This MAY be the MISSING PIECE in your picking... GAME CHANGER!
Added 2024-01-23 21:00:33 +0000 UTCPatreon exclusive!!!!
Just for you all, the inner secrets of the Shredi Knight sanctuary...
If you've ever struggled with getting a good, smooth, consistent, reliable, and FAST feel from your alternate picking, ESPECIALLY when approaching pick slanting, this is gonna change everything for you. The picking path of least resistance is what you need in your life! This is one of those areas basically NOBODY talks about, but it's a simple to understand principal of physics that just makes sense. It may blow your mind!
Consider this a test for a deeper dive video, if this way of explaining makes sense to you. Make your own toothpick pick at home to help you visualize your picking angles, and let me know how it goes!!! Thanks again for all you do, got a great alternate picking workout coming for you tomorrow.
-BE
Comments
Not sure how I missed this 1st time round, but it's absolute genius. As you say, the line of motion is never talked about - I was one of those frustrated pickers who angled the pick down, but still picked parallel to the strings 🙄
David
2024-09-03 12:35:44 +0000 UTCThis makes complete sense. Thank you. Now it would be nice to see how you utilise this for string changes. Especially ones that start with a down stoke when you are descending on a 3 note per string scale. Going up the scale I can play fast, descending I get caught up on the down strokes when changing strings, if that makes sense.
James McCormick
2024-08-13 02:58:46 +0000 UTCGreetings Ben, the explanation and visual are great. In support of other comments, it would be very helpful to hear your approach on the motion for changing strings. Do you maintain the DPS and "hop" the string, rotate to neutral, or switch to UPS?
Barry Hulce
2024-06-01 15:36:20 +0000 UTCExcellent vid. I’m not hating, but this showed me more in 15 min than the entire month I was on Troy’s website. The toothpick explanation was the key I was missing. 🫡
JP
2024-04-28 09:24:44 +0000 UTCHey there, Ben, I think your explanation here makes a lot of sense, and I am very much in favor of this becoming a full video. What you talked about here is something I was thinking about as I incorporated pick slanting into my playing so it confirms I was getting on the right track. I also wanna say, if you put out a longer video that kind of encompassed the content of all your previous pick slanting videos in one spot, I would very much appreciate that and I think people in my position could learn a lot from it. I've been playing for years and only recently learned about pick slanting from your videos which were recommended to me by another guitarist. Because this idea of slant is kind of a new discovery for me, I do get a little lost at times trying to keep up with some of the nuances and vocab being presented. You've talked about this topic so much already, but I'm not always sure what video will be relevant to what I'm trying to get down or missing, so something like a broad deep dive into pick slanting going over the whole spread (within reason) of your lessons on pick slanting, in addition to this talk about the path of least resistance, might be something that myself and presumably others could benefit from.
Boss_Cali
2024-03-12 01:53:20 +0000 UTCI think this is great because now when I drop my pick I can find it very easily. But seriously, great ideas here and I think it will make a great video as-is. Personally I would like to hear more about the mechanics of how to go from between UPS/DPS .. well done sir!
Gregg B.
2024-02-02 01:12:50 +0000 UTCI just tried this now and you are right Markus, it is the forearm we are rotating for DPS. I do it this way but hand't thought about it, this is useful information, thanks.
Gregg B.
2024-02-02 01:06:54 +0000 UTCVery good explanation and a good way to demonstrate with the pick and toothpicks.
wes jacobi
2024-01-30 18:10:14 +0000 UTCwell this was very helpful, Thanks! When I go for alternate picking practice I use John Petrucci Glasgow Kiss I'm by no means good at it but I really love the song and its a good one for (me) to use as practice for different techniques like your explaining in the video
Wes Whaley
2024-01-29 00:32:51 +0000 UTCLove it! Through your teachings I've learned that I'm a UPS. I struggle with descending licks, so I'm going to give this a try. Many thanks!
