Barstool Warrior Inside Picking Solo Run Problems

Playing Technique
#1

Hi All,

I am a one way USX Yngwie-style player and have had great success with it since first joining CTC a few years back.

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It is the run from 4:35 to 4:40 - Barstool Warrior

There is on paper a ‘relatively simple’ one way escape scale run in the Solo to Barstool Warrior by Dream Theater. Despite it being ‘inside picking’, it is an even note run which works perfectly for my USX approach, however i seem to really be struggling with it.

On paper i have played far more challenging things and got them down far easier than this. Unfortunately i don’t have access to be able to post good footage right now but will as soon as i can.

Just wanted to see if there were any initial tips or potential reasons for why this is occuring. I have Troy talk about inside picking being almost redundant on licks where there is one way escape but this lick has got me banging my head against the wall. I don’t know if its more a timing issue and syncing with the left hand that is the issue, but it definitely seems more challenging for more right hand than it should be.

Look forward to hearing from you guys

Cheers !

#2

Well the lick consists of a bunch of two note per string licks stacked onto each other. So this is going to feel a lot more like playing a pentatonic lick than lets say a Yngwie style lick. Do you usually have a hard time with two note per string licks?

I ask since I use the same picking approach as you and often have a hard time with such licks as well. But working on the first four note chunk of the long lick, you might have an easier time once that feels more comfortable.

Also the turnaround at the top of the lick is a little wonky. After the pull off, do you start the new string on a downstroke? This messes with the timing since the downstrokes will happen on upbeats after that. You could hit the new string with a upstroke but this will force a DSX motion instead of the USX you use normally.

Edit: Here I tried the lick myself and demonstrate how I would work on it. The sound is a bit weak unfortunately but I hope the point comes across. As you can hear I have some problem with the position shift in the middle. I have to work on that. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#3

Thanks for the quick reply -

Typically i am actually quite good at 2 note per string pentatonic licks, i think it might be the moving back up and the pattern of this repetition which is a little bit outside my wheelhouse in terms of the typical licks i play.

I actually find the second half of the pattern and the turn around the easiest section as the movements keep going in one direction. i.e. after the g string it ascends down to the high e before then returning and ultimately finishing on the g string. The few few repetitions through the octaves is the tongue twister for me.

With the high e string it is actually a hammer on and pulloff but i am just doing pulloff after down stroke on the 18th and an upstroke on the 20th which allows me to start the b string on a downstroke which feels quite natural to me.

Thanks for posting the vid - you’ve got it down pretty well for only a couple of mins looking at it. Think as always practice is the solution so ill keep focusing primarily on the first half of the lick :slight_smile: