It’s funny you should say that because I definitely aim for a similar sort of feeling with my upstrokes as the second stroke of a double stroke on the drums, the problem I run into is it’s a lot easier to get that sort of sensation at very very very high speeds, at which my left hand won’t keep up.
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Troy says something very similar and I agree. At first the right hand mechanics is the bottleneck, eventually the left hand becomes the bottleneck.
On days when I’m not feeling very well, my left hand can barely keep up while my right hand is still blazing away so it doesn’t even sound like music anymore.
I wonder if there’s any way to keep this variability under control. On some days it’s just awful.
And totally, at high speeds it’s a whole different thing. Of course starting slow is important but you need to get to a certain point very quickly to really get it down and practice even from a fast tempo.
speaking of mental/physical blocks…the whole Yngwie thing of throwing in a pulloff to force an upstroke is so weird lol. When I first saw troys vids I was kind of incredulous lol. i was like “wait, im supposed to just pause my pick in the air and then start it back up again??” lol
so right now im just trying to learn to pick EVERYTHING with 2 way or set the licks up for one way.
like with the descending fours in one position. I am just doing it the hard way, picking every note lol. Eventually ill figure out the “throw in a pulloff”
The few times I tried it a while back it was just random, I was like picking one note then pulling off two and it was just sloppy. I did recently get the feel of going d-u-p and it wasnt too bad but I think ill stick to picking everything until i get it really wired
Great stuff and I appreciate the detailed reply. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed by this site and honestly haven’t really been too sure what to focus my time on practicing or what to start with. I will go look for that Chunking lesson and maybe put some real time into it. Thanks again.
Hi Peter, Thank you so much for posting this. It is an incredible testament of what can be achieved with great instruction (this website) and great practice. As impressive as it is to see you playing this stuff, what stands out for me is the maturity that you play with. You have EJ’s style ingrained in you and a wonderful sense of time and groove…which to me is most important and something that cannot be easily taught. Do you mind if I ask a few questions…some might have been semi-answered already?
…You said you discovered this website info about a year and a half ago? Would you mind sharing the order of the DPS material that you worked on…and also possibly amount of practice or a practice routine?
…Before you discovered this, what has your background been? (For instance, Have you played different kinds of music in various bands? How long were you playing guitar?)
…Had you attempted COD before discovering DPS? How successful were you? Have you listened to EJ “forever”?
I’m asking these questions because my playing has grown considerably in the short time I have been here…and am looking for a more “formal” way to approach this info.
Thanks again,you are on to something here. Keep doing it!
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Great playing, and a very tough song to play. One thing I have never seen though, is someone who can duplicate Eric’s sound. The closes I’ve seen is probably Sam Coulson (I think that’s his name).
Hi,
Thanks for the kind words. Sorry for the late reply and I promise to get back to you within the next two days or so. It’s been a very busy week and unfortunately non-guitar related 
But thanks for the questions- they’re always on my mind and I’ll answer them all as best as I can.
Great playing, Peter C! I love it! Eric is one of my favorite players and you really got his tone and vibe down on this one…well done! 
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Steve,
So sorry for the delayed response- are you still around?
Generally I like the wider vibrato, but actually I think your vibrato here is just right for the song - at some points it was pure perfection. Finding it hard to critique this as I genuinely sat back and enjoyed the show! Very impressed and to say i’m a ‘little jealous’ would be the understatement of the year - Bravo.
@Troy and @Brendan, I would really like there to be a showcase place on the forum so that we can be inspired by clips like this and I think that it would encourage people (like myself) acknowledge their own acheivements. We would then be able to link the video to another thread for reference. For example there are a number of people on this forum that are hitting the ball out of the park with regards to any particular picking style and would like them to post more of their efforts. That being said I strongly agree that we need to avoid these types of video getting in the way of any teaching and critique videos.
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Give this man a diploma!
