String Hoping Vs Double Down Technique

Playing Technique
#1

Greetings all!

As anyone been intrigued by the Double Down technique used by Joscho Stephan and other gypsy greats?

Are we looking at a stylistically proper and desired string hoping movement ?

Is there a nuance in the picking motion that doesn’t make it a string hoping movement that I am missing?

It’s pretty obvious it is intent when Joscho plays the dble down picking strokes in what he refers at historically accurate triplet based playing when changing strings and he can really be efficient with this.

Maybe a new video addendum to gypsy technique in the picking primer to elaborate on this… I think any level player would benefit from the nuances in this.

Cheers all!

Troy any thoughts?

#2

I believe it’s still classed as string hopping, but is used infrequently so it’s not an issue. The reason for it is to be loud, as classically Gypsy jazz doesn’t use amplifiers.

Marty Friedman is a great example as he does shred, but the double down, and in his case also double up technique is more a quirk of the technique than a chosen way to pick, some lines if you’re doing full USX require a double down or up to make it work.

You can see him do it here, but it’s still string hopping and not efficient.

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#3

I kind of assume the way they perceive that motion as like a chord strum reset except it’s like a miniature form of it. That’s kind of how it feels for me anyways for the phrasing that I learned as apart of my guitar noodling. It really depends on the phrase as likely the 2nd down is going to be a rest stroke downstroke, but this isn’t always the case.

I would also like to mention currently I can hit about 70-80% speed of the main players in this field, that 70 is if the song is just a speed demon one, but some I can take almost into the 90% speed realm. I do know when I play along that the technique I have brought to fruition is indeed the same that they use. It is relaxed, but the speed will just take time as I am almost 40 just started to learn rest stroke around 37 1/2 years of age. I may never get to their speed, but if I have a child he/she might since I have imprinted this picking gene with some phrasing as a part of my being.

And really the only thing that I upstroke string change now during a descending phrase is mainly the 3 string arpeggio run stuff (i was always naturally just fast at these style of phrases and short etude style runs), most everything else is always a half rest stroke. It has become more ingrained into my playing that doing upstrokes during a descended string change would be wrong and feel terrible to my hands. The more songs and solos I continue to learn the half rest stroke speed gets faster. Just have to devote time to your instrument if you want the speed.

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