Question to Jim and the Forum

TerminalTwang

Hi Jim, love your stuff, your lessons, and the general coolness of this forum. I've got a technique question.
I saw the fender video of you and Luca checking out the 68 custom princeton. In that video you play the tremolo picking part on the e triad from Rumble. I seem to seize up on my right hand when trying to tremolo pick.......especially multi string stuff. Any tips for loosening up the right hand to get that stuff sounding good and fluid? Any of your lessons cover this already?
Tips from anyone appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Brad

JimCampilongo

Hi Terminal-

I like this forum too (it's really turned into a supportive place with it's own little niche), and thanks for buying my music.

First off - think "relax" and breathe.

Try strumming on the neck -15th fret area. The neck can function as training wheels to keep your strum even, eliminating the "ice pick" sound of an unbalanced strum. But don't get too used to it, try to bring the same balanced strum you felt playing on the fingerboard to the "sound hole" area of the guitar, because you'll ultimately want to strum in the general area where you pick.

If any other forum members have advice concerning "tightness" - please post it.

All the best- Jim

ruger9

"Think 'relax' and breathe"- was pretty much what I was going to say. I didn't post it, because it seems so... inadequate? Easier said than done, right? "just relax". LOL But that is the key. I'm glad Jim said it, because it makes me feel NOT so inadequate posting such simple advice.

I've been "trying to relax" in ALL my playing lately- not just with the technique you asked about. It's amazing how much speed and accuracy you can gain- instantly- by just relaxing.

Interestingly, on a recent Johnny Smith video I posted, he also discussed the same thing- relaxing the hands.

TerminalTwang

Thanks fellows, I sincerely appreciate your time. I'm going to work on this. I've also found a few other tips on google searches. I'll report back in the near future with what I tried and how it worked.

JimCampilongo

"...go the extra mile..." - John McLaughlin

TerminalTwang

OK. Heres what I learned. Relaxing is the key but easier said than done. I'm getting there. Like all things tough on guitar, another 1000 times and it'll be a piece of cake….
What I've done in case it helps someone else:
Tried Jims method of using the neck as training wheels and it worked good to get the right hand moving up and down fluidly but moving back to "no neck" was tougher. I focused and studied on what my pick was doing. With each stroke it was not moving parallel with the strings (playing over the neck allowed parallel movement). My pick was moving in an arc…So on an F shape triad I had more pick depth on the B string than the e and g. It made it sound bad and "jerky". So…..right, wrong or indifferent, I resorted to resting my pinky and third finger against the pick guard to guide my pick into a parallel stroke. Still tough. Then I used a another tip I found online. I Started then to pick one string at a time then adding strings (starting with e, then b then g). Now its coming pretty good…..another week or two I suppose.
Thanks for your advice!