Hybrid picking basics

I know most of the folks here are Tele devotees, well acquainted with hybrid picking, but I get asked more about that than anything else, so I put up a little tutorial, with a couple o' videos, aimed at beginning twangers.

Most of the guys here are probably well beyond the basics, so I also included a little lick that's a little more spicy.
Enjoy! More to come! :smile:

Hybrid Picking 101 (http://johnmcniel.com/blog/hybrid-picking-101/)

Thanks JM
Anything that can make my playing better is most welcome.
I may be beyonde newbie but you can always pick something up from lessons like this.Keep `em coming!
Cheers,Wikur!

Hi John,

Thanks a lot. I really that E9 lick at the bottom of the page. I think I need to practice that one a little bit.

Peace,

Bob

First time on the forums... and I found exactly what what I was looking for.

It's hard to find good lessons on techniques, especially hybrid picking... this one works good. Thanks for posting the link.

For me, I'd apperciate anyother helpers on beginner Hybrid picking technique. I'm a former rock player, trying to become a picker.

-jimmy

Where were you when I was looking for just such a thing, a good year ago?

Thanks for doing this. Your going to help a lot of people that have questions about how to get started. I was one of them.

-Brian

First time on the forums... and I found exactly what what I was looking for.

It's hard to find good lessons on techniques, especially hybrid picking... this one works good. Thanks for posting the link.

For me, I'd apperciate anyother helpers on beginner Hybrid picking technique. I'm a former rock player, trying to become a picker.

-jimmy

Doug Seven's (http://sizzlingguitarlicks.com/)4 DVD set and Forrest Lee Jnr's (Sales@OutWestRecords.com)DVD teach lot's on hybrid picking plus all the intensive stuff.

These will keep you busy for many months and teach you all the good stuff.

Email Forrest's link and ask for his DVD price.

Seriously these are my recommendations after buying lots of crappy DVD's.

Johnny Hilands - Chicken Pickin' Guitar is also hot.

Hey,

I just ordered Doug Seven's 4 DVD set this weekend. I am sure looking forward to learning some killer stuff.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Bob

Thank you for this lesson!

Here's a book I study out of on a daily basis.

http://www.amazon.com/Hybrid-Picking-Guitar-Book-CD/dp/0977439801/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200841487&sr=8-1

There's no country style licks. It's all right hand exercises. The ideas (technique) can apply to any genre, assuming the player in knowledgeable enough to adapt them.

Note that the book does not go into the mechanics of hybrid picking from a physical standpoint. The author simply presents exercises.

If you're interested in the mechanics of hybrid picking, I'd recommend looking at several classical guitar books. No two instructors seem to say the same thing the same way. Pictures and words simply cannot explain the subtle sensations. You really have to read, look, listen to the masters and then spend hours upon hours developing your own feel.

My approach has been to combine my classical right hand studies with my plectrum style. Perhaps a subject for a future post.

Here are a couple of video lesson I've put together on Hybrid picking...

http://premierguitarlessons.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=6&id=15&Itemid=37

John / others

Can I see your right hand nails please ?

If I look at my nails ( natural ) with my right hand facing me , I keep getting a nick / V left of center of the nail .

Is this the same for you guys ?

Any cure ?

Not sure i'm ready for falsies just yet .

I just use the fleshy part of the finger - the nail never touches the string.

It was always a natural thing for me to use the right hand fingers to grab notes - I never really thought much about the mechanics of it until back when I was teaching a lot, and people would always ask about the technique.

Like any other technique, there are infinite ways to approach it and use it, everyone will be a little different. Some guys (Brent Mason, Scotty Anderson, etc..) use a thumbpick which frees up their index finger also, so they get 4 independent 'picking' fingers. That's one reason Brent's solos can be tricky to play for flatpick/fingers players.

Albert Lee's style is flatpick/fingers and so are non-country guys like Brett Garsed, Wayne Krantz, even Shawn Lane.

In my experience the whole key to it is having a relaxed picking hand...people often tense up and restrict themselves when first learning to do it, which can decrease endurance. You want to be able to get a good loud consistent note sound out of each finger. Especially if you're on a 3 hour gig!

One thing I would recommend is learning to use it in context of what you're already playing, instead of just learning the 'open string' licks everyone plays. That way you dont program yourself to only utilize it with certain 'pre-programmed' runs. Of course learning 'some' licks or concepts is good, but it's the type of thing that should free up your options instead of limit you to a few little flashy 'tricks'.

Although, I will say Brent's 'tricks' are pretty fun to listen to! :shock:

Thanks John .

Spent the last 30 minute listening to your clips on your site , and particularly liked the stuff you did with the girls .

I'm not a Country player by any means , but i've added an awfull lot of Country style into my own playing , which at the moment is a bit of a mix thrown together if i'm improvising .

I find that when i'm simply doing my own thing , everything comes pretty natural , and I will use hybrid a lot , even if not necessarily the same way a Country pro might .

Ask me to play a lick though , using precise fingers and timing and often a simple lick can become a challenge .
I guess that's when the need to think about it slows you down .

I find that I could use my fingers pretty well , even though they would tire or even cramp after prolonged use , probably due to an incorrect wrist angle if the truths known .
I started to consiously work on hybrid about 12 months ago , as I needed to retrain both hands after whiplash numbness had messed them up , so figured it was a good opportunity to explore .

First 6 months of hybrid were pretty tough , but gradually , I could get a bit of movement going that felt natural , and i've found that it was probably the most important thing I ever did in nearly 30 years of playing .

