Hi there,

Sarod newbie here.....30 years of playing guitar....never happy with my alternate picking speed. I play and have played everything from funk and reggae to jazzy/latin and all kinds of rock genres. My main thing at the moment is an original prog rock band and my right hand technique is limiting me in creating some of the riffs / song ideas that are stuck in my head!

I've studied PB's videos and am trying to cultivate this new technique. I'm just doing a little a day as I want to keep relaxed, keep it fresh and hope it just 'clicks'.

A couple of observations that I hope you guys can assist me with:

1. When I alternate pick I tend to use the 3rd or 4th finger of the right hand as a guide resting lightly on the guitar. When I try Sarod, I don't do this but find it helps letting those same fingers that are now curled under 'brush' the face of the guitar to help guide/position the right hand? Is this ok? I appreciate there is a fine line between a person's natural way of doing things and contradicting perhaps how a technique is supposed to work.

2. Swan wrist....I tend to do this but am trying to keep the hand as flat as possible for fear of introducing unnecessary tension or damaging the wrist by locking it.....am I worry about nothing?

3. Finally, on a more positive note, when the Sarod thing is getting there, and I'm picking faster than I normally would, I notice that my alternate picking is better to. I attribute this to both the psychological aspects and relaxation. I read somewhere how a tense left hand could lead to a tense right hand and vice versa....and this makes a lot of sense.

Anyhow, good to meet you all, hope to chat more soon

Thanks,
Andy

1. used to stick the pinky on the guard took a while to change floating is what you want brushing the guitar with your hand i'm not sure but would try to avoid it.
2. i don't really have this my hand sits pretty low which is handy for muting with sarod. think it shows the sarod technique pretty well though
3. any tension is bad loose right hand light touch left hand,(oppisite for lefties) how long you been at the sarod start it real slow

Quote: andygelband wrote in post #201

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1. When I alternate pick I tend to use the 3rd or 4th finger of the right hand as a guide resting lightly on the guitar. When I try Sarod, I don't do this but find it helps letting those same fingers that are now curled under 'brush' the face of the guitar to help guide/position the right hand? Is this ok? I appreciate there is a fine line between a person's natural way of doing things and contradicting perhaps how a technique is supposed to work.

Don't put your pick hand fingers on the guitar. Don't "brush" the guitar with the pick hand fingers. Keep them out of the way.

2. Swan wrist....I tend to do this but am trying to keep the hand as flat as possible for fear of introducing unnecessary tension or damaging the wrist by locking it.....am I worry about nothing?

Only you know your body's ability. If you feel you are hurting something in your wrist, stop immediately.

3. Finally, on a more positive note, when the Sarod thing is getting there, and I'm picking faster than I normally would, I notice that my alternate picking is better to. I attribute this to both the psychological aspects and relaxation. I read somewhere how a tense left hand could lead to a tense right hand and vice versa....and this makes a lot of sense.

Any sort of tension in the hands, wrists, arms, fingers, etc is an enemy

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Ok - thanks for the info. I know this sounds like a stupid question.....but how do you position your hand correctly.....I guess it's just practice but as I've always pivotted to pick, finding the string with a floating hand is going to be a particular challenge.

I guess the motion (in its broadest context) is more akin to strumming.....I guess what I'm trying to say (badly) is that I strum, accurately and with the dynamics I choose, without pivotting.....so I just have to get used to it.

When doing the motion I feel some lactic acid in the forearm muscles....googling it looks like the brachioradialis....which is the one that helps twist the forearm so that makes sense. I assume that so long as I take regular breaks, the muscles will become conditioned to the movement and so the discomfort will go away along with the tension?

Quote: pebberbrown wrote in post #151

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Heres a guy doing Van Halen Style tremolo picking which is almost IDENTICAL in every way to Sarod picking except these Van Halen guys are only doing it on single string - never any scales or multiple strings. But the motion is the same - this is good footage and this guy has it down (on one string). Eddie footage is all over YouTube and I dont have time to sift through the mass amount of it to find the passages where he does the tremolo picking but its there if anyone wants to spend the time looking for it.

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Quote: andygelband wrote in post #204

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Ok - thanks for the info. I know this sounds like a stupid question.....but how do you position your hand correctly.....I guess it's just practice but as I've always pivotted to pick, finding the string with a floating hand is going to be a particular challenge.

The floating hand is a challenge but it will come around with much practice. Actually, the floating of the hand is a huge part of it...along with the actual twisting motion.

I guess the motion (in its broadest context) is more akin to strumming.....I guess what I'm trying to say (badly) is that I strum, accurately and with the dynamics I choose, without pivotting.....so I just have to get used to it.

When doing the motion I feel some lactic acid in the forearm muscles....googling it looks like the brachioradialis....which is the one that helps twist the forearm so that makes sense. I assume that so long as I take regular breaks, the muscles will become conditioned to the movement and so the discomfort will go away along with the tension?

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Yeah, this is it. But Edward did it on only one string.

Quote: uderoche wrote in post #206

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Quote: andygelband wrote in post #204

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Ok - thanks for the info. I know this sounds like a stupid question.....but how do you position your hand correctly.....I guess it's just practice but as I've always pivotted to pick, finding the string with a floating hand is going to be a particular challenge.

The floating hand is a challenge but it will come around with much practice. Actually, the floating of the hand is a huge part of it...along with the actual twisting motion.

I guess the motion (in its broadest context) is more akin to strumming.....I guess what I'm trying to say (badly) is that I strum, accurately and with the dynamics I choose, without pivotting.....so I just have to get used to it.

When doing the motion I feel some lactic acid in the forearm muscles....googling it looks like the brachioradialis....which is the one that helps twist the forearm so that makes sense. I assume that so long as I take regular breaks, the muscles will become conditioned to the movement and so the discomfort will go away along with the tension?

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Yes, the burning sensation in the forearm muscles is normal and will go away after much repetition. There are lots of videos on youtube by Pebber and Frakh dealing with sarod. I would investigate these. Using a small weight or a heavy book to help build the forearm muscles has been suggested and works very well. But again, know your limits and don't hurt yourself.

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Ditto...

With Sarod The strings are like Mashed Potatoes...to get things started grab yerself a pick and start stiring em

Quote: NicholasJacquet wrote in post #210

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With Sarod The strings are like Mashed Potatoes...to get things started grab yerself a pick and start stiring em

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few hundred hours? thats childsplay...If thats true, I should have started complaing and making a fuss about this whole sarod thing about one week after i first started working on it (-:

Sarod just keeps getting more and more fun! I just cannot wait to see where it will lead me 10 years from now (-:

I is inching my way closer to my dream of bucket sarod tehehehehe...one of these days it will all lock into place and then I wonder what will be left for me to legato.

Way...WAY to stiff armed.........

Wear a short sleeved shirt so the forearm is exposed...

FRaKh

I found a couple of videos on Sarod and thought would be cool to share on here. The name "Sarod Picking" probably came from this instrument called Sarod.

Thanks for sharing this very interesting video!

Sounded great....my video card sucks!
I couldnt see anything...lol!

Where everyone go???
Everyone shred by now...yes?

I made a short video of myself doing scalpel picking and then sarod picking. Any feedback would be welcome.