Changing pick edge with pick slant

Playing Technique
#1

I’m a natural upward pick slanter and have been trying to incorporate DWP into my play. However, I noticed that my pick edge changes when I change my pick slant. In UWP, the right edge (looking down at the pick, trailing, I think) makes contact with the strings. When I DWP, the left edge of the pick is hitting the strings. As a result, when I 2WPS, I end up shifting edges as a jump from one string to the next, sometime just for a single note. So far it doesn’t seem to be a problem but I’m only around 90 bpm sixtuplets doing 2WPS. Anybody have any experience with this extra movement? I don’t remember seeing any one doing anything similar in the videos. I just hope I’m not limiting myself with this edge change.

Thanks.

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#2

That sounds interesting… and confusing :slight_smile:
I can’t really picture it in my head! If you feel like it, would you share a video at some point?

Thanks

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#3

I would introduce the “Thumb Bump” to control Edge Picking when Upward Pickslanting and then lessen it as you go into DWPS so that you are constantly using the Leading Edge (Left side of Pick).

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#4

I actually did have this issue as well for a while. They were a bit uneven. I eventually ‘flattened’ out my angle a bit on both directions. The thumb and the wrist can help with this a bit.

#5

What’s Thumb Bump? I’m not sure I want to switch to leading edge. It feels way too unnatural and I can’t avoid a scraping sound of pick on string. Also, if I shift to leading edge, my hand/wrist leans toward a downward pick slant. I’ll try to get a video of my picking uploaded.

#6

I’m wondering if it’s actually a problem though. Does it need correcting? My initial thought was that it was since it adds an extra movement. However, my picking is much more fluid with the slight twisting motion, especially since it only occurs on unnatural picking sections that are undoable without a change in pick slant or resorting to econo picking. I was hoping there’s a known shredder who does the same. Seems like something a crosspicker would do with no problem.

#7

For more on the interaction of pick grip, pick “slant”, and pick motion, I highly recommend the second to last broadcast we did, “Crosspicking with the Wrist”. I think that might help clear up some of this:

https://troygrady.com/channels/talking-the-code/crosspicking-with-the-wrist/

In general, the visible “slant” of the pick, the arm position you choose, and picking motion you choose, are separate things. So the idea that using “uwps” causes certain things to work a certain way, or look a certain way, may turn out to be not what you think.

Also, I know we say this a lot around here, but I would really try to avoid thinking along the lines of “being a natural [uwps dwps whatever] kind of player”. Most of these things we think are somehow specifically “natural” for us are just the result of certain arm or hand positions we started using, which affect other things in ways we might not be totally aware of. That was definitely the case for me.

Again, recommend the Crosspicking broadcast because it’s our best presentation yet of pulling apart these various ingredients so you can really see what the interaction is, and how to choose the parts you want.

#8

I seem to have an additional degree of movement. My thumb goes from bent back (like a hitchhiker) when UWPS then straightens out (not bent at all) when moving to DWPS. By straightening out my thumb, I switch from trailing edge to forward edge. I actually don’t notice any roll in my wrist as I switch between the two (when doing Batio’s first scale - threes).

I can do pure DWPS with my thumb curved back in the hitchhiker position and rotate my wrist to UWPS. But going from pure UWPS (hitchhiker) to DWPS, my initial inclination is to straighten my thumb. I have to consciously try to keep the bend in place and rotate my hand otherwise, which is challenging if there’s much speed involved. The staightening/bending of the thumb isn’t used to pick or push the pick across the strings, that is there’s no force used in the motion. It’s merely used to change the angle of the pick relative to the strings. My goal was to shift from up slant to down slant. The edge change just accompanies the slant change.

My main concern is will this thumb bending habit lead to potential injury/soreness or limit the speed of my playing?

I’ll post a video shortly. Need to get the 24 MB file off my phone.

#9

A lot of high-speed players use their thumb, so I don’t think it limits speed that much. The thumb is deceptively fast. And I think a lot of players use it to help navigate through tricky string switches. I really don’t think it will cause injury, unless it’s being used with too much tension.

As far as whether you want to fix it, I think it depends on whether or not it causes a different sound/attack when you hit the string with a different edge. If it sounds consistent, then you are probably fine.