It opened up a lot of doors and added a whole different approach to my own style .
I might of made a bit of a mistake by practising it to the tunes of Mason , Lee , Gatton , Hilland etc , as I found I would get through 50% of the songs before giving up lol , so I guess my introduction was at the deep end .

Still haven't got the speed as with fingers only , but it's not far away , so I guess the next 12 months should polish it off pretty good if I keep heading in that direction .
Thumbpick method got binned quickly , as I was fed up with the pic digging into the bottom of the nail flesh :lol:

Certain things I do now just don't seem right without the attack of my nails , which was why I was curious about yours .
Having said that , they can get in the way sometimes too , so it's a funny circle .

Thanks for the post .

On the matter of nails.

I used to have my nails filed for classical playing (I'm sure there must be pictures of "proper" classical nails somewhere on the classical guitar sites). This caused a problem when going for marathon sessions on an electric guitar.

One of the keys to getting a proper stroke is the smoothness of the nail. If it's filed smooth and at an angle, the nail effortlessly glides off the string.

The classical guitar's strings are nylon and don't eat into the nail much. After hours of playing your nails are pretty much in the same condition as when you started.

When I began doing marathon sessions on the electric with my classical technique, the strings would get my nails ragged pretty quick. I would file my nails and play for an hour or two, only to realize that the strings had made my nails a bit coarse. I'd file slightly (a little bit is all you need) and play again. This constant filing (several times a day) led to my nail length decreasing faster than my nails were growing.

After hours on the web searching for solutions/alternatives and many experiments, I settled on this for the electric:

http://www.guptillmusic.com/gif/f-tone_split.gif

http://www.guptillmusic.com/propik/fingertone.html

It allows you to have the intimate flesh contact necessary for classical styles and the metal allows you to save your nails.

The tone does not sound like fingernail tone. It is very much a metallic tone. This is no different from many metal finger picks already on the market. Where these differ is that your finger pad feels like you're bare fingered and when your stroke glides off, you have the metallic tone.

There is a learning curve to this product. I did not like it at first. The fingernail tone was missing and having my nail substituted with a curved piece of metal didn't feel natural. I kept in mind that when I first started classical guitar, none of the mechanics felt natural either. The mechanics of finger style only feel natural after your muscles get used to the actions. So I gave it time. After a few hours the finger picks were not so bad. And after a few days it feels just as natural as my bare fingers.

The tone may not be fingernail tone, but it suits the electric guitar well.

(more on the nails)

Most of the hardcore classical players (and country players - including Brent Mason, many others...) that play for a living actually have synthetic nails put on at a nail salon. No, really! (geeez this sounds like a chick thread):oops:

The professionally done acrylic nails are much stronger than the natural nail, and will last a while. That is the solution I have seen the most amongst the pros. It is a little embarassing I suppose, having to go to a nail salon...

Those little finger picks are rough! I tried them years ago but they were really awkward for me.

jm,

thanks for putting up hybrid picking 101 on your site! love the sound bites too!

hey, how long does it take typically to become proficient at hybrid picking? i know it's too early to ask because i only started a couple of weeks ago - but my progress is too slow to notice at this point. i can get to a certain speed and just can't get quicker...

how long am i going to have to keep at it?? 6 months? some inspiration please!

lump

Great videos!

I've been messing with hybrid picking for 10-12 months now and finally it's starting to feel natural and comfortable. The big leap forward came when I decided to go with acrylic nails, beeing tired of wearing my own nails down faster than they would grow. Now I have a full and consistent tone and feel to what I'm playing compared to when I used my own nails. Now I don't have to worry about playing hard anymore because the acrylic nails show no kind of wear. Makes you look stupid at the salon but the trade off is worth it. I usually go there once a month now.

The videos of Doug Seven contains some great stuff if you're willing to spend time with them. Especially the things he say about muscle memory and practising very very slowly at first. Now, if I find a lick difficult, I just practice it way to slow with my metronome until my hands get used to the motions, then after doing this for a while I'm usually able to bring it right up to tempo. Previosly if I wanted to learn something in 120 BPM, I might start at 80 BPM and work my way up step by step. Now I start at maybe 60 and go straight to 120. Weird;) I'm not saying it happens all the time but often.

http://www.alaskapik.com/

I've never used them, but only because I've been too lazy to buy them

jm,
hey, how long does it take typically to become proficient at hybrid picking? i know it's too early to ask because i only started a couple of weeks ago - but my progress is too slow to notice at this point. i can get to a certain speed and just can't get quicker...

how long am i going to have to keep at it?? 6 months? some inspiration please!

lump

Well, I can't really say how long it takes, as I never really consciously set out to learn it...it just sorta happened over the years. But, I have seen people get the hang of it in a few months with some dedicated practice. Like they say, you just have to WANT it.

I would suggest finding some tunes you like and set some goals as far as learning them and being able to play along in 'real time' with the recordings.

Start with stuff like Haggard or Buck Owens, make sure it's something reasonable...not discouraging to tackle. At the early stage of the game you're in it's important to feel like you are progressing, and getting something down where you can play it confidently will do that!

Great videos!

Thanks! I need to get off my arse and make some new ones...workin too hard. :roll:

Thanks John, that's a wonderful primer. i've been practising hybrid picking for about a month and it's coming along. These exercises will be a welcome addtion to my practise routine.
A note on nails. I read where using "hard as Nails " clear nail polish will keep your nails from wearing down to fast. I'm using it on my middle and ring finger and find it helps somewhat.