-
Picking Motion
Hello TAC Community!
I’m brand new to TAC and I’m feeling like I’ve made a brilliant decision. The onboarding process, creating targets + check-ins, and the coaching around building the habit are incredibly valuable.
It’s taken all the “thinking” away. I can just show up and play.
I’m enjoying the first couple of lessons around the 12-Bar Blues and had a question for the community.
Have any of you struggled to establish the up + down picking motion? I always want to pick down.
Curious if any of you have tips + tricks to share!
-
7 Replies
-
Hi @trevor_finally_learns_guitar Love tour moniker. Welcome to the TAC community, and it sounds as if you’re off to a good start. Are you taking the 30 days to play course? If you’re new or old to guitar, I always suggest starting there.
I was a completely green player when I started, and so anything to do with the guitar fretting hand was foreign to me. I remember when ai was learning to pick, that I had to slow it way down and consciously do the down up down up of the picking motion. As time went on, it became easier, and eventually it was embedded in my brain and picking hand, which automatically does the down up now.
Just a side note. Typically the up pick falls on the & count, while the down strum is always on the whole count. SUCH AS 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & would be DUDUDUDU, while a count of 1 2. 3 & 4 & would be DDDUDU
-
Hi Loraine! Nice to meet you!
I am starting with the 30 Days to Play course. Even though I’m “coming back” to guitar, it’s been a long time and I never really got a handle on the basics the first time round. I’m thrilled with the program so far! Even just a couple days in.
It has been tough to resist the urge to play up to speed, so I will focus on slowing down. I just tried the “play section” of a lesson at 0.75 speed and that was helpful to get a better feel for the pattern.
Great tip with the & + whole count! That gives me another way to focus on the up / down motion. Thank you!
-
‘Sup @trevor_finally_learns_guitar , I couldn’t say it any better than what Loraine said. I will add this because it is easy for me to remember: If you chase speed, it will take forever but if you sneak up on it, you will find it sooner than you would have thought.
-
-
-
Hi @trevor_finally_learns_guitar and welcome to TAC! In addition to the great advice that @Loraine provided there Imi wanted to let you know there is a Skills course call “Flatpicking Jumpstart”. It starts at ground zero on how to use a pick.
Welcome and rave fun! 😎🎸🎶
-
Hey Kitman! Nice to meet you!
I’ve been sticking to the 30 day challenge content, so I had not seen Flatpicking Jumpstart.
Thank you for pointing that out!
Much appreciated 🙂
-
Glad you are enjoying the TAC program, I have found it has been a tremendous help to me in establishing a regular guitar playing habit. My finger dexterity has improved dramatically and my musical knowledge has expanded greatly in the 9 months since I joined.
I struggled alot early on with strumming patterns, but it’s like learning the chord shapes, just takes repetition and patience. Others have offered good advice, I would add this suggestion: when you are ready to learn strumming, there is one particular pattern that is very common and is useful for many songs (and also sounds more musical than DUDU etc):
D DU UDU
1+2+3+4+
Learning to play songs made my journey much more enjoyable than just doing finger exercises and scales, riffs, etc. You’ll find plenty of good instructional videos on YouTube for this and other strumming patterns. Tony also has a Stumming Jumpstart course in the Skills Courses area, though I was surprised that he didn’t include the above pattern as I’ve seen it used so often.
You made a great move in coming to the Forums, there are always members eager to offer advice and encouragement. Enjoy your journey!
-
Hey GerryB56! Thank you for those suggestions!
You are describing my experience and motivation for joining perfectly. Having an “appointment” to play and a community to connect with is making all the difference.
I recognize it’s been only a few days, but today, for example, I couldn’t play at my normal time because of family commitments. However, I still squeezed a session later on to stay on track.
I can assure you I would have just skipped today in the past.
Being “all in” here creates an accountability that feels positive. It’s, dare I say, FUN to play 🎸
Thank you again for sharing your experience! Looking forward to more positive sessions ahead 🙂
Log in to reply.