Atomic.Sheep said:
My biggest concern with the picking is that my index finger tends to touch the strings and wears down somewhat... and becomes quite thin... that's the problem that I am experiencing with it.
Sounds painful... Do you bleed all over the place? How long does it take your finger to grow back? :lol:
Ok seriously, I have been playing for years and your fingernail might get a little worn here and there. It is just something that you must learn to deal with like your callouses on your fretting fingers. You can adjust your grip on the pick, but in the end it is your style that will prevail.
Tips for when you hit a brick wall:
Play with others. This is important. You cannot fully develop sitting at home playing with yourself :lol:
Play with something that will improve your rhythm and force you to get through those tougher passages (a drummer preferably but a metronome won't give you as much sh!t) :wink:
Consider playing things that you know to be a treat rather than a staple of your practice regimine.
Force yourself to play things in alternate positions.
Get off your butt and stand up and play and move for God's sake.
Try not to look at your fretting hand as much as possible. Learn your neck and your picking hand position by touch and memory.
Pick a mode or a scale to work on one at a time until you have mastered it forwards and backwards until you can play it in any position and without error. (Look at Zakk Wylde- he is the king of the Pentatonic Minor. That is about all he likes to play.) :shock:
Prepare a set time to play so that you are dedicating it to practice. This will make it so that it is more important.
Pick up your guitar whenever you can even if it is while you are watching tv. This can improve your relationship with it as far as learning the touch sensitivity and location memory.
Practice different picking styles and attacks. Do not overlook fingerpicking.
Do not get stuck in the guitar at your knees is the best place to sling it mentality. Though it looks cool it severely limits your ability to play.
Get the headstock of your guitar up. The more vertical your neck is the easier it will be to scale. Classical positioning greatly improves your performance.
If you drive well, practice your fingering on the wheel. If you don't drive, get off your skateboard and walk. Use your board as an implement of practice and fret into it as if you were playing your guitar while walking down the sidewalk. (ok so the skateboard thing may have been out of line but it does offer for a great workout for your fingers provided you are not fretting into grip tape and keeps old ladies from getting run over and needing hip replacement surgery)
