How Do You Guys Practice the CtC Techniques?

Playing Technique
#1

Hi everyone!
I’m new around here and a bit confused, to be honest. I’ve watched almost all of Pinkslater’s videos, but I’d really like to apply the techniques in a way that allows me to consistently verify whether I’m actually improving (or not : )

Is there any kind of structured technique program here? For example, I just jumped into the first “Vulcano” video, and there’s already an interesting one-string riff that seems great for working on hand synchronization. Is that the idea?

Also, I enjoy practicing with a metronome, but I think I heard somewhere in the course that it’s not the best approach — is that correct? How do you all handle this?

Sorry if this topic has come up before — I know there are probably many similar messages here.

Thanks a lot!

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#2

The issue is that there are many picking techniques, not everyone will be able to learn just any of them, and a path forward needs to be tailored to the individual. For example, let’s say John McLaughlin came here after a few years of playing guitar - he’d already established a DSX technique - but in this alternate universe CtC only teaches Troy’s original wrist-forearm USX technique: if you aren’t using that, you are wrong. John bangs away at it in frustration, fighting what his body already wants to do, and at absolute best, loses time (at worst… gives up!).

Luckily, this is not reality!

What you (or anyone) needs to do is problem solve: if you are trying to do X thing, and you aren’t getting the results you want, why is that? If you can figure that out on your own, great, now what is the solution? If you can’t figure it out on your own, you’ll need another pair of eyes: making a Technique Critique is always worth a go.

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#3

I think what OP is asking is what do you do once you’ve found a working motion (fast tremolo). Do you practice sync with a single-string lick? And if so, how?

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#4

The general progression around here is something like:

  • Establish some form of tremolo motion that can go “fast” on a single string. The definition of “fast” is vague, but let’s say somewhere in the realm of 16ths at 180 as a minimum. If this isn’t happening, then a simpler step is looking at the joint motion tests.

  • If you have the tremolo down, note if there is an escape, and also work on single string patterns for hand sync. If you get stuck on this step, it is again important to figure out why - there are a lot of things that can go wrong. I personally think developing accents with the picking hand is super important, both in groups of four and six (sixteenth notes, sextuplets) as an initial step, then sort of auto-piloting that part while you add in the left hand.

  • If you get good results with the single string stuff and have a clear escape, then it’s time to work with multi-string ideas: usually Gilbert Sixes for DSX, and perhaps the Yngwie pattern across strings for USX.

If you’re getting stuck somewhere, you need to figure out why, and then find a solution. That’s always the answer. If you’re working with single string hand sync, record yourself - are you in a sync? If not, where is the issue? Left hand lagging, picking getting messed up due to unfamiliarity with this new required coordination, something else?

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#5

Thanks a lot!

When you say tremolo on a single string, are you referring to just one note at a time, or some kind of repeating pattern?

If it’s a single note, I can easily go well above 16ths at 180 bpm. But as soon as there’s a pattern involved — even on a single string — that’s where things start to fall apart.

I think it’s a synchronization issue between my left and right hands, but I’ll keep investigating and digging through the site.

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#6

Yes, that’s exactly my question. I mean, is there some kind of path or sequence to follow?
Anyway, I’m new here, so I’ll keep exploring. :slight_smile:

#7

You’re welcome!

Yep, just holding a single note and alternate picking it repeatedly - whenever you see the word “tremolo” here, that is what it will mean. This let’s you know if there is speed and smoothness in the picking motion itself without introducing any other sort of complication, like the fretting hand or string crossing.

Awesome! Do you know what sort of joint motion you are using to do this? Wrist, elbow, forearm, some combination? Do you know what the escape is? That info will point you in the direction of easier material to start with, once you lock down basic hand synchronization. The Volcano seminar, for instance, requires you to have a USX motion to really get the most out of it.

Can you play this pattern using only legato (hammer-ons and pull-offs)?

#8

My bad — I was checking my English, and actually I can go up to around 170 BPM (4/4 – two notes per stroke) with clarity and good timing. I think that’s 16ths, right?

