Hi hope you all are well I’m curious about this one topic I heard of people playing 300 bpm sixteenth notes or 200bpm sixteenth note triplets but never heard of a song or solo with that fast picking I’m wondering if one exists
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I don’t know if anyone’s done 20nps picking in a song. I think John Taylor’s done north of that (360bpm 16ths) in synchronized patterns in a lab but I think that was to demonstrate an athletic feat more than anything. Shawn Lane has played 18nps in a song somewhere I think.
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Jens Johansson (Yngwie’s ex keyboard player) has stated that 20 nps and above loses all musicality.
I’m paraphrasing but that was the core of what he said. So I guess that and the small number of players being able to do it makes it rare/non existent.
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This guy is 15 notes per second, and that’s pretty impressive, but I think my ear is saturated where it is just too fast. He has haters, where perhaps their argument is that it’s better to slow it down some and sound more musical.
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If I did my math right, 300bpm 16th note triplets=16th notes at 450bpm=30nps. 20nps brings you to 300bpm 16ths (again, if my math is right), and I’ve only heard stuff picked on one string at that speed–Fleshgod Apocalypse has a song that hits that fast, but IDK if the guitars are picking that, but I know the kick drum is hitting those speeds. They regularly hit 270+bpm 16th notes, but they’re just staying on one note. 30nps is probably faster than anyone can play reliably on guitar. That hyperpicking guy in the primer I don’t think even goes that fast on one note, and the guys in the lab said it’s the fastest human motion they’ve ever tested or something along those lines.