Keefe O
2024-01-28 19:03:51 +0000 UTCAbsolutely the best explanation of slanting ever. Thank you!
kurtis low
2024-01-28 12:33:46 +0000 UTCThis makes perfect sense. Thanks for the detailed explanation! I am still waiting for the magnets to actually be available for purchase! Any tips on how to practice this correctly? I need to "unlearn" about 30 years of non pick slanting! :-)
Dan Conley
2024-01-28 06:08:18 +0000 UTCI might be having the same issue. I naturally favor zero degree to upwards pickslanting, but it doesn't mesh well with palm muting the low strings for rhythm, so I use downwards pickslant there, but the travel motion still tends to be downwards escape for me, which do not work well with the downward pickslant (dwps), as I get very sticky upstrokes. I couldn't yet solve it, except for maintaining a zero degree pickslant and going up/down with both strokes trapped. I think my main issue is I don't know what movement I need to do to generate a perpendicular travel motion to dwps that goes out of the guitar. Because I can only do it by some forearm rotation so that the upstroke goes out of the body.
Dennis
2024-01-27 20:25:28 +0000 UTCI will try this out. Sometimes I have this feeling of resisistance even on one string by switching between 8th and 16th notes with open strings at around 120-130 bpm. Feels uncomfortabe, and I try to work on it for a few month now.
Alexander
2024-01-26 05:03:57 +0000 UTCThe 5's lick in pent. box one. This lick is giving me a ton of grief connecting the 5's across the string sets.
stefen woods
2024-01-25 23:27:52 +0000 UTCThis was very helpful .Could you maybe explain the Eric Johnson 5's in the same manor .The up down up down down lick on Troy's Eric Johnson course?
stefen woods
2024-01-25 23:23:39 +0000 UTCBen, can you go into, how to find/maintain a "hand/arm" posture that supports the pick angle? What i am finding is that i'm deviating from keeping a hand/arm position that supports the pick angle. It seems like I have to keep "finding'" that sweet spot for fast picking...
Nick Castelluccio
2024-01-25 16:46:48 +0000 UTCThis makes a lot of sense, and follows the logic of the CTC materials. Just angling the pick (slanting) isn't enough, but having a motion that supports the angle.
Nick Castelluccio
2024-01-25 16:44:57 +0000 UTCQuestion here that I am curious about. How is pick slanting used when doing 3 note per string runs going down vertically and going up rapidly? Because of the constant angle switches from string to string, i notice that i pick bounce. Either that or I use one method of slanting all the way and do a "hurdle" when faced with a string in the way. Hope that makes sense.
Matt Nelson
2024-01-25 15:21:29 +0000 UTCThe best. Do more on this.
Matt Nelson
2024-01-25 07:35:05 +0000 UTCThis video made a world of difference for me. The visuals helped. Great work!
Steven Cork
2024-01-25 03:53:20 +0000 UTCTroy does go way heavy on the medical terms and I agree with you it’s a tough subject to really teach easily
Tom Atkins Band
2024-01-25 03:19:01 +0000 UTCGreat video Ben! Really liked the way you demonstrated the x pattern with your “painful” pick. I know for me being enamored with the Van Halen method and its twisted forearm rotation, I feel like that’s the only thing you could possibly mention, the role of the forearm in your picking motion (forearm rotation, shoulder picking or strict wrist picking in the Grady series o vids) thank you for taking the time to do this.
Tom Atkins Band
2024-01-25 03:17:48 +0000 UTCI like the visual aid. It's not revolutionary for me, but it's helpful. I think other people might like it. The white toothpick was hard to see when you picked fast. It basically disappeared. Could be my device or your lighting or something, not really sure. Thanks Uncle Ben!
Steve Fisher
2024-01-25 02:47:12 +0000 UTCThis lesson is awesome! One thing I notice is my angle changes as I speed up I think, might be worth doing a visual at various speeds rather than just slow
Brad rotarides
2024-01-24 22:34:20 +0000 UTCBen - it would be great to do a feature of DBX as well
Johan Runesson
2024-01-24 20:19:41 +0000 UTCThis is gold! Fun fact: i glued a tooth pick like the red in order to show the swinging motion of dbx picking for my students!
Johan Runesson
2024-01-24 18:56:59 +0000 UTCI think this might be what I'm missing🤔 gotta try this after work
Christopher Henry
2024-01-24 17:41:53 +0000 UTCNice thoughts! Maybe, the slightly easier way to explain this, would be to not just angle the pick for a certain slant, but the whole forearm?! So everything is in this angle and the pick direction follows it. But the toothpicks are fine, too! Speaking of things no one really talks about... 1. picking while palm muting (changes nearly everything. Especially the SIZE of the motions), 2. gravity (changing strings from high to low is harder/needs more effort in order to overcome gravity, that helps changing strings from low to high). Maybe, you could come up with something for this?! Thanks for everything, Ben! I'm a fan since at least 12 years or so. Cheers!
