Please Critique My Reverse Dart Form

Technique Critique
#1

Hi everyone. I would like feedback on my alternate picking. I’m new to reverse dart throwing. The last 20 years I have wrist picked side to side. I used to anchor with the wrist band of my arm instead of the side of my hand. The updated reverse dart thrower video have been a revelation and my picking speed exponentially. However, I struggle with slower paced exercises such as chromatic scales at 100 bpm. Something feels off and after rewatching Troy’s videos and sticking my hand in the air and doing “the motion” countless times, I’ve had enough and would like some feedback. I don’t have a phone magnet so I tried my best with the angles. Please let me know if you would like better angles.

#2

The second video looks pretty solid but it’s very hard to say because the bpm is pretty low (around 145bpm)

The general idea is to get something happening at a reasonably fast pace (180bpm or more ideally)

You’re having issues with the chromatic stuff because your technique changes a bit (you seem to be doing some borderline string hopping stuff) but also possibly due to a lack of experience? Your left hand seems to struggle as well, not just your right hand.

My suggestion would be to try and get a motion (elbow, wrist, forearm rdt, dsx, usx etc.) on a single string first at a decent tempo with a feeling of ease, and the ability to keep it going for at least 2 or more bars.

At these slower tempos almost anyhting (including string hopping) will work to one degree or another.

Bump the tempo up, see what happens and forget about the left hand for now.

#3

When evaluating your performance you really have to be ruthless with yourself, because it will save you the most wasted time. Are you really picking faster or not? You have accurate test results now, and the test results on the platform are way faster than these clips. So the good news is you can do it. The bad news is, you are not doing it yet. But don’t worry, that’s temporary!

@JAB points out, the slowest clips here are not really reverse dart wrist motion — they are stringhopping wrist motion. To avoid this, what you want to do is get your tremolo motion happening at the same speed as your test results. Then you use that exact motion for lead playing, and you verify this is the case by making sure it’s still going at the same speed. Anything less and you are likely just switching to a different picking motion that doesn’t work as well.

It sucks working on things and then realizing you weren’t really “working on” the thing you thought, because you changed the technique. Ask me how I know! If you always go back to the tests, you’ll steer yourself right and avoid most of the disappointment.

If you want us to look at this in more detail, happy to do so — I recommend making a critique directly on the platform.

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#5

Thanks for the input Troy. I’ve watched your rdt motions tons and tons and tons of times (sticking my hand out along with the videos and making the motions in the air, doing the tap test on the guitar bridge, the 0 degree pickslant). I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

When you say “I recommend making a critique directly on the platform” what do you mean? Should I post somewhere else?

#6

At the very least we want to give you the tools to know that something isn’t working, so you don’t end up spinning your wheels.

For picking motions, the tests are the benchmark. They are pretty realistic simulations of picking motions, so if you can do them with good results, then you’re really doing it. When you see numbers like 200, those are really good numbers. It’s much less likely you’re doing something inefficient at that speed. It’s possible — but it’s just a whole lot less likely. And even if there is some kind of inefficiency, at least you know it’s a next-level issue more so than a showstopping issue where you can’t even play.

So when you start playing on an actual guitar and the motion is 20, 30, 40 bpm slower than that, and especially when you see the little bouncy up-and-down motion the pick is making in some of these clips, then you know it’s stringhopping. I try not to overthink things. If it’s slow and the pick goes up and down, it’s probably stringhopping. If you see that, then you’re good — no need to kill hours / weeks “practicing” that motion.

I know this sounds like a buzzkill but this is critical information that people didn’t have back in the day. I have consulted with players who just repeated these kinds of picking motions for hours per day, for decades, and got nothing but injury as a result.

Sorry for the confusion! Technique Critique is done out of your accont, on your dashboard. When you make a critique that way, it goes in the instructor queue and we are guaranteed to see it and respond to it. Discussion on the forum here is mainly regulars posting clips for personal learning. If I happen to see something I will respond but I don’t monitor the forum for critiques. Yes, making a TC in your account is a paid feature but I think it’s fair for the time we devote — there is no limit to the things we will request or the time we will spend on them.

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