Hey guys just been watching the first half Teemu Mäntysaari interview. So far I’ve seen cascade, antigravity, volcano.
I noticed in the Teemu Mäntysaari video he often seems to use a circular motion with his picking. As if he was drawing a circle with the tip of his pick. Is this something that is discussed somewhere on the site? Is it a particular technique or is it just a thing he does?
thanks guys
Tom
Ah interesting, I think I have also seen Gambale do it in rolling 2/3 string sweeps. My guess is that this is a way to control edge picking in the upstroke and downstroke independently. I am saying this based on absolutely nothing 
(South Park citation). What he does around 3:02 is sort of what I had in mind:
I think I recall seeing an even better example but at the moment I can’t remember where.
lol! i put my pick down annnnnnnnnnd its gone!
Teemu definitely changes the bend in his thumb when he switches between downward pickslanting and upward pickslanting. We talk about this in the interview with Teemu himself, and we also discuss the “thumb bump” in the Antigravity seminar at various points with respect to upward pickslanting.
If this appears circular to you, that is (so far as we know) a side effect. It is not that he is trying to make a circular movement, and the circularity of it (if it exists), isn’t really relevant on its own. Likewise, the term “circular picking” comes up once in a while and I’m not really sure it’s a “thing”. We’ve discussed this before:
thanks @Troy
i found that thread after posting and gave it a good read and realised it might be an eye rolling moment for you to have to answer this again lol
I’m working on the stacked gilberts lick from the Teemu Mäntysaari interview and it really does look like he is going round in circles.
Interesting how the bending of the thumb really gives the appearance of drawing the pick back and round then forwards over the next string (like a clockwise motion).
do my eyes play tricks on me?
Teemu is bending his thumb to help achieve the upward pickslanting position. If he stays in that position for a certain number of notes, then you will not perceive the movement as “circular” because the thumb is no longer moving. It it is just switching into “bump” mode and staying there. Then at some later point, it may switch back.
Since the Gilbert lick pattern involves an individual note on a strings by itself, you have a specific scenario where you are rapidly changing the pickslant over the course of two back-to-back string changes. Like I said, this may appear circular to you - that’s fine. You can think of this anyway you like. But he is not intentionally trying to create a circle - it’s a side effect of what he is trying to do, which introduce flex in the thumb during certain string changes.
…I suggest to rename ‘Circular Picking’ into ‘Quasielliptical Picking’ which us formally closer ))