Category Archives for "PR: Picking"

This is a great hybrid picking pattern to get started with, if you've never tried hybrid picking before. One of the biggest benefits of hybrid picking, in my mind at least, is that you gain the ability to pick multiple places at once - something you simply cannot do with just a pick. 

Your pick is always limited to being in one place at one time, and if you want more than one string at once, you need to strum them. Sometimes, you simply can't strum the strings, like with these widespread double stops that we're playing today. 

Our pattern starts out by playing the root note at the exact same time as the second string. I love the effect this produces - it gives a lot of depth and space to the sound which is really nice. 

In the second bar we're going to change the pattern just a bit - starting off with a double stop on the root plus the first string instead. The reason for this is I wanted that note to hit right away, so your ear registers the change from the sus4 to the major. You can try playing it both ways, and let me know which one you prefer!

I've called this the Ping Pong picking pattern, because it has a lot of bouncing back and forth, and because it sounds cool! Whenever you're picking, it's really important to know where the root notes are for the chords you're playing. Root notes set the character and direction for the rest of the chord, and it really helps to start your picking pattern on the root note. Here's our pattern: 

Try applying this ping pong pattern to different chord progressions - you will find it's very versatile and sounds great all over the place!