I find it really hard to loop certain phrases , even some simple ones. I can get through the lick/pattern once, but playing beyond that just fails - I lose the chunk in my mind and my fingers. Its a chunking/memory issue, not really a technique one. Anybody else really struggle with this?
On example of a single string fragment is (frets)
6,7,9,6,7,6,9,7.
I cant get it reliable at 150 bpm onwards (16ths) I can’t get it into that muscle memory chunk…
maybe try throwing in legato on 6,7,6
so d,u,d,u,hammer on,pull off,d,u
have you tried some kind of unique picking/legato to use on it does that not help?
just use this idea as a crutch for a few days to let the pattern sink into your mind more clearly as far as sound and fingering. then see if you can go back and pick it all if that’s what was giving you trouble.
I have tried, but mixing picking and legato makes it even harder to know where I’m at (I’m frickin useless at a lot of mixing the two on one string - main reason why the EJ Yngwie approach doesn’t come easily at all).
I have isolated the individual parts and can get them to higher tempos, but together its the musical equivalent of jamming a stick into the spokes of a bicycle when I hit the next rep of the fragment - my default is to either go into repeated 6,7,9s or flail my fingers around.
Interestingly enough, if I put the 6 and 7s on the next string up, its easier… I suppose there are more easily identifiable fretboard landmarks for me to hang onto…
which way do you slant? gypsy jazz wrist escaping on upstrokes or do you escape on downstrokes?
primarily DWPS, but I use mixed escapes (with a heavy dose of accidental swiping 
)
edit: how would that impact single string loops?
i am really bad with understanding the difference between the acronyms is dwps escaping on downstrokes?
if you escape on downstrokes try this
down,up,down,up, rest on up so keep the pick up against the string as you do hammer on, pull, off, unrest from the upstroke to do, down, up
DWPS is Downward Pick Slanting. I use mixed escapes (or attempt to!) but single strings are upward escapes
this is why its confusing cause if you escape on upstrokes you are slanting the tip of the pick upwards so i see it as uwps not dwps which i see as pointing the tip of the pick to the ground which would escape on downstrokes. im sorry my brain can seriously not get it i only can visualize what i can with my pea brain. 
Not always - As far as I understand it, slant and pick motion/escape are separate things. You can escape on the upstroke with any slant - as long as the motion pulls the pick out of the plain of the strings
What was the reason for asking about the setup? how would this impact on my ability to loop a pattern on one string? (apologies if I’m blantantly misunderstanding)
edit: just to clarify, my hands can cope with the speed (I can play others at 190 bpm fairly reliably) but my brain can’t fire off the chunk repeatedly - for some reason, I can’t get this pattern embedded at all. I wondered if others have this issue or if there are any methods to help.
i can alter a different picking/legato based on which way you naturally escape the plane of the strings.
that may be true if you are doing a crosspicking syle motion, but to do that on a single string run would limit my speed tremendously. but you might be different, so i see a few posts up you said you escape with upstroke on single string lines.
so you could start the pattern with an upstroke
up,down, up, down, rest, hammer on, pull off, unrest pick, up, down, repeat
Perhaps try breaking it down into smaller chunks first. From your example, first try 6 7 9 6 7 as four 16th notes followed by a quarter note, and loop that - imagine it as “chunk A”. Then try 7 6 9 7 6, again as four 16ths and a quarter, and think of it a “chunk B”. When they both feel equally smooth, try the entire sequence again as all 16ths, accenting each downbeat so that you’ll hopefully get your brain to go between the A and B chunks.
If that doesn’t work - is this sequence very similar to a sequence you already have under your fingers? If so, muscle memory might just be taking over when you don’t want it to… in which case I’d still just break it down into smaller chunks, or perhaps analyze specifically where you lose the sequence. Or maybe change the sequence to:
9 6 7 6 9 7 6 7
Which is the same order of notes you had previously, but beginning on the third rather than first. That might be different enough that it starts to come together.
I like the smaller chunks idea from @Riffdiculous
I think another thing that can expose inconsistencies is playing sans picking completely. “All hammers” is best since that is closer to what your fret hand would do if you were including the pick.
Another possible solution is forward chaining. Maybe all 8 notes is too much for your brain. You could probably play 4 of the notes. Then 5 of the notes, then 6 etc etc. Also, no metronome. Think of it as a “coordination” that just repeats with small pauses. Not in a specific rhythm along with a click…just repeated iterations
I would say that the 6,7,6 is the weakest part in timing, but I can get chunk A and B together, but playing AB and AB goes to shit.
this is most likely seeing as after AB I tend to just into 6,7,9 loop 
.
I’m still not getting why this is relevant (sorry if O’m being dumb here) as my troubles are a left-hand/brain issue. I can pick other patterns much faster than the top speed of this one.
breaking it into seperate chunks of picking and legato can help the fretting hand grasp the rhythmical flow of the desired musical idea.
You are not dumb if you knew that you can escape and it was because of the motion. When I think of a single string run I think more of the fastest way to do it, in my playing that doesnt consistent of trying to do the double escape style cross picking motion for single string stuff. Now if I had to I would utilize more swiping if at high end tempo, and bypass the double escape stuff as I am just not naturally that fast at it.
Plus utilizing picking and legato can help break it apart from other sequences/phrases you may like that it might be conflicting with that have similarities.
Cool, that makes sense (took me long enough aye? ). Just wasn’t sure why the slanting/escape made much of a difference if I can bang on the same string at a faster tempo.
good shout.
This is what has led me up to his point and feels like its hit a wall. I can play all the notes briskly once and once only - after I hit the 1st note of the 2nd loop I just can’t repeat - its alien hand syndrome.
I can accept that its not an easy pattern for me fir some reason I just don’t understand why its that much worse than the usual!
the reason i put that slur on the first two fingers is for speed reasons as that seemed to be what you were after with the 150bpm thing. 
they have the most control those two fingers on the fretting hand.
I just messed with the sequence now, and I have no idea if this will help you, but I think of it as half ascending (6 7 9 6 7 9 etc) and half descending (9 7 6 9 7 6 etc), but switching in a midway spot. So, I imagine ascending 6 7 9 6 but when I get to the next 7th fret note I now think DESCEND and get 7 6 9 7 and then think ASCEND when it goes back to the initial 6th fret.
maybe what could be throwing you off is maybe you are feeling the pattern end on the last note that it’s resolving.
So when you are playing it looping, would you still be thinking this as 2 chunks and not one?
which is what @joebegly was stating here.