No quite sure what I'm doing - but it works

Technique Critique
#1

I’m not quite sure what picking technique I’m using at 36 seconds to hit the fast pentatonic licks but it’s awesome! I tried slowing it down but when I do, I alternate pick it all but as I speed up, it doesnt feel like I am. It appears I’m alternate picking the first 2 notes as down up, then a down or up pick followed by a pull off for the 4th note and returning to start the pattern again. It sounds like all 4 notes are being picked out but if that was the case the 4th note would put me in the trapped zone, not the escape zone if i was down picking the 3rd note. Well at least I’m pretty sure I’m not alternate picking it all.

I also just got this les paul custom. It was my dream guitar and it plays unbelievable.

5 Likes
#2

Wow sounds great man, love this solo!

The angle of your hand and pick makes it look like wrist DSX to me, with a bit or elbow movement as you get to the lower strings, also looks you do an upstroke sweep towards the end of the lick which would make sense with this theory

With these types of licks, starting on a downstroke wrist DSX wouldn’t make sense so there might be something else going on e.g. pickstroke displacement, hammers/pulls, you might think you’re starting on a downstroke but shift to upstrokes when you speed up (similar to when Troy asked Andy Wood to start some of his pentatonic licks on downstrokes).

Another possibility could be the Shawn Lane’s super fast wrist USX but your setup doesn’t look similar to his. I believe I saw Troy theorise that Phil X used the same motion for some of his pentatonic licks so maybe you have a similar setup to him? Maybe try and slow it down by 20% and see if you can get the motion to feel the same so you can analyse your technique further? :grin:

1 Like
#3

I’ll let technology do it for me. I just got home so I decided to record it real quick then throw in an economy picking lick at the end (I know exactly what I’m doing here).

#4

If you asked me to guess what you are doing in that lick at 0:36 in the first video, my best bet would be DSX motion starting on an upstroke. So, it’s basically Wylde’s strategy upside down :slight_smile:

The latest video seems more of a USX-economy technique with hammer-ons from nowhere

In any case you sound great :grinning:

1 Like
#5

Awesome playing! I’ll add another vote for filming the :36 phrase from the same slow-motion closeup angle that you used for the economy lick. :36 is a different lick and as @tommo and @Jacklr have noted, it has a different motion appearance that could be interesting to check out.

Nice work!

3 Likes
#6

Sounds great! Really tight. :metal::notes: