This Changed My Picking!

[@davidritter7867]

I have taken nearly every Jeff course on TrueFire and can honestly say I that I have learned more during these courses than any other time in my 50+ years. This is not an ad, haha. Thank you Jeff for your incredible teaching style and extreme knowledge, particularly the chord notes during solos / melodies!! Truly valuable!!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you so much David. I really appreciate this. 🙌🏻🙏🏻

[@claudioalbanesi7727]

I confirm. I have been on the same path. I took all Jeff’s courses and all of them taugth me something. Jeff is the MAN

[@robzagar4275]

Great music here. Nice playing! Thanks Jeff for all the insight. Your teaching has helped this older rookie pick up some good information ! Thank you

[@JeffMcErlain]

Glad to help!

[@michaelarthurmusic307]

Wow. Decades playing professionally, and today I learned to angle my pick. Thanks!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Awesome!!

[@digitaldrew]

Thank you, kindly. I was in fact doing some of those don'ts lol. Nice to see subtle changes can have such an impact. That song at the end - chef's kiss. Brilliant!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Well thank you kindly as well!!

[@rockerbuck967]

Once I used the Jazz 3 picks, and any shape like that, I never went back. I do favor the Jazz 3 XL's though. Right shape, and feel more like a regular sized pick. Best part is, they last a long time. Once you get "trained" on those, if you have to use a regular pick it's easy. If you want real training, use a "Stylus Pick" once. They're only for practice, not for gigging.

[@johnfeole1971]

Hmmm.. old dogs can learn new tricks! Thanks Jeff, very helpful.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Oh cool!!!

[@jnapier99]

The bit about pick angle sort of blew my mind. I've been doing it wrong - holding it parallel to the strings - and this made a big difference immediately! Thanks Jeff, awesome as usual.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Oh cool!!

[@Rokcabilly]

I’ve been struggling recently with learning to tremolo pick efficiently. This video is a great reminder that you shouldn’t have a death grip on your pick. Thank Jeff.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Excellent! So glad it helped!

[@JimmyDel]

Thanks Jeff!! Always gold in your lessons. Love the outro too 🤘🤘

[@davidmunoz3268]

THANK YOU JEFF! I can't tell you how many technique videos I've watched and still not been able to figure out where I was going wrong. I've gained so much from this video alone.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Great to hear!

[@gerrymcgill3209]

Great advice Jeff. How easily we forget to check the basics and avoid developing bad habits. Beautiful playing and tone on the closing improvisation. 👏👏

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you!

[@nopenheimer]

Side note: stick on pick grips made a HUGE and immediate difference in learning to have my pick hand relaxed without dropping the picks. Coming from both bass and classical guitar I had so much trouble holding the pick loosely without dropping it when strumming that I always went back to playing without one. For YEARS. Stupidly thin picks were better but I hated the sound and couldn't play lead with them well. No amount of practice helped. I FINELY tried a pick grip (fender mojo) and it literally fixed it in a day or so. I had been fighting my hand the whole time, but this let me subconsciously have faith that the pick wasn't about to fly away and my hand just... relaxed. I got some generic stick on grips - the ones that are cut similar to 351s (but truncated), not the round ones - and they are even better: much cheaper, easily cut to any pick (mojo are slide on and made to fit 351s), and being stick on they don't shift... You can count on the pick point being just where you expect (the straight edge of the grip above the point gives a good reference edge). Best of all, I now know how to play with my hand relaxed and can play without the grips. I typically do use them because it feels so natural now. I can't believe it was that simple. I would recommend new players who have issues with it give them a try, but use them as training wheels and move on to playing without them early on... You want to be super comfortable picking up a guitar and random pick at a party and playing, and the grips do make them a bit too thick to keep in your wallet etc. just in case.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thanks!! Excellent tip!!

[@azapura]

Thank you! Amazing performance!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you too!

[@rodvella-iq4so]

Jeff, I’ve been playing for years (like you) and of late had been frustrated why I struggle with speed and consistency - pick angle and the position of the forearm and hand - finally - thanks!!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Awesome!

[@rodvella-iq4so]

We’re the same age (almost to the day). Went to music school for three years… Robben Ford is my guitar hero - since 1988 when my guitar teacher recommended Talk to your daughter. Like many guitarists, I chased his tone for years - like you… I have nice gear, but I realize that it’s Robben choice of notes, phrasing, touch, talent and improvisation skills that I’m drawn to most, and for his tone, a high head-room amp or a good boost with a small amp gets me close enough!

[@mbach1187]

that jam at the end was killer

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you!

