# Which Motion does Spiro Dussias use?
**URL:** https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106
**Category:** Playing Technique
**Created:** [November 25, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106 "2024-11-25T13:29:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@KilPhollins](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/KilPhollins)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/1 "2024-11-25T13:29:43Z")
Hey guys, greetings and hello first of all š. My name is Marco and today Iām starting my in-depth picking technique journey. Iāve been dealing with this topic for a while and have been practicing like crazy without really getting to where I want to be.
I watched this video by Spiro Dussias
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLBNmLgn6-o)
(specifically the part at 2:28 where you can see the picking hand ā ironically, the most watched part of the video - shoutout to all you nerds out there š¤). If Iām not mistaken, this should be the Dart-Thrower motion that Troy explains, right? Since Spiro can pretty much play everything and I naturally use a similar motion as primary (I think I tend to be a string-hopping patient ), I decided to make this motion my primary one.
The question is, how should I best start with this motion? Is it better to try tremolo picking with this motion on one string first? When I try it just from the wrist, it feels really weird and I have other motions in my repertoire (e.g., elbow movement or twisting my palm so that the pick is in an upward pickslant) that feel much better and allow me to play faster at single string (Spiro uses this also in this video at 0:48, must be DSX I think, where the hand is in a 2 o`clock motion
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3mzDPF5230M/maxresdefault.jpg "Spiro - "Negative" | Archetype: Nolly X Playthrough") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mzDPF5230M&list=RDEMBQxcHeaAWnsUoiJy-xyGDA)
Iām also pretty sure, that I use trempick as kind of a secondary motion, where I naturally switch to DSX
Or should I first try licks in the style shown in the video?
Thanks a lot for your help and insights in advance! š
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### Author:  [@JAB](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/JAB)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/2 "2024-11-25T19:09:48Z")
Spiro is a DSX (Downstroke escape player) and has excellent economy of motion. Based on wrist only movement, and DSX you get RDT motion.
Rather than worry about what 'licks to learn or practice, start with tremolo first and get the going at a reasonable tempo (160bpm+) before worrying about licks.
Sprio can tremolo well above 200bpm (250bpm is the highest Iāve seen so far from him) so thatās what I would focus on first.
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### Author:  [@KilPhollins](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/KilPhollins)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/3 "2024-11-25T19:17:24Z")
Ah, got it! Thanks a lot, dude š. I canāt even imagine hitting 250 bpm with the DSX motion (watching the Negative-video at 0:48, I think he switches it up, but I could be wrong). But thanks for the tip, Iāll dive into the videos and see how far I can go. Iāll post an update here in the coming days.
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### Author:  [@JAB](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/JAB)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/4 "2024-11-25T21:09:07Z")
No problem! The key thing Troy (and others will say) is that you need to just find a motion that works for you relatively quickly, and then once you have a stable (and fast) tremolo you can start working on licks that capitalise on the pick escape youāre using (whether it be DSX OR USX)
Check out Spiroās Instagram, lots of cool clips and licks.
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### Author:  [@JakeEstner](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/JakeEstner)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 2:59am UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/5 "2024-11-26T02:59:45Z")
I know he uses āeconomy pickingā for most things and does it better than anybody Iāve ever heard. Iād have to search for things where he changes directions, but I definitely see two different hand positions in the two time-stamps in the videos linked above
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### Author:  [@tommo](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/tommo)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 12:26pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/6 "2024-11-26T12:26:20Z")
Great player!
Yeah the tremolo part around 1:07 of ānegativeā looks like classic wrist DSX with trigger grip - maybe even a bit of elbow? But he also plays ascending economy lines (Yngwie style), so for that heād need to alter the motion path/setup a bit, like at 2:27 of the āespadaā video which looks more like a USX setup (maybe with some finger motion?).
I agree it would be interesting to see what he does for those lines that are not very easy with economy picking (e.g. going back and forth between two strings). Does he just avoid those or does he have a different technique?
PS: Many thanks to the filming crew for the blurry camera angles š
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### Author:  [@KilPhollins](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/KilPhollins)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/7 "2024-11-26T13:46:38Z")
Good call! My guess would be that he completely avoids those. From what it looks like in the videos, it seems he uses exclusively economy for all string changes, USX for the ascending lines, and DSX exclusively for descending. Makes total sense, I think. For all the fast single-string bleed picks, he seems to always use DSX (which I would probably do as well in his place).
