Figuring out right tremolo technique

Technique Critique
#1

TLDR: I’ve been trying to develop rotational picking motion, the DWPS makes changing strings super easy but the speed just isn’t coming together. I cannot inherently tremolo pick with this motion , it feels extremely clunky and random at high speed bursts. If I keep pushing at it will I ever be able to tremolo pick? On the contrary, I do have an anchored motion technique that does work well for 1 string tremolo lines but fails at string crosses because there is no rotational movement of the pick to escape the strings. Where should I focus my efforts?

Rotational motion technique:

I can play pretty much forever using this technique at around 115bpm 16th notes single string. Changing strings feels great due to the DWPS although muting the lower strings is kind of awkward. When I try to push this technique past my comfort zone it feels as though I’m slapping the string with the pick rather than pushing through it. The motion my hand makes almost feels like knocking on a door. The only way I can see getting faster at this technique would be to decrease my picking depth, so the pick doesn’t get so caught up on the string. However, hitting the string with the last 3 atoms that make up the pick doesn’t seem very rock and roll and many players here have more of a picking depth than I currently have, so what gives?

Long 115bpm “run”:

Bursts 150bpm (slo mo and regular speed):

Anchored motion:

After struggling to pick up speed with the rotational movement for a few weeks, I turned off the metronome and tried to play as fast as I could and came back to this old mechanic. The problem of course is string changes. As you can see, the pick is in a DWPS position, but the tip of the pick runs parallel with the pickups, so I wouldn’t really call this true DWPS as the pick doesn’t escape the strings. This technique does have the protentional however to play much faster than the rotational wrist motion. (150bpm)

150bpm run:

Looking more closely into the anchored technique, the reason I think it is successful at speed is because I’m pushing the pick through the string as opposed to slapping the pick through the string for the rotational mechanic. I’ve tried applying this to rotational motion, but it feels unnatural, doesn’t have the same speed and I lose all ability to mute the lower strings.

How should I proceed? I originally posted on this forum wanting to play a passage at 155bpm. I was advised to get my technique down at single string runs at that speed before attempting more, rather than wasting another few weeks practicing I wanted to get your thoughts at my current progress. I would really like to push forward with the first technique posted as it really feels much more controlled and accurate, although I feel as though I’m revving myself in neutral in terms of progress lately. Thank you so much, this place is awesome.

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#2

I’ve been re-reading this post, your older post, and Troy’s response to really get to the bottom of the problem you’re having. I feel like I have some insight, but first - What is the passage you are trying to play? You said this in the older thread:

“Whats up people! First post here, although I have been lurking for a while. As the title states I’m having a hard time putting long picking passages together. The piece in question is played at 155bpm, 16th notes and is four measures long, mostly TWPS.”

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#3

Appreciate the effort. Here is the passage, ignore that first measure

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It’s not really that I want to play this exact passage only. I’ve always had the goal of playing some of Protest the Hero’s music, most of their songs tread around the 150bpm mark. I’d love to get to that point

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#4

Another suggestion: If you want to try to find a rotational approach that lets you reach a higher top end speed, experiment a little with an arm position that involves more of a flexed wrist, in the style of gypsy pickers like Joscho Stephan. My earliest breakthroughs with consistent and fast tremolo picking came from an approach like that (originally inspired by Eddie Van Halen’s tremolo picking in the solo spot of the “Live: Without a Net” VHS tape).

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#5

Thanks for the response. When you were first learning this technique were able to sustain it at higher speeds or was it something you had to start slow and work your way forward?

#6

For very simple single-string tremolo picked stuff (like the “violin exercise” part of EVH’s “Eruption”), I originally was trying to use more of a “spastic elbow twitch” mechanic, but it was uncomfortable and didn’t seem like something I’d ever be able to really control. When I eventually tried a gypsy-esque rotation, the speed was there almost immediately, but consistency of hitting the string at the same depth (or at all) wasn’t there initially.

But there was no period of “gradual buildup” of the forearm rotation tremolo speed. The raw speed was there from my earliest attempts, and the more I worked at it, the more it became controlled and consistent. I recognized the similarity of my technique to Marty Friedman’s, but didn’t connect the dots of how my picking could be effectively applied to licks that cross strings until I saw the CTC “Get Down for the Upstroke” episode. In fact, for years I had fast picking with supinated forearm rotation in my arsenal as a “parlour trick” while I was separately attempting in vain to develop “alternate picking” chops using a more convential looking picking approach that had more in common with Albert Lee’s approach (but without getting the results I wanted).