@stickyresin I’m gonna assume that @Tom_Gilroy sees this as a win regardless, since you keep bumping his topic, lol.
Regardless if his claim of picking is real or not, the things he’s proposed (mainly EDC) have been tried out by other players and vetted, so his contributions have been widely well received. Have you tried them out?
Hi @Pepepicks66 , I hope you’re doing well. I think that user has been banned for incendiary comments in another thread.
For whatever it’s worth, I know now that some of the conclusions I had originally come to in this post were incorrect. This post reflects what my understanding and best guesses were in 2019.
The trailing edge technique I used at the time was very fast and could do USX, but it was based on RDT and required that the fingers be tucked to achieve the necessary supination, which was incompatible with hybrid picking.
It worked where it worked, but it wasn’t an accurate imitation of Shawn’s form.
Shawn’s primary mechanic was DT based USX from a less supinated position. This form doesn’t require the fingers to be tucked and allows for more seamless integration of hybrid picking.
I only discovered the DT USX mechanic after this post was written. Within a few months it was my fastest picking movement.
I’m not exactly sure when it emerged, either late 2020 or early 2021. I discovered/trained it during the pandemic and that whole period is kind of a blur in my memory.
Upscaled versions of Power Licks and Power Solos were briefly available on YouTube for a while (I have them downloaded), and they confirmed these later findings.
The “warp” mechanic does involve the elbow and some swiping, but I’m quite sure now that it’s a USX rotator cuff and elbow movement. I learned that movement in late 2024 and I’ve been spending some time training it since. It blends seamlessly with DT USX and the results are more consistent with what I observe in Shawn’s playing.
I made some videos on the DT and RC/elbow movements. I’ll edit them into this comment maybe tomorrow.
I now have a much more “complete” understanding of Shawn’s mechanics (both for the fretting and picking hands) and his line construction. Given this, I’ve been able to construct vocabulary which is maximally efficient. I also have a much clearer understanding of chunking and synchronisation.
This is all way, way past proof of concept. The people who have taken lessons with me can attest to that.