I’m starting to practice this two way pickslanting technique, specifically for the 3-notes-per-string patterns. Am I doing it right? I know it takes time to doing it smoothly but I want to know if my techinque is correct so I don’t build bad playing habits. Any comments are welcome!
You have the idea but you want try doing this at speed (i.e. 16ths at 159-ish bpm as a example).
When I do it the pick is a little more centralized…then it only takes small position shifts (in my case) to change from USX to DSX.
Your position shifts (flipping and flopping) are quite large which would be difficult to do at speed.
Hi! Thanks for finding your way to us. Short story, we don’t use the term “two way pick slanting” to describe this approach any more, because it leads to exactly what you’re doing — making exaggerated motions by focusing too much on the “slant” of the pick, instead of just going fast with smooth joint motions.
Instead, the best way to learn to play a scale is just to go fast and not think about the motions you are making. Yes, there may be a little sloppiness at first. But if your hand synchronization is tight, it will still sound very good. Do not spend time playing very slowly like this — these motions are incorrect and cannot be sped up. Further, you can’t “think” your way to the correct motions at a slow speed. Again, just go fast and get your hand synchronization tight as a first step.
For a more technical description of this motions, you can check out the Pickslanting Primer:
I recognise that exercise, from Frank Gambale’s Chop Builder I believe. I’ve used it myself. Keep up the good work.