I thought It would be useful too get some common language
Hi @Fossegrim,
I’m making some progress I think. I’ve been concentrating on my picking 100% over the past couple of days. I’m anchoring more solidly with my pinky and trying to use my thumb but that’s just not sticking, as usual. Unless I stare at my thumb and watch it I find it hard to keep it going especially when I speed up.
It’s a bit like Schrodingers cat, I need to look at it to confirm if I’m doing it or not. How do I know I’m doing it or not if I’m not looking, well I could be and could not be I guess 
but it feels like I’m not.
Anyway thats not the point really it’s the fact that I have to concentrate to do it that is the problem currently.
I think I have the thumb movement right but I’m not completly convinced. Also I wanted to improve my EJ/YJM down sweep motion by using my thumb more but that’s not happening, just can’t seem to make my thumb move correctly for that.
So, I was wondering if, when you have the time, maybe you could do a quick video for me please, showing exactly what the thumb movement should look like, just to give me a bit of reassurance that I’m on the right track.
I can’t remember if you told me before that you have transitioned to the down sweep method or not but if you do use it would be good to see how your thumb plays a part in it. For me I can’t get out of the habit of moving my wrist to do the sweep.
I can use my thumb quite accurately on a single string but as soon as I change strings I really have to concentrate to get it moving on the new string. I’m also getting some deja vu here, I’ve been here before for sure and someone was trying to teach it to me, although I can’t remember who that was or when, likely a long time ago though.
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Are you using the thumb to pick? Or to change the orientation?
@SlyVai ill see if I can get something up for you. It may not be exactly what you think.
For sweeping, I’m not sure I really do it as a matter of movement more than I’m not really gripping the pick as tightly so the string tension has some influence in the joint maybe or maybe not, I’ll have to look at that. I also use distinct two way slanting for that too, where the downwards part of sweeping is one of the few times I’m using USX, and the upward descending is somewhat DSX.
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Cool thanks @Fossegrim I would be interested to see what youre doing no matter what.
@WhammyStarScream I’m using my thumb to pick by slightly bending it in and out in combination with my regular wrist motion. It’s quite hard to describe it’s like I’m sewing or drawing a small long thin circle with it. Certainly it produces smaller motions and it’s more accurate than my wrist flailing around back and forth but my escape motions are still using the wrist.
A big problem I identified again is my outside picking is so dodgy sometimes. Playing the Paul Gilbert lick is a good example of this in any format like:
:----------10------
:-10-11-13----13-11
And inside picking is my nemesis for repeating licks like this, I just can’t get that to work. It just seems counter intuitive picking away from the direction of the next note.
My outside picking problem is the jerky escape motions changing from a down escape to up escape where I actually jerk my shoulder to assist the angle change sometimes, which is very inefficient and weird.
Normally outside picking is my forte, but when there are quick changes like this it’s a struggle. Although I do seem to be better at it somedays than others so on those good days I must be doing something right. I just can’t work out what.
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When I speed up my thumb motion becomes more of an orientation thing, to kind of position the pick for the forces of the wrist/forearm. Less about actual picking. And as I slow down I use the thumb more in a picking way as it feels more efficient at slow speeds.
I have an excersice you might like? It’s alternate, alternate picking. So two versions of alternate picking in one.
I didn’t notate it too well but you can hear the notes. This is the best alternate picking pattern for practice that I know of. Because it’s changing from inside to outside every rep. Maybe you’ll like it?
I look at it as a coiling up, or loading up for the downstroke slap. Like how you bring your arm back to throw without even thinking. I don’t even feel it, it’s just part of the motion, perhaps as you get used to it you’ll also feel it just happen without thinking
Also I think those “good days” are our body chemistry being more conducive to physical movement. From my experience with various drugs, I can play very well with just the right ammount of some substances, with no mechanical changes. I think my nervous system is just better some days than others. Dopamine is probably the mediator of this.
How is the “anchoring” going for you?
