For the gods help for strumming the code!

is the tension between the two hands different?

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Hi David,

Taking a step back, have you already tried the table tapping tests, and if so what kind of tempos did you reach?

If you always get stuck at 110bpm, then I don’t think you have really tried the “start fast” approach.

Try to go directly to strumming at 140 or 150 and see what happens.

(I’m sorry if I sound like a broken record, but as far as we know this is the only way to learn correct motions)

I think this is exactly where you are getting stuck. There is so much analysis but I can’t recall seeing you post a fast attempt video? My apologies if you have, I just can’t recall seeing it.

If we can see exactly what is happening when you start fast, 140 - 150 as suggested, then we may be able to see what is holding you back.

@bradejensen yes man, definitely picking and strumming as right handed i feel a lot of tension , even if i try to relax myself and play soft , also i mentioned earlier i may have an injury , i feel some pain if i flex my wrist completely and i always feel some tension in the dorsal part of the hand so may be its tendinitis a quist or something

@tommo no man i should apologize i didn`t uploaded the videos as you said , anyway here they are as right handed and left handed at 150 bpm as far i can tell at least in picking i kind of have it naturally

as left handed:

in slow mo:

as right handed

right handed slow mo

so what do you think should i switch to left handed for once? also in tapping test i was ok both hands but i can do it faster on left one

i am sitting here thinking about ways to explain the wrist thing. but maybe the best thing would be to ask what exactly are you wanting to play? be specific, section of a song.

well honestly my goal is not be be a shredding guy , ive always wanted to play more rhythm based genres like funk , metal (donwstrokes stuff) and rock , one example would be by the way by red hot chili peppers , see i cant play the 16ths notes part , and for most people its really easy , and its 120 bpm also id love to play all cory wong stuff

have you ever looked into gypsy jazz sven jungbeck has some good stuff. he is a great rhythm player.

no but i`ll take a look , also i tried to play gypsy jazz but i never got la pompe
so what do you think? does it look better as left handed?

ya, and the only thing i can think of to tell you is to take a pencil or pen and try to make it look like rubber. that silly trick we use to do in elementary school. but angle your wrist downward, and see if you can figure out where the tension is coming from using this trick. this isnt 100% though its like a baseline as it will require some tension to control it. that is the hard part developing the control of it while still being loosey goosey.

thats where i have problems ,i mean, i can do it on air but on guitar its different . i think deconstructing strumming mechanics is really hard because there are a lot of movements involved also i’m not sure at what point hand physiology matters , i noticed all great strummers have larger thumbs and i have the hypothesis that makes strumming with trailing edge grip easier for them

thanks for the advice ill try it and i guess ill try to do both , play as lefty to see where it takes and try to develop the fore arm rotation as right handed

you just gotta try to do it, if you get stuck in the strings oh well, try again. if you begin to get frustrated move on to another technique, try again later when your frustration calms. each day you do this your body will eventually adapt. it took me about a month to develop a half way decent tremolo wrist of 1 note on a string. i almost threw my guitar off the balcony. some people just have the genetics already encoded in their bodies, where as for myself i likely didn’t. :smiley:

maybe take a look at christiaan van hemerts rhythm technique lesson videos. see if you can find some light at the end of your tunnel.

you could try the trick i use to target weak spots, and that is to utilize swing rhythm when practicing. so make sure you can swing tempo your chord progressions before straight whippin into consecutive triplets. maybe you have a weak zone that you just got to build up. if you swing eventually you will build up the muscles to burst like you want. but maybe for a week or two just work on trying to swing tempo as fast as you can this way it will be completely relaxed, but at the same time you will be working out the motions in microsteps cause thats the nature of the swing rhythm.

Thanks bro, i have’nt gave it a shot in depth to the swing 16ths, and yeah i tought may be i have some weak muscles, i even work out with dumbells A month or so but i didn’t notice a huge difference one question does it matter how hard you strum or pick? I mean in theory i should be able to do both without getting tired or tense?

Awesome, thanks for trying this!

These kinds of attempts are exactly what you should be doing on a semi-regular basis, until you find a way that allows you to follow the tempo for — say — 2 or 4 bars continuously (that’s 8 or 16 clicks of the metronome).

You can also try without the metronome, making sure you try to go at about that speed: at this point it’s more about finding a usable motion than trying to be super-regular.

In order to find something that works, you need to try as many different variations as possible.

Experiment with pick grip (2- or 3- finger grips in various flavours), amount of bend in the wrist, open/closed fingers, using different joints, etc.

Alternate between 16th notes and triplets (but keep the speed the same), so that you can vary your accenting and again have more opportunities to find something that works.

Try also to make sure upstrokes and downstrokes feel equally smooth.

Keep going and see how it goes in a few days, let us know!

oh i forgot to say maybe try making some picks out of cardboard. not like the thick stuff, but like from packaged food goods, like little debbie snacks. just outline the pick, cut it out, use some packing tape to wrap it up, cut it back out again. i use these when i am learning some new song progression so i dont bug myself, and those in my family with horrible mistakes. it keeps the sounds kinda lower, and more darker muted. but it kinda helps to develop a coordination, by letting your wrist get through the strings easier. the more you do it the more worn out it gets, the better, however they wear out fast, and you will need to keep making them. :smiley:
i lost my really thin paper dunlop pick so this is my alternative. i dont live that close to a guitar center or music store.

I admire your DIY work ethic and outside-the-box thinking :slight_smile:

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@davidrevuelta , I just reviewed your latest vids with Troy and here is our updated suggestion:

First, go back to basics and take the table tapping test in this YT video, and let us know what tempos you can hit:

After that, you should open a new critique focusing on single string tremolo. I.e., pick on a single string as fast as you can and show us what that looks like.

We’ll take it from there!

you know thinking about planting and not planting the wrist maybe in order to show someone the difference in the feel of how the wrist should be moving with the plectrum pick if you desire to gypsy slant would be to tell them to write down a sentence with a wooden pencil with your right hand, if the player is right handed, but write it backwards. so the natural thing you are going to have to learn how to do is take your wrist off the paper so you don’t smug it with your planted wrist. don’t let me start overanalyzing this stuff tommo. :smiley: