Hey everyone,
what kind of hand movements do you use in tremolo/speed picking and are they similar or not?
plz describe
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A breakthrough for me was realizing that my tremolo picking technique could be used for “non-tremolo” licks if I applied the principles from Volcano to it. My “default” DWPS is a blend of forearm rotation and wrist flexion/extension, with maybe a tiny amount of wrist deviation. For “pure” tremolo I sometimes lock the wrist in more of a Van Halen style, probably more out of habit than anything else. I can also do DWPS with the Van Halen tremolo setup, but it doesn’t allow for palm muting or quick changes to other techniques (and I “modify” Eddie’s setup slightly by letting part of my curled ring finger graze the face of the guitar for tactile reference).
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Thanks!
And how fast is your tremolo picking?
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Haven’t tried to time the tremolo, but I can do a simple 6-note-per-string pattern on one string comfortably at 125bpm for sixteenth-note triplets, which would be 12.5 notes/second. If I tried to crank up the tremolo it would be somewhere north of there. The “elbow twitch” tremolo is definitely faster for me than the forearm rotation, but I don’t like how the elbow method feels.
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Short answer; yes it’s the same movement for me.
Long answer; My story is similar to Frylocks I guess. Before discovering Grady I was more or less a deviation based UWPS-player although I changed mechanics a few times from straight deviation to fingermotion and back. Tremolo playing was always the same technique as general picking for me. I thought it was weird to have another separate tremolo technique. But I had seen EVHs rotational technique and just tried the motion in the air and realised that it was far more relaxed and natural way to move a pick back and forth than through deviation and finger. But when I tried it on the guitar I could never get it to work and be stable and reliable enough, even for tremolo playing. I gave up on the idea right away.
When I found Grady and he presented Yngwies picking as being rotational I realised that the motion actually WAS usable for other things than tremolo. I “just” had to anchor it in another way. So from that day I have worked at DWPS and using rotational motion as the basis for all picking. It’s the most relaxed playing I’ve come across thus far, although it’s a long way til I can get it as reliable as my old deviation based UWPS.
Will be posting videos for help soon. This is a great plays for learning and sharing!
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I pick more from the elbow when I pick fast on one note or playing a sequence of notes. I think I use more of a rotation mechanic at slow and med speeds. Some people tell me they tense their arm when they pick more from the elbow. When I play fast lines I am really pretty relaxed with my arm and elbow. I have messed around with more of a wrist motion and can do it pretty well, but when I just let lt happen naturally and not think about it…it is all elbow. I can play long lines and never really ever get fatigued. A lot players I talk to say they feel like they are using a lot of energy when they use more of an elbow mechanic…I am not sure why I never get any type of fatigue from using it, it just feels really comfortable for me and just developed naturally decades ago.
I never really practiced with a metronome to develop my picking early on, but I did always tap my foot to everything and I do use a metronome a lot now. I have just started to analyze it more recently, I do enjoy trying different motion mechanics for fun and use a few different types depending on what I am playing.
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Can you link or say the name of the video where yngwies technique was discussed?
Thanks in advance
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great post, @nick636
I was baffled at my own playing after watching the pickslanting primer additions. I noticed that when I go to tremolo, I tend to USX on the high strings and DSX on low strings. Weird.
Learning that I have a strong DSX was revolutionary. On that journey, I’ve found that so MANY licks I’ve struggled with for years/decades simply need to be USX and I’ve worked hard to get better there.
So I wonder if this USX tremolo is new or something I would’ve done before all that work…? I guess I should make a video testing speed on both.
I will say that I ran @tommo 's Yngwie style exercise every day for months last summer. Fastest I ever got was 107 16th notes DSX.
My USX was in the low 90s.