Tremolo picking much slower than table tap tests

Playing Technique
#1

My best tremolo picking and table tap test seem to use elbow motion. The fastest I can get my trem picking is 165-170 bpm, but my elbow motion table tap test easily went up to 240 (and I could have gone faster but my metronome maxed out there). This seems pretty wrong to me that there’s at least an 80 bpm gap between my test and my actual picking.

Whenever I try to experiment with other picking motions the only thing that feels even somewhat natural is elbow motion. It also takes over pretty much the second I try to push past the speed barrier I was hitting with the string hopping wrist technique I’ve had for years. The elbow felt kind of natural at first but after a couple of weeks it doesn’t quite feel right. It’s not necessarily uncomfortable or labored since I can blast out 160 bpm sixteenths for pretty much as long as I want with minimal fatigue which I could never do with my old string hopping motion, but there’s just a weirdness to the motion and I can’t push the speed to the next level.

Is there even anything to do at this point besides rigging up a camera and seeing what’s really going on?

#2

Could you post a video of your playing?

My first inclination would be to guess something like pick depth / angle (creating too much resistance).

#3

Here’s a video of my playing, one angle face on and the other down the neck as best as I could get it without any special equipment: 20220828 Tremolo picking Elbow motion - YouTube

I have no idea how fast this actually is, but this sort of randomly became better today than it has been over the past couple of weeks without me intentionally changing anything. Tilting the guitar body so that it’s on a slight angle with the high E string further away from me and the low E closer fees better. I’m assuming this has to do with getting a better angle for the pick slanting so that I’m getting around that garage spikes problem? I also changed my pick grip slightly so that I’m holding it between the side of my index finger and my thumb just above the first knuckle so that my thumb is completely flat instead of half curled like it was when I gripped more with the pad of my thumb. I think this makes my wrist feel more relaxed. Those are the only changes I consciously noticed.

I feel like I can get this smoother and even out the tonal difference between my upstrokes and downstrokes. What gets me now is that every now and then I get a random burst of speed for 1-2 seconds that’s considerably faster than where I am in these videos, I just didn’t have the camera rolling on any of those. Any suggestions on how I can capture that motion? It’s like as soon as I realize it’s happening it goes away. Would it help if I just kept trem picking and film everything to see if I can capture any differences on camera to recreate them, or is consciously trying to make it happen then recreate it a bad idea?

#4

I would just keep playing and experimenting with different variables like you described in your post, and with time I bet your technique will become more reliable. When you’re having a “good” session in which you feel like you’re really tight and getting the speed you want, I would pull the camera out then and record as many videos as you can, from all possible angles. I would also take note of things like your body positioning, guitar positioning, grip, etc.

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#5

Thanks for all the recs!

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#6

Now that you have some sort of speed mechanic I’d focus on relaxing as much as possible. Start at a fast speed like you are and slow it down very gradually while remaining relaxed WITHOUT changing the picking mechanic. It must be the same mechanic or as close as possible to the same mechanics/muscles when you slow it down as when you’re going fast. Make a gradient between fast and slow, as in start as fast as you can and slow it down gradually and then speed it up again. Paul Gilbert demonstrates this in Intense Rock 1. It will definitely help, I’d also practice dynamic control here. Once you speed down, staying relaxed, add an accent to whatever subdivision you’re trying to create. Than pickup the speed and try to keep accent and the relaxation. Than after that add muting and repeat.

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#7

Have you thought about putting the fingers of your picking hand on the body of the guitar? It could be you have a balance problem which is stopping your quick motion.

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#8

I gave this a shot. I like the increased stability of having my fingers on the guitar, but turning my arm enough to have my fingers contact the body messes up the angle of the pick attack and slows things down a bit. It’s definitely something to work on more, though, so thanks for the suggestion.