Downward Pickslanting: Further Resources
Yngwie Lesson: Get Down for the Upstroke
In “Get Down for the Upstroke”, the first lesson in our two-part analysis of Yngwie Malmsteen’s picking technique, we decipher the DWPS-driven power of Yngwie’s alternate picking approach.
In our second Yngwie lesson, Inside the Volcano, we explore Yngwie’s ingenious system for integrating alternate picking and sweeping with downward pickslanting.
What is Pickslanting?
Pickslanting — upward, downward, two-way! — is one of the most fundamental mechanics for picking mastery.
This video, from our “DWPS Pack”, provides a concise introduction to the concept. For more, check out the Cracking the Code Pickslanting Primer.
Blog Post: Down Around the World
Here’s one of our favorite articles from the Cracking the Code blog — a great introduction to the universal power of downward pickslanting, demonstrating the power of DWPS applied to a wide variety of musical styles like rock, bluegrass, and jazz.
Guitar World Lesson: Eric Johnson’s Pickslanting Pentatonics
This post is about the pickslanting mechanics behind Eric’s ethereal, cascading, high-speed passages, which we talk about in our Eric Johnson lesson, “Eric the Right”, and explore further in our super in-depth Masters in Mechanics seminar, “Cascade”.
This lesson examines the foundational skill of Johnson’s lead style — his ability to play two-note-per-string passages at high speed — through the mechanical lens of the downward pickslanting system.
This lesson examines the foundational skill of Johnson’s lead style — his ability to play two-note-per-string passages at high speed — through the mechanical lens of the downward pickslanting system.