Oh I forgot to post this one: a nice way to explore higher speeds (which works very well with the Yngwie pattern) is to combine picking and pulloffs:
3 Likes
Wow, what a great video!
So many cool ideas, I quite like the tonal texture the half picked stuff has as well 
@tommo what do you think of this? Any potential?
Around halfway through the video it seems to click into a higher speed then I’ve accessed before, I’m not sure, I’m having trouble working out how fast it is. Either way, there was no strain at all with this attempt. Maybe time to dive into the Vinnie Moore catalogue and steal some licks? 
Thought I would post a little update to this as I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made thanks to everyones help here on the forum 
I know this isn’t perfect as I slip out of time but it feels insanely better then my previous technique, completely smooth and tensionless in comparison to the tense mess it was before!
I’m trying to play at 125bpm which is my upper limit at the moment but this motion feels like it could definitely access higher speeds as it becomes more learned and ingrained
2 Likes
Sounds great, looks effortless, and also excellent choice of t shirt
Only comment I would make is on production → the loudest thing in the video is actually the metronome! In your case it’s still obvious that this is very good playing, but if we were trying to work out fine details etc. the metronome would just be a distraction.
For the next update you can either ditch the metronome or have it in your headphones so we don’t hear it. Or you could record the guitar track, sync it to the vid and ditch the camera audio with the click.
1 Like
Thank you!
Yep, all great points! Your earlier advice about ditching the metronome really helped as well, as most of the progress with this motion was made just trying to play along at speed to the fast part at the end of the Highway Star solo 
1 Like
That’s a great looking mechanic!!! Should easily give you the USX needed for Jet to Jet too!
1 Like
do you have any sorta yngwie lick loops that you do? i could soundslice one that i do often. been thinking of ways to get into that 1424 pattern from a triplet groove, and some kind of ascended run other than the stochelo ascended diminished run that i love doing then i go into my arpeggio thing. but it all just sounds so bland and robotic that i just stop and start playing a song cause it pisses me off.
i have also been altering those loopers with other ones that i kinda recrafted.
and oddly enough i found yngwie doing one that i recrafted in vivace off his concerto album. i think i did it subconsciously somehow. you know yngwie always said if it sounds good its good.
1 Like
Thank you! Yep I think so, just a matter of keeping it locked in while switching strings now I think
Not with Yngwie but definitely with Ritchie Blackmore! My main form of practice with this motion has come from learning the solos to Highway Star and Burn
I never really noticed before but Ritchie has these great super fast single string patterns that he loves to do in a lot of his solos (the section in Highway Star is around 170bpm 16th notes and in Burn it’s around 200bpm 16th notes, insane now, and especially for 1974!)
They’re a lot of fun to play, sound great and make great practice! I think the length of these sections is also good for learning a motion, I’ve never had any luck with speed bursts but trying to play these long fast sections at full speed gives you time to stop and re-adjust and go at it again until something feels like it’s working
That’s killer progress, great job!
Is there anything in particular that you can think of that boosted your speed with this motion? A change in form, grip etc?
I just tried hitting that speed with my forearm and wrist mechanic, but I can only do short bursts at that speed.
1 Like
Thanks!
I changed loads of things to finally get this kind of motion working, looking back at my old technique now it’s obvious to me there was practically zero rotation happening, so introducing it felt really foreign at first!
A few things I can remember changing:
- Strap height, way too high before. Rotation feels a lot more natural after lowering the strap
- Trying to mimic Yngwie’s set up in the Jet to Jet clip as closely as possible
- Using my middle finger sliding on the guitar body to help guide the rotation. Initially when using my middle finger my hand was completely floating, after revisiting the Jet to Jet clip I thought Yngwie was using his ring finger instead so I switched to that for a while which brought my hand to resting on the bridge, I’ve since switched back to the middle finger because it feels more natural but my hand is still resting on the bridge so experimenting with both helped me find what works
- Using an angle pad grip so my knuckles aren’t grazing the strings
- Practicing while looking in the mirror, I would push myself to go faster and then my forearm would stop shaking and it would become a tense wrist movement, as soon as I noticed this I would stop and start again, always looking for the shaky arm movement
- Only using a little bit of edge picking compared to my old more 45 degree style
- Though my hand rests on the bridge it isn’t firmly planted on it anymore, as it rotates with a downstroke the pinky side of my hands lifts slightly off the bridge
- And the latest thing I’ve discovered is that as a repeating phrase loops back around (like Yngwie sixes), if I rotate a little further up into the air with the last upstroke it really helps accent and lock in to the downstroke at the start of the phrase, sounds small but really feels like it helps shift it up a gear!
Hope this helps! So much fun when it gets going, feels like you could pick at high speed for hours
EDIT: Also the forearm shaky-ness for me tends to be the most visually obvious and pronounced when playing on the high e string so it may be worth focusing on that string while working on the motion
2 Likes
Thanks for the detailed response!
Some of the things you mentioned were things I felt help me also.
Angle pad with some edge picking, but not 45degrees level edge picking. That grip seems to help leave more room for rotation, for me at least!
Interesting you mention you find it easier on the high E, as that’s the harder one for me! I try to keep some palm contact on the low E, to keep it quiet when using high gain. I think that means I have to extend my wrist a little to reach it comfortably.
Yeah it’s weird, the A and low E are probably the most awkward feeling now
Just picked my guitar up again and had a look and when I play the high e and B string my hand is very close to the bridge but it is actually still floating, when I switch to the G and D it’s even closer - bouncing on and off the strings and then on the A and low E it’s still bouncing on and off the strings but most of the time it’s on the strings
I referred to this video a lot when I learning this motion, I wonder if trying to keep the palm contact is interfering with the motion for you? I’m not as good as Troy at this but this video definitely helped me control some of the excess noise you get without a mute
1 Like
You could be right there, when I practice tomorrow I’ll have a look at what I’m doing to see if it’s inhibiting my motion.
It could also be the practice amp I use. With high gain it’s super noisy! Any unmuted strings will ring. I think it’s because it doesn’t have that noise compression effect that Troy describes in that video.
The noise level stays the same when I was testing this out.
Thirdly, it could be just that I don’t spend a lot of time practicing at super fast speed! I should add in a few licks where I just go all out on a single string!
1 Like
Hey @Jacklr - just wondering if you ended up getting this Jet to Jet stuff going? I know you’ve got the Yngwie 6’s happening at high speed now.
I was playing around with this and can do the straight triplet version I posted above at about the Jet to Jet speed, but to play the actual lick I’m only at about 80% Yngwie speed if trying to do it accurately.
Hey! Yeah I can probably play the intro section faster than the recording now, just need to sit and learn the rest of it
EDIT:
Here it is at 130bpm, not a bad attempt considering I only had 30mins on my lunch break! Not yet comfortable with much over this speed at the moment but it definitely feels possible (not the case with my old motions, if you can even call them that)
5 Likes
Sounds awesome! Looks really easy for you too.
1 Like
Sounds awesome! careful @qwertygitarr , this guy is coming for you 
One suggestion for improvement. Not for improving the playing itself, because it’s awesome
You mention the 30min limit thing which suggests to me that —maybe— you think you have to warmup for a long time to play well, or something like that.
At your current level, I’d expect you don’t need that anymore. Maybe 5min of noodling, and then you should play these kinds of lines no problem.
So I guess the suggestion is: tell yourself that you can do that
That being said: when I went to film stuff with Troy a few months ago, I plugged in and then for about half an hour or more I completely forgot how to use a guitar 
2 Likes
Red light syndrome! Takes me forever to record the simplest of things
1 Like