Hey guys! So I’ve been following cracking the code for a little bit and I’ve come to the conclusion that I find myself closest to the Al Dimeola style of pick grip and wrist motion, but I am a huge proponent of string hopping. I know the supposed solution to stringhopping is pickslanting, but I can’t seem to work it out. I was wondering if you guys had any tips on fixing things. Here’s a current video of my really sloppy technique, and I’m just looking for pointers on what to fix. Also, any guidance of where I should look in the pickslanting primer to fix some of these issues or specific seminars I should check out, I’d appreciate greatly. Thank you so much!
Chromatic exercise
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Honestly sounds great to me, and I see very little string hopping? If any.
Is that really the fastest trem you can do though? I’m sure you can pick that way up!
Agree with @Pepepicks66, you can definitely pick faster with your tremolo!
For the chromatic exercise, start on an upstroke (it might take some getting used to) but after that, you should be good to go 
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I appreciate the kindness! But maybe here’s a better example of the stringhopping
https://youtube.com/shorts/fQgzcIX5Frg?feature=share
So my response to that is how do i speed up said tremolo if I’m using the correct motion? And further, are there certain modules in either the primer or the rest of the site I should take a look at to find out how to best fix the problems I’m having? Bc currently how I pick feels incredibly inaccurate and unreliable. Like sometimes it works and other times it’s just a mess. So is that just bc I haven’t done my motion enough times or am I just using a defective motion? Which is what I currently feel I’m doing
Did you do the table tapping tests in the “testing your motions” section of the primer? How do the tempos compare to your current picking motion?
There’s about a 10-15 bpm difference with my testing maxing out at about 160 bpm and my picking at 150
Your second “stringhopping” video looks like a double escape motion (dbx), which could be stringhopping, but could also be a decent crosspicking motion if it’s efficient. Can’t really say if it’s efficient at that tempo, but an inefficient motion would involve reusing the same muscle group on up and down without alternating. Does it feel strenuous or wear you out? You can focus on just DSX, without throwing away the dbx motion
I see some finger movement, which you may be using to help you along with string changes. Some people can make that work, but it would probably be worthwhile to isolate to the wrist for awhile. Also, you have a firm flat contact point at your wrist, so you may be able to do away with your pinky contact point. It comes down to comfort, but it can add to tension with this style of picking.
In your Chromatic exercise I see some dbx pick strokes, and some di meola/9 o’clock/downward escape strokes. I think you’re starting with a downstroke, which will make things complicated by requiring dbx. Like Tommo said, try starting with an upstroke so that the last pickstroke is a dsx motion.
If you’re having instability or “garage spikes” with your pick, then you may need to experiment with getting the slant to match the motion. A dsx is mostly going to “want” a slight upward pickslant.
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That second video still doesn’t look “bad”. I think the only way to really tell would be for you to record something that feels like it’s falling apart technique-wise.
Hey Tommo, so I just went and re-took my speed tests. My Di-meola style wrist motion test was able to get to 192 bpm. But I can only really see my tremolo motion to stop at about 168 bpm. The difference I see tho is my wrist is flat against the guitar and I have contact points with both my thumb pad and pinkie pad. I was wondering if the difference in the test would be because the test and my actual picking motion are slightly different due to the supination of my arm? Any tips on getting my picking speed to my test speed?
Hey that’s already a great improvement!
Is that your best among the various speed tests, or can you get higher tempos with some of the others?
Rather than trying to look for incremental improvements with one motion, it could be a good experiment to try completely different motions and see if you find a tremolo that’s significantly faster and easier
My elbow motion is by far the fastest but my arm gets incredibly fatigued and is super tense whenever I do that motion.
sounds promising especially if you find a way to make it more comfortable!
I’d recommend to have a look at the elbow videos in the “identifying your motion” section of the primer, as well as the Bill Hall and Brendon Small interviews. They both have very reliable and comfortable elbow techniques, and you may be able to gather some inspiration (or ideas for experimentation ) from them
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Thank you very much!