Picking issues

[Ed Seith]

Dan, you're kinda putting it in the wrong place, at least from how the first pic looks. That thumb should be close to under your pointer finger. If you're playing in 5th position, it should be under around the 5th fret. Moving it up that high is putting MORE pressure on the wrist, I would think.

 

[Dan Shipway]

I'm playing 3-5-7 in the pic so should I have it more towards the third fret?

 

[Ed Seith]

Definitely. That thumb should be anchoring your pointing finger almost always.

 

[Dan Shipway]

Its definitely more comfortable, at the moment i have my thumb behind the 4 fret (pictured)

as the stretch to the third fret is a bit uncomfortable

 

[Dan Shipway]

I thought I would use this thread instead of creating another one for an update on some of the picking issues I have been encountering.

The main thing I notice I that my alternate picking isn't very smooth and its very "plucky" so to speak as apposed to notes in a passage flowing evenly.
The two things I can think are the big contributing factors are the consistency of fretting strength and the picking angle.

I saw when watching the videos posted that my picking angle was flat to the strings (which can be seen in the attached photo too). I find that when trying to angle my pick or slant it that my wrist position limits me quite a lot in terms of movement so I was hoping that possibly someone may be able to shed light on potential exercises or solutions to assist with the problems