Forearm rotation + helper motion

Playing Technique
#1

Hi,
I’ve been trying to find an example of forearm rotation USX + helper motion to be able to switch strings after a downstroke but I haven’t succeed on finding one. I’ve just found wrist USX + helper motion examples, so does anybody know of a good example of forearm USX + helper motion?

I’m asking because I use forearm rotation as my primary movement and I want to play the famous Paul’s Gilbert lick where you have to switch after a downstroke. I’ve tried swiping and wrist extension, both of them kind of work but they don’t feel comfortable.

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Joe Satriani Ascending Fours
Glossary Thread (Dumb Question or 3 or 4 or more!)
#2

Good question! Not sure it qualifies as “forearm + helper”, it’s more like a double escape motion — but the closest example I could think of is one of Troy’s (millions of) techniques:

Another example worth looking at could be Jimmi Herring, if I remember correctly.

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#3

It’s a difficult one because depending on your setup, it might be too much of an arm flip flop. This might be the reason why many will use pull offs or finger things in a way that suits the mechanic.

I’m forearm and wrist primarily also. I do sweep ascending but tend to avoid descending downstroke string changes. I had been practicing switching descending after a downstroke, but with my setup, it felt very… cumbersome and unnatural. Almost like I’m trying to rev a motorcycle!

#4

Thanks @tommo but as far as I understand DBX has a speed limit right?

@jptk that rev motrocycle feeling is more or less what I feel when I try to not swipe. It doesn’t feel natural.

#5

Have you tried that “Pick stroke displacement” stuff that Troy showed us recently?

It’s a great way do some descending patterns with a USX motion. I haven’t totally explored it, but just the little bit of an “aha” moment I had with it makes me certain it’s as awesome as swiping for “engineering” certain phrases.

Totally pedantic example of a USX descending lick where this feels really natural:

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Now we’ve got even more options on how we change strings!

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Magnet crosspick critique
#6

I’ve not tried that yet, but it sounds pretty damn convincing haha! Between sweeps, swipes and now this, there are plenty of options!

I think that might be unavoidable if you want to switch strings descending after a downstroke with the forearm and wrist mechanic.

Another thing I did experiment with, was the same sort of motion, but aiming to swipe, descending after a downstroke. With a bit of messing around with it, it’s still the same motorcycle rev motion, but less so, as you are not aiming to completely clear the string and use left hand muting to keep the swipe quiet. But to be honest, for me it still feels very unnatural, so this is where I’m likely to use legato or use a different fingering.

#7

@Troy

What is the angle of the pick in this video? It might be an illusion but it looks almost perpendicular to the strings. How do you get such a pick angle to make a decent tone/attack? Whenever I try to do this, I get nothing but scratch sounds lol