How To Develop Your Picking Hand For Better Rhythm Playing
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to develop your picking hand for better rhythm playing. This is a vitally important skill to master when playing guitar. Especially rock guitar! Because rhythm is the backbone of the music.
Your picking hand
A very important step in your educational development playing rock guitar. All the rhythm you create will be done with your picking hand. That is why it is so important to spend some time on this skill set. It is a must and can’t be overlooked.
Your two hands represent different aspects of your guitar playing. Your fretboard hand will form the chord shapes and switches between them, and your picking hand will create the timing and rhythm patterns of the music. The development of both is equally important.
Sleight of hand magic.
When watching someone play this is a valuable part that is often missed. This is actually where a lot of the guitar magic happens. Very much like a magician that does slight of the hand. It is the hand that you don’t focus on that is creating the magic.
So consider this with your learning and begin to focus on your picking hand and its development. Be aware of your picking hand placement and how you hold your pick. These two things will make a world of difference.
Practice good hand posture and always be aware of your playing. Where your hands are positioned at all times. This focus on attention to detail will make a world of difference in your progress and how your tone will be produced.
Different types of picking techniques.
Make sure to practice picking downward, upward, and alternate picking. This will allow you to play more complex picking patterns down the line when you start getting good. If you pay attention to this lesson you will develop a really good picking hand that will allow you to become great at playing both rhythm and lead guitar.
When you’re learning to play guitar, you are working on both hands at the same time. So naturally, when the fretboard hand gets tired from forming and moving chords, you can allow it to take a break and work on developing your picking hand and creating rhythm.
The more you focus on your picking hand development, the better you are going to become. The better your timing is going to be, the more aware you are going to become of your style of playing the guitar and the more of you and your personality you are going to bring out in your playing.
Notice the placement of the pick between your fingers and your hand position close to the strings. your other fingers can be used as well to stabilize your hand. It’s all personal comfort and everyone plays a bit different. So it is really up to you to find what is best. And this will come only through practice.
Some rhythms you create will be loose and flamboyant as where others may be tight and muted. It just depends on what type of rhythm playing draws your attention and takes to your liking. That is why I recommend you learn songs from your favorite players.
Learning guitar from your favorite players.
Learning songs from your favorite players develops a lot of skill sets at one time. But the main thing that it develops is discipline. Discipline is what’s going to set you apart from your average player. How much discipline did you develop through hours of study and practice? Remember, what you put in you’re going to get out.
If you put in a little, you’re going to get out a little. But if you want to get out a lot, you are going to have to put in a lot. It is really that simple. Now when you learn from your favorite players you learn how chords are put together in progressions. You learn basic music theory by noticing what keys they commonly play in. Learn what picking and strumming patterns that they commonly use. Discover what timing signatures they play in to set certain moods.
Then you take all these things that you’ve learned and you apply it to your own original compositions. If that’s what you choose to do. Or, you take these learned skill sets and apply them to other songs by other artists. When you do, you begin to notice that they too use some of these chord progressions, picking patterns and time signatures. Now you’ve killed two birds with one stone (as the saying goes) which makes you a more proficient player in half the amount of time.
Lesson conclusion.
When it comes to being proficient at playing rock guitar or guitar in general (no matter the style) you will need to put in some time. No matter what people on the internet are trying to tell you. It does take work, hours of study, dedication, and dedication to a routine practice schedule. You do this regularly and I guarantee you that you will see quick progress.
And if you truly want to develop the art of playing rock guitar quickly and easily, be sure to grab a copy of my starter book “Rock Guitar 101” where you will learn the fundamental principles needed to get you up and running very quickly.
Rock Guitar 101 will take you every step of the way.
From the very first lesson, you’ll start learning and having fun. By learning what type of equipment to buy (guitar, amp, tuner, etc) to learning rock guitar chords, progressions, developing rhythm, and much, much more. With full-color pictures and diagrams for easier understanding and quicker learning.
Not to mention that it is only 7 lessons and can be gotten through pretty quickly. Not like a book that has more information than is necessary. You can leave that for future study. Once you get your basics down, you can play great rock riffs with confidence.
I can’t begin to tell you how many guitar players I’ve met over the years who have skipped the basics. They have jumped ahead to learning songs and don’t have the fundamentals down. It hinders their playing. Why? Because they run into roadblocks they can’t get through.
Because they skipped over the fundamentals they stopped their progress. That would be like trying to read when you don’t know your alphabet or how to pronounce words. Learn the musical knowledge and pass it along to others who might want to enjoy it too.
In addition to authoring and publishing method books, I also offer private guitar lessons. These can be taught in person or virtually through Zoom. If you feel you could benefit from this service, contact me, and I will get you on the schedule.
Best of luck to you. Until our next lesson, take care.
Sincerely, Dwayne Jenkins
