Got any tips for me?

Technique Critique
#1

Hello friends. So I’ve realized I’m about 13 months or so into this world of troys and I’m certainly making huge strides. I’ve posted before about how I’ve been playing for 20 plus years only rhythm stuff. Couldn’t ever really play any lead or picking stuff. Even the 1234 exercise was hit and miss for me. I’m really enjoying all the knowledge and help here. So I wanted to post a video of some kind of normal warm up routine for me. This is just stuff I normally pick at for the first few minutes I play. I know what I know and I’m working on it but if anyone sees any immediate inadequacies or hinderances I’d appreciate any words of wisdom. Yes I know I pick crazy train in an insane way. I don’t know where that came from. For some reason I could always play that intro and I’m pretty sure I pick it different everytime. The double up pick was a surprise for me watching this.

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#2

I can’t give any advice on your picking as to me it looks fine. Though I do know from experience that trying to edit your natural picking tendencies can take the funk or feel away from it. You are playing great to me. You’re doing a bunch of patterns, does it feel natural? Can you speed them up?

#3

Yes so I’ve just recorded this and I’m still playing, I’ve noticed my picking hand has become tighter now, flatter now that I’m warmed up. It’s almost a different grip and my speed and accuracy increases. As it should.

#4

Can you post a faster run? I find the fastest runs I can do reveal my best picking technique, for me thats one way pickslanting with very few alternate picked lines. Recorded a video doing what feels natural to me and lets me be fast. I don’t have a cam as good as yours though. There are a few alternate picked runs in there and you can see as the pick jumps a lot for them. I’ve never found alternate picking to feel natural or effortless. I gave it up after a few years of trying. One way pickslanting works for most things. I can’t recommend it enough. I think alternate picking devolped a kind of mystery about it as its very effective but really hard to pull off well.

I think you can probably play way faster doing a full one way pickslanting technique, as you can shut your mind off and just slap/push through the strings. All three string descending lines are done with a pull off. I’ve increased my playing doing this way more than anything. I see some of the alternate picking style might be slowing you down?

#5

At 0:39 you do downward pick slanting rather than alternate. It seems to work a lot better for you if you compare that with the alternate picked scale run

#6

Yea. I’m for sure better at dwps. It makes so much more sense. I just don’t want to limit myself to one kind of picking.

#7

I use alternate picking randomly for some things. Some things are only possible with it. But like 90% of playing can be done with downward pickslanting. I’ve not found that focusing on it has limited me. It’s acually helped me let go of my obsession in creating a one size fits all technique. Was really stressful trying to force alternate picking to work for me.

#8

FYI I think everyone on this thread understands what everyone else means. But just to clarify, and for anyone else reading, everything you guys are discussing here is “alternate picking”, i.e. meaning continuous downstrokes and upstrokes with no sweeping or legato.

What you probably mean is “single escape” alternate picking versus trying to alternate pick lines with both escapes. It wasn’t obvious to us either what to call the playing style with both escapes, but I’ve been using the term “mixed escape” for that. Just to avoid confusion with “double escape”, which in our lingo is a picking motion that makes a semicircle.

Whew! Sorry for the nit pick.

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#9

Yes yes @Troy good point. Sorry I’m not a good exact terminology kind of person.

#10

Dang. I’m on here all the time and I thought “mixed escape” and “double escape” were the same thing. I really do learn something new on here so frequently that it’s embarrassing how ignorant I am lol! At least, embarrassed given all the years I’d devoted to conquering the instrument.

#11

Alternate picking for me has always been relative to string changes. I watched a Guthrie Govan video before and he mentioned alterate picking as just up and down, on a single string (as you’re saying now?), I swear thats not the classical ideal of alternate picking. As it’s so basic and not worthy of a description. Alternate picking for me has always been the switching from down up down, on one string, to up down up, on a new string.?

#12

I think most people refer to alternate picking as alternating up and down strokes while picking. Changing strings has nothing to do with it. Evh plays like 100 notes on a single string at the end of hot for teacher all alternating up and down strokes.

#13

I’ve noticed a lot of people who think mixed escapes and double escape is the same thing

#14

This is completely understandable, since the only place we actually use this particular term is in the Primer here:

And this update was among the more recent. We’re learning as we go here. So again @WhammyStarScream not a critique on you, just a public service announcement for readers, i.e. “we have this way of describing this super not-obvious thing now”.

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#15

I must be mistaken then. I started learning guitar with the internet and when most people say alternate picking they use it to describe string changes. Vs economy etc… I always wondered why some players used it just to describe up n down.

Though seeing as I’m posting on this forum I will try to keep the terms inline with CtC.

#16

So to be correct, what would single escape with sweep string changes be called? Thats that I use the most.

#17

So what if you dont change strings? Just a short run on a song. How would you describe up and down picking on one string? I notice this more than most because I play heavy metal where most picking on one string is ALL down strokes. And when we use something else we need to specify it’s not down strokes but say “alternate picking”

#18

I think the main thing with this forum is we are so precise on the language because there are so many different types of picking. Even the way you just described could be named differently because you didn’t specify how many notes you’re playing. You could’ve just described sweep picking if it’s only 1 note per string.

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#19

I feel only absolute beginners will have this issue. I’ve seen people who are just starting many times and you’re right that explaining it in detail like that can help, but I think anyone whos spent a few months playing guitar automatically starts the up down up picking out of natural efficiency. And it becomes so obvious to not need a description. And alternate picking in my experience of guitar has always been in reference to the alternate picking string changes. Though I agree that on this Forum and Site Troy has created a lexicon to describe in detail the movements, so I’m happy to use them.

Back to your topic, For me, nothing has helped my playing more than single escape picking. With sweeps and pull offs to fill in the lack of mixed escape picking. Your playing is good, and if mixed escapes are tripping you up as they do me, I’d say just forget em. I find it a really stressful and quite robotic technique. The consistent back n forth can lack character to me. Marty Friedman would be a classic example of how well it can work in metal. I know my video is poorly presented and not ampped up, but you can see me speeding through a couple patterns with little effort. And it’s because I’m not being careful, A single pick escape lets you be quite mindless and just go for it. Mixed escapes on the other hand take a level of care in the picking that trips me and most up. Thats why it developed a kind of mystery about it, this technique that can play everything but is hard to do. Thats my opinion anyway.

I personally think it’s the best technique for guitar, Jason Becker, Eddie Van Halen, Marty Friedman, Yngwie Malmsteen, all metal shreadders with single escape as their main technique. They can fly through the fretboard with little thought.
Obviously you got someone like Michael angelo batio who is full on mixed escape, and it works for him. Though I’d say he has quite a unique picking technique that most won’t be able to copy. And even though I loooove him and his playing it can be a bit robotic at times as he’s so consistent. There was that video Troy did recently with Wim Den Herder Ignoring his awesome playing, he said in it that tuning discrepancy gives him some inspiration. Rather than the constant perfect forths. I think thats true of technique, you want certain loose funk in your technique, looking for a one size fits all in my opinion is counter to actual music.

#20

That’s one way economy picking. Or dwps economy. It’s described in detail in the primer. That’s how I play too.

As for it being the best… No, that will vary from person to person. Wrist dsx, elbow dsx etc comes more naturally to some and that is sort of the point. This is why people are asked to show their fast tremolo on a single string. It’s the first step to finding which method of picking is going to suit your fastest, most natural motion.

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