Target Tones - Improv on Track 24

Jp 5/19/2005 2:01 AM
Hey Don, using track 24 as an example... how do you position your hand when picking very fast lines? do you use more forearm or wrist motion? floating hand vs hand anchored with finger? does your picking approach change when you perform lines that have both intervallic and linear qualities? thanks, jamie

Don Mock 5/19/2005 12:58 PM
kJamie, thanks for the question. I listened to track 24 and I guess you are talking about all the fast "filler" I added after the example. Good technique usually requires all the muscles working together from the fingers, through the wrist and up your arm. It's not a stressed thing where you tighten up, (which feels kind of necessary at first) but a loose and relaxed motion. We all use too many muscles and add too much force when trying to play fast at first. Over the years your muscles start to figure out that some of them don't have to work so hard and things start relaxing. One thing to try is tremolo (pick fast up and down on one note) and experiment with arm and pick positions. Don't squeeze the pick too hard. In fact you could easily pull the pick out of my fingers when I'm playing. Relaxes the pick pressure until it drops out of your hand. Then find the place where it's still loose but you can still control it. The only thing that you will have to do to get dynamics in you playing (loud and soft) is to squeeze a bit in on the pick on certain notes to make them jump out. Hope this gives you a few ideas about picking. -Thanks, Don Mock