Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Dear Tomo,

first of all let me tell that I appreciate your guitar wisdom lessons very much.
They beware for aimless noodeling the scales and help to work the fretboard
in a more musical approach. It’s a pleasure to dive deep into the details! Thanks a lot.

Now I need a practice advice for strumming 16th notes. WITHOUT a pick I get the rhythm well,
I play with a loose wrist in time and hitting the accents works well. But when I play WITH a pick
after a short time my wrist stiffens and a fluently strumming fails. How can I practice loose strumming
16th notes with a pick?

Thank you very much, greetings from Germany
Ralf

Hi Ralf,

Great to hear u have the wrist action down. A couple things to try with a pick.

- Maybe get a lighter pick. It’s easier to strum 16ths with a lighter pick.
- Rotate the pick and strum with one of the blunt ends.
- Hold the pick closer to the edge as u only need a small amount of pick surface area to hit the strings.
- Focus on not to holding the pick too tightly.

Try things that work for you. You’re not far away.

Jon

hi jon,
thanks for all these constructive suggestions!
i‘ll try them and i‘ll tell you from my breakthrogh ;-)
again, thanks a lot,

ralf

Here is Tomo's comment:

"Thanks so much for subscribing to my Guitar Wisdom. I think you need to learn how to hold a pick with a soft touch. In order to do this well, practice R 3 7 swing grooves! And look at Lessons B9, B10 and B15 for sixteenth-note strumming technique."