Anyway, I can tell I’m mostly using wrist motion, but as I get closer to 170 BPM, my whole arm starts to engage — not really moving, but getting tense or rigid. The technique feels kind of weird.

Up to about 130 BPM, I’m pretty sure it’s DSX (though I used to think it was USX — still not 100% sure). After that, the pick seems to be at about a 90° angle, always escaping — it seems like RDT.

Finally, no, I can’t play the pattern with legato (I mean, I think I could get there eventually, but picking feels easier for me at this point — is that weird?).

Also, when using my pinky in the three notes pattern I’m actually faster than with my third finger — is that strange too?

Thanks a lot for your help.

#9

16th notes are 4 notes per click, so at 170bpm you’d be picking between 11 and 12 notes per second. If you aren’t used to playing fast at all, that number might sound crazy, but it’s definitely obtainable by any healthy adult.

These sorts of speeds are slow enough that you cannot really make a “realistic” motion that you would use for fast playing. Troy just released a great video about this very thing.

Well, if you’re up for it, I’d advise you to video all this stuff - a fast tremolo on a single note, whatever pattern you are talking about as legato (the Yngwie pattern?), and then trying to pick the same pattern - and either post it here in this thread, or make a technique critique on the platform. Getting some video will make all the difference in further advising you.

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#10

This is a great thread! I came to CtC without a specific problem to solve but found the original YouTube series so much fun and resonant with my own experience during 80s/90s that I wanted to continue the journey. I decided to basically work through everything in the order presented on the site, starting with seminars and then interviews (just working those in alphabetical). This approach satisfies my OCD and also takes advantage of something like a cumulative build of knowledge: Volcano + Cascade (go deep into USX), Antigravity (same for double escape), Metronomic (surprise, you can rip DSX even though you thought otherwise). I transitioned to interviews before Obsidian but doing this one a la carte now.

The seminar format is fun and awesome. My approach was to work through every clip example using the tab (and saving the .gp for anything longer than a few bars of more complicated melody). The order of the individual lessons and clips is, unsurprisingly, not haphazard so taking this approach provides a nice build ramp as you study a specific technique. What you will find is that there are some specific clips that make great exercises (e.g., Gilbert Lick, Yngwie Sixes, EJ Atom are obvious but you will come across many others). Those become couch exercises where you thank your significant other for sitting next to you watching TV while you Vinnie Moore her to death and drive those atomic patterns deep into motor memory until they become nervous tics. Pick fun clips that are melodic (there are plenty of them) and you will find that you carry them with you long after you have moved on. Marvel as they mysteriously appear in your improv! Also, don’t skip the Notes on the lessons, esp. Cascade. They are not just transcriptions of monologues but new/additional info and context written in Troy’s style which is a blast to read.

The interviews are also incredibly useful but when I started working through them I did not realize how they would be useful. What is esp. cool about interviews is that you get to see the ideas/concepts your are studying viewed through the lens of different guitar styles and realize that the foundational problems that CtC is approaching are truly foundational. Also, the interviews typically go beyond just picking technique and get into questions like “What does it mean to improvise? What are you really doing in the moment?” and “How does music theory support/enhance your playing?”. You’ll notice that the earliest interviews are more technically focused but once a lot of the fundamentals of CtC are worked out, the interviews start to go way beyond technique. The examples here are also great but instead of working through all of them (there can be 100’s/interview), I pick the ones that are either extremely odd/interesting and probably have some unanticipated benefit (lots of these in Marshall Harrison for some reason) or things I specifically want to work on. I have also really benefited from cross training the acoustic guitar/flatpicking interview examples, esp. Molly, Andy, and Carl. Practicing any of the roll patterns is esp. helpful. Not sure on the mechanics of why this is so useful but it feels a little like baseball batters warming up with bat donut weights before stepping into the box (do they still do this?!).

If you are interested in the “work all the excecises” approach just DM me on platform and I will send you the google sheet i used to track progress that contains all the clip links. Even if you are not as neurotic as I am you will enjoy all the material on the site – it is an exceptionally valuable guitar pedagogy tool and you are in the right place. Good luck!

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