[@SRHMusic012]

Good advice and well presented, Jeff. And the Monty Python references are a bonus (!). And a free performance video at the end- great idea.

[@JeffMcErlain]

A big fan obviously! Thanks!

[@williamswanson6424]

Please continue to put these short pieces of your band at the end of your youtube videos! Its fun to play along!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@NashvilleJB]

Thanks Jeff - good way to start my Saturday! Can recommend "Blues Rock Repeated Licks', has helped me a LOT! Enjoyed the second half of the video also, you and the band sound great.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you!!

[@etienne844]

Great performance Jeff . All the best !!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thanks man!! Hope you are well!

[@patfinnegan467]

Damn, Jeff, that f'n works! Thank you.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Music to my ears!

[@patfinnegan467]

@@JeffMcErlain the pick angle cleaned up a couple of licks I like to play immediately! Never even thought about it.

[@chrisboule970]

Incredible performance and tones. And a timely synchronized swimming reference

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you!!

[@13thAMG]

Absolutely 💯, Jeff. I'm weird. I started out 50 years ago only able to use a pick (badly). My overall right hand timing has always been a struggle. Some decades ago, working with Tommy was key to me turning to finger picking. So, now I finger pick badly too. 🙄 There's something to be said about just having natural talent, which I definitely don't. So, learning from legends like you is the best chance I have on this lifelong journey. Thanks, Jeff. Hope to meet you in NY one day. 😉

[@dwstoeckel4740]

Thanks for everything you do jeff.. love your music, love your instruction.. you have a great channel! Edit: and that piece of music at the end? My goodness.. just wow…

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you!!!!!!

[@mattgleason5087]

Life changer. Thanks so much!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Happy to help!

[@musiccreation1198]

THANK YOU Jeff.

[@ae3898]

@1:06 the applauding old ladies clip from Monty Python’s Flying Circus really pulled this whole video together for me.

[@JeffMcErlain]

😉

[@MrAwesomeSaucesome]

I had a big picking upskill when i found the cracking the code channel. My picking caught up and actually overtook my fretting hand. Took me ages to diagnose as i was so used to picking being the issue 😂

[@JeffMcErlain]

Troy’s stuff is fantastic

[@ssiowi]

Thank-you Jeff! BTW, total respect--and sadly, some envy too--for your ÷13 beauty! "Divided Duo" from the Line 6 Helix world--lovely for sure--puts us modeler-folks curbside to the beautiful, gated community that is the JRT 9/15. Behind you; do we all see the CCC 9/15? Thanks again Sir!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thanks! It’s an EDT 13/29!

[@ScottfromBaltimore]

Thanks for the tips, and the big drums. Echoes of Echoes.

[@JeffMcErlain]

A little STCFTHOTS as well!!

[@mykneeshurt8393]

Great pick holding / strumming tips. Love the live footage! Thank you!

[@JeffMcErlain]

My pleasure!

[@a.j.garrett9639]

My God. High level. I can't overstate how amazing this performance is. If you tune in for the lesson and decide to jump videos and don't watch the performance you are losing out.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you 🙏🏻!!

[@james-gang]

Cool Peace at the end!! 🖖🤩✨

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you!

[@stratman9449]

hi Jeff.....intersting....over the years i have tried many (not ALL) different types of picks....BUT i've always come back to my old favorite the "Fender" tortois shell medium pick......they can be a bit thin or slippy, but they give me the right feel to play soft or with more "attack"...cheers.....like that HH strat.......but noooo...must not get sidetracked.....

[@JeffMcErlain]

Like I said, wherever work for you!!

[@linheitzig9227]

Great lesson Jeff, thank you!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Glad you liked it!

[@a.j.garrett9639]

Can we take a moment to seriously acknowledge how beautiful that HH start is. And the colour of the headstock! I dont love light colour wood Strats. I love that yellow. Anyway those two humbuckers with those beautiful covers what's the perloid pickguard 😮❤

[@Gearhound62]

Landau

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thanks!! It’s a Michael Landau limited run Strat. I was lucky enough to get one on a trade!

[@mac7659]

Nice playing and very nice drum solo!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thanks a lot!

[@LowdenOs]

You talked about holding the pick with a moderate grip only but did not mention the problem that often comes with it … the moving pick … for me the biggest topic ever. Good grip is the single most important thing about the pick for me.

[@JeffMcErlain]

I’ve been fortunate that that problem was usually from using either too small a pick or one made of the wrong material for my hands.

[@jloch9312]

I have always held my pick the way Eddie Van Halen held his for the same reason he held his that way. I'm a leftie that learned right handed. Wish I could say I play like him!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Don’t we all!!

