As a guitar teacher with over 20y expirence, I can honestly say that your teaching is second to none. Yet another very helpful and well explained video. Thanks for all you do :)

You explained these tips perfectly. I am getting your course.

Man….i’ve been playing for 20 years and never caught on to the pendulum picking thing…..i’ve been doing it the past 2 months and damnit if it’s completely changed my playing. It was that one piece of technique i needed to push me over the hill from where i’ve been lately. Thanks man.

I wish you sold instructional VHS tapes in the 90s. Because as the "finger" picking type, I needed EXACTLY this video. At one point I hit a speed wall. My fingers could only go so fast and I would tire out. I kinda let dreams of being a good guitar player die because of this. You are absolutely fantastic. I envy a 16 year old who finds this looking to excel at guitar.

This is the most informative and best described teaching of right hand picking technique I have ever seen. Having being stuck for years with my tremolo picking at intermediate speeds, I really feel that this video is a game changer. Thank you.

I've been playing guitar for 40 years, and always felt like I just don't possess the magical ability that skillful musicians have. After watching you I realize that I just have never practiced correctly, or enough to become highly skilled. I've never played 1000 repetitions of anything on guitar, but that is about to change. Thanks for all of your hard work, and willingness to share what you know.

Listen to what this man says !!! He's spot on. Been applying the simple triplet exercise he describes with alternate picking as well as legato for under a month so far and I've already broken through the plateau I was stuck on for several months. That's my whole practice routine now ! Straight tri-pl-et, tri-pl-et, tri-pl-et, tri-pl-et ... For hours on end. Sounds boring but not if you really focus (and want it badly enough), which is an exercise in itself and a mental skill worth developing. Thanks a lot, Claus.

There are two things I always tell my students that immediately help. The first everyone knows, you have to get an angle on your pick. But the second is the absolute number one killer of speed. You have to stay relaxed and hold the pick “loosely”. Later on, as you develop, you might get a bit of a tighter grip. But just telling people to loosely hold the pick instantly conveys how relaxed your arm needs to be and it translates into higher speeds almost immediately for many people.

Awesome Claus. 1000% correct !!

Hey Claus, this is the best explanation of all the aspects for speed picking that i have seen yet. An of course your energy that one can feel when you are 'in action' is a big motivation. I'm 64 years old, live in Germany and of course my english is bad, but i need to say thanks for your excellent work. It is really great! 'Stay tuned an keep on rockin'in a free world' 🎸✌️

Great player; Great Teacher, and Great facial expressions!

Thank you so much for this. I think Eddie Van Halen also uses the pendulum movement you talk about when he does his tremolo picking stuff.

I call it "micro-articulation". If you watch Yngwie's "knitting" technique, the guy looks like he picks from the fingers but its really hyper efficiency using the arm wrist and fingers. It just takes me 90 minutes to warm up to synchronicity. Its extremely difficult and have had unlearn decades of doing things wrong. Love your videos!

Awesome stuff Claus! Can't wait to start implementing these techniques!

Extremely useful, good info, keep it up Claus!

Thank you, its always great and refreshing to watch your videos.

Always top notch delivery. Thanks!

I absolutely love your teaching style.. Been a fan for years!! Great lesson as always :)

Following your excellent tips has helped my technique ten fold, TY.

Very good video! I started playing guitar at the worst time in history, the end of the 80s and everybody in a band was a shredder. Our lead guitarist nurtured my keyboard roots and said: “there’s no need to be fast! Being fast is a gimmick, having well phrased melodic solos is the real cherry on the pie”. And since I came from keyboard I had a very melodic solo thing - and that was tidy. But I wanted to learn to speed pick because I loved those minor scale stegatto runs as fills between some phrases. And I practiced and couldn’t get! Until I went to Steve Vai’s guitar workshop. And he explained “the economy of motion”. So basically all this and then the concept of economy picking. And he too said, start slow. Start as slow as it feels comfortable, there’s no need to rush! And you will even realize that what you want to hear is actually slower than you think it is. Because with a well performed scale run you can hear each individual note and that illusion translates to speed. And indeed! Often I hear a speedy lick and I think it’s way faster than it is. It’s just executed with sheer precision and timing. The things that catch me out still, or those licks where they slow down or speed up. Phil Collen from Def Leppard as that on Let’s Get Rocked solo. Van Halen has that in A lot of solos. And it’s that slowing down that gives a noticeable accent in the two passages.

