Struggling with Picking correct strings....

Hey All,

This is my first post, so I hope I have it in the right spot. I went thru both fundamentals and almost finished with the 1st Country and also started on the 1st rock. I have seen some major improvement and really having fun, EXCEPT....I struggle so much with my right hand picking the correct strings, say with boom chick strumming on a G chord then switching to the C chord. It doesn't matter if I use my acoustic or my electric I always will miss my string every once in a while and I would think I would be over it by now! On the electric I have my pinky finger touching the bottom of my pickup to keep me positioned, which helps but when I have to strum, well then I loose it. Anyways, What can I do to over come this. I have practiced slowly and put a lot of time in, but I'm platued and I dont want this to bring me down.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Zach

When I started playing I had the same problem and still do, just not so often. What I did was to hit the E string, then throw my hand out so that my arm was straight. Then pull my hand back and hit the A string and back out, back in D string and so on till I played the small E. Repeat as needed, after time jump stings. E, D, B down and E, G, A up, then A, G, E down and B, D, E back up. If you get good at doing this, in time, it will give you two things. You will know where the strings are and you will free your hand from being so anchor dependent for picking and strumming. It will know where it is at.

Also it takes time to burn things into your muscle memory, just because you have completed a course and your brain remembers it that does not mean that your muscles remember it. You have not really completed a course till your muscles remember it. So kick back and invest the time.

Hi Zach,

I agree with haghj500's points. Here's a new lesson by Caren that might help you out: http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=20929

Originally Posted by: haghj500Also it takes time to burn things into your muscle memory, just because you have completed a course and your brain remembers it that does not mean that your muscles remember it. You have not really completed a course till your muscles remember it. So kick back and invest the time.

I second this. I remember when I first started learned I got frustrated about hitting the right strings (sometimes I still do!!) - of course it depends on the complexity of the lick or whatever you are doing, but it just takes practice practice practice.

Try playing slow and say your movement out loud
Ie down up down up exaggerate the movement slightly so the muscle learns...obviously its not the muscle its the brain lol but im sure you get what I mean!!