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The Custom Picking course aims to make the guitarist think autonomously. It brings the four standard pick types for beginners to understand, and opens up other points of view for intermediates and advanced ones. The root types of this understanding are the picks:
Alternating and Ascending and Descending Sweep is the basics.
Next, 4 more types were thought. Extracted from standard logic and, added to other tools, which escape the proposed context which is picking, however; they can act with the same outstanding characteristic of the standard picks and bring more nuances that will surely differentiate this practice from the ups and downs and take the conception to another level.
The idea is to bring the strong characteristics of the standard picks and make use of other features bringing other options, always seeking physical comfort when playing and adding a Picking Plus Booster in the personal conception of each one, because this logic can and should be random when thinking about raising the differential factor of execution of the ascending and descending scales.
1- Alternating Picking (IN) Inside
The development of this context is very based on the detail of the posture of your right hand, or left if you are left-handed. We're talking about starting a sequence of alternate pickings, with the first pick in the sequence facing up. This makes your posture have to adapt to this type of positioning. The suggestion is to use a tighter right hand. Both in ascending and descending.
2- Alternating Picking (OUT) Outside
This type of picking is much more common and brings as a striking feature the support used by the right hand, with the middle and ring fingers on the guitar shield. I usually leave it a little below the pickups, to get a bigger angle. However, this support is mobile, it can move as you search for other strings. The other more abrupt way is to make the movement with the wrists, which makes the execution more difficult, due to the muscle fatigue factor. The third mode is Economy Picking. It should be used lightly and try to minimize hand movement as much as possible in the mechanic that switches the out sequence.
3- Ascending and Descending Sweep
Here we will have two posture situations. In the ascending case, we always use the principle of picking out to start a sequence of three notes per string, however; when we reach the third note, we take advantage of the position of the pick down, to sweep with just one movement the next note that is on the string below, and so we continue the sequence, maintaining a support posture and trying to use (Economy Picking) to avoid physical wear and tear.
As for the downward sweep, I advise testing the posture of the closed hand, to position the inverse sweep of the reed with the best positioned angle.
4- Upward sweep and 2 alternate picks + 1 on
Within this context we started to use the term customize within our study practice. We use Sweep Picking in the traditional way, which is already described in the text above, but we also mix it in descending form, using two alternating ones, starting with the first out the second in and another on to reduce the movement of the right hand and obtain a sound that is very reminiscent of alternate picking.
5- Upward sweep + 2 picks + 1 On + Alternate
The context now brings another form of picking to complement the sequence. It's the same pattern as the example above however; we join a sequence of alternating in from the G string to end on the descending.
6- Sweep + On
The idea here is to get away from the up and down concept and focus on the concept of joining two very powerful techniques. The ascending sweep with the on half muffled. This term muffled bonds is very important, because the sound of this concept reminds us of a form of percussiveness, which works very well with the aesthetics of alternate picking. Therefore; it is the sum of two techniques that provide a sound close to the alternate picking.
7 and 8 - Slightly muffling the left hand
It was precisely thinking about the term customize that I was led to understand the importance of the mixture of techniques, which often travel lonely paths, to unify, bringing a Plus Booster in the adaptation of the older ways of looking at the theme. The fact that the muffle has an immense percussive connection with the kick of the reed that led me to create this perfect combination. This example has a lot more to do with the lightness of the left hand, which in short is, playing the notes on the neck without touching the wood to bring sense to the muffled, and providing the percussive feeling that added to an alternate or sweeping kick gives a giant plus of interpretation.
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