For a while now my goal has been to be able to play the Alcatrazz Jet to Jet solo. The opening sequence starts with a blistering picking sequence in 16th note triplets at around 125bpm (187.5bpm in 16th notes) and I’m having trouble getting it up to speed.
Recently I’ve tried experimenting with different picking motions but they all tend to max out around 160bpm 16th notes with elbow being a little faster at around 170bpm.
Trigger Grip Stern Style USX Wrist. My main motion for the last 10+ years, mainly deviation, great for sweeping when mixed with the Di Meola DSX Wrist motion for descending lines. I can achieve great speeds with this when playing vertically using sweeping but struggle playing horizontal lines on single strings that require pure alternate picking:
Angle Pad Grip USX Wrist. Very similar to my main motion, feel like the added flexion and extension might offer little more speed potential but my tremolo was basically the same speed:
Three-Finger/Middle EVH Style USX Wrist. Started trying this two days ago, the grip still feels very awkward and the speed is very similar but I feel like I get little bursts of speed now and again that I’ve never experience with the previous two motions:
Trigger Grip Di Meola Style DSX Wrist. Again very similar results compared to the other motions, used this type of motion a lot combined with swiping to play Paul Gilbert style licks:
Trigger Grip Moore Style DSX Elbow. A little faster, it’s a bit more erratic because I haven’t practiced it in a while. Sometimes I can get it as fast as 120bpm 16th note triplets, stopped practicing it because I unconsciously switched to DSX Wrist when trying to do this motion on 2-string licks, maybe it’s time to work on it again? Definitely not a learned motion yet as I’m constantly changing my arm position. In contrast this works better for me as a tremolo. Maybe it’s just a matter of me learning to control the motion better?
Any feedback is greatly appreciated
Is 160bpm 16th notes a typical speed to max out? In my table tapping tests I could perform both wrist motions at 210bpm so I wonder if I’m just doing them wrong, or maybe I need to learn to be less tense when performing the motion? A common theme I notice with all my wrist motions is arm wiggle, perhaps that is the elbow trying to takeover? I haven’t included any forearm motions because I can’t work them out!