exercise II to work on limiting the motion of my thumb.

Larry's got it right Bob

i do this lil' major scale excercise in a cycle of 4ths to warm up before playing anything
C to F to Bb to Eb to Ab to C# to F# to B to E to A to D to G & back to C
you'll get to know & play in all the keys !
pick that cycle 10 times everyday !
( there's more if you want too )
what's important is to dig in w: your picks first & then pick the notes, using the thumb as the pivot
this will help you improve : bar control, pick blocking, use of the 2nd string - anticipating your next move
fingers : t = thumb - i = index - m = middle
start on fret 8 then 1 then 6 then 11 then 4 then 9 then 2 then 7 then 12 then 5 then 10 then 3 & back to 8 ( play it 10 times)
[tab]
2-----------------------8m-----/-----8m-------------------/
3------------------------------/--------------------------/
4---------------------------8i-/--8i----------------------/
5-----------------8t--8A-------/--------8At--8------------/
6----------8m--8B--------------/----------------8Bm--8----/
7-------8i---------------------/------------------------8i/
8---8t-------------------------/--------------------------/ *1t Blam ! yer in F on 1 !
[/tab]
* don't play that C again (root note) but move up to the 4th position (which in turn becomes the root note)

Thanks, guys. Keep em coming.

Thanks Larry, my own teacher couldn't have said it better!

Excellent Crowbear!...The fingering for this exercise is a real dexterity builder..!

I have had a lot of the same trouble with picks. A trick that might work well for you is to dip the picks in that plastic goop that is sold for dipping tool handles. It makes a big difference for me. I still sound like a beginner, but the picks feel a lot better on my fingers - they stay put now, allowing me to concentrate on other problems.