Pentatonic 4s rabbit hole

Playing Technique
#1

Im wondering how common it is for players to ascend using one mechanic and descend with another.

As usual im working with 3nps pent shapes.

I can ascend via volcano
And descend with alt picking via dwps

Of course if you count legato n hybrid
There are several wYs but Im wanting to pick all notes right now.

It feels like a copout
I probably wont be happy until I can ascend and descend with strick alt.

But again just wondering, is it common for people to ascend and descend differently due to inability?

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#2

And why is ascending 4s with alt
So hard?

No matter if I start with an up or down

#3

on one of his instructional vids, Joe Stump says that when he uses economy picking its only for ascending

personally I have always found descending much easier

Yngwie uses economy (or volcano) for ascending and then he uses alt with pulloffs for descending

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#4

I just looked at eric johnson ascending 4s again and that layout is actually making alt picking approachable.

#5

You are right @JonJon
Im watching ctc inside the volcano and he is using the sweep ascending only.

I remember the tire spike analogy now after watching again.

I get so much info from so many places I have a hard time retaining or something.

Then of course I post a question that proves it.

Its also funny how I will think I have found the best path for a lick then after a few days it turns out I stumble on a better one.

Then another

Then none of tgem work. Lol

Its like dreaming.
Sometimes I dream that I totally have command of the instrument and it is all effortless. I just get it.

Then when I wake up it gets further and further from me and again
I don’t know jack.

But At least in my dreams I have gotten to experience what its like.

#6

I’m in that camp. Anything ascending I can alternate pick with DWPS and swiping. Descending I have to use TWPS + legato. I’d love to be able to descend scales and patterns as fast and clean as ascending.

Just goes to show how everyone is different. I have no problems alternate picking ascending 4s but descending 4s is a complete train wreck. So I “cheat” and do descending on one string like Yngwie.

But I like to think that working around the difficulties helps define each players personal style.

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#7

Yeah, it is funny
It seems like the layout of the notes is
The deciding factor.

What I mean is if I try to alt pick the
Yjm ascending 4s as they are layed out in the volcano its a mess.

And while Eric johnson is using the same pentatonic shape
He uses it differently and that’s what makes the pick slanting thing work

Or more like its a package deal
It all matters

At least that is what Im experiencing at the moment

And holy crap I thought I would have been blazing through that volcano by now but Im still about half the speed I want.

I might have to have one of my ribs removed or something
(I have heard good things)

#8

There are no copouts, just play what you want in the ways that you can.

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#9

Not sure what you mean by “fours”, but we did a web feature on this a while back and there are some great solutions to this:

The “volcano style”, aka “economy picked” version that mixes alternate and sweep is really comfortable and you can blaze through this. The pure alternate one-way pickslanting version requires position shifts and I find this more work than necessary.

Edit: None of these are in the Volcano or Cascade seminars because they’re not things that YJM or EJ play, which is why they ended up in their own feature. It’s a cool standalone lesson though.

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