Joe Stump arpeggio picking efficiency?

Playing Technique
#1

I just received my Joe Stump arpeggio book, and at the very outset he shows a 2 string E minor triplet arpeggio, but suggests something that seems counter-intuitive.

E|–19–15------
B|----------17–
G|--------------
D|--------------
A|--------------
E|--------------

He says to start with a downstroke on the first note, then pull off to the 15th fret, then do a downstroke again for the B string 17th fret note.

His books says, “Note: It’s etremely important to pay strict attention to the pick sterokes, as they’re essenial to playing all of the arpeggios in the most efficient way.”

Is this a typo? Is he right? It seems it would be more efficient to do the first note on an upstroke, pull off to the second note, and come back across the third note with a downstroke.

What do you all think?

#2

Hey AGTG!
I think I agree with Joe Stump! If you use a downstroke that allows you to use sweeps for 17 &19, then the pull-off gives you time for the pick to get back over the strings. Good luck!

#3

thats just the way he plays them. im sure its one of several ways.

the way he shows there is all DWPS

he wants to do down-pull-down. so its a sweep as it repeats. The way you are suggesting would make you do an outside pick as it repeats (way harder for me anyway)

have you seen his arpeggio vid online? he shows all the pickstrokes for up to 5 string arps

he shows a couple variations of that pattern

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#4

as he goes to 3 string arps it DOES go to an upstroke on that high note. (I had to edit my mistake lol) AFAIK this is the same basic approach Yngwie uses so he can use all DWPS.

D D D U P U

the pull off gives u time to position the pick for the last upstroke even though you are keeping downward pickslant. Same as Yngwie style

#5

I have a thread here called
Joe stump book error?
You will want to look at that when you get to page 10.

Im working through book trusting joes choices and it is working for me.

But this book is not an exhaustive study of every possible choice.

I do it his way but I also play with things for myself.

His warning was stern enough for me to trust that he had a plan.

Also that lick you showed will morph later and be picked with an upstroke as 16th notes.

#6

what warning? ive never seen it lol

#7

The warning is directly above the example. Lol

For what its worth this example is hard to control as written But you progress and the others aren’t so bad

#8

If you jump to examples 3 n 4 you will see the 16th note version

Example 4 makes good use of the lick you are currently trying and you will see how that downstroke is helping there.

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#9

I just played the lick how Joe describes it in the book and it feels good to me. He’s playing the first note with a downstroke, pulling off (which gives him time to get his pick over the string ready to play the next note as a downstroke).

#10

When he gets to the first minor shape 3 string examples, that thing felt super awkward but again after a couple days of intermittently working it out I got it.

So for me the hardest examples to control so far have been example 1
Then the first 3 string.

I have to say though I really like this book. I have purchased hundreds and most miss the mark imo.

This is a keeper

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#11

Have you seen this video of Joe playing close up? He talks about finishing licks on a down and then starting another on a down. This might account for his seemingly counter-intuitive approach.

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#12

I’m always impressed by the actual speed these guys get to that volume knob

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#13

and the freakin’ pickup selector lol. Makes u wonder, did they actually metronome the move to the pickup selector too?? lol

side note: Joe Stump is probably the ultimate as far as a guy with the pro technique AND the knowledge that comes from being a teacher and dissecting all of this stuff.

2 Likes
#14

Oh yeah, that’s the thread that got me to buy the book actually. I totally forgot about your thread when I started in on practicing with this thing.

I think the book is awesome, as I’ve been looking for some input, so to speak, to practice stuff that is musical, but not music.

So you think it’s worth making the double downstroke fast for the other arpeggios he does later on?

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#15

I think its worth doing everything as he lays it out. If later you find a better way cool
But he is building something here from the ground up.

I wouldn’t spend days on lick 1 either.

Move on then revisit

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#16

With those simple 2 string shapes and the picking options he presents with them you are going to hear
Sultans of swing, bark at the moon
And hundreds of cool sounds from the greats and they turn out to not be half as hard as they sound.

Granted im not even halfway through but like I said it builds.

He even says there will be some really hard stuff eventually so We will see how that goes.

Im documenting the arp and their inversions along with picking options
So I can study them aside from the book.

Just run them through different keys.
Or pick chord progressions and plug them in.

Very useful stuff
For me. Lol

The book isn’t about harmony but your ear will get stretched in a good way.

I love the d#dim leading to the e minor along with some of the other stuff he shows but doesn’t talk about.
Im glad he dosent in a way because the book would be all over the place.

Well this sux,
I think I might be a fan boi/shill

#17

Look what I got today!!

IMG_20181204_173557
IMG_20181204_173557.jpg2736×3648 2.16 MB

1 Like
#18

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#19

What finger do you guys use for the notes on the B and G strings when he’s playing arpeggios like this

troy
troy.png629×752 24.7 KB

#20

I would roll my middle finger on those