Here I am as an UWPS working on the sixes exercise. I have been practicing this one for a few weeks now. I tend to pick using wrist and elbow.
Am I doing this correctly? Thank you
Sounds great! Definitely correct UWPS and great sync.
Next step… how does this feel? Is the motion smooth feeling? Is this max speed with this motion or can you play faster on a single string for instance?
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I can play about 100-105 max BMP with the sixes. I played it slower here to ensure it was not sloppy since I am still working.
It feels comfortable and mostly smooth except every now and then I get a little pick drag descending where it didn’t completely clear the string. Barely noticeable but I notice it at faster speeds.
Thank you for taking the time to review this. I guess I should keep speeding up.
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Nice work here. As noted, everything sounds good. Only comment is the motion. It’s not clear to me what motion you’re using, or whether this is going to hold up without feeling awkward as you speed up. Which is why I really recommend not working up to speed, but instead starting out with mostly medium-fast and fast speeds, even if they are less accurate. It’s really the only way to know what optimally smooth motion feels like when you’re just starting this process.
By starting with fast, you avoid problems later as you try to “speed up” a motion that was never going to work in the first place. Over time, you can gradually include slower speeds into the mix, and that helps accuracy at all the speeds, including the fast ones - which you should also continue to include.
Long story short, please remember to include some of your fastest motion in your practice. Accuracy may suffer at first but that’s ok - this will sort out whether or not there are any issues to address with the motion itself.
Ok I get it now. Sorry for not understanding this is all new to me and kind of overwhelming in the amont of information. I will add a fast video at least as fast as I can go…
Ok here is a fast video. I hope it is fast enough for people to decipher. Basically it is starting to break up a bit due to the speed not being comfortable for me.
Hey thanks for posting. Sorry if I made it sound like a request for a fast video - I just meant that you should incorporate fast attempts as part of your regular practice because they help you know what is working and what is not. When you are working on technique, you should always try a mix of medium speeds and “going for it” type speeds, because the “going for it” speeds will sometimes suddenly work because of something slightly different that you did. And then you’ll be like, hey what did I do there? And then when you figure it out, you’ll be able to do it more often, until you can do it every time.
In this case what you’ve posted is interesting. It’s not sloppy in the classic sense of the term, but certain notes are dropping out. I’m not sure why. The ascending side has less of this than the descending side. The ones that are left behind are popping out like accented notes.
The picking motion looks ok here. I can’t say for sure if that’s part of the issue but a closer up view, i.e. where we can see pick / string contact, could reveal if it is. When you film yourself, always try to orient yourself on the side where the light is, so that you’re not in shadow. This gives you the best image quality. Also try to use slow-motion mode if you have it, and if it’s not still too dark.
Here’s some more tips on phone / camera setup:
If it turns out that it’s not the picking motion, it could be something related to synchronization, or something with fretting. At least eliminating one of these as a possibility would help.
Either way good work here, I can see this coming along and if you start doing more fast stuff and relentlessly eliminating problems, you’ll have simple phrases like this down pretty soon.
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Thanks Troy. I am picking at much faster speeds now in my practice routine. I’d say sextuplets around 115 bmp when I was usually doing it at 90 bpm. I noticed changing pick angle very slightly and holding a little less pick made my runs much smoother and less cumbersome. I guess I would not have tried that at 90 bpm. Hope this is the rifht direction. Thanks so much!
Sounds good. Pick geometry and pick motion are two separate things. Edge picking and pickslanting ensure the attack is smooth and the tone is what you want. The picking motion ensures that you get over the string cleanly.
Keep up the good work!