Unhappy to report that changing my pickpoint isn’t really helping and in fact I’m finding I do more tense movements that aren’t able to speed up. My USX motion just does not use the pick that close to my fingernail and I don’t find it comfortable or like something I can stick too
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Curious what y’all might think of this, this is after experimenting with more supination and a higher “pick point”. I think this is the least swiping I’ve had as this tempo but still quite a bit. I think the pick point starts to drift towards my normal DWPS position as it goes on but it’s maybe something I could get used too. This is triplets around 190 bpm, didn’t use a metronome since like others said it’s distracting. Thank you for all the help. Best so far? - YouTube
Edit on second thought this is just as much swiping as before
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Sounded good to me, I think the notes are more consistent compared to previous videos. Curious to see where your pick point is in this one.
I’ll take another video. When I zoom in I do see swiping but the auditory quality is better
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Honestly I’m at the point where I think I’ll just have to resign to being a DWPS player. No matter what I try I can’t get my wrist extension enough. Here’s my possibly last video after changing my anchor and using a more positive pick point. March 25, 2022 - YouTube
Here’s a pentatonic pattern around 16ths at 145bpm, when I slow it down the downstrokes are very shallow, not swiping but articulation is unclear March 26, 2022 - YouTube
Don’t give up, that’s everyone’s first impulse. Just take a small step back. How well can you do just two strings? Can you play the below example without swiping? This example should be fairly easy until the last couple of bars which incorporates a string skip.
I’ll send a video after work, two strings without swiping is actually hard past my treshhold. I remember a while ago Troy said not to overly focus on just playing on one or two string to learn the movement but I’ll try this
This is good if it is hard past your threshold. But there is a different purpose in mind with this. Give it a try, it may help focus on certain aspects.
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Cool etude Fossegrim. I took a bit of a break from the 'ole "double escape thing because I kind of hit a wall. lol Think of it more as “giving up” on it hahaha BUT… then I read through a thread, see a glimmer of hope, re-watch some footage and check the replies to my posts to see if I missed something… Sure enough, I find that I am being a bit lazy on the upstroke, Is it possible to “half-way” string hop? Anyways I kind of exaggerated my upstrokes for a bit tonight, and then messed around with this 2 string etude of yours and then played a 16th note “roll” on a barrechord and sure enough, I gained a bit of BPM; my “comfortable starting point” went up a bit. Cool. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow hahaha
To the original poster; keep at it man! You got this! I can’t even pick at all and I get by lol
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Wanted to thank everyone and post a little update. I was experimenting on my archtop instead of my 335, and with a new string set and I think this is the best that triplet roll has sounded so far; at least when I’m playing it on the middle strings. I think this is a mostly wrist motion but I’m not entirely sure and it’s not reproducible yet at all. I’ll try the etude tomorrow, have had a busy day today between work and gym. March 26, 2022 - YouTube
To me the first several repetitions sound pretty clean and relaxed before it breaks down, but I’m curious if you guys agree or think I should try a new movement
It’s getting there. *(had to include for 20 characters)
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Don’t get too comfortable. There’s a part two to all of this, and possibly part three.
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Hehehe I never get comfortable, I’m sure I will be frustrated as hell again soon enough. The good news is that I have enough cheats and hacks to play whatever I want. But… I’d sure like crosspicking/DBX in my back pocket… As I’m sure the original poster would.
Thanks to you “code guys” and a LOT of experimentation, trial and error I can really identify that “feeling” of string hopping so I have been able to put an end to needlessly practicing something that doesn’t work. I’m a hard worker, so I am super guilty of that.
I have found that sometimes it’s really hard to see just exactly what “something else” looks and feels like, especially when you have some stuff that’s successful. I’ll leave a video for reference, lol I can’t even escape! hahaha Not trying to self promote, but I think it is possible to come up with cool stuff that’s still a bit shreddy even if you have to go about it a bit differently (Hybrid pick, legato, taps, rearranging notes etc) Not the best, and not a display of mastery, but I think it gets the job done.
So I think sometimes a break is in order! I also found that even though I just want to get it done, learning stuff doesn’t always happen on “my” schedule… And often times I think there’s this mentality that if we learn a certain guitarist’s notes, then somehow we are magically imbued with their ability. Not so…
So here’s my situation, and maybe it will help out… it seems like a wrist rotation works best for me to do DBX. I’ve tried 'em all, but that seems to be the most natural. However, it was brought to my attention that the upstrokes seem to be hiccuping, and that coupled with not making any headway tempo-wise (clean tempo that is) I took a DBX hiatus. Thinking about it now, exaggerating that upstroke a bit, and making a mental effort to do it made things work just a bit better. Then I got to thinking about the pick depth… (I know, I know - it shouldn’t make a difference if i am doing it right BUT I want to set up for success so I will take any advantage I can get in regards to clearing the strings.) So now I am kind of working on, umm just glancing the string (feathering?) and keeping the motion a U as opposed to a V. V = pain, U = no problem. Now as far as tempo goes, I think I might be a dufus. I have literally never used wrist rotation EVER with any success, and I think that even though it is likely a compound motion, it just feels alien, and therefore is quite a bit slower - on a single string as a tremolo even. So… first order of business is to make sure that my “tremolo” is efficient and can be played at a quick clip (I will shoot for 16ths at 150 for today and see how that goes… (lol If I can just get bast 140 I will be happy!) Update: Tremolo pick to 140 successful, barrechord “roll” type thing, 16ths at 116. Seems to be the “edge”
To the original poster, you got this man - I think you are much closer than I am! (Sounds great dude!)
Unfortunately I haven’t been able to reproduce those first repetitions today. How fast are you wanting me to post the etude? It’s not something I can play cleanly at a moderate speed
The March 26 attempt looks great to me! I would keep doing this but not limit yourself to these 1nps roll patterns. Variety is always recommended 
Try combinations of different numbers of notes per string (some string may have 3, some 2, some 1, etc.).
Only detail I noticed is that — I think — in some reps you strike a note on the same string twice instead of moving to the next string. Try to pay attention and see if I’m correct, so you can tell by ear if/when that happens and correct by feel.
Overall this sounds great!
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I want to know both what speed you can do it cleanly, and what speed it falls apart at. Viewing it falling apart may be helpful. There’s a goal in mind though, as I hinted at with @Scottulus, so it’s coming in steps.
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He does. He does it in all the videos to a greater or lesser extent.
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Thanks Tommo! Is triplets around 185-190 fast enough to rule out stringhopping or inefficient technique? I def hit a hard limit trying to play something tumeni at speed
It’s not likely string hopping. You don’t exhibit the tell tale signs of it. It’s likely more that you are relying on too much wrist translation instead of allowing more rotation in to provide an arched pendulum like escape. You are also double picking strings you don’t intend to which also suggests you aren’t tracking the strings enough, meaning you may be too positional as well.
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