Markus Dreßen
2024-01-24 16:37:07 +0000 UTCDamn !!!! Sin 90-deg = 1 !!!! Trig a metric Uncle Ben 🤟🏼. Again you are the Ultimate Shredi Teacher 🕺🕺🕺 You were snowed in for a reason 🙏🏼🥶🥶🥶 🎶🎶🎶. Now, I gots some work to do …. Thanks Uncle Ben 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
David Andrews
2024-01-24 16:01:57 +0000 UTCJust the other day I was getting frustrated at my bumpy downwards pickslanting. Up to about 5 or 6 months ago I had been unknowingly training myself into being an upwards pickslanter so I'm still a little shaky on the new motions that come with downwards pickslanting. I've gotten better about it though, and this video really opened my eyes to why I've been getting those mixed results. In short: At times, when I'm doing the downwards pickslanting, my hand still moves in the direction suitable for upwards pickslanting. As we've learned, these two don't mix. Hence the uncomfortable and bumpy picking motion. Luckily I finally know how to fix it. So thank you for this great video Ben. Btw, the toothpick pick immensely helped with visualization, great idea! Anyways, cheers.
4 richie 9
2024-01-24 11:50:10 +0000 UTCI had a very similar thing but managed to get over it, for me it was eliminating any thumb movement and closing my picking hand to a fist so it forced me into playing with my wrist
Brad rotarides
2024-01-24 10:34:05 +0000 UTCSuper helpful!
Paul McDonough
2024-01-24 05:26:08 +0000 UTCGreat video uncle Ben you made it so much easier for me to get I finally understand it now thanks
Jimmy old school
2024-01-24 02:08:13 +0000 UTCAwesome video! Troy’s Steve Morse video is an all time favorite of mine. Your example makes the concept much easier to grasp!
Addison Kelly
2024-01-24 02:02:10 +0000 UTCYou could add a third toofpik to complete a 3D set of axes to show the amount of angle-to-the-strings you use just to complete the information dump. Great video, thanks for the tip! (Just the tip!)
Paco Jazztorius
2024-01-24 01:36:42 +0000 UTCWe have here another mathemagician I see. The pick angle needs to be perpendicular to the pick motion. The pick motion is either so that the tip hits the next string or advances past the next string, depending on the situation.
Samir A
2024-01-24 00:33:16 +0000 UTCThis was great Ben!! "Less clickin', more Tooth-Pickin"!!! .....Seriously, though, what would be the ratio of wrist movement to elbow movement be to get that best path of lest resistance? Wouldn't it be more in the wrist, so you can be more efficient with your movements?
Jenn Richards
2024-01-24 00:26:16 +0000 UTCClear explanation for sure. Thanks Ben. My problem is whenever I go down this rabbit hole I end up with RSI. I go back and forth between DPS and UPS and I think I’m more comfortable with UPS. But with either, my speeds are slow, my right-hand muting goes to sh$t and my left-hand isn’t synced well anyway. In other words, this is why I suck at guitar. 🤣
Michael Kintzer
2024-01-24 00:18:02 +0000 UTCPerpendicular
Tom Guinther
2024-01-24 00:16:14 +0000 UTChttps://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=7742767885736592&set=a.163277663685690 somethin like this
Carson Fee
2024-01-23 22:35:04 +0000 UTCDude - this is great - something I have really been struggling with and recently I discovered I am an upward picker but still struggling no matter how much I try and change things - this makes makes total sense now ugh - excellent video and explanation!! Yes please do the Magnet Video - always like to see that
Elton Young
2024-01-23 22:31:44 +0000 UTCI'll crank out a couple versions. I'm thinking one that's the arrows on a tab you can glue to your pick of choice and another full pick with extended arrows. Just not sure how playable a 3d printed pick is.
Carson Fee
2024-01-23 22:15:14 +0000 UTCOh I’m listening!!!