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### Author:  [@lukasgraesslin](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/lukasgraesslin)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/8 "2024-11-26T13:46:40Z")
Heās also doing this thumb movement which is very obvious here:
> **[Spiro on Instagram: "Whatsup with David Grusch? Also this @victoryampsuk v30...](https://www.instagram.com/spirodussias/reel/CuNKYicOXOo/)**
>
> 1,564 likes, 42 comments - spirodussias on July 2, 2023: "Whatsup with David Grusch? Also this @victoryampsuk v30 is great great great".
I assume heās using that for string changes that donāt naturally fit his DSX motion? I remember him saying that movement is crucial for him in some instagram comment.
Either way his instagram account is a pretty good source for more videos of his movements.
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### Author:  [@JakeEstner](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/JakeEstner)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/9 "2024-11-26T14:11:20Z")
Iāve been following him for a long time on instagram, and on that platform I donāt think Iāve seen him do much that wouldnāt fit nicely into economy, eg no quick changes back and forth between strings, but I could be very wrong. Iām sure he _can_, but I think heās big on working out lines and riffs that play to his (insane) strengths.
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### Author:  [@KilPhollins](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/KilPhollins)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/10 "2024-11-26T14:52:11Z")
Just for general understanding. The part in Espada I was talking about (2:27) should actually be USX, right? Is that then USX RDT?
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### Author:  [@tommo](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/tommo)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/11 "2024-11-26T14:52:28Z")
> [@JakeEstner](#):
>
> I think heās big on working out lines and riffs that play to his (insane) strengths.
That seems to be a key characteristic of the greats! (YJM, EJ, Shawn Lane, George Benson, and so on)
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### Author:  [@tommo](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/tommo)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/12 "2024-11-26T16:42:03Z")
Perhaps it can be helpful to look at his contact points on the bridge/guitar body.
In the DSX moments, like the tremolo or ābleed-styleā rhythm, I think he is contacting with A and B.
In the ascending economy scale, you can see that point A lifts away from the guitar body, so itās either B only or B+C:
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### Author:  [@KilPhollins](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/KilPhollins)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/13 "2024-11-26T17:02:53Z")
Yeah nice, thanks!
Here are those 2 in practise:
First attempt tremolo 170 USX Motion (which I want to use for ascending)
[https://youtu.be/-1LugVzA1L0](https://youtu.be/-1LugVzA1L0)
First attempt tremolo 230 DSX Motion (descending and tremolo use)
[https://youtu.be/H3ADryubbrE](https://youtu.be/H3ADryubbrE)
As you see itās a lot easier for me to do the DSX, first goal is to get the USX at the DSX trem-speed and build from there
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### Author:  [@lukasgraesslin](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/lukasgraesslin)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/14 "2024-11-26T17:36:33Z")
Those videos seem to be set to private.
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### Author:  [@KilPhollins](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/KilPhollins)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/15 "2024-11-26T18:43:40Z")
sorry, now it works!
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### Author:  [@Riffdiculous](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/Riffdiculous)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/16 "2024-11-26T18:57:28Z")
> [@KilPhollins](#):
>
> itās a lot easier for me to do the DSX
While the DSX motion is smoother, it isnāt any faster. In the 170 example youāre playing 16ths, in the 230 youāre playing 8th note triplets. These are almost exactly the same speed.
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### Author:  [@JAB](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/JAB)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/17 "2024-11-26T19:31:10Z")
Correct, Iāve had a lesson with Spiro and we went over this. The majority of the time he keeps contact with the bridge using points A and B. His thumb is the main thing heās conscious of when doing string changes. He uses thumb movement primarily when doing descending economy picking lines. In terms of his fast tremolo and rhythm playing stuff, itās all DSX with minimal pick depth and light playing.
Great player, and very minimal effort type technique. In the interest of fairness however, Marshall Harrison is a much better (but not cleaner) economy picker. Spiro sticks to pretty standard patterns, and was completely out of his comfort zone with 3 Octave 7th arpeggios (a staple of Marshalls)
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### Author:  [@familyguy1223](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/familyguy1223)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/18 "2024-11-26T19:38:32Z")
Marshall playing vs spiros vs Rick graham economy who wins
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### Author:  [@JAB](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/JAB)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/19 "2024-11-26T19:46:48Z")
Marshall by a country mile, I really donāt think itās close.
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### Author:  [@familyguy1223](https://forum.troygrady.com/u/familyguy1223)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://forum.troygrady.com/t/which-motion-does-spiro-dussias-use/83106/20 "2024-11-26T19:56:12Z")
Id argue ricks considering Marshall at least from an old stream he did considered Rick a better player than him or called him a master once and they both have great hand sync
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