Difficulty With Alt-Picking While Palm Muting

[metropolis_4]

It's tricky, I definitely think it is it's own technique separate from normal alt picking.

Al DiMeola is the master of it. Some tips could probably be picked up by watching how he does it.

 

[Lopp]

The way Jake does it doesn’t really matter. He picks how its comfortable and ergonomic for him. Picking position is a very individualistic thing. However it is you pick, work with the metronome up to speed until these articulations you're chasing are happening. Chasing someone else’s approach will never work. Lord knows I’ve tried and I still pick how I pick.

Yeah, there are certain physical limitations/advantages that some people have and a particular guitarist's approach might not work for someone else. That being said, I agree with @la szum that you can learn and adapt from others and change your style (I have a particular affinity for mirroring).

Anecdotally, I never had super tight speed alternate picking. By super tight, I am talking Ronni Le Tekrø tight. Turns out, I had been using the tip of my index finger to hold the pick my whole playing career. After researching it for a while, switching to the side of my finger drastically tightened up my picking and drastically increased my speed after an initial learning curve and months of dedicated practice... I just checked my log, I got my trem picking over 240 bpm for quarter notes. Or is that 16th notes? I never know. Whatever it is, I was playing 4 notes per beat over 240 bpm on a good day with a lot of warmup. Point being, chasing a different approach can sometimes pay off.

I tend to agree. You gotta use what works for you. Now that said, I will look at how others place their hand and hold their pick, as a starting point. But there's some serious shredders out there that insist you need to hold the pick between your thumb and between the 1st & 2nd knuckle of your index finger, with your fingers closed, and there's simply no way I can do that.

I hear ya. It feels like there is not enough room in my fist to curl my finger enough to keep the fingertip off the strings when the pick is between those two knuckles. It might be possible if I make my whole hand more perpendicular to the strings. Hmmm...