@Troy, I have been studying the Eric Johnson - Master In Mechanics section. In Chapter 23 you show the clip of him doing the longer pentatonic run from Position 1 into position 5, into position 4. Do you have the tablature for this particular run? Of course, you explanation of the positions, whether it be the Major Root or the Minor root turned a light switch on for me. Since I am mainly a pentatonic type lead player, this has helped me tremendously.
Oops! Nevermind! It’s the western flyer cascade!
Ha, embarrassing. I was just about to type “nope sorry doesn’t sound familiar”. Good thing you double-checked!
@Troy, I watch you play all of those blazing pentatonic licks and I’m just amazed. I actually have been trying to play the Western Flyer cascade for a few years now since the first time I joined CTC. I actually found that I was playing it wrong in one spot…but, I correctected it. I really don’t have trouble with fretting fast or the DWPS fast to a certain degree…I hit a wall where my hands and fingers just won’t move any faster. I’m guessing this is where the athletic aspect of guitar playing comes in and I will eventually breakthrough the glass ceiling…eventually! I don’t seem to get very frustrated anymore because I’m having some very real breakthroughs like playing cleaner, more accurate and somewhat faster…just not as fast as you effortlessly do these licks.
I’d like to know what it was like for you when you had that one breakthrough day when you pushed through and the blazing speed I described earlier manifested. I don’t really have aspirations of being an Yngwie-type shredder but some of those licks will come in handy from time to time. If I could really describe what i’m shooting for is more like Doug Aldrich. I just love his style and guitar tone. Though, really what I want is to find my own voice on the guitar. Being able to get basic pentatonic licks to greater speed in strategic moments in a guitar solo is what I want. Melody I can come up with, cool bends and vibrato I got, I’m just missing this one element that eludes me! I believe CTC will give me the technique, the licks, etc, but I know the athleticism is solely up to me!
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I already had at least medium-fast hand movement capabilities when the “a ha” moment happened - what I didn’t have was the ability to switch strings with accuracy. So there was nothing magical for me about pickslanting as far as speed itself was concerned. It was just the ability to navigate the strings without banging into the strings in a clumsy way. This is mostly not relevant for players unless they are in the same situation I was. So I wouldn’t really worry too much about what I was or wasn’t doing.
In your case, if you like players like EJ and Doug Aldrich, that’s great because their techniques are simple. These are pure downward pickslanting techniques. There is no upward pickslanting in Doug’s playing at all, that I have seen. None. All the flashy stuff he does is pretty much designed to work with dwps, and only dwps, and he avoids phrases that don’t fit. For example you’ll notice he’s not really a 3nps scale player like Gilbert or Batio. That’s why. Great players like Doug may not realize they’re being selective in the phrases they choose to play, but that’s what’s actually happening.
So the most important thing here to start with is to make sure you’re doing one of the dwps picking motions, and then that you’re making sure you’re only attempting to play lines that work with that motion. If either one of those is off then you’re spinning your wheels for no reason and I never want to see anyone get stuck like that.
It would actually also help me to get a sense of what you got from the instructional stuff of ours that you have watched. In other words, when I’ve described what dwps is and what it is supposed to do, how would you explain that back to me? No judgement here, I just want to make sure you’re getting out of our stuff we what we intend for you to get. And if that’s not the case, I put that squarely on us to provide better explanations and demonstrations that people can actually use.
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Thanks for the great reply. First of all, CTC has been a God send for me. The info, interviews, etc have been eye-opening. And, I , too would consider myself that medium speed type as you once were. The DWPS has helped tremendously and I have worked on some of the UWPS as well; I have been working on The Black Star lick and can play it rather cleanly and with some speed, even with the end lick you add to it with the 1/2 bend. Sounds way cool.
As far as DWPS goes, my understanding thus far is that the pick is slanted downward “below an imaginary hemisphere equator”, and as you explained to me earlier, it is for escape purposes. So, I have been holding the pick in such a manner that the pick is rotated towards the pickguard without over exageration, where it still feels natural. That’s probably my brain working overtime to explain but I think you get the gist.
And to tell you what I’m getting out of all this: Your videos are incredible. Professional, informative, entertaining. Some of the interviews are from people I haven’t heard of but it is refreshing! I love the Michael Angelo Batio interviews, as well as Steve Morris,and Marty Freidman. I’m sure I will eventually get around to watching all the others. For now, is the Eric Johnson Cascade series for me. I feel like if I can master DWPS first, then I will work on UWPS in the future. Like I said, I’m more into the pentatonic stuff. I think I may be just a few weeks away, maybe a month or two from getting that breakthrough I have for so long desired. When I get some time, I will start shooting some videos of my progress for you to critique. You are now officially my guitar teacher (though not one on one, the videos work quite well and give me all the info I need at this time!) If you have other areas that you think would interest me, or interviews that come to mind, let me know!
Oh, and Thank You Very Much for this awesome tool Congrats on all your success. I can tell you have put your heart and soul into this! I’m a big fan of yours now!
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Also, I wanted to add that I just started practicing for the most part standing up! It’s a whole different approach for me from sitting down. The DWPS feels better and I was able to drop my strap a couple of inches. It looks a little more cool with a Les Paul hangin’ low, but not too low. The Arch of the Les Paul body is at my beltline now. My arms have a natural bend to them, they are relaxed, and I think it will help when playing live. I think that is what DWPS has brought to the table for me…a more relaxed feel.