Pepsi lick help - 6 Notes, 2 Strings, 3 NPS

Technique Critique
#1

Hey CTC,

I’ve really been analyzing my playing recently from a pickslanting/hand synchronization perspective. I was getting a little frustrated trying to understand why some of my picking runs were sloppy while others were clean sounding; and what I found was that one pattern keeps tricking me up more than others.

The pattern of 3 notes per string, across 2 strings, forming 6 notes. In the video, I kept things simple and just did a chromatic runs on a sorta-clean tone:

e—10-9-8———9-8-7———8-7-6–————
B————10-9-8———9-8-7———8-7-6–—

Now this is the pattern I’m have trouble with getting down. I’m 100% a downward pick slanter; as a result, at first I naturally tried string hopping after the first 3 notes on the e to reach the B string:

e—^-v-^———^-v-^———
B————^-v-^———^-v-^

What I found was that I kept getting stuck on the high e during the ascent to the B. I sorta reduced the intensity of my picking angle and changed my picking pattern, where I start with a downstroke on the high e and then start with an upstroke on the B (which is weird, coming from DWPSing):

e—^-v-^———^-v-^———
B————v-^-v———v-^-v

Has anybody else done this picking motion (aka am I doing it right)?

I love learning new techniques from listening to players and learning their music. Does anybody know of some albums/good songs to practice where I can hear picking patterns like this in action? Thanks a ton guys

2 Likes
Pepsi Lick - Working Up To Speed
#2

Do you like Pepsi cola?

(What you’re playing is known locally as the “Pepsi lick” after Vinnie Moore’s pioneering contribution to soft-drink advertising. Or just “descending sixes”, if you insist.)

You’ll need more than a single-escape motion to loop it, as discussed in the video.

As for finding it in the wild, it’s also a staple of Al di Meola’s playing, among others

2 Likes
#3

Right hand looks pretty good. Sometimes you exhibit what’s known around here as a “push” error. This means the pick fails to sound the last pickstroke that occurs before moving to the next string, or it strikes the string lightly in comparison to the rest of the notes and you experience a volume drop as a result. For you and many others, this happens on the bolded arrow:

e—^-v-^
B————^-v-^

Don’t worry so much about it; it goes away over time as the body learns the desired movement pattern. More on this here:

3 Likes
#4

Lmao I remember that commercial!
That’s the exact kind of pattern I was trying to get down. I’m gonna start to explore more into VM’s playing; heard of him because of the commercial but never really sat down and tried to learn his licks/picking.
Thanks a ton man

2 Likes
#5

Well at least I’m glad that I’m doing the basic motions right, and my picking hand isn’t weird/awkward. Now that you bring up the “push” error, I’m starting to slowly understand what is going wrong with my playing. Like the other guy mentioned, the descending six pattern seems like it would be a good way to out-practice this problem.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the advice. I’ll be sure to check out the forum you linked about the push error and string changing.

And btw, sick JPM. love the P2s

1 Like
#6

Vinnie is my personal favourite 1980s shredder; I still listen to Mind’s Eye for pleasure, but if you are looking to raid his lickbag then you will probably enjoy this instructional video which has escaped on to YouTube:

2 Likes
#7

oh man that Mind’s eye CD is amazing. How about the legato runs on that?

@jasper426 if I could offer some humble opinions

(a) you are playing the lick! It’s at a slower speed - but you are playing it
(b) to state the obvious - the speed it is played at on the Pepsi commercial is mind-blowingly fast
(c ) I would be focusing on just playing it perhaps slightly faster to begin with - but retaining (as others here have pointed out) the accuracy. Make sure all notes are sounding. A key aspect to this lick is not just the speed - it is the accuracy and synchronisation. So I would be focusing on that aspect at all times.
(d) also you can focus on any parts you are struggling with and just work on those for a time e,g, the 3 notes on the B string starting with an upstroke

EDIT: Also you have inspired me to look at the lick closer! - and some parts are easier than others e.g.
10–8—7–
10–8—6–

Is much harder than:
13–12–10–
13–12–10-

so maybe just start on one of the sixes that has the easiest fingering for you?

Hope this helps

2 Likes
#8

Dude now that people have shown me that Pepsi lick I’ve been working on it little by little. Got to about 50% speed (my best right now is 8th note triplets at 140 bpm).

And you’re right; scale patters where the b string and e string don’t “line up” exactly are a LOT harder than simple, repeated patterns. I was actually trying to slow down that exact pattern you mentioned above to figure out how to keep the high e quiet. My problem right now is keeping sync with the metronome instead of devolving into bad technique (i.e. the “push” error, hitting strings), and keeping the playing clean w/out strings ringing out.

I’ll do a follow up vid of me playing on distortion soon enough. Thanks a lot for the feedback guys!

1 Like