Robert Fripp calls the picking from the elbow "...the equivalent of switching to overdrive. It lacks the flexibility necessary for cross-picking and picking in an extended compass. It also lacks the fluency for slow, medium, and high speeds, although at very high speeds it has a place." (from Guitar Craft column, Guitar Player, dec. 1990)ericopp wrote:Most interesting to me is the mention of Spasmodic Elbow Tension picking, where your lower arm is ocillated as opposed to the speed coming from your wrist. WillJay is right that this elbow technique is "sloppy" compared to the tried/true wrist technique, but it's also about 50% faster; i.e. you can achieve 28 notes per second using your elbow as opposed to a maximum speed of 18 nps with the wrist technique.
I find those kind of debate about technique and speed funny. In jazz, for example, there's rarely a debate about who's the fastest player because technique is seen as a tool for expression. If you need a lot of notes to express how feel while playing, well go for it! IMO, the problems begin when when you spend more time showing your 'tools' than expressing yourself.
As far as 'inefficient technique' is concerned, when the results are there and the guy doesn't hurt himself while playing, who care if he's playing with only three finger or holding is pick with the 'wrong' fingers.
