Looking for some new licks to practice for 2 way pick slanting

Playing Technique
#1

Hey there!

I’m anew to this thread, and have been learning a lot recently with CTC and starting to slowly now understand 2way pick slanting.

For the past 2 months, I’ve only been playing mainly 3NPS scales with 16th notes and some other random licks that always gave me trouble. I’m seeing slow progress, but am starting to get a bit bored with the licks or concepts themselves. I will of course continue to practice them, as they still need a lot of work.

But I was hoping for a bit of simple guidance of some great patterns or licks that really helped people with some useful 2 way pick slanting ideas, that can also be applied in the real world. So please lay them on me :slight_smile:

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#2

I understand where you are coming from, I am trying to nail ascending 6s with 2WPS and progress is not easy - it can get a bit tedious trying to work away at the chunks. Instead of trying to find new 2WPS licks (which you might get bored of also, in time), why not focus on learning some songs that you like (maybe some that you found difficult in the past) and applying the CTC concepts to any 2WPS licks that you find? Thats as real world as it gets and it may give you more insight in how to apply CTC and what your motion mechanics generally are. One thing I have noticed is that changing from rhythm to lead is challenging as I slightly alter my hand position etc. Its something I am having to think about and decide on - something that I wouldn’t have realised uf I’d stuck to practicing CTC licks 100% of the time.

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#3

I’d suggest looking for music of twps-players you like. Maybe a bit Paul Gilbert?

Check out that lick at 00:56 for example.

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#4

I’ve played around a bit with this organization in terms of progression of difficulty:

  • 9 notes per string, all ascending, then all descending

  • 9 notes per string, back and forth between two strings

then same with 7, then 5, then 3

some work with open strings, then assigning pitches to the exercises. (also helps to use pitches/left hand stuff that addresses left hand weaknesses at the same time)

Not something I spent a TON of time with or ever mastered, but just an idea I’ve toyed around with a bit to go from comfort with 1-way to comfort with 2-way

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#5

3 notes per string on 3 strings, just all the way up then down. That requires 2 way. That’s my go to warm up. Then to step it up a notch, try moving the whole pattern up the neck.

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#6

I do this exact same thing and it’s helped tremendously. I do it with legato too.

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#7

Couple other related forum topics if you haven’t seen 'em yet! —

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#8

So, my need for 2-way mechanics arises when improvising in a style related to what is commonly referred to as “bop.” Most of my left hand visualization and methods are derived from needing to reduce complexity when facing the extremely complex. So that said, I will ask someone, what is the domain one is trying to conquer?

Take a portion of any challenging passage that one wishes one could play with TWPS and there lies one’s TWPS challenge.

There is a universe of music out there to draw from. Peace, Daniel