From what you’re discribing I’m imagining it being largely from your floating type nature atm. If I let my picking float, I feel a lot of what you’re describing
And I’d love your input on that picking excersice 
Is it bad? Good? Do you get a feel for anything using it? It’s the back n fourth slow rocking feeling that you also get from sweeping that creates good alternate picking angles.
Thanks for the exercise it’s one of those I find hard for sure, but that pattern is actually one I practice now and then because it’s very Vai, he uses the 10, 12, 13 on one string and 12,10 on the next quite often for fast runs. I’ll try and drill it later and see how it goes I’ll let you know.
My anchoring has progressed as in I’m consciously anchoring more solidly with my pinky, I’m not 100% convinced it’s making a difference but it’s very likely. If I forget the thumb thing and revert to my normal wrist motion I can go pretty fast now on descending USX runs, if my left hand can keep up that is, so I think the anchoring is bringing consistency to that.
I also theorise that my body chemistry affects whether I have a good or bad day playing. I’m finding that after changing my diet to eat more nutritional stuff and taking supplements like the Krill Oil I seem to have more good days but the bad days are still there and I think my playing can be affected by stress and worry too. There seems to be an imbalance in my hand sync and general coordination if I’m worrying or stressed about something.
Whether, umm, recreational substances, have an impact or not, well for sure yes in my experience, but if you were to ask me how wide that experience is I could not possibly comment in this public forum sir.
Ah okay. I’ll use this lick as an example when I get around to making that vid for you. It can actually be a trickier lick to execute than it seems or looks. My suspicion is that you are overthinking the escape, or escapes in general.
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It certainly can. If you don’t feel well, or generally feel that your physical health is in decline, your body will react accordingly. Staying active, regardless of how small that activity seems, helps too. Easier said than done I know. The good news is that diet alone is 60-80% of this, and just staying away from anything processed, and full of anything rapidly converts to glucose or provokes a huge insulin response is a step in the right direction. It’s one of the most accessible things to immediately change, but still hard all the same.
Recreational substances can make you think you are playing better when your on them. Whether or not they actually do objectively is a different story.
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Ok, thanks dude, you may well be right, it may actually be a mental thing because for years I have known I have trouble with this lick and others like it where you have to go back and forth. I have found that a problem in the past, when playing in the band if I had a lick I had messed up before I would get very anxious before playing it and over think it.
Well I’m not necessarily limiting the playing of this lick to thumb movement @Pepepicks66, but as thumb movement is something I am trying to develop then yes, any visual aid would be useful please.
By the way thanks everyone for the help and advice it’s really great and useful.
I hope I can put the good advice to use and get some good results on video to post after a while.
Well no! That’s the thing, you’re absolutely right in that is the trickiest part of the lick and what makes the lick deceptively tricky. There are two back to back instances where you have to cross over a string in order to hit the correct note, so you are constantly playing jump rope with a string on consecutive changes. This is where your general picking mechanic will influence how you play it. It really has nothing to do with finger thumb movements - that’s just a little added bonus you can throw in for that last little bit of picking speed on a single string.
Hopefully I can get something up for you in the next couple of days. I have an animal study I’m helping take down tonight so I may be wiped after work, but the gf is working all this weekend so I’ll have the time for myself.
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Hey thanks @Fossegrim, no rush no worries, thanks for the help.
Time for myself always seemed like the dream to me, until everything changed so that all my time is for myself lol. There never seems to be a good balance.
Most of my time is spent either worrying about health problems I have no control over or worrying about making my landlord happy. The other sliver is either spent asleep, or trying to figure out where exactly that wrong turn was taken.
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Probably the simplest version would be two strokes on D and one on G.
No fretting, just the picking hand, that gives the alternating, alternating picking. You could do this easily n mindlessly watching TV or something.
This kind of defeats the purpose. He’s trying to get better at strict alternate picking.
That is alternate picking. It’s as alternate as you can get.
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