Hi there
I am new here and I am trying to get recommendations how to get rid of my string hopping. Whereas I am not sure whether it’s a dramatically hopping.
In slow motion I see that it’s very likely hopping.
But how can I get rid of it? Any hints for practicing it?
What do you want to replace your string hopping with, in detail, and how did you choose?
You would need to go faster to know if this is actually stringhopping, or potentially a viable DBX (or maybe it just becomes DSX). What happens when you push the speed?
That said, the string changes in this exercise are all USX. DBX can work here, but single escape would likely work better (either USX, or DSX with the pickstrokes reversed).
Thank you so much for the feedback
Attached another vid where I pushed the sequence
Appreciate another feedback
So this faster take is either DSX or trapped, and this exercise is a mismatch for that. On the ascending inside changes, you try to compensate for that by adding a little lift to the last upstroke before changing strings, and on the descending outside changes, you just swipe through the strings.
I think you might be better served by trying something that is all DSX for now, like the pattern that is called Gilbert Sixes around here. I linked it in this video - just try what’s written in the tab.
Hi
Thx for your question. I am not sure whether it’s string hopping. That’s why I uploaded the vid.
But as riffdicolous already mentioned it seems that I tend to be a DSX. And the JP excercise is currently not the right approach.
Let’s see if the Gilbert sixes helps!
This was exactly my take on it. You can see he’s doing a little forearm rotation on the ascending string changes to jump over the string.
I also can’t tell if he’s using DSX or just trapped both directions. It looks like he changes a little on ascending vs. descending runs.
OP -
I would also just try to work on getting your technique to the point where it’s very clearly escaping on either upstrokes or downstrokes. Right now, your technique is very tight, and your picking motion is very economical - this isn’t a bad thing, but right now it makes it very difficult to tell what escape angle you’re using, or if you’re even escaping at all.
Try using BIG picking motions. The pick should very obviously be trapped in one direction, and very obviously free in the other direction. Don’t be afraid of the pick touching strings you aren’t playing (ala Rest Stroke).
Look at this video of Tommo, and look how huge his picking motion is:
The pick goes way out into the air on downstrokes. That’s what you should aim for - get a very obvious escape/trapped cycle.
Right, and my question is really this: do you WANT to be doing DSX, and is that choice intentional? For example, did you take the CtC tap tests, or is that what you likely did historically and wish to continue?
I did the test and for me the 1st one, flex extension tap worked best for me.
And I believe downstroke works best for me. I am not 100% sure but I believe I will continue with it and improve it. If anyone tells me that another approach works better for me I would try changing it. Definitely the EvH approach is nothing for me.
Thx for adding the video. Isn’t the grounding/fixing with the 3rd and 4th finger on the guitar beside the pickup rather a blocker. I was told that best way is to keep fingers together like a fist as if you hold anything inside.
And shouldn’t the escape be rather more economic when playing faster? In the video he plays fast but also very obvious escapes
String hopping is a confusing thing for me even years after learning it, I wonder if @Troy there could be a more definitive video on it, to show, this, is string hopping VS, this is not?
I get stuck on it, it fades from my memory.
Sorry, I should have been more clear! I’m not saying that’s how you should always pick, I’m saying it’s a test for the purposes of determining if it’s USX or DSX. If you do the motion big, it’ll immediately resolve any ambiguity.
Determining the escape of a picking motion shouldn’t take more than 10 seconds.
Here’s the test - Do the picking motion on the open D string at a constant, medium speed (like 140-150bpm 16th notes). Don’t do anything fancy, just pick the open string.
Increase the size of the motion until you start hitting other strings.
If you do this, there are literally only 3 things that can possibly happen, and they immediately answer your question -
1 - The pick hits both neighboring strings (the pick hits both the A and G Strings). This is “Trapped.”
2 - The pick hits one neighboring string, but clears over the other, into the air. This is a “single escape motion.” If it clears over G, it’s DSX. If it clears over A, it’s USX.
3 - The pick clears over both neighboring strings. This is a “double escape motion.”
When you do this test, what happens?
Not really needed. The definitive test is speeding up. If you can’t speed up, it’s stringhopping. If you can speed up, but the motion looks different, then it may also have been stringhopping, but didn’t really matter, since it transitioned to more efficient mechanics. I don’t think there is any other way to test this that actually offers any practical advantage.
@Wickie I didn’t see this thread until just now. You and I have an open TC where we will address all these issues methodically. The advice here is good, I’m not worried about that! It can just be a little confusing having recommendations coming at you from various directions. Let’s follow along with the TC for now and I promise we will get you completely sorted out!
Will do this test as well. Thanks for the hint.
When looking into my latest video (which is much faster than the 1st one) above in slow motion, it looks partially like string hopping or rather USX.
What I still don’t understand: is this then my preferred motion which I should rather train and improve? When I tend to do USX: is this then the recommendation?
In my opinion, I think it definitely makes more sense to find a picking motion that works well and feels good FIRST, then examine it and figure out what escape angle the motion makes and work from there. If your motion is automatically USX, just go with that! That’s how I started a long time ago. Later, I was able to add more picking motions (including some DSX) into my vocabulary. Neither USX or DSX is good or bad, they’re both capable of playing the majority of material just fine.
But I’d definitely defer to Troy and any advice he gives on your TC. He’s the expert after all!
I think that the recipe is to take the tap tests and see how many of your motions are fast enough, and then choose between them.
Recorded a single string picking. Started with 8ths and switched to 16ths. The motions becomes different and I guess this is not in the intention…
Anyone else who has a comment regarding my last video?
Hey! So, that’s a little too fast - I think around 190bpm? I know it’s tempting to want to hit the gas, but I specifically recommended 140-150bpm 16th notes because it’s (A) fast enough that you can’t do an inefficient technique like Stringhopping, but also (B) slow enough that can experiment with the technique and exaggerate the size of the motion, to clearly see whether it’s USX or DSX. It’s gotta be that medium-fast, 140-150bpm range.
My instructions probably weren’t very clear, so I made a quick video to demonstrate what I’m talking about.
See how, when I do the motion small, it’s hard to tell if it’s USX or DSX? But, when I do the motion big, it becomes very clear that it’s a USX motion? It’s very clearly going out, into the air, after upstrokes? That’s what I’m describing. If you exaggerate the size of the motion, at a medium speed, that should tell you if it’s USX or DSX or trapped or DBX.
It also has the added benefit of making the nature of the motion more clear (ie what joints and muscles it’s using). When I do it small, it’s hard to tell if it’s wrist or forearm or what. But, when I do it big, you can see that it’s a Dart-Thrower style wrist motion.
So, take the faster motion you were doing above, set the metronome to 140 or 150, and make that motion bigger and bigger until you start hitting (or clearing over) other strings.
Again though, if you have an open TC with Troy I’m gonna say you should stick with that, I don’t want to give any conflicting advice or steer you in the wrong direction! Too many cooks in the kitchen, etc.
Hi again
Thanks a lot for your effort. Really appreciated!!
Ok 140-150. Will give it another try. Meanwhile I played a bit around with DSX and USX. And it seems that DSX is more comfortable for me.
There is an open TC but since 3 days no one answers. Is it only Troy taking care of the TCs?
And even if there is the open TC I don’t see your hints as an additional cooker hint. Your hints definitely make sense to me.
Video follows!