Has anyone here mastered that Eric Johnson picking? JB learned it from EJ so he says and is absolutely crazy at it. It looks like a style of economy picking with alternate back picking on a lick. When he does a "shred" it's sounds like every note. Not just a hammer on/pull off.

Eric Johnson brushes the pick across the string sometimes when he is alternate picking. He calls it "bounce picking." He's not driving the pick straight into the string but brushing the pick against the string.

And then he also does circle/scalpel picking that he learned from Howard Roberts. Pebber was taking lessons from Howard Roberts at the same time. I believe Howard showed Pebber and EJ scalpel picking around this time which Howard Roberts showed to all of his students I'm sure.

Eric Johnson does a lot of Howard Roberts type things and it's a shame he never mentions HR.

Eric Johnson is a truly fantastic guitarist. I very much like the way he uses the pick although I haven't really tried to do it in that way. There are quite a few ways to approach using the pick. One player who has a really fantastic technique with the pick is Frank Gambale. Then there is the approach that Michael Angelo Batio has which is quite different to how most players use the pick. Shawn Lane once said that "John McLaughlin is the master at using the pick".

To the original poster, there are so many ways to approach to using the pick....I guess the the thing of it is to find the way which you feel the most comfortable with and also if you want to play fast is to find the way which is also the most efficient and most comfortable.

So.....mcglaughlin in the supreme pick master he? It must be because all that circlulAR picking he uses and whatnot...ho hum...In all honesty I think i am tempted bout converting over to full blown junior shakti by just going and buying myself an acoustic and moving to an isolated mountaintop over india so that I might train myself in circular picking

Quote: NicholasJacquet wrote in post #4

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So.....mcglaughlin in the supreme pick master he? It must be because all that circlulAR picking he uses and whatnot...ho hum...In all honesty I think i am tempted bout converting over to full blown junior shakti by just going and buying myself an acoustic and moving to an isolated mountaintop over india so that I might train myself in circular picking

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Guitar Player,

This is I believe is the only true way to get "good" at picking. I was fortunate enough to start out with bluegrass riffs as a youngster which use a lot of alternate picking methods and open strings. I agree that every guitarist should find his/her technique but not feel the need to mirror exactly other players picking methods. Joe Bonamassa has mastered EJ's picking very well but not his style.

Quote: DapperDanMan wrote in post #6

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Guitar Player,

This is I believe is the only true way to get "good" at picking. I was fortunate enough to start out with bluegrass riffs as a youngster which use a lot of alternate picking methods and open strings. I agree that every guitarist should find his/her technique but not feel the need to mirror exactly other players picking methods. Joe Bonamassa has mastered EJ's picking very well but not his style.

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I feel compeled to make perhaps one or two clarifying points what thing i mentioned earlier...1.)Mclaughlins picking style is NOT the same thing that people seem to call the circle picking; the statement "it must be all that circular picking he uses" is not accurate, not intended to be taken seriously; I had just been reading some posts in multiple guitar/jazz forums where everyone was talking bout how what John uses is clearly "circular picking". I would tell just about everybody to go look up pebbers content specifically concerning sarod...Because in fact, J.M is the best picker around, and his playing style is built upon a sarodic foundation.