It’s the same issue I have with the evh tremolo. I can do the motion, but up to his speed? No way. My wrist does not rotate back n forth fast enough. He had very different hands/forearms etc than me.
USX isn’t a joint motion, it’s just a way of describing any motion where the pick goes up in the air on the upstrokes. And that depends on a lot of variables. Just as an example, if you use wrist joint motion, Eddie Van Halen’s USX wrist motion is the same wrist motion as Andy Wood’s DSX wrist motion, just with a different arm position and pick grip. Same joint motion, the “two o’clock” wrist motion. If you can do one, you can do the other. David Grier’s DSX wrist motion is the same wrist motion as Mike Stern’s USX wrist motion — nine o’clock to three o’clock, or wrist deviation, just with a different arm position, but a similar pick grip.
There is nothing specific to “USX” that makes it harder for some people to do than others, becausae so many different joints could create that. If you want to look at specific joints, ok, maybe your wrist works differently than someone else’s. But that’s a big maybe, and I have no evidence of that. Maybe your forearm works differently than someone else’s. Also a big maybe. At some point, you end up ruling out so many types of motion that lots of everyday activities, many of which are speedy, become not possible, and this would be obvious if it were really true on any kind of large scale.
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Fast enough for what? I can’t play EVH speeds either, the guy could hit 220bpm sixteenths on his forearm motion for what seemed like all day. I’m just guessing here, but I would think that anyone who is examined by a physical therapist or orhopedic surgeon and turns up with what they would consider normal function range of motion in the forearm joint, would probably be able to move at least fast enough for 150bpm sixteenth notes, if not more. Maybe that’s not fast enough to do death metal tremolo. But Molly Tuttle’s White Freightliner is “only” about 145bpm and most people find that pretty intimidating. If you could do fluid bebop or country at that tempo you’d be considered a pretty great picker too.
Differences in forearm joint function or capability are really just not something I have any evidence for. They may exist, and I’m open minded to finding that out. But short of large-scale testing in a rigorous kind of way, I don’t know if we’ll ever know the answer to that.
If any joints vary in a way that would affect picking technique, I would guess it’s finger joints. This is just a guess though, again I have no hard evidence. But when it comes to the “big three” joints of elbow, forearm, and wrist, my guess is there is less variation just because of how central they are to so mamy everyday human activities.
Wouldn’t it be correct to say that the speed and repetitive, also accuracy of picking, really isn’t in any everyday activity? I can’t think of any occasion where my wrist has the type of demands playing guitar imposes.
Fast enough and strong enough to overcome the hands inertia in a specific picking motion.
I agree all styles are possible. But I do think some picking motions are just inefficient for some peoples hand construction.
Taking the sprinting analogy, sure you can train for it and increase speed, but some people will be able to go faster than you no matter how much you train. Some peoples bodies are just better suited for rapid motion. Better joint leavers, faster nervous system and muscle fiber recruitment etc…
I am just talking about high speeds, not saying picking motions are not achievable. Tho there are bound to be different efficient motions for different hand types.
The running analogy is one I think about a lot because I ran track in High School, three seasons a year, so these are differences I’m very familiar with. The difference between good sprinters on my team and average sprinters would be similar in guitar to the difference between someone who can alternate pick 200bpm sixteenths and someone who can alternate pick 220bpm sixteenths with the same exact joint motion. Sizable, meaningful in a race, but less noticeable to regular people. To an observer, all these people would all look like very fast runners. I myself am more of a distance runner but I still look “fast” in a sprint to regular people, even though I’d get killed in an actual sprint competition.
The differences in guitar motions look similar to me. A wide variety of players we’ve reviewed right here on the forum in Technique Critique can alternate pick in the 170-190 range of bpm for sixteenth notes with at least one joint motion. Very fast players might be able to go over 200bpm with the same motion. But to an average listener, all of these are very fast speeds. If you can handle jazz or bluegrass lines with any complexity at 150-170 bpm, you will sound like a god to the average listener.
At the end of the day, most really fast picking motions are simple. They can only play single-string phrases, or single-escape phrases / patterns. So the most athletically gifted straight-line speed players very often can’t play those complicated mid 100s phrases, because they don’t know how. A technically “slower” player who does not have Usain bolt levels of straight line speed might give up 20 or 30bpm to a faster player, but you might never know it in many everyday musical situations, because those mid 100s picking speeds are where so much music lives.
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I agree most is not about speed, but it’s the basic concept.
Those elite sprinters will have an easier time, and therefor be able to be more expressive at a slower speed, because their bodies are built well for the particular motions they are doing. It’s more efficient for them.
Eddies tapping is a good example, the Spanish fly tapping can be exhausting if you don’t have the right hands for it. Some peoples joints and muscle leavers can just work better in certain actions than others. So while the motions are all possible, everyone will all have a picking motion that just works better for them. No matter the speed. I personally find the gypsy jazz style just works far better for me than an alternate picking style. It’s far more relaxed for me, I have more control and can ramp up the speed if needed. And I don’t believe it’s from lack of practice. My joints and muscles just fit that style better.