Yes, but not necessarily by aiming for a specific motion. It’s more like – try different motions/hand positions/grips and so on and try to go as fast as possible. When you find a motion that works, use that! (At least to begin with.)
Here ya go:
I can’t go faster than whats in those vidoes, it’s not that it falls apart, it simply won’t go any faster.
Have you tried to maybe introduce more elbow motion? I feel like someone could probably strum chords faster using a pure elbow motion than what you have here (no offense).
The last video seems like your smoothest…it also seems faster than the other ones. Personally I would start making single string lines. It looks like DSX btw.
If you wanted to keep ‘experimenting’ you could try to get your wrist to deviate more towards the ulnar side than you have here…it looks a little radial (from this angle) which may go better with some elbow motion incorporated (if you want to go faster now)
In terms of your speed…I feel you’re at a good starting speed in the last video. Others might disagree. For me, I topped out at 150 bpm (16ths) in the beginning, slowly it became faster and faster without thinking too much about it over several months. You may find a similar experience.
Thanks a ton for the feedback, now that i notice it, it does seem like I am using a lot more radial motion than ulnar. Will try everything you said and see how it goes in a few months.
Days! You should mean / aim for a couple days at most. If it’s not working, after a few minutes (ie: you continue struggling for easy feeling speed, accuracy is NOT necessary) try changing it up again until you notice a REAL increase in your capacity to make fast repeatable movements for a tremolo, even if only for a second or two.
My suggestion about taking months (based on my experience) was about right hand speed increases (with a working motion), not accuracy. For example a working motion can go (for me anyway) from 140ish bpm to 180bpm over a few months…as for accuracy - yea that’s a longer road.
The last video sounds faster than one could string hop to my ears and the first 3-4 seconds is 90% really smooth…it just starts to fall apart at the end. I think he’s about to breakthrough.
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I get that, I think…? I was more suggesting/echoing the theory that if it’s not working after a few days, don’t bang your head on it for months before you swap strategies. If @Gabi_M is having difficulty making a quick motion, fighting it for months before making another assessment isn’t an efficient use of his time, no?
Regardless, I’m no brain genius and you’re right, his final clip DOES look much better/closer to what he’s looking for so I’ll cede that point to you!
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Yep, we’re on the same page.
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If this is true, then the Pickslanting Primer has a big problem (in my opinion). The “Starting with Speed” video is Chapter 7 of the WRIST MOTION section of the primer:
Now if this speed test was for ANY motion, why would they put it in the wrist motion section? That would be misleading.
Case in point, I’m at the same point @Gabi_M is. I’ve studied the Wrist Motion (supposedly the “easiest” “most common” motion out there. I’ve re-watched/re-read the wrist motion chapters multiple times…looking for any missing detail.
But I can’t get to 150bpm. So something is broken. I’m doing something wrong.
And all I’ve done (which I suspect @Gabi_M has done) is just go through the Pickslanting Primer material in order…
What do you mean by accuracy here?
My understanding is that, when initially learning/exploring if the motion you’re using supports a high capacity for say, quick or sustained tremolo (for instance) you needn’t worry about any ability to use it musically or for anything other than as proof of concept so to speak.
If you’re trying to learn how to crosspick some bluegrass lines if you can make the BPM you want but you’re swiping multiple strings or inaccurate that (should?) come in time, it’s the speedy party that you’ll have infinite trouble boosting if you start with the “slowly slowly” approach vs the “I think I can do this motion, now let’s BURN and see if I can actually make it at tempo” approach.
That’s my understanding anyway.
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Thanks for the clarification! That’s my understanding as well, but I was confused as to does “accuracy” mean playing notes correctly (which doesn’t make sense if you’re just trying a tremolo speed assessment) or accuracy of motion…repeating the motion accurately.
I mean it’s probably always a balance but in the beginning when you’re exploring motion options the recommendation seems to be just ensure whatever motion you’re attempting allows you to make the repetitions as fast as you’re aiming to, who cares if you hit multiple strings or accidentally clip your pickup selector switch or fall over backwards onto your guitar stand and kick the light down…
Ok maybe not those last things.
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@Gabi_M I was in a similar position to you a month or so ago. I couldn’t tremolo pick a single note on a single string at 150 BPM - not even close. I can now though and I’m at the stage where I’m starting to try synching up my left hand to do basic repeating licks.
This is my feedback request thread - you might find the same tips help you out as well.
I don’t see why it would apply to wrist motion only, so it’s probably in the wrong place. I’m currently not a subscriber so I can’t access the contents of that page. Perhaps @Troy or @Brendan or @tommo can enlighten us!
Apologies for the confusion. We didn’t film this as a separate chapter, it was just part of the tutorial on how to do DSX motion that got so long that we cut it into two videos. Notiice this isn’t just wrist motion I’m demonstrating here, it’s only one very specific type of wrist motion that looks like Andy Wood. I just wing these things, mostly with no outline, so sometimes you only know what you’re gonna get when you look at the footage later and realize you rambled into a whole different topic. So you split things up into shorter videos so it’s not a massive slog to watch through them.
The Primer will for sure have a more general couple videos somewhere eventually showing you how to get started with a new picking motion. The advice will generally be similar to this. We’ll probably put it in the “Picking Motion” section that comes right before the motion tutorials, along with other helpful stuff like a video on doing the table tap test, how to figure out what motion you’re currently using, and so on.
So yeah we’re not as organized we want to be eventually, so apologies again. But we’ll get there.
I recognize that you’re constantly improving the content - and I appreciate that! So no apology necessary. Re-reading my post, it was a bit of an over-reaction. But I do think some people could be confused that the “speed test” was only associated with wrist motion due to it’s placement.
What I’m finding fascinating (and frustrating) is that the speed test is essentially the entrance examination into the world of efficient/better picking motion. It’s not the final examination.
And I think a lot of players are like me…they arrive at CtC thinking that speed is the goal. Well it may be the goal, but it’s also the litmus test.
You have to be able to shred a little before you can shred a lot?
That’s unexpected.
I agree. I think it’s placement could cause association with only wrist motion but it could be a tool used for learning lots of motions.
I think recognizing that (barring literal uncommon physiological barriers) finding out that you DON’T have to spend 40 years practicing against a metronome to develop a picking technique that will get you into the (at LEAST) 150-170 BPM range for zipping through some lines is super refreshing.
Finding out that in order to learn to shred (even a little!) you don’t need 40 years experience, just the knowledge that if you can’t get it to work briefly at all, switch it up until you can, is unexpected too 
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