Hi! A while ago i switched from uwps to dwps since i didn’t get the result that i wanted. I have had quite a bit of success with “normal” dwps and have recently started trying to learn crosspicking. When i play i normally anchor my fingers on the pickguard but it seems that i doesn’t really work with crosspicking. I have tried without achoring fingers but then it feels like i loose my technique completely.
Is there a way to crosspick with dwps setup and having fingers anchored on pickguard?
Troy probably knows this a bit better… but from what I’ve seen, it appears as though X-picking and anchoring the pinky on the pick-guard is pretty common. I’ve seen a few guitarists do it.
Personally, I abandon anchoring, because I found it started to limit my pick-stroke path a bit… and I just do ‘gliding’ which still is very good for maintaining precision. But there seems to be so many different ways to double-escape, and it’s so subjective, that it’s hard to say if one way is better than another.
Depending on your finger length, that will determine how free your movement can be while anchored. Like ham said, the pinky is quite flexible and won’t interfere too much, but having the confidence to not anchor will give you a lot more options.
The palm ancor on body or bridge of guitar is typically all you’ll need, you could try practicing a sequence with the fingers ancord and keep switching on the fly from finger anchor to just palm ancor. Might help you make the jump to a more unstable but more free anchor technique.
I’ve tried anchoring with pinky only but that feels just as unstable as without. Your idea about switching on the fly sounds interesting though, i will try it. thanks
Yeah i’m also starting to feel a bit limited with anchoring, that’s why i’m looking for some thoughts on it. What do you mean by “gliding”? thanks
I’m assuming Floating the fingers just lightly touching for reference points.
I personally find the palm anchor to be the most versatile. It locks the hand to the guitar and you have full wrist movement, and the anchor acts as a lever giving speed and power.
Gliding basically just means your fingers that are not holding the pick are kinda gliding/sliding on the pickguard to ensure that you are maintaining the right distance. That doesn’t necessarily mean that those fingers are always in contact with the pick-guard, but when they are, they assist/limit you with your positioning.
A lot of x-pickers, myself included, prefer the wrist to be somewhat elevated, because it can help us create the ‘arc’ path a little more reliably. But it also requires the wrist maintain the same height… so it really helps to have SOMETHING ensuring the proper height. This may be a anchored pinky, or a gliding pinky/ring finger, or possibly just really precisely positioned wrist anchoring. Everybody is a little bit different here.