Not 100% clean, but at least it’s the original tempo, and I can pull it off almost every time I try.
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Cool cool youre really on another level to me and I wonder how you do it. You’re a USX player I think ?
What was the most important lick or exercise you did to develop your picking motions early on ? I know this thread is a sort of diary of the progression you made but from the start it seems like you had it down pretty much.
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No, I’m picking caveman style from my elbow, so all DSX. I didn’t really had any specific thing I’ve been working on, I just tried playing those licks at the beginning of this thred (cascading sixes, 6 string scales, some Petrucci licks) since last October and it started to click in February. I wouldn’t even attempt USX stuff as I’d crumble terribly.
I was listening to the first solo from the video below - not sure what song it is from - but I think you could do it. You have the speed and the style so it would be a matter of work. I agree there is a lot of stamina involved - that solo just goes and goes at high speed! But it is more a matter of whether you wanted to take it on as opposed to capability in my view.
But just because one is capable doesn’t mean you necessarily want to. There is some stuff I think I could do but I just don’t want to LOL
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That solo is one of my arch enemies. I want to do it one day yes, but it’s still not something I could pull off. I’m still waiting for that next step to click so I can play at these speeds for longer, I hope it comes one day. My optimistic hope is that it will happen within 4-5 years.
For some reason I thought I had heard you play longer stuff already, but I do remember you talking about endurance being an issue early on.
I’m not sure what pointers to give someone struggling with endurance, other than to find efficiencies when possible, and maybe progressively longer exposures to sustained lines? I’ll have to think about that, since I don’t think I ever worked on endurance, and I don’t think it’s a weakness at all for me.
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Is it your fretting hand that’s the problem for endurance ? I used to have that problem years back when playing in a band and it was as simple as putting more time in practicong to keep my muscles in shape. I know it sounds simple but if you just sit there for ~10 minutes every day doing the same 3NPS scale up and down it will build endurance. Just go for as long as you can and do a bit more every day.
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Also Steve Vai’s trill thing where you trill on 10-13 or 10-15 or wherever you want really; depending on the finger you wanna use, and keep it going for as long as you can making sure that it sounds good. Doesn’t have to be fast all the time just keeping it going does the job.
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Fretting hand is a real problem here, especially above the 200 bpm range. There are many licks where it’s struggling to keep up with my right hand now.
@Pepepicks66 Endurance is an issue here, especially for stuff like the final unison in “This dying soul”
Well that’s a good problem to have and it’s fixable for sure. With me it’s the other way round and I don’t know if I can ever fix it, seems my picking motions are burned in and hard to change.
I think the problems with picking are fixable for sure, and my personal experience shows that. It’s not perfect still, but quite usable.
I’ve never done the trill stuff, I’ll spend a few minutes on that every day for sure. I’m also thinking about doing something like a running challenge and check how long I can sustain the final unison run, even if only at 190bpm - 12 bpm shy of the target - without stopping and try to get there every day, and set a new target in case I could beat it.
Any ideas are welcome.
Hey dude, just wondering which tab you are using for your Crushing Day thing, I’ve got the book which is wrong for sure, and the tab on [Crushing Day Tab by Joe Satriani | Songsterr Tabs with Rhythm] seems better but the arpeggios still seem wrong to me.
They are close, the correct positions but the wrong phrasing I think.
I was watching him play it live and I think I will try and work it out myself, but if you know of something good already I won’t bother.
The long run that you play seems very very close though in that songsterr version.
All ears, I’m not using tabs for this.
Damn dude is there anything you can’t do 
I could make an endless list about that…
well if you ever work out the arpeggio bit I would be interested to see it and compare with my interpretation.
I’ll let you know, I may spend some time on it next week.
My version of the Johnny B Goode solo by Judas Priest. The lick after the double stops (the one full of bends) has been replaced by something I could pull off anytime in a live situation (until I can play that on the original tempo). Also, the ending run is not something I could transcribe so I play my own interpretation there.
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Holy Satan’s balls your picking is insanely good! 
I really need to start pushing my speed, I’m a very low percentage of what you can do and I’ve been playing 28 years 
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Yeah I love this thread. The elbow is a hell of a joint! @gabrielthorn is an awesome example of someone who found out what he was good at and really went to town with it. He still thinks he sucks, but the rest of us know the truth Dude shreds!
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