Getting pissed at right hand.

[stupididiot]

i'm just starting out on guitar, and been playing around 2 months. i havent had this problem until recently. my left hand is find and i can go up/down scales like a fat man to mcd's but i always seem to **** **** up with my pick. its like i'm going down this scale part and all of a sudden my pick hits the string below the one i'm supposed to hit or hit the same note twice. it just REALLY REALLY pisses me off when my picking *** **** up... and i start to do things i later regret (punching my right hand with my left) (nah... just kidding). i tried to relax it and play but it still wont pick accurately. sometimes looking at it and trying to prevent the slip-ups helps. i think its cause i get clumsy, but i wonder if anyone has any advice for this ****ing retarded problem.

[stupididiot]

and yes, i do alternate pick

[cyberfret]

I was just wondering last night whether I should implement the forum software's automatic bad work censoring option. And I woke up this morning to find a post to test it out on. It works :)

Picking becomes muscle memory like golfing, or shooting a basket. You have to make a effort to pick neatly and accurately all of the time. If when you are just jamming you very sloppy, and then when you practice you work on accuracy, then the sloppy will win. Practice picking exercises. Like playing a scale and picking 2 times on each note. The first one down, and the second one up. Pick with as little motion as possible. When you make very big picking motions you will hit other strings. Take a part of a song that you are having trouble with, slow it down and concentrate on your picking. Decide on a picking direction for each note in the part and stick with it. If you pick differently each time you play the song, your hand will never learn to play it accurately.

Check out this lesson on right hand position. Hand position has a lot to do with accuracy.
http://www.cyberfret.com/first-fret/using-a-pick/index.htm

--Shawn