Please critique my DBX / Crosspicking (max=125bpm)

Technique Critique
#1

Hi,

I’ve watched both live-streamed Q&A sessions about DBX / crosspicking, so have got some of the basic idea. But am stuck at low speeds (about 125bpm, nowhere near what’s needed for my goal - Petrucci’s Glass Prison solo). Please see the vids below for full quesiton and slow motions filmed with the Magnet. Any help or perspective would be much appreciated!

Question:

Pronated slow:

Forearm & wrist throttle-motion slow:

Supinated slow:

Thanks.

:sunglasses: :metal:

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#2

You have a magnet already? Nice!

The last one (supinated double escape?) looked the most efficient to me, coincidentally I think I do the same!

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#3

are you comfortable with either DBX or UPX first? I think sometimes is better to feel comfortable with one then adding the flextension to the one stroke you need to do to get the curve to happen. Sometimes to me at least seems like some of it is string hopping in the vids cause you appear to go to a neutral hand position some of the time.

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#4

Yeah, I actually got it back in 2016… back when you had to source parts and build it yourself, from DIY instructions. :smiley: Dedication. :metal:

Thanks. None of them feel efficient to me :smiley: compared to the USX & DSX & 2-way stuff that I’m much better at.

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#5

I’m very, very comfortable with USX and DSX and 2-way escape (alternating between the two)… but specifically my 1NPS crosspicking stuff seems to be really bad… I haven’t grasped how to add the flextension (as you suggest), without reverting to string hopping… :slight_smile:

Thanks

#6

Ha! The nasty John Petrucci exercise! Big fan of Rock Discipline myself :slight_smile:

Hey @DirtyPower, how long have you been stuck @125 bpms with these movements?

If it’s been a while, it’s unlikely you’ll get “unstuck” by gradual modifications - you need something new!

Our usual suggestion in these cases is to just try and play the thing fast and sloppy and see if you occasionally get some clean reps in there. And don’t spend hours hammering at it, just a few mins here and there.

Since you have a magnet, you also have an effective way to evaluate, every now and then, if you indeed can get some clean takes at higher speed.

#7

Ha yeah, Rock Discipline has a couple of these relentless 1NPS (w/occasional string skipping) exercises, that give great frequency of feedback for this stuff… as you know. :slight_smile:

Definitely need something new! :slight_smile: I’ve been making great progress with everything on here, for everything with MORE than 1NPS. 125bpm is just the starting point for crosspicking, but as such it’s where I’ve been for years.

Thanks, I’ll give this a go for a while. Anything above 125 bpm either has horrendous amounts of swiping going on, or else forearm tension (which must be hopping?)… haven’t found a middle ground yet…

Thanks

#8

I’m no DBX authority, but have you tried simplifying the left hand while you sort out the picking hand? If you can find a groove for the right hand with something like 3-string bluegrass banjo rolls, maybe progress there will transfer to other places?

Anecdotally, I find sometimes tension can creep into the picking hand/arm on stuff where the synchronization is challenging. Don’t know if it’s to do to with the mental overhead of paying extra attention to the fretting hand, or what.

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#9

Thanks. And fair enough, I know what you mean. this exercise is super familiar to me though (no brain power, all muscle memory) from having used it to conquer DWPS w/downstroke escape back in the day. Simply used same exercise, just double every note. I am using other exercises to test / work things out… but this one is a very reliable testing ground for me… :smiley:

#10

Been trying a couple of things, but still not getting it… Any thoughts about this latest attempt? A lot of swiping still…

1 Like
#11

Hey @DirtyPower yes I do notice the swiping, but I think you are going in the right direction by trying things faster and letting them be a bit sloppy!

How far is this from the actual tempo of the song? Also, does it feel easy (ignoring the swiping issues)?

Also, howe does it sound through the amp with gain?

#12

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I think it’s pretty close… maybe within 10 bpm…?

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Apart from the swiping-induced, poor-technique self-hatred… it feels great! :stuck_out_tongue:

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With amp & gain, it sounds just about passable… for a wedding band version. :smiley: Maybe I’ll bust it out next time someone requests Sweet Home Alabama. (God I don’t miss those gigs) :wink: Gain obviously masks a lot, but it’s not at the level of my other techniques. Not even close… :frowning:

I found another thread on here about practising small (2-3 note) chucks of each arp, to see how the technique registers with the muscle memory… might try that for a year or two. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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#13

This sounds pretty good! EDIT: I do hear the mistakes, but I can also hear that at least the basic rhythm and L/R sync is coming together.
I think you are making progress!

One quick suggestion: have you noticed that your forearm keeps flip-flopping between two slightly different orientations? This suggest me your position is not “centralised” (i.e. each of the two positions is optimised for upstroke or downstroke escape, but not both). You could try to lock your forearm somewhere in between the two orientations and then try to play everything using exclusively the wrist.

#14

Cheers @tommo!

Yeah, that’s my TWPS muscle memory taking over where DBX should be… :smiley:

Thanks, I’ll give that another go. After watching both of Troy’s seminars on ‘Crosspicking with the wrist’ and ‘Crosspicking with the wrist and forearm’… I haven’t figured out which of those I’m tending towards or should be doing yet… :confused:

Cheers anyways, any feedback and chat on here seems to help things along. :v: :sunglasses: :facepunch:

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