First trials with Crosspicking , advice needed

Hi,
I’m a DWPS player and have after watching the great Andy wood interviews inspired to start learning crosspicking. It feels weird and very unnatural. I use a pattern Troy was playing in one of his clips (4th, 3rd, 2nd string and then repeat ). Lookgin forward to advice fro you guys to learn this technique. I feel and I can see that the jump from 2nd back to 4th string doesn’t have a nice curve. When trying to smooth of the curve I always hit the 3rd string moving back to 4th from the 2nd.

Link to Video

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Hi!

This looks pretty good to me. You’re using a combination of different movements including arm, wrist, and some fingers. But no matter which movements you use, the key to all of crosspicking is that the upstroke uses different movements than the downstroke - so there is no overlap. This way, the movement truly alternates, and that’s why it can be done smoothly without fatigue. The fact that the appearance of the movement is “curved” is really secondary to that. So unless there are large obviously unsmooth jumping movements happening, don’t try and judge your correctness that way.

Instead, the best diagnosis here is “clinical”, i.e. symptomatic. Is it smooth? Is it fast? If so, you’re on the right track.

You can also try experimenting with different grips. For example, if you use a side / knuckle type pick grip, with curled fingers that don’t touch the guitar at all, the way I’m doing in the tutorial video, you’ll end up with a flatter setup with less supination, or “less dwps” if you prefer. I suggest this only because they really are different animals, and I don’t think of crosspicking as “dwps plus other stuff” (or “uwps plus other stuff”). Sometimes switching things up entirely can give you a way of zeroing in on the feel of something without baggage from other things you already know. When you go back to your existing grips and setups, you bring this new knowledge with you.

Just a suggestion. Otherwise good work here!

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Thanks Troy,
Playing with curled fingers as you suggested works better. It takes away my natural DWPS hand position which makes the cross picking feel more natural. Still feels very strange to get used to but I feel this is the way to go and explore further. Thanks again! /