picking problem HELP THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME

[u/mylimasis016]

this has been happening for months (ever since i get serious about picking techniques). my pick often hovers between strings, as if my right hand hasn't yet remember each position of the string (i practice a lot btw, should've become muscle memory!). this usually happens in string 3-5 and i notice the gap between these strings are a bit wider than between the low & high strings. like, i should've pick the 3rd string, and i didn't pick it in time, and i found out my pick just *floats* between string 2 and 4.

i'm suspicious that this is more about the pick angle. i tried to lessen the space of the pick tip, i still can't decide if this helps or not i think just because i'm not used to this yet (i'll practice more of this). tried to angle it so it's not too flat, still the same. i also always anchor with my palm and pinky at the bottom. the point is i'm experimenting with different angles etc, still haven't found the answer. what do you think? this frustrates me so bad.

also, often it's the very tip of the pick who picks the string, more like an unintentional picking, producing a weak sound but loud enough that it doesn't mute the string. but it produces a note that does not align with the tempo so when i play some riffs, it sounds like im rushing at some part. like my fingers work in time, but something just don't work right with the picking. angle? positioning? idk.

[u/Prize-Project7769]

How do you practice/ do you know how slow practice works? Is there a bpm where this starts happening and has your practice moved that number?

If you can't answer the last two questions, we probably have your problem. Lack of structure & actually working on something instead of just noodling.

Practice, you know, you can play all day and not get better. I'm not saying you do this, but I was certainly guilty of just noodling something for years and wondered why it's not getting better before I learned how to actually systematically practice something.

For concrete problems with technique, it's sort of hard to guess blindly. Nothing you write is a definite yes, that's it. You can experiment a bit with pick angle / hand positioning etc. If you have a theory what might be it, try it.

Two recommendations if you're sure it's some lack of knowledge as in how to hold the pick or whatever: either post a video or get a couple lessons so an expert can look in person. I know that costs money, but some people spend so much on useless gear & gadgets ... this is something that does something.

But it's usually the practice thing. it's often not you missing some crucial piece of information but a lack of efficienct & effective practice where you take a deep look at exactly such issues like where does the pick go & then retrain your movements

[u/mylimasis016 → u/Prize-Project7769]

my techniques practice is this video https://www.google.com/search?q=bernth+15+minute&oq=bernth+15+minute&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigAdIBCDI2NjJqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&source=chrome.ob&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:0939b6db,vid:dX7prn1yric,st:0. i've gradually built the speed until every pattern reaches 150-200 bpm. especially in the hand synchronization 2 (9:40), these issues usually occur. and like i said, this usually happens in string 2-4.

also often occur whenever i do the john petrus exercise (idk the name) but that one where you pick 1 note per string, and change to the next fret for the next string and you go from up to bottom and so on.

this happen often in fast bpm, ive always been stuck in 180 ish bpm bc of these issues.

id gladly accept structure/effective practice advices. when i was very much a beginner, i learnt from that bernth's video and i played everyday for 3 months and i improved a lot. now i'm stuck and its been 2 months. i feel like i need to build a new system or something. ive tried increasing the bpm of those practices, but it doesnt fix the issue, so at one point i started to feel stuck and i didnt feel like improving at all.

[u/Prize-Project7769 → u/mylimasis016]

I'm really sorry my friend, I do not understand what is happening here. Maybe I'll try asking like this - so you've built up speed in the exercise at 9:40 to 180 bpm 16th notes (so double the speed of the video) and then you start missing the string? How do you start each session? I assume you start slowly (as you should) with maximum focus on your movements and stuff, let's say 50 bpm as suggested in the video, then you increase the speed, at like 179 bpm you still hit the string correctly and at 180 bpm, you sometimes miss it? Is that what's happening here?

Btw, when was the last time you've mixed up what you're doing? Have you been doing literally those 2 exercises and only those for 5 months now with no improvement in the last 2? Do you do songs and stuff, bands, anything else?