You are a great instructor! The muscle memory advise has helped me Tremendously. Thank you very much. Rock on

WOW🎉 talk about perspective!! Thank you for your lessons.

Agree 100% with the pendulum motion. Good explanation!

Best lesson I've had. Thank you. Very clear and precise. 🤘🤘🤘

Amazing video! You’re explanations are always so clear it’s amazing! 🥰

You provide a gift in this lesson. Thank you for the language of the pendulum.

i loved the point you made every third note you accent harder . such a subtle but great tip to make my alternate picking sound much richer. im trying to do the three notes per string going up the pentatonic scale but its hard to improve my speed without this tip . very valueble

I've been watching your videos for a few years now and have just started relaxing and pushing my boundary past the intermediate barrier. This was the best format video that I've ever seen you produce. So easy to understand. Giving some advice on technique and then telling what to focus on. I haven't tried point 4 yet but would love to see more videos like this in the future. :)

Thank you that was the most usefully picking video. I have often watched Joe Banamassa and EVH and wondered how the F they got too fast? now I know. TY ....that was speed texting.

thanks Klaus, this is one of your best presentations ! realy it helps.. best regards from Sarajevo!

this unlocked so much in my brain, you are genius!!!

This guy is brilliant, what a great channel. Looking forward to putting this into practice

This is the best video youtube could have recommend me at the moment. Been trying to push my speed up. Now I understand where I've been making the mistake.

This is the most useful lesson Claus! Thanks.

This is so good! I did the movement from the fingers for years, realized I need to do it from the wrist, but noone could really explain it that well. That pendulum movement with minimal movement with only touching the surface of the strings totally does it for me and I feel an immediate improvement. Thank you!

I agree with everything you said based on analyzing my own playing. Especially the "slightly grazing the string" point is the WORST challenge because like you said i either miss the string or dig in too much which slows me down. But I have moments where I get it right and that shows me that I have it in me I just need to practice more for it to solidify.

Excellent! Thank you so much...😀

a LOT of valuable knowledge in this video!

Wow!! what a master class in just 20 minutes!!!

Great video man! Clean and easy to follow instruction that helps a ton! new subscriber

Great tips,a very down to earth useful video,I try these tips. Many years ago my left wrist was crushed in a car accident my wrist was rebuilt with a hunk of steel and a cadaver bone connecting my thumb to the wrist. It's taken a decade to be able to play 80% as good as I was before the accident,your videos make my progress faster and easier Thank You sir!

I must be one of the lucky ones. I discovered these picking techniques you are teaching right from the very beginning of my guitar journey and it has been a blessing. I also use those heavy thick picks with the sharper tip because those picks glide beautifully along those strings, especially when playing fast. The one part of this technique that doesn't work to well with a floating vibrato systems is the part where you rest your hand on the bridge, in this particular case your hand needs to hover above while performing the same picking motion, it is a little bit harder.

Brilliant!!

You are the best guitar teacher ever!

Wow that best described how I learned to pick when I played Bluegrass. Now at 59 I'm learning all the rock songs I love on an electric. Taking some getting used too. I'll keep watching!

You are a superb teacher, and thank you for blessing us with your guitar wisdom! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

Great lesson!

You’ve said it before and meant what you said, but now you say it from more experience, commitment etc it’s because you haven’t deviated or recanted anything of what u said 10 years ago (maybe it was that long ? !! ) makes it that more impacting …. Not only for you but all of us … so thank you … like Michael Batio you stick to what u believe

Great tips!

Thank you!

This really is gold, best "teacher" on KZfaq without question.

Four essential principles. Thank you this totally makes sense.

Great lesson. Thanks

beautifully-analysed and explained yeah!

This is all very helpful!

Excellent video!! Thanks🤗

Your analysis is perfect!!

Bluegrass flat picking technique is exactly what you described for alternate pendulum picking technique.

Well this is my third comment but I'm just blown away. I watched this video 5 times and your the second teacher that I really understand. It's like the other guy's are speaking French. Thanks so much. Gonna take a deep dive into your lessons. Just ran across you today. Cheers from North Carolina.

Thanks friend, it's super fast and I want to know. I will train according to your instructions.

Best advice on the subject, from a master

thank you for the deep explanation very cool! After many years of playing guitar I am having to retrain my brain to play totally error free and accurate.

lots of great advice, awesome technique

I think the word you’re looking for in the first skill is “efficient.” I enjoyed the lesson and I got lots out of it!

This is exactly what I was taught many years ago by my guitar teacher who was absolutely phenomenal. All true as well. Perfect practice makes for perfect playing. You must crawl before you walk, and walk before you can run.