Ben Eller
2024-01-23 22:07:22 +0000 UTCThis is a good way to explain it and it helps me see that I am not doing it correctly. The problem is, I can't correct it. I am trying to but I can't seem to find the right motion. 40 years of string hoping is in the way. I used the info in this video to see what I was doing naturally and it appears the I use "zero slanting". If anything, maybe a slight upward pick slant. If I try and use the upward slant, my thumb rubs the lower strings which also adds unnecessary noise. :( Is it possible to just practice downward slanting or do you have to use what comes naturally? When i try and do it, I get a "U" motion instead of the straight motion you are explaining. I can do the EVH trem picking but only on the high E. I am so frustrated for about 20 years now.
John Horak
2024-01-23 22:04:44 +0000 UTCThis is it, dude. I can't believe how much this made it click. I've watched Troy's videos and your other picking videos and the addition of this visual cue is a game changer for me.
Ryan Mcleod
2024-01-23 21:58:54 +0000 UTCReally makes sense to explain it this way! The one thing I keep struggling with is naturally switching between downward and upward picking while playing. It feels like I get locked into one or the other.
Pablo Sanchez
2024-01-23 21:55:31 +0000 UTCNot only a valuable lesson to feature in a video, but you could mass produce and market the “Motion Pick” 😁 only $19.99.
B K
2024-01-23 21:53:17 +0000 UTCI can 3d print a pick with arrows extended so you don't impale yourself. My math and geometry ninja skills are top.
Carson Fee
2024-01-23 21:52:28 +0000 UTCThe prop pick is rather brilliant. Guess I'm more of a visual learner than I thought, because the instant I saw the toothpicks it all clicked. It's so obvious now. Thanks Ben!
SpaceChimp
2024-01-23 21:49:06 +0000 UTCI love this and I’m definitely going to make one for myself. I think the thing that’s missing for me in all these picking angle videos is that I wish I could see the video from your perspective. It’s hard for my to visualize the angles if I’m not looking down at the guitar the way I would be playing it. If that makes any sense. 🤦♀️
Nicole Frymier
2024-01-23 21:42:18 +0000 UTCDefinitely something in this that clarifies what Troy sets out. The plain toothpick wasn’t very visible sometimes against your arm hand, so maybe that needs a better contrast colour. Some Magnet footage would be great!
Greg Smyth
2024-01-23 21:41:23 +0000 UTCYou are spot on Ben! But, changing motion, in my case from an arc (which i had for ages - until i started to analyze my shitty picking) has turned out to be darn near impossible. I almost gave up playing several times that last few months out of pure frustration. Once i started to mess with this, there was no way back, so now i can't really pick anything consistently as I constantly fall back to my arc... If you have any ideas how to re-learn in-grown picking habits I would be forever in your debt!
Mikael Strom
2024-01-23 21:39:41 +0000 UTCMade one in 5 minutes flat (picking), thanks Uncle DIY Ben !
Frank Murdoch
2024-01-23 21:37:44 +0000 UTCHi there , it’s been a minute since we last spoke. Doc from Dallas here. Very good video u have made , & I encourage you to share with the wider world. I would like to post this video to my JazzGuitarAccelerator group created by Marc Andre Seguin in Canada ( con permiso ). Always good to see you flourishing on your channel. Come on down to Dallas & play us some music or have a workshop. Take care , stepdad 🫵🏻✌️❤️
Bradford L Romans
2024-01-23 21:29:29 +0000 UTCGreat explanation.
Eric Bullington
2024-01-23 21:28:38 +0000 UTCMade absolute sense Ben and a good way of clarifying that actually there is more than just tilting the pick, the motion has to change too. Liked the X axis analogy will focus on that. Barrel cam shot would be nice production but I got the gist from watching the toothpick just fine! Nice one
Richard Crowther
2024-01-23 21:24:47 +0000 UTCThanks uncle Ben
Tim Coltey
2024-01-23 21:21:34 +0000 UTCI would say about the only improvement would be to maybe use the Neck Cam holder so we can see the motion / angle better
Alex Cruz
2024-01-23 21:18:10 +0000 UTCSo when downward pick slanting, you're swiping from the nipple to under the boob and vice versa?
Shahar Bar
2024-01-23 21:14:38 +0000 UTC
