Troy's first/most natural technique?

Troy, you seem to be able to compentently demonstrate almost all of the different approaches to technique. UWPS, DWPS, elbow stuff, rotational stuff, finger stuff. were those all natural to you, or some more than others? What was your main go-to before you really dug deep and made a study of all the different possiblities?

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Have you watched the original Cracking the Code Series? I think that may address this question pretty well :slight_smile:

I did awhile back. I guess I should rewatch. I remember him recounting sort of fumbling through trying to figure out what was going on and then getting a handle on Malmsteen’s DWPS stuff. Maybe that’s my answer.

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I don’t like using the term “natural” to describe playing techniques because I don’t think any of them are natural. We only think that because we stumble across them on our own, usually at a young age, with mostly no instructions, and get good at them. Then every other technique feels weird from that point on - especially if you’re not doing it right.

However once you have simple instructions for doing a thing, it becomes a lot less weird and a lot more learnable, even by adults who have played a particular way for decades. As an example, I have always played with an extended finger “angle pad” pick grip and fingers touching the body. I never understood how players used side-of-the-finger “trigger”-style grips, with their fingers curled up or in a loose fist, without tearing up the skin of their knuckles on the strings.

Well, you may notice that almost every example we’ve posted this year uses a trigger-style grip with curled fingers. My knuckles this year are unscathed. It’s simply a matter of knowing exactly where to place your hand and fingers and how to move. That’s really it. Most people who think some particular way is the “natural” way just don’t have the right instructions for the other ways.

Currently, our instructional material is lacking in just these sort of instructions. Over the next few months we’ll be updating the Pickslanting Primer with dead-clear tutorials on how to do as many basic picking motions as possible. I think we’ll be able to clear up a lot of confusion about what is a “pickslant” versus what is a “picking motion”, by simply showing people how to do all of the above.

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Looking forward to it. You’re doing excellent work that’s needed doing for a long time. I’ve played for years under the impression that I was just incapable of any other approach, mostly cuz all the info out there was kind of a swamp. Feels like they’ve kinda got classical piano technique etc etc pretty much down to a science. Classical guitar too. But do it yourself popular music guitar playing is just sort of a big grey area. This knowledge and clear explanation stuff is invaluable. Thanks for your efforts.