Need serious help!!!

Technique Critique
#1

Hey guys. I’ve been playing guitar for about 15 years and when I was younger I had a very efficient motion. speedpicking and especially tremolo was easy for me and never strenuous. i learned and perfected a wrist motion that worked for me.

Well fast forward too now and I completely lost it… I don’t even know how it happened. I now have to use a lot of my elbow and angle the pick away from me to get any speed at all and it hurts after awhile. I kinda went on a hiatus from speed picking and tremolo for learning djenty groove rhythm stuff so it’s 100% my fault… but I didn’t think id just completely not be able to do it anymore. :confused: I worked so hard to get there and now I can’t undo it. its like I don’t even know where to start anymore.

I listed a link to how I use to pick and what I have to do now to get any speed at all. any advice would be so helpful! its my favorite hobby and now I feel like just giving it up since I’m going backwards. thanks!

EDIT: it won’t let me send a link to the present vid of how I pick unless I post it on YouTube so I can do that later but can someone identify how I use to pick? such as the angle? is it just wrist? what I do now is just completely opposite. its all elbow with a locked wrist so trying to get back

#2

How many years did it take to develop?

How many years did you let it rest, dormant?

Why do you think it won’t come back after some practice?

1 Like
#3

Reminds me of Chuck Schuldiner from Death:

I think Troy at one point said Chuck is a Reverse Dart Player, or am I misremembering that?

#4

There could be an element of false loss here, hear me out.

When I was a teenager, and learning the guitar, not only were my hands not as developed as they are now, but my ears weren’t either. I was less good at hearing mistakes and being self critical.

Only last year I dug out an EP I recorded when I was 18 (35 now) and I vividly remember at the time being convinced that it was clean and accurate playing on a Necrophagist level. Listening back now and I hear slop and mistakes everywhere.

All you have is a memory of fast tremolo picking. I would put money on this being a case of you remembering it being better than it was. Chances are you can still do the exact same motion, but won’t any more because it is sloppy to your current day ears.

Just keep practicing and work on getting tremolo speed up that sounds good to your ears now.

2 Likes
#5

Not to be contrarian, but the opposite can certainly true too.

There have been many times in my guitar playing life, where I remember things being worse than they were, only to go back and listen to them again years and years later, smugly feeling I could wipe the floor with old me, only to find old me could whoop my ass!

It’s those moments where you scratch your head wondering how you even did that, and doubting you could even do that now.