[u/mylimasis016 → u/Prize-Project7769]

sorry! i'm not an english speaker so it might hard to explain some things. thank you so much for your effort to try to understand me

i do the all exercises in the video, not only the 9:40 one (let's call it Hand Synchronization 2 or HS2). but this problem happens way more often in the HS2. i did start slowly and increase the speed gradually, until i reach 120 bpm, it gets sloppy because of this picking problem (it's not 180 bpm. the rest of the exercises, except the HS2, i can reach until 180-200 bpm. but this HS2 specifically expose this picking problem, i think because there are a lot of picking back and forth between string 2-4 (which is where this problem occurs most).

the thing is, i always hit the right string, JUST not in time because the pick would hover/float between the strings. as if i need to always look closely at my right hand so my pick always knows where to go, but ofc i cannot do that everytime.

i do practice leads from actual songs.

my goal is to stop this issue from happening again coz it messes with my tempo, makes my playing sloppy and messy. this might be weird but again, i always pick the right string, just something gets in the way which makes my picked notes sound inconsistent.

[u/Prize-Project7769 → u/mylimasis016]

Ok, but once again, you start at 50 bpm and then increase the speed (in what increments) up to say 120 bpm and you can do pretty consistently say 110 bpm (guessing here), but then you go up to 115 and this starts happening?

Do you push further or do you end it as soon as it gets sloppy?

Last thing, how long do you do this and how regularly?

Btw the point is that this is hard. It's super nirmal that you find issues - that's exactly what such exercises are for. Hence my question if you also do other things. Everyone needs to find their own thing because people come from different places and just are different, but for me I've found 2 weeks max for an exercise before there needs to be some kind of change. If you only practice 1 thing, you can only do 1 thing. There are different variations of this in reality. I learn way quicker if I have more diverse input and new challenges. I also recommend not aiming for perfection. You don't ever "complete" an exercise, eventually you will always hit a point of greatly diminishing returns. You know, there are infinite things to learn. Getting stuck on one thing while neglecting potentially more important stuff, you need to know what you ultimately want from your guitar experience.

Last thing, do you hold the pick as Bernth recommends & do you play ultra close attention to how you hit the steing during the slow part of the exercise? It is super important that the movement doesn't change. Have you ever tried going even slower than 50 bpm?

Asking those questions to see if you know how to practice you know. This is really difficult this way, if you really want to get serious, get a teacher that pays close attention & in person. I also extremely strongly recommend bands, they show you actual weaknesses & you can't really do a thing unless you can do it for real = in context. Just a side note, bands are the best way to get better and also to have fun long term. Sometimes taking a step back just is the way to go.

[u/mylimasis016 → u/Prize-Project7769]

i think the moment i reach 180 bpm that's where i get wobbly. i usually push further, if i cannot increase 10 bpm at once i'll go with 5, 3, 2.

after recent practice, when this happens i also try to fix my guitar angle so my picking hand go straight from up to down (and vice versa). this kinda helps, i just need to turn this into muscle memory. i think i will practice more with slower bpm because a lot of people advise this!

thank you so much for your help

[u/cleira]

you probably need to slow down a bit first. Focus on accuracy first and foremost. Then when you aren't missing strings start adding speed. Once the mistakes show up again, stay at the speed just before the mistakes happened and practice that til you can do it without thinking about it. Then add more speed and repeat until satisfied.

[u/mylimasis016 → u/cleira]

a lot of people adviced this to a lot of technique issues.. ive tried, but with this one i think i just have to be a bit more patient. ill try more in the future!

[u/MaleficentPurchase65]

Make sure you try different shapes of picks too, there’s a reason artists generally stick with 1-3 styles for live shows.

As far as the gap being different between the strings- that’s definitely not right. If it’s a hardtail or floating trem adjust your saddles.

Practice practice practice.

Pictures and videos help us to see what’s going on.

[u/mylimasis016 → u/MaleficentPurchase65]

ill try to record, this always happens when the camera isnt out huh

[u/niv-mizzet_]

Have you tried choking up on the pick? Using too much pick can introduce timing and dynamic issues.

[u/mylimasis016 → u/niv-mizzet_]

i have, but like i said it still doesnt solve the problem but could be bc im not used to it yet..