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Definitely a good suggestion! We’ve actually talked about this a bit here:
We can continue the discussion in that topic if you like! Short story is I agree it could be useful and it’s on our radar just haven’t gotten around to it yet
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Awesome job! Congrats for nailing this on tone, technique, tempo, touch, and taste. You’ve motivated me to give this a try.
You’re right about Troy’s lessons. He takes the awkwardness out of learning these amazing techniques.
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Fabulous! I love it. Thank you.
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Terrific cover and playing. really enjoyed it, and inspired by it!
All this talk of the equipment used, and the use of the LP in the video(!), led me to check out what EJ actually used for the recording.
According to Wikipedia*, he used a Strat for the intro and a ES-335 for most of the rest of the song, apart from the first part of the solo, which is the Strat again. The Strat part of the solo was done as he didn’t like the take he did with the 335. So the solo is actually two takes put together.
interesting anyway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffs_of_Dover_(composition)
(*I should add, full disclosure, that the relevant wikipedia section is lacking in citations…)
gonna look up some more of your stuff Peter C!
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Thank you StratRG-
This means a lot, but especially more after a long day of what I call musical shovelling.
Thanks to all for the feedback and kind words and it’s so nice to realize so many others appreciate great musicianship and playing (not me- EJ).
I last saw EJ up close (excuse the pun) in 2012 in NYC and that night- to say the least, is etched in pure memory. He along with the fantastic Andy McKee were the biggest men in the house. I don’t think I have more reverence for anything or anyone beyond Johnson- except perhaps his music.
Which brings me to the song…
I’ve always heard my favorite musicians say that in a way, they’re playing cover music as well; they’re just in the right place and time (in a figurative spiritual sense) to really open their ears to the melodies “in the air.” EJ has always remarked this about CoD, even though he took ages recording it and perfecting the live rendition of it. The basic skeleton was accomplished very quickly considering the dexterity of the song- even more impressive since he claims he wasn’t quite at a proficient level to pull it off technically. A real sign of genius if you ask me. Almost like quantum physics intuition- you can’t really teach that.
After playing through this song, I less pride in having played it and more jealousy and reverence that anyone was able to compose this, put this on record, at a time when he claims he wasn’t really capable of doing.
Now you asking for soures on your wikipedia link makes me think you won’t believe any of my words but that’s okay- it’s so refreshing to see a critical eye regarding sources and citation.
Rest assured though, that tidbit is entirely true and has been corroborated by EJ himself many times.
The irony is that I almost did everything backwards to how he did it. He took many takes I am told. For me it was two quick takes: one with the LP and one with the strat on the wall. I used logic to piece in the better parts. I was afraid the tonal discrepancy might be too large, but I guess I can make anything sound like a pig if I wanted to eh?
Specifically, the intro was the gibson whereas on the original it would have been a strat. All other parts (verse, chorus) were a strat (save for the solo and outro which was the gibson again). Again this is a polar opposite of EJ in which he used the 335 for the majority excluding the big solo which was a strat punched in.
The rest of the chain is a marshall 2061 on ten with an fet driver since I don’t know where to track down a bk butler tube driver.
Anyways, I guess that was overly long winded as I’ve been all over the place today. Ah Viacom is a masterpiece of course, but perhaps (in unpopular fashion) Venus Isle is perfection for me. If anyone came to me and said, “I want to hear some EJ,” that’s the first album I’m lending them.
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No, not at all! I’m not questioning your sources or anything you say. I just mentioned the wikipedia citation issue as I wasn’t sure whether to quote it as a fact. thanks for clearing it up though. it’s a good story.
Regarding his albums, I also feel Venus Isle is better, although it’s a hard choice when you look at the songs on Musicom! There are a lot more flashy songs on there but I think the musicianship is better on Venus Isle.
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Haha no- I didn’t mean it like that My comment was a little more self-effacing because I’m too guilty of taking uncited wiki articles as gospel.
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That lick at 1.40 nearly blew my head off
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Good for you, dude! That was great!! 
