Wim Den Herder Interview

Masters in Mechanics

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Wimpicking

 

Intro

Wim performs “Wimpicking,” combining independent bass, melody, rhythm, and wide-string picking into a single-guitar arrangement.

 

Wimpicking Technique

Wim reverses his normal pickstroke orientation to create outside string changes, then explains how he used computer sequencing, chunking, sleep, and detailed bass-line construction to make the arrangement playable.

 

First Bass

 

Karoshi Bass

 

Sweep Bass Triplets

 

Sweep Bass Funk

 

Sweep Bass Pattern

 

Rhythm And Time

Wim connects his rhythmic feel to drumming, the deceptively simple groove of “Billie Jean,” repetition during television practice, and learning to hear the metronome as musical rather than mechanical.

 

Building Technique

A nine-month effort to master a two-second Judas Priest phrase leads to Wim’s methods of isolating tiny chunks, previewing goals with half-speed recording, and pursuing projects that can take years to complete.

 

Judas Priest Stringhopping

 

Wimpicking Skips

 

Sleep And Mental Practice

How rest, sleep, visualization, and forced recall improve memorization and technique—even when the instrument is not physically present.

 

The Guitar Academy

Wim explains how unused evening office space became a 200-student guitar and drum school, how he automated its administration through programming, and what distinguishes a genuinely effective teacher.

 

Karoshi

Wim discusses overwork and chronic stress before performing “Karoshi,” whose Japanese influence, mechanical imagery, power-metal writing, and Wimpicking reflect the experience of working oneself toward collapse.

 

Karoshi

 

Improvisation And Vocabulary

Improvisation as a combination of learned vocabulary, mechanics, special effects, narrative design, controlled risk, and social reinforcement rather than purely spontaneous inspiration.

 

II-V End On The Third

 

III-I Swing

 

Got Rhythm Lick

 

Early Development

Wim recalls beginning guitar at six, improvising blues, appearing on television, becoming Dutch guitar champion at thirteen, and later confronting weaknesses in his picking synchronization.

 

Core Technique And Chunking

Wim relates cumulative practice hours to small, repeated improvements and demonstrates how tiny chunks and immediate feedback make difficult motions—including his single-string picking motion—rapidly trainable.

 

Single String Motion

 

Transcribing For Technique

Oscar Peterson and video-game transcriptions become technical studies in memory, string skipping, stretches, near-speed practice, pianistic sweeping, diminished and augmented arpeggios, and right-hand problem solving.

 

Oscar Peterson Just Friends

 

Super Mario Theme

 

Oscar Fourths Sweep

 

Oscar Fourths Sweep Attempts

 

Oscar Fourths Sweep Slow

 

Oscar Fourths Sweep Variation

 

Pianistic Sweeps

 

Diminished Sweeps Slow

 

Diminished Sweeps

 

Three-String Sweep Arpeggio

 

Latin Chromatic II-V

 

Augmented Sweep Arpeggio Tk1

 

Augmented Sweep In Context

 

Augmented Sweep Arpeggio Tk2

 

Personal Style And Polyrhythm

Wim describes developing an identifiable voice by combining jazz, funk, piano vocabulary, and guitar mechanics, then constructs “Mad Max” from bass lines, strummed backbeats, and three-against-four rhythm.

 

Mad Max Bass

 

Mad Max Back Beat

 

Mad Max Quarter Note Beat

 

Mad Max 3 Against 4

 

All-Fourths Tuning

Chord shapes act as fretboard landmarks as Wim recounts spending a year with an all-fourths tuning whose mechanical efficiency ultimately removed the positional differences that inspired him.

 

Min7 A Shape

 

II-V-I G Shape

 

Mechanics And Inspiration

Why different fretboard shapes produce different musical ideas, how physical constraints can generate creativity, and why irregularity—from guitar tuning to crooked city streets—can be more inspiring than perfect symmetry.

 

Minor Add4 Arpeggio

 

Minor Add4 Arpeggio Blues

 

Minor Add4 Arpeggio Positions

 

Dorian Blues

 

Dominant Blues

 

Blues Chromatic Sweep

 

Blues Chromatic Sweep Treble

 

II-V-I C Shape

 

Outro

Closing thoughts on mistakes, originality, genius, and productive craziness, followed by a complete performance of “Mad Max.”

 

Mad Max