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local downpicking enjoyer decides to try to learn this "alternate picking" thing everyone's talking about
more precisely for the moment i'm just figuring out how to strum up and down, alternating, rather than just down. and i'm playing chords where no strings need to be skipped
it's incredible how this is simultaneously very difficult and very easy
it's very difficult because the motion of downpicking is very ingrained. our body has gotten very used to the downstroke being angled and having force and the upstroke being a relaxed return with nothing in its path. the strings pushing back on the hand completely throws me off
but it's suddenly easy if iā¦ try to forget that i know how to downpick, kinda. i have to seriously relax the arm and focus on the arm motion first, then gently try to get the wrist involved
playing three chords in a loop with alternate strumming definitely produces that "oh i'm actually playing guitar now" feeling
i guess i'm gonna be doing three-chord loops where i try to hit the strings on both the up and downstroke on the first chord, only on the upstroke on the second chord, and only on the downstroke on the third chord, over and over until we get used to the arm motion's independence