Help with this lick!

Charles Meadows

That would work. But I'm just gonna do it like I wrote it. I for one am trying to embrace gypsy technique rather than try to find ways to keep alternate picking wherever possible. The thing is this pattern is not as smooth as repeating DUD - and it still doesn't feel smooth because of the pattern switching. So I wanted to make sure I was on the right track before investing more time in it. But it's getting better.

Buco

That was my first inclination, to play it just like you wrote.
But I just noticed that you wrote what looks like a hammer on C to D on high E.
Is that how you play it?
At first I was doing all picked notes there which makes me do a double down on D# and E. That was hard for me at anything faster than 160bpm

Charles Meadows

I have experimented with both. I'm trying to do as much DUD as I can. But I'm also trying to be aware that playing patterns are often conditioned by what feels natural, which is why I started this thread to begin with.

Jojo

String 1----8-10-11-12-8-6
2

---

8-5
3

---

5
4

---

8-5
5

---

7
6

---

8-7-6-5

Jojo

Well, that didn't work. I can see why you photographed it! What I was trying to do was show that the ascending part on the first string is followed by the Bb being played also on the 1st string but with the first finger. It sets up the rest of the phrase being played in the 5th position. He seems to have certain phrases in the 5th position and this one seems to fit the bill; it seems easier to play and the only double down strokes are going from C on the third string 5th fret to Bb on the 4th string 8th fret.

Charles Meadows

Great point Jojo. I'll look at that. Angelo does a lot of slides with the index and pinky. I guess the consensus is that this picking pattern is in fact standard enough to warrant practicing it. But you might actually be right about Angelo playing the Bb on the high E. I think there's a similar type lick on "Entre Amis" on the DFNW video which I might pull out later.

Charles Meadows

Thanks again to all who commented. I looked at a very similar lick he does on the DFNW CD on "Entre Amis" and it looks like the fingering I put forth is what he does. I guess I just need to practice it a whole lot more!

Jazzaferri

I have been trying really slow practice where I can feel every move I make ins low motion. It seems to et things into memory much faster than my old way of lots and lots of reps. When I can do it really slowly and completely relaxed without thinking I can usually do it at speed without any build up. Still experimenting with it.

Charles Meadows

It feels great slow, no problem. But to drop it into a song at 200bpm is gonna take a lot more muscle memory for me! Sequential downs at high speeds require a lot of relaxation. It gets even harder when the sequential downs occur with pattern switching (not just DUDDUD, but DUDDDU etc).

Buco

I'd second what Jay said, slow and steady, you know the saying.
Playing this triplet arp at 200 is a pretty tall order.
I've been trying it last couple of days, not very successfully.
Try practicing at 100bpm and after a while switch to 200 and see how it goes.
Also what helped me is to separate the whole thing into two parts, ascending and descending, then start with the first three notes of either part and each next run add just one more note at the time until I complete the form, repeat.
That helped me solidify the whole thing.