This is the most eureka video that i have ever encountered on speed guitar on youtube, i think I can break the wall now

That's some slap in the face true advice thank you for the advice.. Good job I needed the kick up the rear. 😅

Makes sense, just earned a sub,nice video

Claus you are my Hero .I tray to play guitar for 40 years and I was stil an absoluut beginner(so slowly)with your speed lessons ,I just start to get speed . thank you so much

this might be the best picking instructional video i've ever seen.

Thanks! No one has ever explained it this clearly.

Your channel easily became my favorite channel..thank you very much sir for sharing to us important guitar techniques for free..❤

One thing I learned by myself is to close your eyes and focus on the feeling in your hands to create the sound. At first you cant play an 8 note run, but you can do 4, slowly play the first 4 eyes closed, see the fretboard in your head. Open low e, then first finger 3rd fret low e, then 3rd finger 5th fret low e, then first finger 3rd fret on A string. A small run that is very good to practice and add too, go slow, push the notes kinda hard with your fretting hand to lock in that mind to muscle / nervous system connection. Slowly speed it up, but just a little. Then after a few minutes, see if you can do it really fast twice and rest. Then try it again, rest, focus on the sensation you get in your hand, kinda like a 6th sense. Keep building upon that and you can do anything. Same for chords really. I found going from just two chords back and forth helped me play chords better, practice the transition, probably gotta watch your fretting hand lol

Life changing insights! Need to add speed bursts to it🤘🏼

Picking across strings has been my Achilles heel for years. This is helpful

Thank you very much for new way of practicing and I believe this will give me a better chance to jump to the next level. Cheers from Indonesia.

Thank you.

Great teacher 👌

You're pretty much describing what I do, although I've never analyzed it to the extent you do. I've always sort of compared it to a violinist's motions when they use a rapid bowing technique.

Awesome!

I like your guitar a lot. 💪🏻

Very good at explaining

First and foremost, heartfelt thanks for the suggestion about accenting the first note of a group in order to re-syncronizing the right and the left hand. It's an expedient that works very well, beyond every expectation. This said... you are a highly amusing and mightily likeable guy you have an exceptional sense of timing at guitar you do not have a similar sense of timing when you speak; it's like your lungs are too small with respect to the length of your phrases😄.... but this is absolutely unrelevant Thank you very much

Thank you for the way you always have such great advise..this was a stellar video and something nobody really cares to teach.....FUNDAMENTAL

Excellent excellent 👌👌

Very good summery of troy gradys 'cracking the code'...

great video. subbed.

Amazing' thanks

Thank you 😊

Thanks!

Really good video, one of your best Claus. By the way, back in the 1990s Guitar Player had an issue featuring speed picking. They recommended backing off 20% (five clicks on an old style metronome) from the tempo where you would just start to make mistakes. It's a pretty good way to gauge what tempo to practice.

Hey thank you brother that was great

thank you, I wish I had learned this technique more efficiently when I was starting years ago. My right hand has always been behind my left hand in terms of technique. Hence, slow hand. lol

Interesting very interesting your definition explanation

The last tip is actually by far the best (they're all very good btw). Kinda counter intuitive, but that's the way to do it. 👍

Awesome. Im a drummer of about 40 years and about 7 years on guitar. As a drummer I was taught and passed this lesson to all my students and it always seems to be the hardest point to make. SPEED WITHOUT CONTROL IS USELESS SPEED WITHOUT CONTROL IS USELESS SPEED WITHOUT CONTROL IS USELESS in a nutshell if you mess up or have to stop and continue to start over 10 out of 10 times the diagnosis or problem is that you are playing to fast. Its hard to convince students that speed comes from accuracy, accuracy leads to control. Practice at slow tempos and you will surprise yourself at how much faster the learning curve to get speed is cut in half. Its ironic and counter intuitive to someone who hasn't experienced it, but practicing faster, to gain speed will only slow down your progress. Awesome lesson. First time on your channel. Subscribed. Bravo. This lesson applies to all instruments, not just guitar.

I've been goofing with Led Zeppelin songs for 30 years. Your video is a beautiful thing.. I'm picking up what you're laying down!

This is helpful. Thanks!

This is an opener. Pendulum. Wow. Amazing. And very scientific method. I also watch Troy G. Thanks for sharing the technique. Setting your mind correctly is the best way to practice correctly. Correct practice makes perfect. Love it Claus. You're the best.

I’ve learned a lot from you brother