So how does A.O. do it?!?!

I know the thread was a bit on the turbulent side, but Anton’s 2 hour video was pretty damn entertaining! The question I think everyone wants answered is how the heck does he actually cross strings if he’s not doing a compound movement? C’mon CTCers – let’s get cracking!

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My understanding is that his technique is roughly similar to Andy Wood’s — here’s a random Andy Wood video from Troy :slight_smile:

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Thanks, @tommo – I wish Anton had evaluated Andy’s playing in that video!

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If he did evaluate andy wood, hed prob say hes out of sync and he hits unwanted strings

I have a feeling theres prob a few things most people dont think about naturally that AO is doing because he probably wanted to alternate pick everything from the beginning and had to keep finding how to do that. Where as most other players develop workarounds to fit their natural tendencies. Both ways are fine and will get you to the same place! After watching AO video and andy wood, i def realize i struggle with outside picking and i want to conquer that just so i have more freedom!

I’ll have to check out the aforementioned video at some point to see what’s so amazing or at least what all the horrah has been about lately, but quite honestly I have absolutely zero desire to step into a weenie measuring contest on an online bbs.

Absolutely entertaining!

I’m going back to the video. He had a whole section where he talked about the wrist and the muscles in the forearm and how to use them on antagonistic motions so that the least amount of effort happens is minimal and efficient (starts around 50:00). I think that’s a key part of his stamina. Now how he crosses strings exactly I do not know. But maybe there are clues. I mean, at the end of the day I’ve heard Troy say many times it looks like the 9 0 2 stuff. That very well could be the path that’s traced but my curiosity is if there is something more fundamental on how he’s initiating the movements that is key to it all.

I think the antagonists muscle actions are key to the stamina but before you get stamina you have to get the motion correct first. I think he understands something more about positioning and trajectory to be able to string change and string skip that efficiently. I just have trouble believing it’s universal because everyone has different length fingers,hands, forearms, etc…

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Totally. So let’s do this, might be fun!

Here’s a thing he plays ‘his’ way:

He goes for a minute and a half and it looks like he could easily go longer.

Then, at exactly 1:00:00, he demonstrates it with a different, less efficient, technique and burns out quickly. Can you (the general ‘you’, not just you @carranoj25 :slight_smile: ) identify the differences in the 2 techniques? I’m trying to figure out why the one works and the other burns out quickly. At a glance they are similar.

For me it’s always been that inability to feel what that correct motion is (with regard to DBX specifically). I’m curious if Anton’s method is as understandable/teachable as something like Gypsy picking or classical rest stroke. To be sure, these require a ton of practice to master, but they seem pretty achievable for most people to acquire a decent level of proficiency.

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Still of his way:

Still of the ‘other way’ at the same exact note in the pattern

It doesn’t help that it’s a different camera angle. But I THINK I see his approach angle is totally different and his wrist looks more radially deviated in the ‘less efficient’ way. His fist is more closed also the second image. I know setup doesn’t dictate trajectory, but it’s all related in some way as certain things are just more natural in one position vs the other. “His” way (first image) looks more relaxed in general.

Clues? Red Herrings?

Alright let’s make this a game. Interest is piqued. As soon as I step in the door, I’m gonna take a look.

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Plan to dive into this after dinner and doggy walk but you don’t think setup dictates trajectory? I think that’s a big part of it

Well, I just know Troy seems to always say things like “Yeah but this guy does it this way even though xyz. The wrist can do anything” lol!

I think it’s all related. And the cross picking I’ve been working on, I can only do from a pretty specific setup. I’ve probably missed Troy’s points in those times, I’m prone to that. Dense as iron, but I’m trying to learn :slight_smile: I think stuff like this is super fun.

another guy saved me the trouble, he said to just watch the rick graham part. and then watch him mimic rick grahams technique or phrases.

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With the stills you are mostly correct. He has a more ridged closed fingered posture and is also holding the pick closer to the second knuckle in the govan still, with the thumb more closing the gap. It will naturally lock him in to using more wrist deviation than rotation which may not be very natural for some people.

If you say his wrist setup is more radial deviation, does that mean his thumb is closer to the bridge/ guitar body (pronated)?

there are some firefox add ones that you can install to rip video off youtube. i won’t list them here as i don’t know if that is sort of breaking rules to anything. just a heads up if anyone seriously wants to rip a 2 hour video of fluff, not even sure it would even really be that high of quality at 1080p, for like 2 minutes of video to slow down to analyze. aint worth the trouble to me though, but a heads up to someone who really is interested that is broke. and doesnt mind putting in the work of analyzing his playing.

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Assuming I’m correct (I may not be) what I meant was that as his wrist moves back and forth, it looks like it’s going more towards the thumb side. I wasn’t thinking so much about if it’s supinated vs pronated. Another good point to checkout though.

You have to also examine the source and the biases contained with in it especially if there is an agenda involved. Is it trying to be objectively informative, or is it trying to be informative “because of”? It can’t really be taken at face value and certainly isn’t an objective truth - it can’t be really. There will always be a question about the integrity of demonstrations like this whether purposely misleading or not. So he could very well be using the exact same technique both times and purposely burning out on the second. The tone and envelope of the notes certainly sounded relatively the same in both examples. There’s really not a lot of explanation as to what the difference is.

As an aside, Honestly Im not sure how close to Guthries technique that is. So I find this whole thing dubious at best.

I’m also the wrong person probably, because I’m not easily impressed or swayed. Maybe some would take more away than I did, but all I heard was some guy playing a scale up and down for a minute while reciting the phrase “not touching strings” over and over, so it didn’t really hold my interest.

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i literally had to stop playing the video it was so cringe. it sounded like the same ole ad that plays on all the guitar material i like to watch on youtube.

hats off to anyone who suffers through the whole video you are a trooper.

i mean i am sorry, but if he is trying to sell something the whole 2 hour long shtick is this just a troll video to all of us or something? is this real? is it a joke?