First time posting. Pat Martino Lines

Technique Critique
#1

I’m new to the site after watching many of the youtube videos. I had some wrist injuries which first happened through practice. So now I’m trying to re look at my technique. I play mostly fusion and I rely on picking most things occasionally with the last note on a string being a pull of or hammer on. From looking down at my hand it looks like I bounce a lot and it’s uncomfortable for me unless I have some wrist flexion. My goals for now are to get some more rock chops into my playing specifically the Eric Johnson style pentatonics.

Here are some Pat Martino lines. I hope the video is ok. These lines and picking are a good representative of how I usually pick

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#2

Another goal of mine is to be able to change gear like at the end of this video. When the 16th note thing becomes a bit stale it’s nice to have that gear change which I currently don’t have

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#3

I’d love to get some get some advice on the picking motion used in this clip. These are the lines I typically play but it’s a challenge to go anywhere around 120bpm and I feel like I’ve been stuck here a long time. I’m not sure on what my natural tendency as a picker is. I’m happy to show some more clips

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#4

Hey @MJSguitar, welcome and sorry for missing this earlier on.

Wow this is great playing, in both clips!

The first clip in particular gives me the impression that you are a wrist player, with a setup that looks quite similar to Andy Wood (“supinated forearm”, in case you are familiar with the terminology).

With that in mind I’d recommend this free YT seminar that @Troy did a while ago, let us know if it helps with the “bouncyness” issue that you mentioned:

Of course, feel free to post more clips, for example if you need some help with a specific Eric-Johnson lick - or anything really!

Your first video was already giving a decent view of your picking, but if you follow these guidelines we may be able to analyse more closely what is going on and give you more detailed feedback:

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#5

@tommo No worries :). I hope you’re all safe in this crazy time.

This was very helpful thank you. I noticed for the first time that my hand was actually coming away from the bridge (that was the bounce I was feeling) and that was when I would get the fluff notes.

After a bit more practice I’ll post some more clips. I had actually given up trying to pick everything for a little but I have new motivation to fix this. I enjoy the sound of picking everything more than the legato approach like Scott Jones (above) and guys like Pat Martino and Barry Greene.

I hope to be able to join up again soon :slight_smile:

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#8

Hi @MJSguitar - sorry, correction to my own advice needed! I just realised that in the second video you showed us (the one with some fast picking) it’s not you who is playing!

So, by combining the first video alone (which shows some “double escaped” pickstrokes) with your claim that you can’t go into a “second gear” and you feel some bounciness - > you may be stringhopping here.

EDIT: the problem is of course not the double escape itself, but the fact that the involved motions may be inefficient. Please do ask any further questions as needed :slight_smile:

So your first goal should be to find a picking motion that is fast and smooth, you can start with something simple like tremolo picking a single note on your “favourite” string. Once you get this going we can start worrying about string changes.

So these would become my new suggestions for videos to watch: