Technique critiques shared by Rubaan.
A new attempt to play a 1nps pattern. Thoughts? This time I'm not even trying to change my motion, it's the closest I can get to actually doing a back-and-forth motion without trying to mix in helper motions
Hi Troy, It’s been a long time since my last upload. I took a break because I felt stuck with learning DBX and didn’t enjoy practicing anymore without any results. Lately I stumbled into a "happy accident", and was wondering what you thought (2nd video) Just to recap: I can play DSX from a pronated position — fast and clean. For bluegrass, though, I need to be able to escape on upstrokes, or to play DBX. I can rotate my arm to escape on an upstroke, but it throws off my timing and doesn’t hold up in lines that need multiple upstroke escapes. Another guitarist recently told me I’m actually using an RDT motion. He noticed wrist extension on my downstroke and was very confident about it. According to him, the combination of a pronated setup and RDT would make DBX impossible because my upstrokes will always dig into the lower string. He suggested switching to a more supinated setup so the same motion could escape on both strokes. That contradicts your earlier observation that I’m using a DT motion. Since I trust both of your expertise, this left me unsure which direction to follow. I’ve also noticed that when I try to work on DBX, my pick path sometimes forms a kind of reverse “U” and gets trapped on both sides. I kinda gave up then. On the positive side, I did play some songs using my DSX motion and that works great for hard rock. The downside is that I end up rearranging lines — starting 2nps lines on upstrokes, and rearranging notes — just to keep everything playable with that motion. I now have 2 new videos: 1: Shows my DSX motion again (the motion you identified as DT but the other guitarist as RDT). I also show what happens when I try 2nps starting on downstrokes — it's basically a disaster. 2: A "happy accident": Here I try a supinated setup, as far as I can. I told my hand to just play the G string. Surprisingly, some upstrokes “float” over the D string on their own, letting me play outside picking between G and D without consciously trying. It feels effortless, almost like regular single-note picking. It's really funny because my brain tells my hand to just play the G string, but I get the D string in return. Addition: I've heard so many times that dbx picking should feel effortless. This here is effortless, unlike my old dsx + arm twisting motion. What do you think, any suggestions to move on from here?
Hello Troy, It’s been a while. These days I’m not sure anymore whether to stay in my pronated position or supinated position. For the record: I'd like to be able to play bluegrass, being able to double escape, and to do crosspicking patterns. My pronated DSX motion is quite solid, but USX was difficult, if not impossible. We closed the previous TC with me playing Blackberry Blossom by Ben Cockman. This was for the majority just downstroke escapes (My favourite) and there were only a few upstroke escapes. It was doable for me, because I could stay in the rhythm of DSXing while focussing and preparing on escaping on those few USX moments. I need that focus and preparation time to set my hand up for escaping on the upstroke, otherwise I cannot pull it off. I can make it work. So far so good. It becomes more difficult to USX with my pronated setup when I play 2nps starting on a downstroke. I've uploaded a new video (pronated position struggles) to show you my next challenges and questions: 1. I show the difficult 2nps USX part without fretting hand 2. I show the difference between picking while leaning on my thumb (DSX) and leaning on my pinky (USX) 3. I play the entire lick (which starts on exclusively DSXing, but then ends in the USX part) 4. I try some crosspicking to show you what it looks like at this anchoring position. Questions: Do you see that trying to play the 2NPS USX part while anchoring on my thumb becomes messy? My cross picking attempt, what do you think? Is this “sloppy and fast” and is this a good way to start? Does my motion become different when anchoring on my thumb and my pinky? Secondly: This video shows me playing something in a supinated position with a different grip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auJMn2aSiW4&t=9s If you take a look at that video from 00:09 - 00:19, you can see that I’m able to pull off the lick at a decent speed. I cannot do that with my pronated position. Lastly, I’ve added another quick video of me doing some inside picking at a decent tempo. Also something that I’m not able to do with my pronated position.
Hello Troy, It’s been a while. I started studying music at a conservatory which has a lot of other obligations that are not related to picking technique. Still I wanted to ask something: You concluded on earlier material of mine that I’m using DT motion, favouring DSX, and that I need to work on licks that require both up- and downstroke escapes. In my attempt to gain more insight on my technique, I had a session with someone else. He says that I’m using Reverse Dart Thrower motion. I’m using RDT motion combined with anchoring on my thumb, and he says that this combination will never allow me to escape on an upstroke. His advice is to learn how to anchor on my pinky, but keep the same RDT motion. This conflicted with your advice, and it threw me off. I respect your knowledge and advice, and I don’t want to put that into question. Still, this conflict is living in my head: “Am I on the correct path?” Thoughts? I uploaded 2 new videos: 1 where I do a "longer" DBX lick while anchoring on my thumb. But the Upstroke escapes are really conscious attempts to make the upstroke escape (by moving my wrist) + I see that my motions are becoming really small. I can sometimes push it a little faster, but it does not feel as comfortable as my 2nd clip. The 2nd clip (DSX Only) I just put there as a comparison. Can you also see that I'm doing a RDT or a DT Motion?
I can play fast and loud using exclusively DSX. I understand that this is a DT motion. I have a (short) attempt to show how I’m approaching my attempt to learn how to escape on upstrokes. In order for me to learn the USX, I’m trying to not be super-pronated, and play a lick that requires an USX (one time ascending, one time descending). I can’t say it goes completely effortless, in the sense of: I have to pay some attention. Otherwise: If I use the DSX motion, I just powerfully blast through strings that I really don’t want to hit. On the other hand: Sometimes I’m not really paying attention anymore and things seem to go automatically. I'm try to keep the same feeling/rhythm/timing that I have when completely DSX’ing. How's this? Should I pursue this path or try to stick more to my DSX motion? Btw: In my DSX video, what is the giveaway that my motion is DT?
I'm trying to accomplish DBX at a "relatively high" speed. Ideally, I'd like to play music that requires escaping after both up- and downstrokes. I can make this go a little faster towards 130bpm, but the pickstrokes become a bit limited, not fully making the motion. Should I work with this, or let this go and focus more on my DSX (220bpm) and then try learning a helper motion for escaping after upstrokes?