[@thechahal]

Another great video Jeff. You touched on it in another video but how hard should you hit the stings. I play my strat acoustically most times and am interested on how it sounds when you do. not only soloing but also when play chords/rhythm. Thanks again for all you content on your channel

[@nopenheimer]

That jam is unbelievably good.

[@JeffMcErlain]

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@InsolentMusicalPeasant]

The tone during the performance was so sick.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Thank you!!

[@icarusi]

A lot of picking advice assumes everybody has the same type and position of 1st thumb joint, and the same with the length of thumb, 1st & 2nd finger. Some pick grips aren't practical for those when those dimensions, and joint articulations, don't match those advising.

[@JeffMcErlain]

You should make a video on that!

[@david25876]

Great tips. Thx!!

[@JeffMcErlain]

Glad it was helpful!

[@richardsrensen4219]

thanks a lot i think this is a course for me

[@JeffMcErlain]

Glad to hear that!

[@briancassidy6678]

Great advice. Great bonus jam! Most recent tour?

[@JeffMcErlain]

Hey! 2022 tour. Looking forward to doing it again in September!

[@ojaisherpa]

what is that HH strat? Beauty

[@barsalla]

Fender Custom Shop Michael Landau

[@aminahmed2220]

What a fantastic video jeff my favorite youtuber have a wonderful weekend also I cut my wrist with a knife when my family was sleeping ❤😢😊

[@JeffMcErlain]

Hope you are ok!

[@stratocumulusnimbostratus328]

Would,love to see the underside of you hand. Are you holding pick on the end of your 1st finger or is the finger more bent and the pick more being held in the side joint of 1st finger

[@GazMoz78]

Pink Floyd meets Moby Dick! Gotta love it 😎

[@JeffMcErlain]

🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@EmilioConesa]

I asked my doctor , I look terrible in the mirror every morning what’s wrong with me? Doctor said “I don’t know but your eyesight is perfect!”

[@JeffMcErlain]

😝

[@AndrewNuttall]

Question, when I switch my pick so that it hits the strings at a slight angle, I get this small scraping sounds instead of the clean, clear front to the note that I get with a flat on pick attack. Am I doing something wrong with it?

[@JeffMcErlain]

Not sure, I’m sure you have thought of this, maybe it’s the pick itself? The material or its a bit rough? A rougher edge would make that sound. Just a thought!

[@stratjed]

Heard Jerry Garcia, and was ruined for what's achievable with a picking hand. Find a guy missing his middle finger who can pick like that? You won't. Both with a pick and without and the Banjo. Adamas 2.0 is the pick for me got that from Garcia, but a Fender thin on a Twelve string is magic. I'm that guy that Eat, slept, and shit Michael Shenker and Garcia both. The pick every note of bluegrass is all pick 'in. Really believe the thicker the pick the better. Thin is like striking a bell with a newspaper. Like BB King said "Why you working so hard?"

[@JeffMcErlain]

The missing finger didn’t affect the way he picked because it was his middle finger. Certainly if you were fingerpicking it would be different, but it didn’t inhibit the he held a pick. No slam on Jerry, just pointing to the way he held a pick.

[@stratjed]

Yes its thumb and first on most picks. Agree. Just think of Jerry when I think about picking. Banjo rolls with a pick between the thumb and first and plucking notes with the ring and pinky. Magician like pick tucks. The missing finger was out of the way so to speak and sure could have been an advantage. But Bluegrass is Picking. Anyways, made me think of him when you said picking.

[@JeffMcErlain]

@@stratjed I will revisit!

[@stratjed]

@@JeffMcErlain Its ok you know they're not a cult anymore . 🤣 Love ya man.

[@JeffMcErlain]

😂

[@VilleKuitunen6]

Monty Python clapping ladies!

[@JeffMcErlain]

😉

[@stuartallcock3516]

I've played guitar for years on and off , ive never learned to play fast. Recently I've wanted to play fast but it's impossible I'm 49 now i think it's too late for me. Plus my hands are quite small so think odds are against me.

[@JeffMcErlain]

I don’t think so! I’d find a good teacher who can assess the situation.

[@stuartallcock3516]

@@JeffMcErlain it's hard to find a good teacher here.. they mostly are intermediate players trying to take money from you.. to be honest.

[@stevemiell4555]

Man the right hand is so neglected in guitar tutorials, coming from acoustic its a challenge!

[@PsionicAudio]

Another great video. Yawn. Change it up, suck once in a while. ;)

[@JeffMcErlain]

Ha!