new member here. Recently downloaded the pick slanting primer and am really loving it. I’ve been playing about 7 years and have been a blues/rock type player that has some chops to get by and some vocabulary but really want to develop my DWPS and speed. Has someone ever created a solid workout routine to develop these skills? Thanks.
Dan
what really helped me is just practicing tremolo picking on one string to get your picking strength up. Concentrate on getting the notes fast and even. After that I think it’s a case of developing your accuracy through learning licks, be it in songs or your own licks, that you can play using DWPS or, if the licks aren’t lending themselves towards DWPS, try to reorganise them so they are.
Thanks for the tip. If anyone has a specific routine that realy worked for them i would love to hear it. Thanks again.
Only thing I would suggest, if you haven’t already seen it, is to take a look at the live broadcast on picking motions:
https://troygrady.com/channels/talking-the-code/introduction-to-picking-motion/
This material will eventually make it into the Pickslanting Primer in an even more expanded fashion soon. We are working on it as I type this.
But for now this is the best summary of it on the platform. Bottom line is, establishing the base motions for downward pickslanting and upward pickslanting are not obvious, and this talk goes a long way to ironing that out. You may already be doing these motions, and if so, great. If not, this will clear up some of the basics of anchoring, tracking, and movement necessary to move forward with the material in the Primer.
@Troy I’ve always wondered. Once we learn all these techniques (dwps, uwps, 2wps and crosspicking) what’s a good practice program to work all of them equally over time. Would a good routine have one lick that features each of these techniques and you just practice them one by one?
Speaking personally, I find that maintaining technique requires very little effort beyond simply playing the tunes you enjoy every so often. In other words, just doing whatever music you set out to do in the first place. Ballpark, half hour to an hour once every couple days? That’s just a seat of the pants estimate.
So no, I have never used a routine and in fact just the word “routine” sends shivers down my spine. If simply playing your music isn’t enough to maintain a given technique, then I guess it’s just not a technique you really need!
Looking on the picking hand I can only agree with Troy.
I was basically inactive for almost 20yrs so my picking hand was kindof unemployed for a long time.
I started to play now again a little (thanks to CtC) and all motions still come out as before, even with less effort now that I know what may cause problems.
But my personal experience is that the fretting hand needs to be trained, I’m not sure if that is really the case but it feels as if there’s in fact less strength when moving the fingers independently and thats no fun at all, cause the fingers try to do what they did in the past, just its not executed properly.
I’m pretty lazy in routines, but the only thing I really practice without music (from time to time) is fretting exercises.
I just recently learned the crosspicking motion and I love how I can play any number of notes per string without having to think about slanting, but the economy picking for 3nps scales is still much faster and effortless. I am getting kind of proficient at these movements and I don’t want to lose any of them so when I practice I’ll usually craft lines that use both.
Haha for me it’s the other way round, economy kills my timing cause i’ve to focus on it.
I try (and that means it does not happen too often) to use both of them, by playing same lines in different ways.
That’s fine to me, from time to time it’s even interesting when accents change without thinking about it.
I wouldn’t mind too much about losing the abilities in a physical way, as far as i can tell the muscle memory seems to know forever what to do and the muscles seem to be able to do picking forever (at least in my case it is like that).
It might be another thing if you tend to ‘ignore’ specific techniques because you prefer other ones.
That probably the same thing as getting rid of habits - and I see no good reason to get rid of good habits.
So if you feel confident with crosspicking, and maybe have one or 2 pieces that require it, I wouldn’t mind.
It’s like riding the bicycle, you can go by car for years, but when needed you don’t have to relearn it.
I’ve never been one for strict routines. I usually just mix up my practice with lines that hit different techniques, like crosspicking and economy picking, so I don’t lose any of it. That way, it stays fun and less like a grind.
Also, if you’re into building your own stuff—like practice routines—it’s kinda like when I figured out how to make a fitness app How to Make a Fitness App (Free Guide + Tips) | Exercise.com to track progress.