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Upstroke with a pick

musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
edited November 2009 in Musicians and Gearheads
I am having a really hard time with it. I am a beginner, Just starting out, and playing with the pick, doing a downstroke, I guess you could call it, feels natural. What I am having trouble with is, doing an upstroke, if that makes sense.

Anything I can do to make it seem more natural? I cant get the rhythm of it
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • HebejebeHebejebe Posts: 108
    It's a bit of a crappy answer but I'd say just practice. If you play something easy like the intro to R.E.M's Everybody Hurts you'll soon get the feel of picking upwards as well as down.

    For picking individual strings I don't have this problem but for strumming I'm bad for just strumming downwards and have to force myself to strum up and down.

    Practice can be pretty dull I guess but if you stick with it you'll find the results are worth it when you are able to play stuff that you previously couldn't.
  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    What he said. Just keep practicing. Eventually, it'll seem like the most natural thing ever.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • YieldedYielded Posts: 839
    If you're just starting out, I'd say definitely force yourself to alternate upstrokes and downstrokes. When I first started out, I didn't really bother with downstrokes and when I progressed to more advanced stuff, it took me ages to correct that bad habit!
    "We get these pills to swallow... how they stick in your throat... Tastes like gold..."
  • tinkerbelltinkerbell Posts: 2,161
    Are you playing electric or acoustic? If acoustic I found it easier to master the upstroke without a pick and once I'd got the hang of it added the pick later on. :geek:
    all you need is love, love is all you need
  • Hitch-HikerHitch-Hiker Posts: 2,873
    Yeah, like the others have said practice makes perfect. It makes a difference what kind of songs you're playing too. When I started out I went to lessons to get the basics down, and my teacher concentrated a lot on strumming techniques. As a result I've always had a much better grasp of rhythm playing. Maybe this is why I gravitated towards bass after but I digress. The kind of songs I did we're fairly varied but we stayed away from the heavier more punk side of things as they tend towards simple continuous down stroking in their rhythms. Hope this helps.
    I'll Ride The Wave Where It Takes Me
  • dieter172dieter172 Posts: 5
    Like everyone else says, it's all practice and time. Try to relax and not think about strumming while you're doing it.

    Try to learn "Needle and the Damage Done". Even if it's just the first few chords, it's a great exercise for picking the bass on the downstroke and then the lower string(s) on the upstroke. Play it slow until you get the hang of it.
    The reality is in this head. Mine. I'm the projector at the planetarium, all the closed little universe visible in the circle of that stage is coming out of my mouth, eyes, and sometimes other orifices also.
    --Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
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