From Roma to the Magic Rolex. Or, fine tuning the forearm rotation

Playing Technique
#1

I’m wondering if anyone (Troy, et al?) has discerned a distinct physiological transition point between forearm rotation and wrist deviation. Having used wrist deviation for most of half of a century, I’ve been focused for awhile now on DWPS, trying to get to Yngwie speeds with forearm rotation. Conceptually it seems like I should be able to maintain the rotation down to the finest detail level, but in practice, I find it breaks down as I near the change from wrist flexion to extension.

Django-esque approaches involve a pronounced flex. Yngwie-esque techniques are presumed to incorporate forearm rotation, albeit with a relatively stable (?) ulna, affording palm muting. Any observations or expert thoughts on this? Thus far I’ve tried to keep some flex just to keep it honest as I develop the DWPS technique.

Thanks in advance. D

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#2

Hi! You can definitely do blends of wrist and forearm, and many players who think of themselves as “forearm” players are probably in reality doing some kind of blend of both. There is nothing wrong with this. Relatively few players use pure forearm rotation as their primary picking technique. There is not really any kind of “transition” between these approaches since they are simply different movements. You can use one, the other, a blend of both - whichever you choose.

As you’ll see in the upcoming Mike Stern interview, Mike is a downward pickslanter and also a deviation player. Albert Lee is also a wrist downward pickslanting player. These two things go together fine. I know we are probably guilty of creating the impression the forearm rotation is somehow necessary for downward pickslanting but it is definitely not. If you are already comfortable with wrist movement, I wouldn’t spend any time trying fix what’s not broken.

It’s on our list to update the Pickslanting Primer with more details on how to do the basic elbow, forearm, and wrist-oriented picking motions. We just have to carve out some time for this, hopefully soon. But in the mean time, definitely ask yourself if there is any need to change what you’re already doing, because it may very well be that there is not.

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#3

Thanks Troy! Having spent the years since college using strict alternate picking, I’m finding the radical departure into forearm rotation a matter of enjoyment and adventure. Easier for me to practice something new for awhile without the subtle bad habits of decades past. DWPS is letting me play things I never thought possible for myself, though I imagine returning to the cross picking/TWPS (refined string hopping?) informed by the radically different approaches (hybrid picked odd-note escape tricks, etc.) at some point. :slight_smile:

There’s a treatise on piano playing, and I’m sorry I’ve forgotten the name of the author offhand, where the isolation of the movements is heavily emphasized. Perhaps you know it? Lever at the knuckle, lever at the wrist, lever at the elbow, lever at the shoulder, lever at the waist (the last being for the softest attack possible)… I’ve sometimes wondered if there is a good reason to keep them in use one at a time, or if the isolation is just helpful towards refining an aggregate whole.

Thanks again. I look forward to revisiting the Stern approaches with new eyes and with confirmation that folks are readily mixing the two approaches.

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