DBX Wrist Tutorial Tracking Question

[araptis94]

Hi Guys,

Just had a quick tracking question in regards to the tracking movement for DBX Wrist motion. The new wrist material and tutorial is phenomenal and i have a really great comfortable handle on the motion on a single string with double escape.

My question is around the 'easiest / most comfortable / most natural) tracking to accompany this motion when changing strings. What i mean by this is should the pinkie heel be planted and a windshield wiper motion is used for the tracking or should the pinkie heel be loosely anchored and it tracks up and down along the bridge by shoulder/elbow movement. Should the tracking path be vertical (i.e… parallel up and down with the pickups) or more of a windshield motion where the wrist is the sole joint used for tracking)

I feel like i am wrist on the cusp of a major breakthrough and i might be really over thinking this but it feels as though this is the missing piece that i need to bring this technique all together.

Keen to see what people who use this motion personally use and suggest.

Thanks all in advance and of course to Troy and the team for all the great content - looking forward to hearing from you./

[joebegly]

We’ve seen players do the windshield wiper thing you’re describing where the wrist itself is doing the tracking. If you’re playing things that only span 4 strings you might be able to get away without anything else. If you’re spanning more strings than that, either within a phrase or different sections (think the Tumeni Notes main theme on the top 3 strings vs the clean arpeggios on the bottom four), you’ll need to use either your shoulder or elbow probably. I know Troy said people with huge hands can probably still get away with staying ‘anchored’ and reaching all 6 strings. Most people will probably need to go beyond the wrist though.

@araptis94

The new wrist material and tutorial is phenomenal and i have a really great comfortable handle on the motion on a single string with double escape.

Yeah, excellent new videos! I’d say just start playing stuff that spans 2 or 3 strings because it’s really hard to know if a motion is DBX when it’s on one string. Even Troy himself thought he was doing DSX on one string at one point in one of the new videos and only when went back and watched it did he realize it was DBX. To me that’s encouraging because it means these things “feel” pretty similar and most people think of DBX as this mythical unicorn that’s so hard to do. I think that’s because they try to make the motion curved. We don’t need to though, the mechanic does that for us. Just play phrases that require random escape in both directions and only make motions that feel easy

I’m not a boss at it yet, but I’ve got a DBX motion down and when it works well, it feels like I’m just moving the pick back and forth. Tracking does really seem critical though, so great question. Definitely film yourself, even if just for your own inspection. We’d like to see it here too though and can give you better feedback on the motion. Best of luck!

[araptis94]

Hi Joe,

Thank you very much for the thoughtful and detailed response.

Funnily enough, when playing 3-4 string ranges if i use only wrist tracking it feels super smooth and im really happy with the consistency of the results.

The trouble comes when i try play straight through a 3 note per string scale. Not so much that i cant play it with the motion escaping, its more that from my ‘default anchor’ position on the bridge makes picking motion on the low E and A strings incredibly ‘flat’ with little edge picking and the feel of the different edge picking makes it feel inconsistent across the strings.

One interesting observation though is if i take my pinky heel anchor starting point and slide it higher up the guitars towards my torso, i almost naturally can feel my way through the 6 string scale and my elbow/shoulder will track after the first 3 strings and begin to pivot down.

I don’t have a magnet unfortunately but will definitely try and capture the best angle i can to demonstrate what i am talking about.

I know its quite unique to everyone but i guess breaking it down the foundation of my questions was to understand if there was a best practice tracking mechanic for this type of motion (i.e. constant anchor with windshield vs elbow/shoulder tracking). My biggest goal with right hand technique is consistency so doing my best to work on ensuring my setup is optimal and as consistent as possible.

One question i do have for you as it sounds like you have a pretty good grasp on this motion - When you track with the shoulder/elbow over a 3+ of strings, what is the direction of your tracking ? I.e. straight down parallel to the pickups, or is there an arc either forwards or backwards. Like i said maybe i’m overthinking this whole thing, but there are times when i’m not thinking about it too much i get a great smooth repetition in and i’m getting frustrated not being able to pinpoint exactly what that is. As you said my best to record my practice sessions more to study it further when i do get that good run. I know its definitely the tracking aspect, i just need to do a more investigation and see what i can find.

I know the response was a little all over the place i was just thinking out loud.

Thanks again for the great response

[joebegly]

@araptis94

When you track with the shoulder/elbow over a 3+ of strings, what is the direction of your tracking ? I.e. straight down parallel to the pickups, or is there an arc either forwards or backwards.

Not sure and a guitar is not within reach. I do know it is a very small distance though and it probably doesn’t matter. Whatever is comfortable and doesn’t disrupt your motion is probably the answer.

[jllewi]

With Reverse Dart Thrower and Three-Finger Trailing Edge Grip, I can reach all 6 strings without moving my anchor along the bridge. With RDT and Trigger grip, I need to track “a little bit” at each end.

See Technique Critique – Cracking the Code

Good luck!

[joebegly]

I remember us talking about these here

Who is working on RDT with a Trailing edge grip?

I’ve created a Technique Critique at Technique Critique – Cracking the Code with trailing and leading edge videos. In case you can’t see those, I also sent them to YouTube at Beaumont Rag B section, Leading Edge - YouTube and Beaumont Rag B section, Trailing Edge - YouTube. Both are of Beaumont Rag at 110 bpm half notes, 440 notes/min eighth notes.

Congrats on the great review from Troy! Selfishly I am also glad because I said I thought this looked great too lol! I just might be getting slowly better at critiques seriously though, great playing and congrats on the success.

Since you can reach all strings from this position, have you noticed any inconsistencies or other considerations needed as you approach the ends of the range of motion on either side? Or does it feel about the same in all places?

[jllewi]

Yes- the windshield wiper motion of the hand introduces a change in the pick-string angle so I (work in progress) change the angle of the pick subtly, by changing the pressure on each side of the pick using my index and middle finger. It’s probably more complicated than that, but the point is that with the three-finger grip, you can control this angle more readily than with a trigger grip.

[Pepepicks66]

Went through some videos and I think for me it depends on the situation. Here’s fast 3nps scales across the neck, looks like lots of elbow tracking:

270 BPM 16ths DBX 01NOV21

But here’s string skipping from E to E, wrist tracking mostly, probably fingers a good amount:

AO string skip thing

And here’s maybe a mix of everything:

Cliffs of Dover not hybrid picking practice 11MAY2023

So, I would give the worst answer ever: “it depends.”